AS I SEE IT March 23: A year without a Wrestlemania

AS I SEE IT
Bob Magee
Pro Wrestling: Between the Sheets
PWBTS.com
PWBTS on Facebook
Last week’s blog was entitled “A time like no other”.
Since the last AS I SEE IT blog, things have changed by a
factor of five.
Wrestlemania 36 as we know it has been cancelled.
For the first time in history, there will be no Wrestlemania
as we know it. No giant stadium full of fans. No pageantry.
No fireworks. No ridiculous overblown Michael Cole hype.
None of the many auxiliary events to Wrestlemania week and
weekend, including the Hall of Fame, AXXESS, and the many
associated community events throughout the week. No
succession of stars appearing (well, Rob Gronkowski…)
As of the moment I write this (everything suitable to change
at any notice, as are most things in our lives these days),
WWE has announced that WrestleMania 36 will be aired over
two nights, taped this week inside the WWE Performance
Center in Orlando, FL, as well as the next two week’s RAW
and Smackdown episodes. Wrestlemania will now air on
Saturday, April 4, and Sunday, April 5, each night 7:00 PM
ET on the WWE Network, to be hosted by Rob Gronkowski.
All fans who purchased a ticket to any of the WWE events –
AXXESS, Hall of Fame, Smackdown, Takeover, WrestleMania, and
Raw – will get refunds from Ticketmaster within the next 30
days. Fans who purchased tickets in person at the Amalie
Arena box office will be refunded once the box office
reopens.
WWE has already started contacting people who purchased the
very expensive WrestleMania travel packages, with full
refunds to be processed as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, all the 70 independent shows that would have been
associated with Wrestlemania 36 have been
cancelled/postponed. That will create an incredible loss
for these companies, some of whom put out a lot of money for
the Wrestlemania weekend events, much of which will never be
made back.
The Wrestlecon group had to fight a battle… and was
eventually relieved of the six-figure hotel reservations
bill they were dealt by Marriott after the convention had to
be cancelled (let it never be said that corporations won’t
try to make a buck out of a serious epidemic).
It took a Twitter campaign promoted by Chris Jericho to
force the Marriott Westshore to honor the Force Majeure
clause and not hold guests or WrestleCon responsible for the
damages. The Emergency Declaration by Florida Governor
DeSantis to cancel events over the next 30 days was a major
factor.
Meanwhile, Raymond James Stadium, the original site of
WrestleMania 36, went from hosting over 70,000 fans at a
landmark show and tens of millions of the dollars for the
city and county to being transformed into a large-scale,
drive- through coronavirus testing site. Hillsborough County
Administrator Mike Merrill announced the NFL stadium will
join the Florida State Fairgrounds as testing sites in
Hillsborough County as the state continues to deal with the
coronavirus like everyone else.
Meanwhile, to try to insure health of all the people
involved in taping RAW, NXT, Smackdown, and Wrestlemania…
even though not at full staff… WWE has to protect all
staff and performers and its staff from the coronavirus
pandemic. Even one positive test would would be a
logistical, medical, and legal nightmare for WWE.
In an SI.com article, WWE said that they are holding medical
screenings before any person employee enters the Performance
Center to make sure all are virus free.
“In consultation with WWE Medical Director Dr. Maroon,
WWE Associate Medical Director Dr. Dugas and ringside
physician Dr. Westerfield, as a best practice and
precautionary measure all WWE performers and staff are
required to participate in medical screenings prior to
entering WWE’s training center, which is now operating as a
closed set…”
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