WWE is reportedly looking at bringing back fans to events as early as next month. According to a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Vince McMahon is determined to be the first promoter to run a live event indoors with fans again.
“WWE had planned to start taping with crowds in Florida. They have contacted a company for local people for a Friday and a Monday in late July,” wrote Dave Meltzer. The report continues to say this has likely been pushed back to August.
The plan would be to run the events from the RP Funding Center in Lakeland, FL. The venue holds about 8,000 people but the events would not run with capacity attendance. Instead, fans would be socially distanced and the venue would be at limited capacity. This is similar to NJPW’s plan for next month’s Dominion event from Osaka Jo-Hall, although the outbreak of the coronavirus in the two locations is at significantly different stages.
As of this writing, WWE appears to be dealing with an outbreak of COVID-19 from the Performance Center in Orlando. Multiple WWE employees have announced publicly that they have tested positive for the virus. Additionally, several advertised segments for last night’s Smackdown did not occur. AJ Styles vs Drew Gulak was advertised but did not happen. Gulak did commentary for 205 Live but Styles was not on the show, other than the airing of his Boneyard Match with the Undertaker from WrestleMania.
