Triple H has responded to the criticism WWE has received for going through with WrestleMania 36 despite the current coronavirus pandemic.
Former WWE Champion “The Game” was recently a guest on “The Ariel Helwani MMA Show” to discuss “The Show Of Shows.” Triple H noted that WWE believes they’re putting on an essential service of entertaining fans during this hectic time.
“Look, there’s going to be critics of everything. I think we’re doing this to provide what we believe is an essential service in entertaining our fans, entertaining people around the world, and I think you see that with ESPN picking up past WrestleManias, and FOX, NBC and that partnership, we can put out content… even our historic content is evergreen in nature because of the storytelling aspect of what we do, and I say this a lot, we’re more akin to the ‘Rocky’ movie than we are actual boxing.
“Once the event takes place live in boxing, you’re kind of done with it. With us, you’ll watch it over and over again, because it’s the story, and the characters, and the emotion that you feel. You’ll go back and relive those epic moments — Hogan slamming Andre the Giant at WrestleMania 3, or whatever connects with you from the past.
He went on to note that WWE is working very closely with government officials, and taking all the necessary precautions to protect all involved.
“We’re working with the government officials very closely. We’re taking all of the precautions, we’re screening our talent. Anybody that’s uncomfortable doing this doesn’t have to. The crew and the staff is very, very limited.
“We’re working the talent waves, where we bring them in for their particular stuff and then they can leave, and keeping people as separated as possible, trying to do this in as safe a way as possible, while still being able to perform a vital service. We’re following CDC recommendations, as well as Dr. Joseph Maroon and Dr. Jeffrey Dugas.”
WrestleMania 36 was initially scheduled to take place from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida on April 5. However, after the coronavirus outbreak, the event was canceled due to gathering bans. WrestleMania was expected to attract over 70,000 people. Now, the event has been relocated to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. Also, the show will take place over the span of two nights. Day one of WrestleMania 36 begins tomorrow, Saturday, April 4 at 6:00 p.m. ET.
The action continues on Sunday, April 5 at 6:00 p.m. ET as well. Aside from the location and date changes, some of the matches have also been affected. One of the biggest changes being Roman Reigns’ removal from his Universal Title match with Goldberg. Goldberg will now face a replacement opponent on the show.
H/T POST Wrestling for the transcriptions
