Will WrestleMania be rescheduled?
The multi-million dollar question in the world of professional wrestling the last few days is will WWE hold WrestleMania on April 5.
Many people have emailed asking about the status of the show.
There is confusion as to why WWE has not yet pulled the plug on the event, and it is completely understandable.
After all, between Wednesday afternoon and Thursday night due to COVID-19, the NBA, NHL and MLS suspended play, MLB pushed back its season by at least two weeks, all of the major NCAA conferences canceled their men鈥檚 basketball tournaments and the NCAA followed suit by pulling both the men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 March Madness tournaments, as well as all spring championships.
But somehow, WrestleMania is still a go in Tampa, Fla. As of right now, anyway.
You may ask how this is this possible.
The holdup right now may come down to money.
WWE could have an insurance policy for Mania where, if the event is canceled by someone other than WWE, it recoups money that it put into the event and to possibly cover expenses and ticket refunds. However, the same policy may state that if WWE cancels it, then it cannot cash out the policy.
So maybe WWE is just waiting for someone else to pull the plug.
I don鈥檛 see how Mania will take place on April 5, and it shouldn鈥檛.
The event will more than likely be canceled by the end of this coming week as Hillsborough County commissioner Less Miller stated Vince McMahon has until Thursday to make a final decision, or the county will.
鈥淚鈥檓 hoping that Vince 鈥� and WWE (make) the call themselves, but a week from now, if they鈥檝e not done that and we鈥檙e still in the situation we are in, we鈥檒l probably have to pull the plug on that,鈥� said Miller, according to Fox 13 out of Tampa.
One perspective is that if McMahon didn鈥檛 cancel the Over the Edge PPV in 1999 after Owen Hart died during the show, he is not going to cancel Mania.
The governor of Florida said earlier this week that private gatherings of 250 or more people should be canceled, and the City of Tampa also recommended doing the same.
Is it really smart for 70,000 fans to convene in one place when they could be coming from all over the world? All it would take is for one person to bring it with them.
Considering thousands of international fans bought tickets and traveling into the United States seems to be getting harder by the day, how safe would it be for everyone?
The event needs to be pulled and rescheduled in June or July.
Yes, this will cause a lot of headaches for everyone involved, but, at the end of the day, everyone鈥檚 safety is more important.
Monday鈥檚 Raw moved from Pittsburgh
WWE has moved Monday鈥檚 Raw from Pittsburgh to it Performance Center in Orlando.
Next four episodes of Dynamite moved
Wednesday night鈥檚 Dynamite was to take place in Rochester, N.Y., but will not emanate from AEW鈥檚 home base of Jacksonville.
Brody Lee, known in WWE as Luke Harper, was set to debut since he is from the Rochester area, but we will see if he still debuts or if it is pushed back.
Gronk sings with WWE
Former NFL tight end Rob Gronkowski has verbally agreed to a deal with WWE. He is set to appear on Smackdown on Friday and could wrestle as soon as SummerSlam in Boston.
Update on WWE reality shows
WWE鈥檚 longest running reality show, Total Divas, appears to be dead, and Miz and Mrs. may not be far behind.
Now in its second season, the show has not drawn more than 500,000 viewers. The Feb. 26 episode only drew 340,000 viewers, which is only one-third of the average of the first season.
During the initial season, 10 episodes drew over one million viewers, while three others drew 997,000 viewers.
There is very little reality about the show, so maybe WWE fans are tired of the antics provided. Or, just maybe, fans are burned out with all the pro wrestling that is on each week.
On This Day 鈥�
In 1981, Andre the Giant defeated Hulk Hogan at a house show in Landover, Md.
This match took place six years and 14 days before their legendary showdown at WrestleMania III.
To think, this match was before WWE鈥檚 national explosion and Hogan was a midcard wrestler.