Update on WWE's plans to return to live events

[Steveweiser]

UPDATE ON WHERE WWE STANDS ON RUNNING LIVE EVENTS AGAIN
by Mike Johnson @ 5:08 PM on 6/15/2020

While nothing official has been set into motion, PWInsider.com can confirm there has been movement within World Wrestling Entertainment as the company works to devise potential courses of action towards getting WWE live events up and running again. We are told that the company is hoping, if all works out, to be prepared to hold live events by the end of the summer.

PWInsider.com has also been told some in the company are even hoping to running events outside of TV tapings at the Performance Center or Full Sail Live by August, but others we have spoken with (who confirmed the August talk) believe that timeframe is premature. The entire situation has been described as being very "day to day" with plans and strategies quickly changing as the company works to establish different contingency plans.

WWE is very early on in the process and we have been cautioned a large percentage of the company's live event staff remain on furlough. WWE has not run a live event or TV taping outside of the Orlando area since a 3/9 Monday Night Raw taping in Washington, DC.

As WWE moves forward, there will be a number of different pandemic-related issues they will be facing, including social distancing reducing the amount of fans allowed at events, potential spikes in infections, different regulations across different States as cities begin to re-open. Like all other touring entities, WWE are dealing with a new normal that still isn't 100% mapped out.

Currently, WWE has the following dates still listed via Ticketmaster but we are told that internally, nothing has yet been deemed as "officially" going forward, as they are still trying to decide on an official course of action:

Sep 1 - Cape Town, South Africa - Grand Arena at GrandWest
Sep 7 - Omaha, NE - CHI Health Center - RAW TV
Sep 12 - Tupelo, MS - BancorpSouth Arena
Sep 21 - Washington, DC - Capital One Arena - RAW TV
Sep 25 - Albany, NY - Times Union Center - Smackdown TV
Sep 25 - NXT - Indianapolis, IN - Old National Centre
Sep 28 - Cleveland, OH - Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse - RAW TV
Oct 5 - Greenville, SC - Bon Secours Wellness Arena
Oct 17 - Savannnah, GA - Martin Luther King Jr Arena
Oct 24 - Kalamazoo, MI - Wings Event Center
Oct 26 - Louisville, KY - KFC Yum! Center
Oct 30 - Wilkes-Barre, PA - Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza
Nov 6 - NXT - Greensboro, NC - The Fieldhouse at Greensboro Coliseum Complex
Nov 13 - New Orleans, LA - Smoothie King Center - Smackdown TV
Nov 15 - Macon, GA - Macon Centreplex Coliseum
Nov 16 - Columbia, SC - Colonial Life Arena - RAW TV
Dec 18 - Nashville, TN - War Memorial Auditorium
Dec 19 - NXT - Evansville, IN - Old National Events Plaza
Dec 26 - NYC - Madison Square Garden
Dec 28 - Columbus, OH - Schottenstein Center - RAW TV

Thanks to Steven Fernandes for compiling the event list.

[camphor #BLM]

Neat, maybe they can re-brand "WWE Universe" as "WWE Make-a-Wish Audience Members"

[Deleted]

Someone with knowledge, what has happened before in KALAMAZOO!

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

With cases spiking again in places that are reopening, it's good that nothing is concrete for them yet... cause who knows what the end of summer is gonna look like

[paywindah]

Not going to happen. Their best case scenario is to get fans into the PC or FS who have tested positive for antibodies. As bad as things are getting in Florida, finding wrestling fans who've had Covid shouldn't be too hard to do.

[Captain Stud Muffin (BLM)]

Jun 15, 2020 16:46:39 GMT -5 Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] said:

With cases spiking again in places that are reopening, it's good that nothing is concrete for them yet... cause who knows what the end of summer is gonna look like

Both them and AEW have to be careful how they plan this shit because both has somehow been lucky to not get any major breakouts from COVID (as far as we know)

[Deleted]

I wouldn't even begin considering doing live events again for months, especially given how things are rapidly spiking at the moment.

[3cheers4ramirez]

Given they aren't (or weren't last I heard) doing any testing, what's the difference between having 25 NXT wrestlers in the PC vs regular people?

I'd guess fans will be back in the PC before August.

[Can you afford to pay me, Gah]

Jun 15, 2020 16:59:57 GMT -5 3cheers4ramirez said:

Given they aren't (or weren't last I heard) doing any testing, what's the difference between having 25 NXT wrestlers in the PC vs regular people?

I'd guess fans will be back in the PC before August.

Same for AEW at Daily's Place. Since most cases it seem the rules are more relax in outdoor, which Daily place is pretty much outdoors.

[ayumidah]

I know some people say they'd go to events as soon as they're allowed, but boy, I sure wouldn't feel comfortable at one any time soon..

[Natural Born Farmer]

Jun 15, 2020 17:07:35 GMT -5 kdogdeluxe said:

Good for WWE. It will take a lot of planning, precautions and courage to work towards the old normal.
We should know even more in the next few weeks/months how things will progress.

Keep in mind, huge parts of the country have less than 10,000 cases in the entire state. More people are in attendance at the average PPV than the total number of cases in the ENTIRE state. 
www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/cases-in-us.html

Because many of those same places are still not allowing large gatherings, and people's social circles are only so wide.

If WWE is having to put down deposits and such, this is an awful idea.

[Deleted]

Jun 15, 2020 16:49:05 GMT -5 paywindah said:

Not going to happen. Their best case scenario is to get fans into the PC or FS who have tested positive for antibodies. As bad as things are getting in Florida, finding wrestling fans who've had Covid shouldn't be too hard to do.

We don’t know how long immunity lasts, a month? A year? Life? Still unknown.

[Deleted]

Nah, we need to shut it down for the rest of the year, need to replace their mindset, refocus, replan and then follow up. No need for now.

["Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik]

They barely break even on live events these days. This is silly.

[genericusername]

Given the recent spikes, I'm not seeing any live events till 2021.

[eJm]

Jun 15, 2020 17:25:02 GMT -5 @kn said:

Nah, we need to shut it down for the rest of the year, need to replace, refocus and then follow up. No need for now.

Pretty much.

And with the numbers from Wrestlenomics, even without the video game this year, they will literally make more money than ever so there is zero need to do or plan anything.

Yes, they’ll lose money from deposits or whatever but the TV deal literally overrides everything.

The problem comes from States and venues that’ll pressure them, shareholders will pressure them, Vince doesn’t believe in people getting sick so...

[Push R Truth]

I honestly expect my state (Iowa) to end up being all "COME DO SHOWS HERE IN JULY WE ARE OPEN FOR BUSINESS AND WILL KISS YOUR ASS PLEASE COME" and the WWE does like 4 shows in a row in here until the Covid Rate spikes and they run for the hills.

[This Player Hating Mothman]

Jun 15, 2020 17:12:38 GMT -5 Natural Born Farmer said:

Jun 15, 2020 17:07:35 GMT -5 kdogdeluxe said:

Good for WWE. It will take a lot of planning, precautions and courage to work towards the old normal.
We should know even more in the next few weeks/months how things will progress.

Keep in mind, huge parts of the country have less than 10,000 cases in the entire state. More people are in attendance at the average PPV than the total number of cases in the ENTIRE state. 
www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/cases-in-us.html

Because many of those same places are still not allowing large gatherings, and people's social circles are only so wide.

If WWE is having to put down deposits and such, this is an awful idea.

Yeah, we can't look at current numbers now as a sign everything is fine and would be fine; it only took a few cases to spread like wildfire, the whole point of these measures it to try and contain things. All it takes is one person in the arena to get a lot of people sick, who will in turn go spread it further, and suddenly the numbers aren't looking so hot. There's a reason people are warning about a second wave. Thousands of people in close quarters indoors is the biggest hazard, and you're going to hav people without masks, people tugging their masks up to have a beer or to snack on some food. These kinds of events are the worst places

[Pooh Carlson]

I could see them, against common sense, running shows in some of the states that havebeen more relaxed. Florida, Georgia, etc. Doubt the Michigan, New York, and I would hope not Indiana will happen. There definitely won't be any Chicago shows for at least the rest of this year.

[Deleted]

Jun 15, 2020 17:30:08 GMT -5 eJm said:

Jun 15, 2020 17:25:02 GMT -5 @kn said:

Nah, we need to shut it down for the rest of the year, need to replace, refocus and then follow up. No need for now.

Pretty much.

And with the numbers from Wrestlenomics, even without the video game this year, they will literally make more money than ever so there is zero need to do or plan anything.

Yes, they’ll lose money from deposits or whatever but the TV deal literally overrides everything.

The problem comes from States and venues that’ll pressure them, shareholders will pressure them, Vince doesn’t believe in people getting sick so...

With these spikes, second wave and whatnot happening, they'll just make things worse for themselves. There is no need for it right now.

Just imagine how they'll react to another shutdown a month from now.