So today we’re gonna take another look at WWE’s response and statements to all the
drama surrounding them this week after the news of their first positive testing superstar
for the virus
A lot of chaos is going on in front of our eyes and behind the scenes, so we’re gonna
break down everything we know, everything that’s being rumored, and another look at
all of WWE’s official statements from this week because there’s been a few that we
haven’t covered
So once again, let’s start with the past few months.
WWE was highly criticized for continuing their programming throughout this period in time
and it truly shows that nothing will ever stop WWE programming from happening
WWE was one of the very few live events that stayed on television over the last few months
Fans were concerned for the superstars’ safety.
We even had superstars like Roman Reigns that weren’t going to take the risk at all and
took matters into their own hands.
There’s reportedly a lot of superstars that want a break like Roman Reigns especially
after this postive testing, so we’ll get into that a little later as well
But WWE kept going no matter what.
It even got to the point that Florida citizens near the performance center saw all this commotion
and traffic going into the performance center building.
They called the police and wanted them to investigate this building because there was
a lot of people going in there
At the time, social distancing and having no more than 10 people at a gathering was
in full effect, so the citizens that saw all these people going into performance center
figured that they were probably violating a lot of the rules
So the police get there to investigate the scene that was called in by a lot of citizens
and WWE reportedly provided them all the proper paperwork that says they have permission to
work
Florida state even came out and said that WWE was an essential business which also got
some mixed reactions from everyone
How was wrestling essential?
Not to mention how highly contiguous anything would be in a full combat sport like wrestling,
but they said that it was an entertainment business and the people really need entertainment
right now, so WWE was given all the proper permissions to keep going
The excuse was that it was a closed set with a few talent in the room, so it was all okay
at first
Then we got the news that Florida was lightening up with the restrictions and now people would
actually be allowed to attend venues, but at a very limited percentage
We even talked about this was great news because it means a crowd of some sort could be coming
back to WWE right away
Fast forward a few weeks and we got the reintroduction of the live crowd, but this crowd wasn’t
real fans.
This live crowd just consisted of “Performance Center recruits”.
Yes, there’s a few familiar faces in the crowd from the NXT brand, but apparently WWE
doesn’t want anyone addressing the crowd as NXT superstars
There was a report from a few weeks ago where MVP called the crowd NXT superstars and apparently
the whole segment had to be cut and re-done because they didn’t like the fact that he
called the crowd “NXT Superstars”.
Fans were mixed on this live crowd because it wasn’t a real genuine crowd, it was basically
a crowd that was being controlled by WWE
There were even reports that being a member in this live crowd was miserable at first.
Hours of standing up for all the tapings and reportedly people were called out for trying
to sit down in between matches.
Tons of rumors like that, but of course we don’t know what’s actually true or not
But when WWE introduced this crowd, they wanted to shut all the conversations down right away
about it being unsafe.
So one of the first things they said was that the members of the crowd were properly well
distanced from each at 6 feet apart and everyone was tested before entering the building as
well
And we know now that the “testings” these superstars were going through at the time
was reportedly just a simple temperature check which isn’t that reliable itself.
A temperature check isn’t going to tell you if someone has the virus or not, so to
say that they were properly tested beforehand kind of seems a bit off
We talked earlier this week that it seemed that everything with the live crowd was getting
a bit sloppy
WWE always says that the crowd is practicing social distancing, but there’s even some
points that the crowd members are extremely close to each other when watching the matches
These moments of them being close together are even put on camera sometimes, so it’s
like they’re not even trying to hide it
But Earlier this week, we talked about The Street Profits entrance and how they ran through
the crowd and broke every single social distancing rule in a matter of 30 seconds.
We talked about how horrible of a moment that was and how was that approved to happen backstage
Apparently, there’s a new report that claims that it wasn’t planed and there’s a lot
of heat on The Street Profits for their entrance through the crowd
It wasn’t a scripted moment and that people backstage were furious because it’s gonna
come across as a bad look for WWE and that’s exactly what happened
A lot of fans ran online tweeting the clip of their entrance and saying things like “is
this safe?” and “don’t they have a positive case in the performance center?”
So it did come off as an unsafe look for WWE.
We even discussed the moment long before this report came out
Apparently, it was just a decision that The Street Profits made on the spot and it was
such a poor decision because not only was it a bad look for them, it was a bad look
for WWE altogether
But it doesn’t end there, there was another moment from raw that violated all the rules
that we didn’t mention previously and that was Dominick’s raw moment
This moment saw Dominick enter the ring through the crowd and also leave through the crowd.
This is a classic tactic that a lot of superstars have used over the years.
You run in through the crowd and escape back out through the crowd, so we get what WWE
was going for here, but now is not really the time to be doing escapes through the crowd
While Dominick was running out through the crowd, he was extremely close to the audience
members and just another violation of the distance rules
Unlike the street profits moment, Dominick’s moment was pre-planned, so this was something
that WWE approved and put into the script, yet again another questionable decision
So let’s talk about all the statements.
It’s been nothing but crazy rumors surrounding this entire situation.
WWE released a statement from their medical staff that talked about the confirmed positive
case in the performance center, but then they released another questionable statement regarding
why fans weren’t allowed to wear masks
WWE’s statement to the Orlando Sentinel said the following:
“Fans have not been in attendance at WWE events since March 13.
Yesterday, a select number of friends and family were permitted to attend WWE’s TV
production.”
“These individuals were required to participate in medical screenings prior to entering the
closed set at our training facility and were kept apart from in-ring performers and production
personnel.
"Attendance was below 20% capacity and social distancing guidelines were adhered to with
at least six feet between parties, thus face masks were not required.”
Now even though this statement sounds amazing, I think there’s a lot of holes here.
First of all “Medical Screenings”.
It’s clear that these audience members, the friends and family group, didn’t go
through actually testing for the virus, they probably simple had a temperature check and
answered some questions, so not actually a real test
“social distancing guidelines were adhered to with at least 6 feet between parties, thus
face mask were not required”
This has to be the line that just bothers me a little.
Obviously this isn’t true because of the Street Profits and Dominick Moments.
I don’t think anyone can really defend that as being 6 feet apart
Then the part of “we’ll they’re social distancing, so they don’t have to wear a
mask”.
That’s another questionable look at everything
Just because you’re 6 feet away from someone doesn’t mean you don’t have to wear a
mask.
If anything, you should be doing both to ensure that you’re safe.
WWE should have them distanced from each other and wearing a mask and it will be a great
look and shows that they’re serious about their
safety
But saying “yeah well they’re 6 feet apart, so there’s no need for a mask” is a very
poor look at the bigger picture
Especially considering where these shows are being filmed at, they’re being filmed in
Florida.
Florida has become the new biggest record breaking hot-zone for the virus.
We’re talking record numbers of like 3,000 new cases a day.
So WWE is in the middle of one of the worst hit states ever from this whole thing, so
you would figure that they would be a bit more cautious about running into a big problem.
But like we said before, looking from the outside in, it looks things are getting a
little sloppy around there with their process
It’s been said that this illness thrives indoors with particles and that’s exactly
what’s going on here.
These fans are cheering, yelling, booing, sending all these particles out there next
to each other, and then you have guys like the Street Profits that are gonna walk through
all those particles in the crowd.
It’s just really scary how close everything is to turning into a disaster for WWE
There’s lot of reports are there saying that it’s a madhouse with panic backstage.
WWE released a statement on the positive case and on why the fans aren’t wearing face
masks, but they’re yet to address how everything is running right now
Reports claim that a lot of superstars are now looking at Roman Reigns as being smart
and getting out early before all this started to take place
There’s even other rumors that claim a lot superstars are either skipping the tapings
or asking for time off like Roman Reigns.
Which is understandable in today’s climate
Kevin Owens was one of the bigger names that sat out of this week’s tapings.
No word on how much time he would miss, is this a one week thing or is he taking long
break away, it’s just too early too tell right now
Now WWE is legitimately testing everyone in the building for the virus and they made that
known in their statement.
However, superstars are reportedly not allowed to show the testing process or results on
social media
MVP and Mojo Rawley actually shared their their testings online before this rule came
into place
But that’s just a whole recap of everything reportedly going on with WWE.
What are your thoughts on this situation?
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