Triple H admits that he's "not thrilled" about WWE superstars not following safety protocols; Comments on how they're trying to protect talent
WWE wasn't even one of the first sports/entertainment brands to restart after the lockdown, because they never stopped anyway. The COVID-era has been an interesting one for WWE as they've done their best to make the most of the empty arena shows while also constantly having to test superstars, talent, and staff to ensure that they haven't contracted COVID-19.
Unfortunately for WWE, there have been and continue to be cases of COVID-19 within the company and immediate self-quarantine for those who have come near someone with COVID.
Triple H on a recent conference call spoke about the various issues regarding COVID in WWE and spoke about the entire process of testing and keeping talent safe (H/T WrestlingInc):
"These situations where positives come up and we go back and very very extensively contact trace and go back and quarantine those people, this is for the safety and wellbeing of everybody. We feel very confident that once we've done all that, hopefully, we've isolated it and can go on doing what we're going, and everybody that walks into that building and is a part of what we're doing is safe.
Triple H said that many people seem to think that the pandemic is over when in reality, it isn't. He said that WWE has been constantly urging talent to stay safe and be socially distant:
"You do the same thing that everyone else is doing in every walk of life," Triple H stated. "I think sometimes people think that this is over. It's not. We're still all having to deal with it. Be smart. Be safe. Wear masks. Take all the precautions you can. For our talent, we're very much urging them to social distance, to keep away from others [and] to stay inside of that bubble."
Ultimately, Triple H said that there's only so much WWE can do to interfere in someone's personal life. He expressed a bit of underhanded frustration over certain superstars not following the social distancing protocol:
"We're certainly asking people to do everything they can possible to do it. Not thrilled when when people do things that they're not supposed to but again, we're asking them to be as responsible as possible in their personal lives, but it is still their personal lives.
Have WWE superstars been following the protocols?
This situation is a bit tricky for everybody. However, it appears as though many superstars have been following social distancing protocols and regularly appearing on television while some haven't.
There were rumors recently about a party hosted by NXT superstars that could possibly have been responsible for a further spread in COVID cases - resulting in mass quarantine for many stars.
Another big issue is the fact that now that things have re-opened, WWE and AEW stars also interact with each other in gyms and various settings. This was perhaps what also led to certain AEW stars having to quarantine.