WWE reportedly cancels plan to run shows with fans outside the Performance Center
As reported first by Sean Ross Sapp on Fighful Select, WWE had plans to run shows with fans at the end of July. The reported plans were to tape the SmackDown and RAW episodes of Friday, July 24th and Monday, July 27th, at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland, Florida.
Dave Meltzer noted reports on the Wrestling Observer Radio that WWE has cancelled the planned live shoots on the dates mentioned above. With the increase in positive COVID-19 cases in Florida as well as within the WWE, the company may have been left with no option but to nix the idea.
Meltzer noted the following:
So the dates July 24th and 27th were canceled this afternoon, officially by WWE. The people who were going to work those shows got the word this afternoon. If it will be delayed, I mean, no one knows what's going on. Everything spiked again. It's quite sad.
Vince McMahon reportedly wants WWE to be the first company to gets fans back at live sports shows
It was reported by Sean Ross Sapp yesterday that the plan to host live shows with fans had been delayed. Meltzer has now reported that the idea has been nixed. However, there is a possibility that it may have been postponed until further notice.
Vince McMahon is reportedly adamant about being the first person to have live outdoor sports programming during the pandemic, and the plan was to run shows at a smaller venue. Of course, social distancing guidelines would have been followed, and the crowd capacity would have also been limited.
WWE has not actual fans at the shows since March; however, they did allow the family and friends of specific talents to be at recent shows.
The reported COVID-19 outbreak in the WWE has once again forced the company to take a step back. Renee Young, Jamie Noble, Kayla Braxton, and Adam Pearce have confirmed their positive tests thus far, and we may not know the details of more cases as WWE has instructed talents not to go public.
It has also been revealed that at least two family members of a talent have tested positive after they were at the shows at the Performance Center.