Report: WWE Wants Fans Back In The Fall
One report says that WWE wants fans back at shows by the end of September.
After shunting off their original plans for SummerSlam, WWE now wants fans back at events by autumn this year, according to one report.
As reported by WrestleVotes, WWE is "aiming for the end of September as a restart for live audiences". The promotion had originally planned SummerSlam to be their "comeback" show, holding a live event in TD Garden in Boston in late August, but these plans were scrapped due to spikes in COVID-19 infection rates across the country, and the resumed or restarted lockdown policies as a result.
WWE has been running all shows in its Orlando-based Performance Center for several months now, due to the much looser regulation of the state of Florida allowing for the larger gatherings of people indoors necessary to run the show. This strategy backfired when over 40 employees, including in-ring talent, tested positive for COVID-19, and became readily apparent that the company was not taking proper measures to prevent the spread of the illness among its staff.
Among the affected were Raw announcer Renee Young, who revealed her positive diagnosis in late June and has been off television ever since. She has since appeared to have recovered, according to posts made on her Twitter imploring people to wear masks.
Given the rising infection rates and general apathy by the US Federal Government to contain the spread of the virus, with some reports suggesting that the Presidential Administration's new lines is to "numb people" to the growing death tolls, its not at all certain whether or not WWE's new plans will go forward.