Kevin Owens Approached Vince McMahon Over WWE's Lack Of Face Masks

KO is the person responsible for altering McMahon's approach to the ongoing global bastard.

by Andrew Pollard
Kevin Owens
WWE

We’ve recently heard how the reason for WWE now making face masks mandatory at all TV tapings was down to a WWE talent approaching Vince McMahon to discuss that matter. Now, it’s been revealed that the person who approached Vinny Mac is none other than former Universal Champion Kevin Owens.

Wrestling historian and author Pat Laprade revealed this news on the French-language podcast Les anti-pods de la Lutte.

Up until the past week or so, WWE’s handling of the ongoing global bastard (hey, Adam Wilbourn) had been questionable at best. After a slew of WWE employees tested positive, it was revealed that the testing WWE had championed that they were initially doing was simply a temperature check. Since then, more stringent measures have reportedly been put in place – including face masks now being mandatory for everybody who attends a WWE taping.

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According to Laprade, Owens went to McMahon to tell him how uncomfortable he was at the lack of masks being worn by those present at the Performance Center-set TV tapings. KO also reportedly stressed how he was unhappy with how certain personnel weren’t taking this extremely real situation as serious as they should be.

As a result of this, not only are face masks now mandatory, but there’s a $500 fine for those who don’t stick to this new rule. Likewise, repeat offenders face a $1,000 fine.

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Senior Writer
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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.