Fears of the spread of coronavirus have caused many major corporations to cancel or postpone their events, but the WWE has yet to make a move. The organization is scheduled to host WrestleMania 36 in Tampa Bay, Florida in April, and has signaled it intends to run the event as scheduled. Now there’s talk that may not be the case after all, which has many wondering: is WrestleMania going to get cancelled or not?
As mentioned, The WWE had released an official statement a month ahead of the event amid speculation from fans that WrestleMania 36 would be cancelled. The wrestling organization has not cancelled the event since its birth in 1985, and according to its recent statement (via CBS Sports), it has no plans of skipping out this year.
The health and safety of our fans, performers and employees are our top priorities and we are monitoring the situation closely with our partners and government officials in Tampa Bay. We remain committed to hosting WrestleMania at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday, April 5, and like other entertainment properties in the U.S., there are currently no plans to cancel or postpone our upcoming events.
WWE has signaled it has no plans of doing anything differently than it planned, though Tampa Bay may have other plans. News has broken that the city's mayor Jane Castor will be meeting with other officials on Thursday, March 12 to discuss the postponement or cancellation of major events. WrestleMania 36 is set to run on Sunday, April 5, with WWE originally planning multiple events for visiting fans the week prior.
WrestleMania is essentially the Super Bowl of professional wrestling. Fans travel from around the world to attend the big night, and often arrive in town the week prior to attend all the festivities that the WWE allows access to ahead of time. Having such a large number of travelers both nationwide and internationally has to be concerning for Tampa Bay amid these recent health concerns with the spread of coronavirus, which may be why the city could ultimately pull the trigger on cancelling WrestleMania.
While the WWE mentioned in its statement it plans to run as scheduled, there’s word that wrestling talents within the organization believe there’s a solid chance WrestleMania 36 will be cancelled. This news came from former WWE Superstar Ryback, who mentioned conversations he has had with people currently in the WWE on his YouTube channel.
From a wrestler's standpoint, [WrestleMania] is in Tampa and they're gonna bring people from all over the world to this location. If I'm a wrestler – and I'm speaking from the talent as I've talked to a couple of people – the talent believe that WrestleMania is possibly going to get cancelled. This is a business and it will impact a lot of things but you have to protect the wrestlers at all costs.
Ryback's statement isn’t as solid as hearing this directly from a wrestler within WWE, though one wouldn’t expect to hear any of them sharing their personal thoughts that differ from the company’s official statement. Cancelling Wrestlemania 36 would presumably be a huge financial blow to WWE, and could have many implications for how the organization runs its company in the coming year. If it can get away with running the event regardless of fan attendance, one would imagine it will.
For now, WrestleMania 36 is scheduled to take place Sunday, April 5, with the kickoff show beginning on WWE Network around 5:00 p.m. ET. Continue to stick with CinemaBlend for more information on what's happening with television in movies in 2020, especially in the wake of these recent health concerns.
