UPDATE: Friday’s SmackDown NOT Canceled, Contingency Plans Possible

UPDATE: WWE has issued a statement to Prowrestlingsheet.com, saying that as of Thursday, the show has not been canceled but contingency plans are in place for a possible change due to a state or local government order.

ORIGINAL: That’s going to be something different. The biggest news story in the world right now is the Coronavirus, which has been sweeping across the globe and impacting almost every country, including large parts of the United States. One of the biggest issues has been the impact on professional sports, mainly due to an attempt to ban large gatherings of people. This includes professional wrestling, and we now have an idea of what it could mean.

The WWE has more resources than they know what to do with at any given point. With so much money and so many things available for them to do, they can pick their spots at the drop of a hat. One of the best things that they have is their world class Performance Center, which serves as their training facility, including a mini arena for practice. It turns out that practice is now over.

According to PW Insider, this week’s SmackDown, scheduled for the Little Caesar’s Arena in Detroit, Michigan has been canceled and the show will be taking place at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. Both SmackDown and 205 Live will be filmed at the Performance Center, where this week’s NXT also took place. There is no word on what will happen to any other upcoming WWE shows, including WrestleMania 36 on April 5.

The Performance Center has a lot to offer. Check out where SmackDown will be airing:

Opinion: I don’t think there is any doubt that these cancellations/moves are going to keep going but the question is how long they will last. WWE can run from the Performance Center for a long time to come, but the question is what does this mean for the bigger picture. Are we going to see major title matches there? Or even pay per views? It could be rather interesting, but it maybe not in a good way.

What do you expect to happen next? How many more shows will be canceled? Let us know in the comments below.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his- Amazon author page with 30 wrestling books. Get the latest and greatest in professional wrestling news by signing up for our daily email newsletter. Just look below for “GET EXCLUSIVE UPDATES” to sign up. Thank you for reading!