Why WWE Is Running Live Events Again, Including Official Statement

Does that make it better? The world is pretty much in chaos at the moment and it is not clear how much worse things are going to get before they start getting better. The spread of the Coronavirus has turned so many things upside down and it almost makes anything traditionally normal sound insane at the moment. That is the case in wrestling as well, but that has never stopped WWE. Now we might know why.

On Friday, news broke that WWE was planning on running live television again every week with Monday Night Raw, NXT and SmackDown all taking place from the Performance Center. This would be practically the only major sporting event running in the country at the moment and the news was not exactly well received. We now may know some of WWE’s rationale.

According to F4WOnline.com, Vince McMahon made the change on Friday, though it had been his plan all along. One of the biggest reasons for the change is to avoid running too many taped shows on the USA and FOX networks due to WWE’s agreements limiting the amount of taped shows that can air every year. As television revenue is almost all of the money WWE is bringing in at the moment, McMahon is worried about violating the contracts and having money held back from WWE later on. Finally, the wrestlers are said to be unhappy, as they are now required to make weekly trips to Orlando rather than monthly.

WWE has also issued a statement to ESPN on their decision:

“We believe it is now more important than ever to provide people with a diversion from these hard times. We are producing content on a closed set with only essential personnel in attendance following appropriate guidelines while taking additional precautions to ensure the health and wellness of our performers and staff. As a brand that has been woven into the fabric of society, WWE and its Superstars bring families together and deliver a sense of hope, determination and perseverance.”

This isn’t likely to go well. Check out some WWE failures to keep up the theme:

Opinion: The contractual situation is the only possible reason for WWE to do something like this as it doesn’t make a ton of sense. It wouldn’t surprise me to see the Florida government step in and do something about this either, as it isn’t the kind of thing that is going to look great, especially if one of the wrestlers gets sick. This is walking as thin of a line as you can and it seems destined to go badly one way or another.

Is this a bad idea? What should WWE do in this situation? 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!