All Signs Point To WWE Rescheduling WrestleMania 36 Due To Coronavirus

Despite WWE’s best efforts to stubbornly soldier forward in airing its biggest show of the year, WrestleMania 36 suddenly finds itself in limbo amid the novel coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic that has spread beyond WWE’s control.

Among all the increasingly grim nationwide updates, which have led to the cancellation of major events such as South by Southwest, the Arnold Classic, Coachella and any large public gathering within the state of Washington, the threat of the virus became even more poignant after NBA star Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19.

The NBA has indefinitely suspended its season as a result.

Though the city of Tampa reemphasized its plans to move forward with WrestleMania 36 as recently as Wednesday, the continued spread of an outbreak that has since been upgraded to a pandemic was too serious a threat to power through.

Tampa area reporter Jon Alba’s tweet on the status of WrestleMania 36 was far less optimistic than that of WWE and the city of Tampa. WWE insider account @WrestleVotes echoed similar sentiments.

@WrestleVotes went on to tweet that Friday’s edition of SmackDown, previously scheduled to air from the Little Caesar’s Arena in Detroit, Mo., could possibly move to the Performance Center due to the virus.

The city of Tampa is set to meet Thursday to decide whether or not to cancel or postpone major events coming to the area. With WWE reportedly scrambling, alongside the rest of the live entertainment world, to find backup plans for smaller-scaled television broadcasts, things do not bode well for WreslteMania emanating from the 65,000-seat Raymond James Stadium.

During an emergency address to the nation Wednesday evening, President Donald Trump announced a 30-day travel ban from most of Europe, one of the most prominently represented continents throughout WrestleMania week.

The XFL’s refusal to cancel a Sunday afternoon game in Seattle—it will emanate sans spectators after the state of Washington banned public gatherings of more than 250 people—seems like it could be an indicator of just how Vince McMahon plans to go about airing WrestleMania. Still, it’s difficult to imagine McMahon and WWE swallowing millions of dollars in ticket revenue to air an empty-arena show.

One thing seems increasingly certain: It is unlikely that WWE airs WrestleMania from Raymond James Stadium on April 5. In order to preserve both the health and safety of its fans, in addition to preserving its revenue from the biggest event of the year, all signs point to a WrestleMania delay.