Tampa May ‘Pull The Plug’ On WrestleMania 36 Amid Coronavirus In Vince McMahon’s Last Stand


Things went from bad to worse for Vince McMahon and WWE, which has somehow turned a global pandemic into a Ticketmaster hostage situation of sorts by refusing to let go of its now-unrealistic April 5 date for WrestleMania 36. An event that everybody knows cannot happen.

At least, not in three weeks it can’t. Not amid the rapidly evolving coronavirus (COVID-19) that U.S. health officials believe is 10 times more lethal than the flu. Certainly not in Florida, which has reported the sixth-highest positive cases of COVID-19 in the country, and just had to shut down every school in the state.

In a metaphor of McMahon’s struggling empire, Tampa city officials begrudgingly played along with Vince McMahon’s pigheaded circus of an idea that his wrestling promotion was going to stand tall in the face of a crisis.

WWE’s announcement of a contingency plan felt more like a subtweet as it suggested the event’s cancellation would happen only because city officials killed it.

An “us against them” mentality. Classic Vince.

WWE issued the following statement this past Thursday:

“While we remain committed to hosting WrestleMania at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday, April 5, we are putting contingency plans in place in the event that it is cancelled by government officials, civil authorities and/or local venues.”

WWE Statement on COVID-19 and WrestleMania 36

Eventually, city officials grew tired of the circus. Hillsborough Commissioner Les Miller issued what suddenly feels like the world’s most obvious ultimatum:

“I’m hoping that Vince McMahon and WrestleMania and WWE make the call themselves, but a week from now, if they’ve not done that and we’re still in the situation we’re in, we’ll probably have to pull the plug on that.”

Credit: Fox13

Everybody knew this event wasn’t happening. Everybody except Vince McMahon.

In true Vince McMahon spirit, the 74-year-old Chairman—who speaks glowingly about claims of WWE having the first public assembly since 9/11—delivered what may be his last epic, public showdown against an overwhelming opponent.

In true Vince McMahon spirit, he garnered nationwide publicity from a high-profile conflict. It was reminiscent of McMahon opportunistically publicizing a double-booking gaffe on the part of the Denver Nuggets by staging a feud with owner Stan Kroenke. One that resulted in McMahon kicking and screaming (sound familiar?) out of the Pepsi Center of Denver and into the Staples Center of Los Angeles.

To be sure, WWE even dedicated an entire two-hour broadcast of Raw to ripping Kroenke and the Nuggets.

Let’s hope to god that no part of this unnecessary standoff was a publicity stunt motivated by a few days of free press, but you can’t put anything past a carny-based business when it comes to morality. And while cheesy language and cheap cliches in news clips can be charming for harmless drama, McMahon is also defying the still-developing science behind a disease that has caused a worldwide shutdown.

A Fox 13 story about the ongoing impasse led with the following language:

It’s a WrestleMania-style standoff! Who will blink first? The WWE? Or local officials?!

Given what’s at stake, and considering the WWE personnel currently in limbo while Vince picks another pissing fight, it felt gross. But, in so many ways, WWE using the world stage to publicly and dramatically die on its own sword—like Russell Crowe in Gladiator—was also the best and worst of Vince McMahon.

Though McMahon has been well past his creative prime for over a decade now, 2020 felt like a cascade of old wounds being reopened for the punchy Chairman.

TNT carried a billionaire-backed, nationally televised pro wrestling promotion in AEW. Vince McMahon’s plan to stop AEW’s grassroots movement was to sic NXT against it, led by son-in-law and Executive Vice President Triple H.

But they’re kicking WWE’s ass.

In fact, whispers of a Triple H demotion—one that Triple H jokingly addressed on air—quietly nodded to yet another juicy, Shakesperian twist in the real-life Succession plot that is the McMahon family. Vince McMahon possibly losing faith in his presumed heir apparent after Paul’s kill shot missed is a better storyline than just about any WrestleMania program this year.

AEW continues to dominate the viewership, production and culture battle with old-school storytelling and remains undefeated against NXT in 2020.

McMahon’s 2020 also saw him challenge the NFL. Despite XFL’s impressive innovations, McMahon’s surprising, self-financed relaunch of the once-failed league feels like an extremely expensive midlife crisis. Just before McMahon (and, perhaps more accurately Oliver Luck) sensibly pulled the plug on league operations amid coronavirus concerns, viewership was trending downward fast. And while the league will be back next year (assuming the pandemic is contained), it will only do so on the strength of a mercurial billionaire’s money.

McMahon’s latest losing battle, another stranger-than-fiction masterpiece from The Old Man, opted to use Tampa, Fla. as its battlefield. With cancellations more of a formality than a choice, McMahon attempted to force his twisted philosophy onto frustrated local officials in the middle of a national emergency.

Vince McMahon has surely had his share of major victories as the Chairman of the worldwide leader in sports and entertainment. But he will likely be remembered just as much for his successes as he is for his failures.

But with surrender just about inevitable, McMahon is never one to deny people a show. COVID-19 be damned.

With top executives George Barrios and Michelle Wilson ousted in a garden-variety WWE power struggle, the wrestling giant will need to address contingency plans for more than just WrestleMania 36.



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