WrestleMania 36 At The WWE PC Due To Coronavirus?, More On WrestleMania Rumors And Vince McMahon
The idea of relocating WrestleMania 36 from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando has at least some support within WWE.
WrestleMania being relocated to the Performance Center reportedly has very little support, but that support is coming from "a high place" within the company, according to a new report from @Wrestlevotes. The leading idea for WrestleMania 36 being changed due to the coronavirus pandemic is to just postpone the event, but that is much harder than one might imagine. The ongoing situation was described as "uncharted waters" for the company.
As we noted earlier today, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon is said to be very much against the idea of holding WrestleMania 36 inside of an empty Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. It was also reported today, via TMZ, that there's still a chance that WrestleMania 36 will happen in some capacity, despite calls to postpone the event from local officials, and growing pressure. The situation is said to be "fluid" and nothing is set in stone yet, but one of the options on the table is to hold a "no-fan event" like UFC, where WWE would still broadcast the event live on pay-per-view and the WWE Network.
WWE continues to be pressured to make a decision on the show, and Tampa officials said late last week that they will "pull the plug" on WrestleMania 36 if WWE doesn't make the call first. We do know that WWE has a contingency plan in place if local officials were to pull the event. There continues to be speculation on the show being changed from the original plans, especially after the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) announced on Sunday that they are now recommending organizers postpone or cancel any event that will have more than 50 people for the next 8 weeks to stop the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Despite the rumors and speculation, WWE officials reportedly still plan to move forward with WrestleMania 36 as a broadcast on Sunday, April 5, according to a new report from PWInsider. Where that show will broadcast from remains up in the air, as does the other related WrestleMania 36 Week events. There have been rumors on WWE taking WrestleMania to places such as New York City and Saudi Arabia, but there is absolutely no truth to these rumors. PWInsider's report did confirm that there was talk over the weekend of holding WrestleMania at the Performance Center with no fans. While this idea was pitched, there's no word on if it remains a possibility as of today and it seems less likely with Vince being very much against it.
Regarding the rumor on possibly moving WrestleMania to Sunday, June 7, this was making the rounds among the WWE talents last week, but there's no word yet on if they are considering this. PWInsider notes that within certain circles in WWE there has been a move towards postponing WrestleMania, but Vince reportedly remains adamant that WrestleMania 36 will be held on April 5.
Stay tuned for updates on the status of WrestleMania 36 and WrestleMania 36 Week.