Triple H Reportedly Under Quarantine, Updates On The WWE NXT COVID-19 Outbreak
Triple H is reportedly under quarantine after the latest COVID-19 outbreak in WWE NXT.
As noted before, Triple H missed Monday's RAW and then missed Wednesday's NXT show. There was some concern that he may have been involved in the COVID-19 outbreak in NXT, and now the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that he is quarantining.
It was noted that Triple H's situation is being kept secretive, and that he is currently under quarantine, but not that he actually has the coronavirus.
With Triple H gone from Wednesday's NXT taping, the show was ran by WWE Hall of Famers "Road Dogg" Brian James and Shawn Michaels.
We noted before that Leon Ruff, Isiah "Swerve" Scott, Timothy Thatcher, Alexander Wolfe, Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae apparently missed Wednesday's NXT show, possibly due to the outbreak. The Observer reports that other people who were not in the building on Wednesday include referee Drake Younger, Pete Dunne, Wes Lee and Nash Carter of MSK (who appeared in a pre-taped DQ-sponsored video), and The Grizzled Young Veterans (who appeared via pre-taped promo). It's believed that Cameron Grimes also was not at the show, but his name was not confirmed as being absent. WWE aired still photos of Grimes appearing to be on vacation this week to keep his current storyline going. Ruff's fiance, referee Aja Smith, was there for the show.
It was also reported that the originally scheduled main event for Wednesday was Thatcher and Tommaso Ciampa vs. Imperium. This match was announced the week before but ended up being Ciampa defeating Marcel Barthel, to set up the angle with the return of NXT UK Champion WALTER. The main event ended up being NXT Tag Team Champions Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch retaining over Karrion Kross and NXT Champion Finn Balor.
There is no confirmation that the people absent from Wednesday's show have tested positive for COVID-19 as some could've been pulled out of coronavirus concerns, or because the person they were booked to work with had tested positive. The Observer noted that Younger not being there allowed WWE to promote the show as the first in company history where all four referees working the show were of color.
It was previously reported that the outbreak may have started on Thursday, March 11 when a large group of people were building and moving rings in a venue next to the WWE Performance Center, where some people were not following proper COVID-19 protocols and not wearing masks. The Observer now notes that there's a belief that some people got sick that day, but the issue came earlier because there were people who tested positive on March 12, and it's believed that it takes two days from exposure to sickness, indicating that at least some people got the coronavirus before March 11.