“Sorry gang. I was really looking forward to meeting everyone at Comic-Con.
Thankfully, due to NJPW’s testing guidelines I was able to catch it early and isolate immediately. I am vaccinated so hopefully this will pass quickly. Again, sorry for my absence this weekend. Be well -CC”
Connors had been scheduled to appear at the NJPW Comic Con booth for a meet and greet on Friday, December 3 and a panel discussion with Jay White and Fred Rosser on Saturday, December 4. The company announced that Gabriel Kidd will take Connors’ place at the events.
NJPW went on to say that Connors’ status for the Thursday, December 9 NJPW Strong Nemesis taping in Los Angeles is subject to a negative COVID-19 test. Connors is currently scheduled to team with Jordan Clearwater against Bullet Club’s Chris Bey and Hikuleo on that show.
Connors received training from Lance Storm before joining NJPW’s LA Dojo and training further under Katsuyori Shibata. After wrestling for nearly three years as a Young Lion on NJPW events in Japan and the United States, it was announced on the May 14 episode of Strong that Connors had officially graduated from Young Lion status.
WWE has issued a statement confirming that they will continue COVID-19 testing for the foreseeable future: “WWE will continue COVID-19 testing of its talent, production crew and employees in advance of TV productions for the foreseeable future.”
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COVID-19 has opened a Pandora’s box within the pro wrestling industry between what appears to be an outbreak of some sort in WWE, talent removed from tonight’s AEW tapings, and travel restrictions that theoretically affect plans for both companies when it comes to future tapings in Florida.
The biggest story is that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, and Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont have placed travel restrictions on people flying into those three states from states that have high current COVID-19 outbreaks.
Florida is one of the states, which essentially on paper would mean that when this goes into effect tomorrow, that anyone who flies from Florida into those three states would have to be quarantined for two weeks after arrival.
This greatly affects both WWE and AEW, which tape in Florida. AEW has a number of talents that live in the Northeast. WWE has its entire executive branch living in those three states.
Sources at AEW have said that they will try to be able to get around that because their talent will be tested at every trip. But they were not clear if they know if that will make a difference or not. WWE has not responded officially but talent has said that they have been told WWE will be testing at every taping going forward.
AEW had already pulled Jon Moxley and QT Marshall from the show tonight because each had been in contact over the past week with someone who later tested positive for COVID. Moxley actually made the decision himself knowing it was not worth the risk to the locker room.
In the case of Marshall, it was having contact with someone who is not related to the wrestling business. While AEW did not announce this publicly, as a precautionary measure, none of Marshall’s students, who have been fans in the stands and some of whom are under contract as wrestlers, were brought to tonight’s tapings. In specific, contracted wrestlers Anna Jay, Lee Johnson, and Alan Angels are also not at the tapings due to precautionary measures. To the best of our knowledge, no AEW talent itself has tested positive.
Moxley was in contact with somebody in Nevada, where he lives, who has tested positive.
In a related issue, Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet reported that multiple people — including in-ring talent — at WWE that were at this past tapings in Orlando had tested positive. Multiple sources in WWE have confirmed that as accurate although WWE has not officially said anything nor released any names. Satin used the number as three or more. We were only told multiple people which included in-ring talent. This does affect at least one person if not more scheduled for the tapings on Friday and Saturday in Orlando for two weeks of Raw and SmackDown, which at this point are not canceled.
One WWE talent noted that they were told COVID-19 testing will now take place at every taping and that “we’re expected to isolate,” and stay in their rooms or homes at this point. One person said that they have been told they will be tested twice this week. Those in Orlando today were given a two-hour heads up for a mandatory test.
WWE has responded to reports that fans were allowed to attend last night during Monday’s television taping, but were discouraged from wearing masks.
The company issued the following response:
Fans have not been in attendance at WWE events since March 13. Yesterday, a select number of friends and family were permitted to attend WWE’s TV production.
These individuals were required to participate in medical screenings prior to entering the closed set at our training facility, and were kept apart from in-ring performers and production personnel. Attendance was below 20% capacity and social distancing guidelines were adhered to with at least six feet between parties, thus face masks were not required.
Despite WWE’s statement, there was a segment on Raw last night that had The Street Profits come out and do their entrance, entering the crowd and dancing with members of the audience.
Jon Alba of Spectrum Sports 360 in Florida also reported that those he spoke to who attended the tapings said they didn’t feel pressured to not wear masks.
“The fans I spoke to told me they never felt pressured by #WWE not to wear a mask for TV purposes or any other reason,” he wrote on Twitter. “They confirmed temperature checks, and signed waivers as well. One noted they were in a group that had masks on them, and chose not to wear when taping started.”
WWE postponed their tapings that were scheduled for today due to a developmental wrestler testing positive for COVID-19. Everyone participating in recent tapings is expected to be tested today, with taping planned to resume on Wednesday.
Both Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer reported last night that masks were not allowed at the television taping. They go into detail on the subject in the Wrestling Observer Radio clip below:
In a statement issued on Monday night, WWE announced that a developmental talent has tested positive for COVID-19.
The statement was from WWE associate medical director Dr. Jeffrey Dugas. It noted that the person who tested positive was last at the Performance Center on June 9. No other individuals that attended the Performance Center have reported symptoms, but “all talent, production crew and employees on site at the training and production facilities will be tested for COVID-19 immediately.”
WWE plans to continue with its normal television production schedule following those test results.
The full statement is available below:
A developmental talent, who was last on site at WWE’s training facility on Tuesday, June 9, has tested positive for COVID-19. Since that time, no other individuals that attended the facility have reported symptoms. However, out of an abundance of caution and to ensure the health and safety of the company’s performers and staff, all talent, production crew and employees on site at the training and production facilities will be tested for COVID-19 immediately. Following the test results, WWE plans to proceed with its normal television production schedule.
NXT/Performance Center wrestlers have been in the crowd as fans for WWE television shows since the May 25 episode of Raw. Tonight’s Raw was the first show to include a small amount of fans in the crowd in addition to the NXT/Performance Center wrestlers.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, NXT UK’s television tapings that were scheduled to take place in Glasgow, Scotland next month have been canceled.
The tapings were supposed to be held at Braehead Arena in Glasgow on Friday, July 24 and Saturday, July 25. The arena wrote about the cancellation of the shows: “NXT UK Live events scheduled to take place on Friday, July 24 and Saturday, July 25 at Braehead Arena, Glasgow, have been cancelled. Ticketholders will be contacted by their ticket providers shortly.”
NXT UK hasn’t held an event since their tapings in Coventry, England on March 6 and March 7. Those tapings were supposed to lead into NXT UK TakeOver: Dublin on April 26, but that show has been postponed to October 25.
During a conference call prior to NXT TakeOver: In Your House, Triple H said WWE is still as committed to NXT UK and their United Kingdom Performance Center as ever. He said their wrestlers can’t wait to be given the green light to get back to what they love to do.
WWE’s house show tour of Japan that was scheduled for this summer has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The three-day tour was set to take place in early July and was supposed to include a show in Osaka and two shows in Yokohama. “Unfortunately, we will not be holding the ‘WWE Live Japan’ scheduled for July 2nd (Thursday) Edion Arena Osaka and July 3rd (Friday) and 4th (Saturday) Yokohama Arena this year,” WWE announced on their Japanese website.
“Tickets will be refunded from June 8th (Monday) 10:00 to July 12th (Sunday) 23:59.”
These would have been WWE’s first events in Japan since their two house shows in Tokyo last June. Those shows featured Triple H’s most recent in-ring appearances. On night one, he teamed with AJ Styles, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson against Samoa Joe, Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley & Baron Corbin. Triple H & Shinsuke Nakamura then faced Joe & Robert Roode on night two.
Two more MLW events have been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
MLW announced today that their shows that were scheduled to take place in New York City on July 16 and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 18 have been rescheduled. The new date for the Philadelphia show is December 5, 2020, while the New York City show has been rescheduled to February 4, 2021.
The Philadelphia show is taking place at the 2300 Arena. The Melrose Ballroom in Queens is hosting the New York City event.
All tickets purchased for the original dates will be honored. MLW noted that the 2300 Arena box office will be reaching out directly to all ticket holders for the Philadelphia show.
“For the past several weeks, MLW has been closely monitoring the COVID-19 situation with medical experts and city and state officials,” MLW wrote. “Even though there have been signs of relaxation in recent weeks regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, MLW continues to pay particular attention to our responsibility to protect the health of everyone involved. Accordingly, MLW has postponed and rescheduled MLW’s July events.”
“To our fans we thank you for your support as we all work through this,” MLW CEO Court Bauer said. “Our thoughts go out to those directly affected as well as those on the frontlines.”
MLW recently started airing Anthology television episodes that focus on a wrestler each week and past matches from them. That content has included footage from the current iteration of the promotion and its original run from 2002-2004.
During a segment about how the coronavirus pandemic has impacted sports, WWE, AEW, and the UFC continuing to run events was spotlighted on the latest edition of HBO’s Last Week Tonight.
Last night’s Last Week Tonight episode featured host John Oliver discussing “the sudden disappearance of sports due to coronavirus, how their absence is impacting people emotionally and financially, and the complications of bringing them back anytime soon.”
“There is clearly a desire to restart sporting events. The question, though, isn’t why sports should come back, it’s how that can safely happen. Because to do it responsibly would be a mammoth undertaking. To do it irresponsibly, however, turns out to be quite easy,” Oliver said before bringing up how WWE has continued to run closed set shows with Florida declaring professional sports with a national audience an essential service as long as it’s closed to the public.
After saying that WWE maintains its safety measures are as comprehensive as they can possibly be, Oliver mentioned the anonymous letter where a supposed WWE employee asked the county to shut WWE’s tapings down because they can’t maintain social distancing.
Oliver played a clip where Vince McMahon said on last month’s earnings call that viewers are starved for new content during the pandemic. Oliver responded by saying that he would argue that the risks of creating content the way WWE is seem to outweigh the benefits right now.
Oliver said it isn’t just WWE running shows in Florida, it’s AEW and UFC as well. He brought up Dana White’s plan to have shows for international fighters on “Fight Island.” Oliver also said that Jacare Souza having to pull out of UFC 249 when he and two of his cornermen tested positive for COVID-19 underscores that “if you want to come back completely without risk, that’s just not possible right now.”
In October 2018, Last Week Tonight covered WWE’s relationship with Saudi Arabia and the company holding Crown Jewel 2018 despite the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. An episode of the show in April 2019 also covered how WWE classifies wrestlers as Independent contractors.
Last night’s full segment is available to watch below:
The Big Audio Nightmare has returned for episode 400!
Myself and Mike Sempervive are back to guide you through the pandemic affected Japanese wrestling scene including Wednesday’s breaking news from NJPW president Harold Meij on the roadmap for their return to the ring.
We also take a look at last week’s head scratching NOAH shows, another Masato Tanaka classic in DDT, and our NJPW archive rewatch of Bob Backlund vs Anotnio Inoki for the WWF Title from 1979.
UFC 249 fighters had to sign a waiver that included a clause they would not disparage or defame the company over the health and safety protocols put in place this week due to COVID-19 or else face losing their fight purse and bonuses.
Showtime executive Stephen Espinoza tweeted about the clause Saturday in replying to a question and Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole confirmed the clause with UFC president Dana White who claimed it is in all company contracts.
ESPN’s Marc Raimondi reported that all participants for the event, including fighters and media, had to sign waivers which include the assumption of risk if they test positive for COVID-19, releasing the company from any responsibility. Sources also told him the language is atypical to previous contracts and they are common in legal contracts. It’s unclear how the non-disparagement clause would apply to media members, if at all.
White told Iole that there wouldn’t be any issue if a fighter’s negative comments were true:
“It’s called an anti-disparagement clause and if I know what that is, that scumbag (Espinoza) is a lawyer and you would think he should know what that is.”
“If a fighter says something that isn’t true — if he says we didn’t test anyone for this — that would [violate the agreement],” he said. “But if he said something that was true, his opinion, then that is different.”
“The Participant shall not, and shall cause its affiliates, agents and representatives not to, defame or disparage any of the Released Parties in any medium whatsoever in connection with the Activities. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Participant will not suggest or communicate to any person or entity that the Activities have been or will be held without appropriate health, safety or other precautions, whether relating to COVID-19 or otherwise.
If the Participant is a Fighter, the Participant hereby acknowledges and agrees that in the event that the Participant breaches this Paragraph 7, the Company may revoke all or any part of any prize monies or awards won by the Participant in connection with the Activities, including, but not limited to, purses, win bonuses, other fight-related bonuses and event-based merchandise royalties.”
Espinoza later tweeted that it’s “a COVID clause. Hasn’t been around long before COVID” and “If that is in every UFC contract, as some claim, then someone over there can foretell the future.”
The New York Times asked for comment and were referred to the Iole story. The Times also noted nothing in the clause indicates that only untrue statements can be punished.
It’s unknown whether fighters competing this Wednesday and next Saturday also have the clauses in their contracts.
The UFC had one fighter (Jacare Souza) and two of his cornermen test positive for COVID-19 after Souza told officials upon arriving Wednesday that a close relative of his had the virus. The team’s positive tests were made known Friday after Souza had weighed in at which point he was pulled from the card.
Earlier Friday, Dana White spoke confidently about his team’s ability to hold Saturday’s UFC 249 successfully, pointing to the amount of COVID-19 testing everyone involved in the show had to undergo.
Friday night, that testing proved more than useful as news broke that Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza tested positive and is out of his fight against Uriah Hall. Additionally, two of his cornermen also tested positive according to the UFC.
Despite the positive test, UFC 249 is still moving on as planned after the organization conferred with Florida athletic commission officials. According to one commission official who spoke with the Las Vegas Review Journal, “the system worked.” The UFC in their statement said, “The response to this development is indicative of the effectiveness of the health and safety measures UFC has put in place for this event.”
ESPN’s Ariel Helwani tweeted that all other fighters on the show tested negative. Souza and the cornermen are no longer at the host hotel and “and will be self-isolating off premises, where UFC’s medical team will monitor their conditions remotely and will provide assistance with any necessary treatment,” according to the UFC.
During Friday’s weigh-ins, Souza wore both gloves and a medical mask (seen above) and stood a good distance away from Hall at the faceoffs. UFC’s Hunter Campbell revealed the news to ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith that the positive test came back shortly after that faceoff.
According to ESPN, the middleweight contender arrived in Jacksonville on Wednesday and told officials that a family member had tested positive. He was isolated and tested as he was asymptomatic, but the Friday result showed he was positive.
The questions now surround who Souza may have come in contact with during the three days he was in town and what being “isolated” truly meant in this scenario. There are also questions about why the positive test took two days to come back and whether other personnel involved in Saturday’s show are also asymptomatic.
ESPN’s Marc Raimondi laid out a detailed plan of how fighters and personnel were to be treated through the week including COVID-19 testing and antibody tests and later how in the in-arena experience would be different for everyone involved.
There are three UFC events scheduled for seven days in Jacksonville: Saturday’s UFC 249 ppv and two ESPN events on Wednesday and the following Saturday.
NJPW star Kazuchika Okada is helping out with coronavirus relief efforts in Japan.
NJPW announced today that Okada has elected to donate five million yen — which currently converts to $46,935 in US dollars — to the Nippon Foundation’s special coronavirus relief fund. NJPW wrote that the donation will support doctors, nurses, and volunteers who are working on the front lines combating the coronavirus in Japan.
Okada issued a statement about the donation:
I’m always grateful for NJPW fans’ support, and it’s my hope that I can get back to hearing the cheers of sold out crowds as soon as possible.
It’s usually me receiving the support and power of the people, but now I feel it’s my turn to lend support to medical staff fighting this disease.
I hope fans continue to stay home and stay healthy, so that we can return to the ring as soon as possible.
NJPW announced earlier this week that they’ve canceled this year’s Best of the Super Juniors tour, which was set to take place from May 12 to June 6. The coronavirus pandemic has also forced NJPW to postpone Wrestle Dynasty at Madison Square Garden to 2021.
In NJPW’s statement announcing the cancellation of the Best of the Super Juniors tour, the promotion wrote that they’re “continuing to explore the possibility of presenting matches without fans in attendance if staff and wrestler health and safety can be protected to the highest possible standard.”
When Florida governor Ron DeSantis recently declared that pro sports were essential businesses during the coronavirus pandemic, it felt inevitable that the UFC would head to the Sunshine State at some point as they searched to find a home, any home, to stage an event.
On Tuesday, MMA Fighting reported that May 9th’s UFC 249 will take place in Florida with the exact location still unknown. UFC has yet to publicly give the location or the official card for the show. Citing sources close to the situation who chose to remain anonymous, fighters will be flying into Jacksonville and then heading to wherever the event will be.
Florida has hosted one MMA empty arena show during the pandemic and their athletic commission told MMA Fighting they are prepared to do so again.
This will be the company’s third attempt at staging the event, first scheduled for Brooklyn, NY, on April 18th, and then moved to Lemoore, CA’s Tachi Palace. In the case of the latter, California governor Gavin Newsom reportedly intervened, contacting upper Disney/ESPN management as the show would have fallen outside federal guidelines as it sits on tribal land.
The pay-per-view is set to be headlined by an interim lightweight title fight between Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje and a bantamweight title fight between Henry Cejudo and Dominic Cruz. Women’s dual champion Amanda Nunes said on Monday that she will not participate in the show despite her name being initially added to the show.
Bellator MMA officially announced the postponement of their June Chicago, IL, event due to the coronavirus pandemic but may be just a few months away from returning to action.
Bellator 244 was scheduled for Saturday, June 6th, at the Wintrust Arena, and was scheduled to be headlined by a rematch between Michael Chandler and Benson Henderson and a featherweight Grand Prix bout between A.J. McKee and Darrion Caldwell.
However, Bellator president Scott Coker told MMA Fighting Tuesday that they are looking at resuming action in either June or July on a ViacomCBS studio lot in Hollywood, CA, but with no fans and less than 50 essential personnel in attendance. ViacomCBS owns Bellator.
The current ban on combat sports events in California lasts through the end of May and Coker said he is anticipating new medical requirements from the state athletic commission due to the pandemic. The promotion has postponed four shows thus far, but had no scheduled shows past June.
The combat sports world is continuing to push the envelope to be the first sport to return back to action as the UFC is moving ahead with plans to hold the newly rechristened UFC 249 on May 9th from an undisclosed location.
At a meeting of the Orange County (FL) Board of County Commissioners Tuesday morning, a comment submitted by what was said to be a WWE employee raised concerns about the company continuing to run despite the coronavirus pandemic.
Planning administrator Eric Raasch read the comment from “John” who said that his employer World Wrestling Entertainment “is forcing me to to work the TV tapings for its weekly shows despite stay at home orders for coronavirus. I am unable to speak out as I need this job and I know I will be fired if I approach my higher ups. Despite sanitary precautions, we cannot maintain social distancing and are have to touch other people. I request the government to shut down these tapings and enforce the stay at home order so my colleagues and I can follow social distancing rules without fear of repercussions of losing our jobs.”
At Tuesday’s Orange County Board of County Commissioners meeting, a #WWE employee named “John” submitted public comment they’re being “forced to work” TV tapings despite stay at home orders. Says he’s unable to speak out and feels he will be fired if he approaches his higher-ups. pic.twitter.com/UJTvX1RGc7
It’s unclear what measures the county takes to ensure the comment is legitimate and not coming from an unverified source.
In a statement sent to the Observer, WWE said the following:
“These accusations aren’t true. Employees know they can confidentially go to Human Resources, not the public. Notwithstanding the appropriate protocol, no one would be fired if they were uncomfortable with their surroundings. We’ve made accommodations for individuals upon request.”
WWE recently changed its approach on TV tapings for a second time, moving away from a weekly live format for Raw, SmackDown, and NXT, to a taping schedule that will cover them for weeks at a time before needing to restart the process all over again. All shows in recent weeks and for the foreseeable future are being taped at the Performance Center in Orlando, FL.
