I round out the year of 2024 by taking a look at the concerning fanbases of multiple pop culture fields including pro wrestling.
Over the past few years, wrestling fanbases have seemingly been at war with each other with fans of WWE hating fans of AEW and vice versa. Even the media has been feuding. Has it always been this way? I will examine that question, but I assure you it’s not just the wrestling community having trouble co-existing with different ideas.
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:
For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, WWE allowed a small amount of fans into today’s Raw taping.
Bryan Alvarez wrote on social media just prior to the start of the show that Raw was set to have “a small and select group of legitimate fans at the show tonight in addition to trainees.”
Jon Alba of Spectrum Sports 360 also reported on fans being let in, writing on Twitter: “There are a small amount of fans in attendance for tonight’s #WWE tapings. I was told by one source some are friends of performers.”
In recent weeks, WWE has been using Performance Center trainees to act as fans, reacting to in-ring promos and matches.
There have been no fans in attendance for WWE shows since mid-March, when WWE moved their shows to the WWE Performance Center due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There is no timetable for when WWE will run shows outside of the PC.
