WWE in race against time to get WrestleMania 36 taped with Performance Center put on lockdown over coronavirus
WWE are reportedly in a race against time to get WrestleMania 36 filmed after Orlando was put in a total lockdown.
This year’s edition of The Showcase of the Immortals will be the first time ever the event will span across multiple days.
⚠️ Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates
The annual extravaganza was due to take place at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay on April 5 until the coronavirus outbreak forced it off.
Then followed the historic announcement that WrestleMania 36 will now be hosted by NFL legend Rob Gronkowski over two nights in various closed set locations over Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 of April.
That led to WWE calling stars to their Performance Center in Orlando, Florida to film the extravaganza as well as other closed set locations with only essential staff on site.
And the WWE Universe are now hoping they manage to get all filming completed in time before 11pm on Thursday after Orlando city chiefs ordered a fortnight long “stay at home” order starting then that covers the whole Orange County area.
That is where both the PC and Full Sail University, the usual location for NXT, are based.
WWE are expected to wrap up their filming on Thursday, with tapings covering everything up to Raw following ‘Mania on 6 April.
If the order ends up expiring on 8 April then they should be able to resume filming, although any extension of the lockdown could leave them short of footage.
This challenging period for the company was made even more difficult yesterday after reports emerged stars Dana Brooke and Rey Mysterio had entered quarantine due to the ongoing worldwide Covid-19 crisis.
LATEST WWE NEWS
However, wrestling star Rusev has pledged to donate almost £17,000 to "to any of my WWE extended family” impacted financially by the coronavirus pandemic.
The 34-year-old Bulgarian, real name Miroslav Barnyashev, announced the heartwarming gesture on Twitter last night.
He wrote: “In Bulgaria we say “It’s not a lot but it’s from the heart” I pledge 20,000$ to any of my WWE extended family that are sitting at home without income. WE can’t do it without y’all. Production, security, etc. LOVE YALL.”
CORONAVIRUS CRISIS - BE IN THE KNOW
Get the latest coronavirus news, facts and figures from around the world - plus essential advice for you and your family.
To receive our Covid-19 newsletter in your inbox every tea time, .
To follow us on Facebook, simply .