WWE management made a bold choice Monday night. The company announced that, amid concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic, WrestleMania would no longer be taking place from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, Florida on April 5th. Instead, the show would go on as scheduled at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando without an audience.
It's a move that reportedly is not sitting well with some backstage, but WWE was left with very few options. Earlier on Monday, The President of the United States issued new guidelines for people to avoid crowds of 10 people or more as the Country has taken to drastic measure to stem the outbreak of the coronavirus. That would make it quite impossible for a crowd of 70,000 plus fans to be in attendance at this year's Showcase of the Immortals.
Other reported options included holding the event at an empty Raymond James Stadium or postponing the event until later in the summer. Instead, the company has remained steadfast in it's "the show must go on" policy, and WrestleMania will be at the Performance Center this year.
Former RAW Women's Champion Sasha Banks took to Twitter during Monday's episode of RAW to let the fans know she feels sorry for all those who were going to be in attendance who now will miss out on the experience of being live at WrestleMania.
Banks is yet to have a match booked on the card, but has been heavily rumored to be involved in a match for the SmackDown Women's Championship - currently held by her best friend Bayley.