The Gist

        
Tweet

Email

Print
Share

Friday, March 13, 2020

The Gist

WWE moves 'SmackDown' taping to Orlando's WWE Performance Center at Full Sail amid coronavirus concerns

Posted By Matthew Moyer on Fri, Mar 13, 2020 at 4:22 PM

click image

Photo courtesy WWE/Facebook

Professional wrestling and sports-entertainment purveyors WWE has announced that they will be moving tonight's taping of their Fox network weekly live program SmackDown to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando. This taping will not be in front of an audience out of concerns for safety and health amid coronavirus worries.

WWE released a statement outlining their plans:

Friday Night SmackDown on March 13 will air live as regularly scheduled and emanate from WWE’s training facility in Orlando, Florida with only essential personnel in attendance. The event was originally scheduled in Detroit, Michigan. We are putting contingency plans in place in the event that upcoming WWE shows are cancelled by government officials, civil authorities and/or local venues.

Plans still remain up in the air for their next week of television tapings, as well as cornerstone event Wrestlemania, currently still scheduled to take place in Tampa on April 5 as of this writing.

_
Due to rapidly changing circumstances surrounding the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, many Central Florida events have been postponed or canceled. Check out our list of canceled activities, and please follow CDC guidelines to stay safe and prevent transmission.

Tags: WWE, Smackdown, Professional, Wrrestling, NXT, Live, Performance Center, Full Sail, Image

We welcome readers to submit letters regarding articles and content in Orlando Weekly. Letters should be a minimum of 150 words, refer to content that has appeared on Orlando Weekly, and must include the writer's full name, address, and phone number for verification purposes. No attachments will be considered. Writers of letters selected for publication will be notified via email. Letters may be edited and shortened for space.

Email us at feedback@orlandoweekly.com.

Orlando Weekly works for you, and your support is essential.

Our small but mighty local team works tirelessly to bring you high-quality, uncensored news and cultural coverage of Central Florida.

Unlike many newspapers, ours is free – and we'd like to keep it that way, because we believe, now more than ever, everyone deserves access to accurate, independent coverage of their community.

Whether it's a one-time acknowledgement of this article or an ongoing pledge, your support helps keep Orlando’s true free press free.