The pandemic called for virtually all live pro wrestling events to be cancelled, unless they included virtual fans. This trend is not likely to change as the world still has a long way to go.
The It’s Our House Podcast recently spoke to Eric Bischoff about the current situation in pro wrestling. Easy E said that it will take years before the United States is ready for touring again. Florida is a much different story as Governor Ron DeSantis seemingly does whatever he wants, but the rest of the U.S.A. will take more time.
“Here in the United States, every state has its own laws and recommendations and enforcement thereof. So for example Florida—it is pretty much wide open, and there are events going on in Florida. You’re going to see more and more of that because Florida is taking a very, I’ll call it ‘progressive approach’ to it because of the data over the last 12 months. Based on the strategy that Florida has implemented has been at least as good as some of the states that have taken the more draconian approach to it and locked everything down, shut down everything.”
“Now, that same contrast exists in almost all the states, some are, you know, like-minded, some are not. But I think it’s going to take two to three years before the live event discussion settles down to the point where only a small percentage of people feel uncomfortable. Yeah, I think it’s gonna take three years to get there”
WWE and AEW were lucky in a sense because they found themselves producing content in Florida, a state that declared pro wrestling as an essential service. We’ll have to see what happens next, but every company involved from WWE to ROH would obviously love to have the ability to allow live fans in once again.