Dear WWE, AEW: Bringing fans back to shows now is a horrible idea, don’t do it

This is an open letter to both AEW and WWE judging by new Florida regulations: please do not open fan attendance back up at the worst time.

Dear WWE and AEW …

So Florida is out here being, well, Florida again. Florida’s always been Florida, but the Florida-ness of Florida seems intensified in the middle of a global apocalypse. Oops, I mean pandemic. Same thing, right?

This is the same Florida that has kept beaches open and gets surprised when cases of coronavirus suddenly increase in the area. The same Florida that has allowed pro wrestling events from both AEW and WWE to continue their tapings in the name of being”essential business,” as long as no fans are in attendance, of course.

That last regulation might be getting loosened sooner rather than later. Much, much, much sooner. As soon as next week, believe it or not.

The new guidelines as illustrated by Florida governor Ron DeSantis (and summarized by WrestlingNews.Co) state that as early as this Monday, May 4, large sporting events will be able to allow fans into their venues (in this case, the Performance Center for WWE, Daily’s Place for AEW) as long as only 25 percent of the arena’s capacity are present and those fans who are in attendance adhere to social distancing.

Ultimately, the choice to bring crowds back to their shows lies with both AEW and WWE and if both parties were smart, they’d decline the option for the time being.

There is so much to unpack here. Don’t get me started on the fact that the idea of a crowd (no matter how small) pretty much contradicts the very idea of social distancing. Instead, let me direct you back to my earlier statement: coronavirus cases in Florida increased upon opening beaches.

Well, upon testing increases in the area, but it doesn’t take rocket science to figure out that having mass gatherings at beaches are in correlation to the state reaching over 32,000 cases overall as of this past week.

We the 25 percent restriction in place, the gathering wouldn’t be as massive as a beach gathering, but it is a mass gathering nonetheless.

The United States just reached officially one million cases of the novel coronavirus and the stats keep rising. There are some areas of the world that have successfully flattened the curve thanks as a direct result of the past couple months of lockdown quarantining, but that doesn’t mean that we should all be rushing to take things back to normal. There are still steps that need to be taken piece by piece to avoid another spike. Bringing crowds back to wrestling shows wouldn’t be helping. Not right now.

Many of us are still weary of wrestling shows even taking place now, with or without fans. Adding another bevy of bodies in the cheap seats to put themselves and the staff/roster at risk is the worst idea.

If the head hunchos over at WWE and AEW decide to bring in fans to fill their seats before the time is right, that is their decision to make, but they must understand that the wrong decision will not come without blood on their hands.

We get it. We all miss seeing legions upon legions of fans leap for joy as their favorite wrestler has their arm raised in victory. A lot of matches and segments over the past couple of months have suffered for lacking that legion of screaming audiences, but it’s been a necessary precaution to flatten the curve and lessen the spread.

Rushing into recreating that atmosphere risks the health of several Americans. Much like how we saw an increase after beaches opened, we shouldn’t be surprised if we see a lot more Floridians get sick upon re-entry, or worse. And in that worse case scenario, there won’t be any fans to return to shows. They’d be dead.

So Cody, Tony, Vince, or whoever may be reading this: just don’t do it. Not right now.

One day, on a better day, fans will return to arenas and when that day comes, it will be a glorious day for wrestling fans. But that day has not come. Not yet. Give it time.

Sincerely,

A concerned fan (who knows you probably don’t care to read this in full, but hey, your letter’s in the mail nonetheless; I just hope the message gets received loud and clear).