Washington DC [USA], Mar 17 : World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) biggest pay-per-view event Wrestlema will be taking place without an audience this year due to the coronavirus outbreak. The sporting entertainment powerhouse on Monday (local time) announced that the upcoming Wrestlema 36 will now be taking place at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida instead of in Tampa Bay as originally planned.
"In coordination with local partners and government officials, WrestleMa and all related events in Tampa Bay will not take place. However, WrestleMa will still stream live on Sunday, April 5 at 7 pm ET on WWE Network and be available on pay-per-view. Only essential personnel will be on the closed set at WWE's training facility in Orlando, Florida to produce WrestleMa," the WWE said in an official statement. WrestleMa tends to attract fans from all over the world, but US President's Donald Trump's 30-day travel ban for people from Europe, excluding the U.K. and Ireland, was already expected to affect attendance.
This move comes as WWE held its weekly shows 'SmackDown Live' and 'Monday Night Raw', behind closed doors. For this year's event, stars like John Cena, Vray Wyatt, Brock Lesnar, Goldberg, Roman Reigns will all be in action. Major sporting events have been cancelled or postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. NBA has also been suspended for at least 30 days as Utah Jazz's Rudy Goberts tested positive for COVID-19.
( With inputs from ANI )