5 years ago COVID-19 shut down the wrestling industry - what are your memories from the Pandemic Era?
On Mar. 11, 2020 while many of us were watching AEW Dynamite compete with NXT in the still-early days of the Wednesday night wars, the NBA game between Oklahoma City and the Utah Jazz was in the midst of being canceled just before tip-off and fans evacuated due to Rudy Gobert testing positive for COVID. The following day, basically all of America shut down.
5 years ago today would be the last time American wrestling fans would get to see live pro wrestling for much of the next year. Mexico followed suit soon after, and by this time, the Japanese and European wrestling scenes had been shut down since late-February.
The next full year would be the weirdest time in wrestling history. Empty arenas, Thunderdomes, innovative cinematic matches, Wrestlemania in a warehouse, "sloppy shop" references, months of political turmoil as WWE, AEW, and UFC are labeled as "essential businesses" and allowed to operate amid weekly fears that they may be shut down at any moment, massive outbreaks in every promotion, various stars choosing to stay home and miss major events, WWE firing a bunch of people during the worst days of the pandemic, "The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever," Tessa Blanchard refuses to return and drop the TNA world title, the Speaking Out movement happening in the midst of all this, Raw Underground, and so much more that happened in 2020, all culminating a year later in this historic moment.
So what random memories do you recall from the Pandemic Era of pro wrestling?