AEW announced today that shows will happen on a closed set for the foreseeable future, but other than that, a report over the weekend said that the company hopes to continue on with current plans for as long as possible. Recent statements from the Executive Vice-Presidents back that up.
Cody Rhodes told a fan on Twitter this weekend that he believes its important to not “hold back” even if it means performing without a live audience.
A lot of folks are sitting at home. Some scared...all bored. Just like real community leaders have come forward, entertainment leaders have to follow suit(safely). People need to laugh, cry, forget, love, all the good stuff. My personal opinion, we shouldn’t hold back.
— Cody (@CodyRhodes) March 14, 2020
And Being The Elite came out on schedule today (Mon., Mar. 16). The Young Bucks’ YouTube show was the usual mix of gags and plot advancement, including some intriguing teases for the storyline with Hangman Page, Kenny Omega, and the Jacksons. It also closed with a statement from Matt Jackson on the coronavirus pandemic, which backed up Cody’s sentiment while also keeping kayfabe about Inner Circle’s attack on his brother Nick.
“It is Thursday [Mar. 12], yesterday was clearly an intense day. You saw what happened to Nick. He’s gonna be okay, all they say is he’s gonna be out indefinitely. We’re at the airport and this - this thing going on right now is pretty intense, this coronavirus stuff. I feel like I have to talk about it because I like documenting everything that’s happening in the current times and I want to be able to go back and watch this and remember how wild this truly was.
I got on a flight Tuesday, not thinking this was a bid deal and then within 24 hours I realized just how huge this thing was and how much it was affecting everybody. So I just found out this morning that Rochester is cancelled and we’re gonna have to move it elsewhere - we’re gonna go to Daily’s Place in Jacksonville. I don’t know what we’re gonna do, if we’re gonna have fans there - I don’t know anything. Everything’s still up in the air. I don’t know about Blood & Guts in Newark. We’re learning everyday new information about this whole thing. And it’s pretty scary, it’s crazy.
Yeah, so, really just fingers crossed right now. I just hope that everybody stays safe, everybody washes their hands, and I hope we contain this thing. I clearly need to learn more about this cause this is more serious than I thought it was. It was kind of something we joked about for a while and now, this is nothing to joke about. So just stay safe and stay healthy and I hope that we can keep giving you shows like Being The Elite and Dynamite, cause I feel wrestling is one of the true constants that we have in entertainment. When things are down, or things suck, you can always turn to pro wrestling, so I hope that I can still provide you with some entertainment every week, and thoughts & prayers for everybody.”
The coming weeks are going to force AEW and WWE outside of their comfort zones, and not everything they try will work. The entertainment they’re committed to provided is needed though, so we’ll appreciate whatever they come up with.