In a post that has since been deleted, a Reddit user claimed that around 60 people received a private invitation to attend last night’s episode of AEW Dynamite at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida. This person said that all 60 people were required to wear a mask to get through the gate, their temperatures were checked, and they signed a waiver acknowledging they have not been exposed to coronavirus.
Following up on these claims, Pro Wrestling Sheet is reporting the following:
“According to a source in AEW, the people invited to Fyter Fest were local Daily’s Place or Jaguars sponsors who were allowed to bring some family and friends. We’re told these people got seated in the upper bowl of Daily’s Place and were likely not tested because there’s no way anyone up there could spit on or breathe on anyone in the ringside or backstage area. Our sources say anyone who was in the lower bowl or backstage area though was tested for COVID-19.
Once inside, the fan noted that the people in his area were seated several seats apart from each other in every other row.”
Pro Wrestling Sheet further reports that AEW’s belief is that because the venue is a big outside space, safety is maintained by keeping the non-tested people high up in that seating area, while the only people allowed on the lower levels are those who have tested negative for COVID-19.
In late May, Cody Rhodes expressed a desire for fans to return to Dynamite “sooner than later”, and despite confirmed COVID-19 cases reaching all-time highs on a daily basis in Florida right now, this could perhaps be one very small step towards moving in that direction.
Considering that Taz just took a shot at WWE’s “sloppy” response to the coronavirus pandemic, do you think AEW is taking too great of a risk with this decision to allow non-tested people into the upper bowl of Daily’s Place for Dynamite?