Tampa thanks WWE, reaffirms partnership

As recently as a couple days ago, WWE and officials in the county & city the company’d selected as the host of WrestleMania 36 seemed to be at loggerheads.

Even with growing concern about the coronavirus pandemic, WWE had stated their commitment to hold the event on Sun., April 5 as planned. Tampa and Hillsborough County all but promised to shut down the show at Raymond James Stadium if Vince McMahon didn’t.

But then the Centers for Disease Control and President Donald Trump called for more stringent limits on the size of public gatherings as the attempted to contain the spread of the virus. And WWE announced they’d move the event to their Performance Center in Orlando, with only “essential personnel” involved in its production.

With that, Tampa officials quickly sought to smooth over any feathers that had been ruffled. The local organizing committee told the Tampa Bay Times:

“Our community has waited 36 years to host WrestleMania and while we are saddened that this unforeseen situation has led us to today’s announcement, this is totally the right call for the security and safety of everyone involved. A huge thank you to all our local leaders and our friends at WWE, as we collectively worked through the unprecedented fluidity of the last few weeks. The Tampa Bay-WWE partnership has never been stronger.”

Not that there was any choice, but the city, and county - and businesses based there - are out a lot of money as a result the situation. They understandably want to make WWE feel welcome back - probably as quickly as possible.

Think we’ll see another ‘Mania in Tampa? If so, how soon?