Coronavirus forces All-Elite Wrestling to postpone special match, but events to proceed
The upstart wrestling organization had planned to hold a 10-wrestler cage match dubbed 'Blood and Guts'
All-Elite Wrestling has postponed a highly anticipated match scheduled for Wednesday but plans to move forward with its slate of live shows despite the coronavirus outbreak, CEO Tony Khan said in a message to fans.
The upstart wrestling organization had planned to hold a 10-wrestler cage match dubbed “Blood and Guts” on its “AEW Dynamite” program on Wednesday night. However, with authorities around the country enforcing social distancing guidelines to slow the spread of coronavirus, Khan said the match had to be postponed until “the time is right.”
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“We plan to continue answering that calling with live weekly shows every Wednesday night on TNT, but the time and circumstances aren’t right for the card we had planned next week for Blood and Guts,” Khan said. “That show will happen when the time is right, but what you can count on instead this coming Wednesday night is a great live episode of AEW Dynamite featuring Chris Jericho confronting Matt Hardy, face-to-face, one-on-one, for the first time ever and a tremendous night of wrestling action.”
The postponed match would have featured factions led by two of AEW’s biggest stars, Matt Hardy and Chris Jericho. Instead, the two stars will face off in a singles match.
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In a post to an angry fan, Jericho noted that AEW was limited by restrictions that prevented gatherings of 10 or more people.
“B&G has 11 inside the cage and that’s with no cameramen or crew,” Jericho wrote.
Nearly all U.S. sports leagues have postponed their seasons as a precautionary response to the coronavirus outbreak. AEW and its chief rival, World Wrestling Entertainment, have proceeded with their events without fans in attendance. AEW has also relocated a number of upcoming events.
WWE announced earlier this month that its flagship event, “WrestleMania,” would take place on April 5 on a closed set, without fans in attendance. The pay-per-view event was originally scheduled to take place at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.