As we previously reported here on eWn, several WWE executives missed Monday’s episode of WWE RAW, while several talents were pulled from live events and TV. Of everyone pulled, only Seth Rollins has confirmed that he tested positive for COVID-19. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter has some more details on why certain people were pulled.
As noted, those who didn’t appear on shows included Roman Reigns, Big E, Becky Lynch, Seth Rollins, Bianca Belair, Bobby Lashley, Queen Zelina, Shinsuke Nakamura and King Woods. However, there were others. For example, Omos worked the Madison Square Garden event on December 26 but didn’t show up on RAW even though he was advertised. Liv Morgan was also not there. In NXT, Dexter Lumis, Brian Kendrick, Gigi Dolin and Jacey Jayne all were advertised but missed. Executives who missed RAW included Vince McMahon, Bruce Prichard, Adam Pearce, Michael Hayes and Kevin Dunn. According to the Observer, John Laurinaitis was in charge of Monday’s episode of RAW. Prichard was sick but it was said to not be related to COVID.
WWE announced at the start of shows this week that there would be talent missing due to “the effects of COVID-19”, but didn’t say who wouldn’t be there. More than one wrestler who had COVID in the past has said that they were told not to go public with it, although Rollins did this week. WWE was reportedly ‘very upset’ when Renee Paquette revealed her positive case last year. That said, there were wrestlers and a ‘significant number’ of producers and other backstage staff who tested positive.
It was likely that the executives didn’t work RAW to keep them healthy and COVID-free, so they’d be available to work the more important Day 1 PPV tomorrow night. That is what WWE did with several of the main event talent, including Reigns, Lesnar and possibly Big E. WWE official said that some of the talent didn’t test positive, they just wanted to avoid ruining the main events for Day 1. Kevin Owens, who is in the WWE title match, did appear at live events and TV this week, possibly because “somebody had to” and he was likely the one they were most willing to risk missing the main events. WWE considers the match between Reigns and Lesnar to be very important for Wrestlemania this year, and so every precaution was taken to keep those two, as well as Paul Heyman, able to appear at Day 1. It was considered a good thing that there weren’t any Smackdown tapings on Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve, as this meant the three didn’t have to go on the road for TV.
As for Lynch, she may have been pulled for being in close contact with Rollins.
