The recent COVID-19 outbreak in WWE NXT led to the changes made to last night’s NXT episode on the USA Network.
It was noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that the number of new positive COVID-19 tests is “pretty big” but not like the 38 number of positive tests from the recent main roster outbreak, but it’s also “not a small number either.”
It was also said that while no NXT names have been confirmed to have the coronavirus from this latest outbreak, fans can watch the show to see who wasn’t there, and draw their own conclusions from that. It was specifically pointed to how Bobby Fish was absent from The Undisputed Era celebration segment, and how announcers Wade Barrett and Vic Joseph had the night off.
We noted before that word going around said one of the WWE Performance Center Coaches caught COVID-19, and that led to the latest NXT outbreak. There was some talk and concern that people may have gotten lax on the COVID-19 protocols during training at the makeshift Performance Center facility.
Regarding last night’s show, plans for the tag team division were affected by the outbreak. WWE did Roderick Strong and Danny Burch vs. Raul Mendoza and Fabian Aichner to set up Strong and Fish vs. Burch and Oney Lorcan at a later date, to crown new #1 contenders to NXT Tag Team Champions Breezango. WWE couldn’t do Fish and Strong vs. Burch and Lorcan this week due to the outbreak. It was noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that they also can’t do that match next week, but officials believe they can do it in two weeks. Everything was left so open-ended due to the uncertainty from the outbreak.
It was also said that the NXT outbreak will likely impact WWE main roster TV plans for the coming week. A few people on the main roster have gotten the coronavirus from the NXT outbreak.
The NXT situation related to the outbreak was described as a “mess” as officials had to re-do much of last night’s TV show.
Stay tuned for updates on the NXT COVID-19 outbreak. You can read updates on the AEW outbreak here and here.
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