Ring of Honor star Mike Bennett was the latest guest on the Spencer Love With Wrestling program to talk about his experience in the ROH bubble, where the former WWE 24/7 champion states that no other company is handling the pandemic as well as ROH currently is. Bennett even reveals how the promotion initially was apologizing to the talent for their strict stipulations, something he says shows how much they care about the performer’s safety. Highlights are below.
“You know it’s funny, I love it [being in the bubble]. First of all, just because I love the camaraderie of wrestling, I love being around like-minded individuals. But it’s also a small price to pay for the fact that we get to go and continue to work. I mean that genuinely, right now in this world that we’re living in, the fact that I can still go and work but not only work but do something that I love to do, I’m incredibly blessed.
It was funny the first time I was in the bubble they kept apologizing. They’re like, yeah, you can’t go do this and then you can’t go do that and then you know, if you want to go to the gym in the hotel, you gotta ask. I was like, why are you guys apologizing? I have a family. I have people in my family that are higher risk. I have two kids. I have a 2-year-old and I have a toddler. I want to keep them safe and you guys are doing that so I can work, which can provide for them, and you’re going to keep me safe so I don’t take anything home to them. To me, it’s not even a price to pay. To me, that’s just what you do.
I haven’t seen a company handle this pandemic better than how Ring of Honor’s handled it. Between not firing anyone, hiring new people, keeping everyone safe, continuing to work… I said it in a video I posted the other day, they made the decision pretty early on to put people in front of their profits, and I think we’re gonna look back at this time and look at the companies that did that and they’re gonna get the recognition that they deserve. This is an unprecedented time were living in, and the companies that are putting philanthropy and putting good, you know, putting these good things into place and taking care of their employees when there’s a pandemic, I think that should be talked about more.”
(H/T and transcribed by Fightful)