New WWE Champion Drew McIntyre wasn’t present on RAW for the final WrestleMania 36 build with Brock Lesnar because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
We noted back on March 12 how McIntyre and Sheamus both had to leave the UK early after being sent over for a WrestleMania promotional tour. They left their tours early due to travel restrictions put in place because of the outbreak.
McIntyre had to be quarantined when he returned to the United States, which lasted into the time that the RAW takings took place at the empty WWE Performance Center.
WrestleMania 36 performers Bobby Lashley and Kairi Sane missed the build on RAW for the same reasons. Lashley had been on a promotional tour of South Africa, and Sane had been in Japan to get married.
The talents were all forced into quarantine because they traveled back into the United States from foreign countries, which caused them to miss the build for their WrestleMania 36 matches. Lashley lost to Aleister Black at WrestleMania 36 Night Two and their match had zero build. Sane and Asuka dropped the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles to Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross during Night One of WrestleMania 36, but Asuka was on TV for some build to the match, but not a lot.
McIntyre beat Lesnar down on the March 2 RAW from Brooklyn, and then defeated Erick Rowan on the March 9 RAW episode from Washington, DC. He appeared in a pre-recorded promo video that aired on the March 23 RAW episode, but he did not appear in the ring with Lesnar while they were taping RAW at the empty WWE Performance Center. The WrestleMania 36 matches were taped later that same week.
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