wrestling / News

Backstage Update on WWE COVID Outbreak, Drew McIntyre’s Diagnosis, Talents Not on Raw

January 12, 2021 | Posted by Jeffrey Harris
Drew McIntyre Image Credit: WWE

As previously reported, WWE World champion Drew McIntyre was the first confirmed athlete of an ongoing COVID-19 outbreak in WWE. On today’s edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer had more details on what the current outbreak.

According to Meltzer, there’s “at least” four WWE Superstars, including Drew McIntyre, that currently have or just recently recovered from the coronavirus. Meltzer indicated that “there may be more” wrestlers who were diagnosed with COVID in WWE.

Additionally, one of the Superstars with COVID is a SmackDown talent who was scheduled for last Friday’s show but had to be taken off. Also, there’s another major Superstar who reportedly “just returned from COVID,” and there’s reportedly another one from NXT. Meltzer noted that other talents are likely going to be kept off TV due to contact tracing or possible exposure to others who had COVID. So, while they may not have COVID, they are being kept off TV as a precaution.

It should be noted that while Kofi Kingston was not on last night’s Raw, it’s not been confirmed that he had a COVID-19 diagnosis. It was announced that he suffered a broken jaw injury. PWInsider later reported that Kingston’s jaw injury is legitimate.

With regards to Drew McIntyre, Meltzer reported that McIntyre likely tested positive the day before Raw. The protocol is that talents have to get tested the day before TV. With that in mind, it’s believed that McIntyre did not have the coronavirus last week, when he was physically interacting with Goldberg, and in close proximity with Hulk Hogan and Jimmy Hart. If McIntyre did not have the virus as early as last week, that would mean Goldberg, Hogan, and Hart are not in immediate jeopardy of having COVID.

PWInsider reported on the talents who were missing from last night’s show. Per the report, the following Superstars were backstage at night’s Raw but did not appear on TV:

* Cedric Alexander
* Asuka
* Shelton Benjamin
* Nikki Cross
* Humberto Carrillo
* Ricochet

Also, while Angel Garza was not on Raw, he did make an appearance on Raw Talk after the USA Network broadcast. Carrillo did work a match for WWE Main Event.

article topics :

Drew McIntyre, RAW, WWE, Jeffrey Harris