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Indy Stars and Promoters on WrestleMania Week Being Scuttled: ‘An Astronomical Loss’

March 13, 2020 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas
WWE WrestleMania Mars press release

The loss of WrestleMania week won’t just hurt the WWE; it will be devastating for independent talent, as a new piece by VICE lays out. The article posted today takes a look at how the independent companies who build their events around WrestleMania week are going to be financially hit if the whole thing gets canceled, which is looking increasingly likely due to concerns over coronavirus.

The article notes that neither WrestleCon not GCW have cancellation insurance, but also points out that it may not have helped if they did. SXSW was cancelled by the city of Austin and promoters were left in the hole because the festival’s cancellation insurance didn’t cover disease outbreaks. You can see a couple of quotes from the article below:

Chris Dickinson on the potential cancellation of WrestleMania week’s indy shows: “This is unfortunately not only financially devastating, as it is the biggest wrestling week of the year, but it’s extremely demoralizing, especially for me. I had a lot riding on some of these matches and a lot of eyes on me. This is a time where I could really break through to the next level, and it’s all either going to be postponed or some of these opportunities may never present themselves again.”

Michael Blanton on the cancellation’s affect on wrestlers: “[It’s] an astronomical loss … This is the indie wrestler’s big bonus that they work all year for. Taking this away would take away a huge portion of your yearly take.”

WrestleCon’s Michael Bochicchio on the affects of a cancellation: “I’m not kidding, if this is a full cancellation, I’ll likely sell my house. You can put it on the record, it’s true.