Per governmental guidelines on Thursday, November 26, British wrestling fans can now be in attendance at shows!
There are different rules according to whether the show is hosted inside or outside, and which Tier the venue is in. Although much would need to be done to ensure the safety of wrestlers and fans alike, the lifting of restrictions does mean that the way has now been paved for shows with a crowd to re-commence.
The latest guidelines are thus:
- Tier 1: Up to 4,000 fans allowed outdoors; up to 2,000 indoors
- Tier 2: Up to 2,000 fans allowed outdoors; up to 1,000 indoors or 50% capacity (whichever of the two is fewer)
- Tier 3: No fans allowed indoors or out.
With a majority of Northern areas being assigned Tier 3, the wait for fans in those regions will go on. However London, Brighton and Liverpool are all Tier 2 locations, which will be welcome news for RevPro, Pro Wrestling Eve and Riptide.
Some promotions have wasted no time in announcing their return. TNT Extreme Wrestling announced a show shortly after the House of Commons notification of the tier allocations. After the first lockdown, TNT was one of the first promotions to plan a show. That show was the fatefully cancelled Hallowe’en weekender.
One interesting wrinkle of the restrictions is that the ‘Rule of Six’ would still need to be followed by performers. This means Battle Royals will still have to wait, but it’s encouraging that British wrestling fans could start to come back soon.