As Friday Night SmackDown rolls into Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada the blue brand looks set to be without a number of Superstars.
With hurricane Ian blasting a path through Florida and into South Carolina, more wrestling events look set to be affected.
AEW were without Swerve Strickland and Samoa Joe for the September 28th episode of Dynamite despite being previously scheduled, and two NXT live events have been postponed. Meanwhile, it has now been reported that more events will be impacted.
Writing in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer stated that WWE were concerned with regard to the status of talents living in Florida, and their ability to get to the SmackDown taping on September 30th. There are also live events scheduled in Bismarck, ND, and Regina and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan over the following days.
Meltzer adds that “at least some booked talent” living in the Orlando, Florida area won’t be able to make it to the shows.
The report goes on to note that the WWE Performance Center wasn’t badly affected by the adverse weather. Although the facility has been shut down, due to it being located relatively high-up, there was only a little water that entered the gym. Had the training centre been elsewhere in Orlando it would have been completely flooded.
The building itself is said to be “pretty much not damaged at all.”