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WWE was scheduled to tape two episodes of SmackDown on August 4, one to air on August 7, and the other to air on August 14. Instead, WWE canceled the the second taping at the last moment.
The cancelation had various reasons, once being Vince McMahon changing the script, as well as the loss of people at the last minute who were expected to appear on the show per Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer
Mike Johnson revealed on PWInsider Elite (subscription required), positive COVID-19 cases caused the scheduled SmackDown taping to be canceled. It’s unknown how many cases, or who tested positive for the virus.
“They were supposed to tape two SmackDown episodes last week, and I’ve been told by 3 different sources that the second SmackDown taping got canceled at the last second because they had more positives” Johnson stated. “If people don’t show up and they are not on the show again this week, they might have gone to Epcot for a little vacation”
WWE is taping this week’s edition of SmackDown (August 14), as well as next week’s edition of RAW(August 17) today at the WWE Performance Center. The company plans to air August 21 edition of SmackDown and the August 24 edition of RAW live.
Last month, WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon spoke with Ad Age, and reiterated previous statements regarding safety measures put in place at the Performance Center. She states attending the tapings are on a volunteer basis, and if you test negative for the virus, you must still undergo temperature checks and fill out health questionnaires prior to entering the closed facility.
We have reached out to WWE for comment.