News: WWE Officially Announces Smackdown Will Take Place at WWE Performance Center on Friday (March 13), WrestleMania Update

Here’s the official statement from World Wrestling Entertainment that this Friday’s edition of Smackdown will take place, but it won’t be at the Little Ceasars Arena in Detroit. It will be at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando.

“Friday Night SmackDown on March 13 will air live as regularly scheduled and emanate from WWE’s training facility in Orlando, Florida with only essential personnel in attendance. The event was originally scheduled in Detroit, Michigan.”

There will apparently be no fans there, but PWInsider said that could change. This backs up the original report from yesterday although WWE issued a statement last night saying they would still run Smackdown in Detroit. Today, that decision changed. There’s no word about what this means for next week’s Raw on March 16 in Pittsburgh or other WWE shows.

As for WrestleMania 36 on April 5th in Tampa, Florida, WWE also had a statement (via CBS Sports) about that.

“While we remain committed to hosting WrestleMania at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday, April 5, we are putting contingency plans in place in the event that it is cancelled by government officials, civil authorities and/or local venues. The health and safety of our fans, performers and employees are our top priorities and we are monitoring the situation closely with our partners and government officials in Tampa Bay.”

There was a press conference by Tampa city officials earlier today and they did not announce a cancellation or postponement of WrestleMania.

The reason for the changes is because of the Coronavirus pandemic that is affecting the world with many major sports leagues shutting down for an undetermined amount of time because of the dangers of spreading the Coronavirus. A way to deal with the Coronavirus is to avoid events in arenas and stadiums that would lead to the disease being spread.

TJR Thoughts: I don’t know what to say anymore. It’s constant bad news every day. It’s Friday the 13th tomorrow. Bad luck day. Feels like every day is bad luck day lately. Be smart and safe out there, my friends.