NWA wrestler Stu Bennett (aka Wade Barrett) recently appeared as a guest on the 411 Wrestling Interviews Podcast where he spoke about the pro wrestling landscape during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Featured below are some of the highlights from the discussion.
On NWA shutting down early into the pandemic but other promotions like WWE and AEW not being able to do the same: “Yeah, ideal world scenario, everybody should be locked down, not traveling in planes, not being in close contact with each other. That is a ideal-world scenario, and I think the company that I’m working with in the wrestling world [NWA] were very quick to shut everything down and say, ‘Until it’s clear, until it’s safe, we’re having no fans gathering. We’re having no wrestlers traveling or getting together on any shows.’ It’s that simple. But you have to balance that with the fact that companies like AEW and WWE have these massive TV contracts they’d be in breach of if they don’t produce their content. So, I absolutely understand both sides of the argument.”
On being grateful that he hasn’t had to do any traveling during the pandemic: “As a human being, I am very happy that I have not been put on an airplane for the last four months. I’ve very happy I don’t have to continue doing that, but I’m also in a privileged position where I have funds[?] to tide me over through this period. There are people who don’t have that, and there are companies who are obligated to fulfill pre-existing agreements. So, it’s a really difficult situation. I’m not going to condemn that are carrying on running their shows. I hope every measure possible is being taken to limit the spread of this disease and limit the chance of getting it, but there is inherent risk to it. So, getting away from that, and that’s the nature of the beast unfortunately.”
Check out the complete Stu Bennett interview below, or at Transistor.fm. H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes.
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