Hurricane Ian has raised concerns for WWE. It has left more than 2 million people in Florida without power. While this week’s edition of SmackDown will take place in Winnipeg, Canada, a large portion of the WWE roster resides in Florida, with the WWE Performance Center located in Orlando.
WWE is hopeful of talents arriving on SmackDown
According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, WWE is hopeful that talent will be able to travel to the taping. WWE is also worried about the show:
“I know WWE’s very worried about Friday’s show because they have so many people from there. The hope was that it’ll be okay and people can get there from Tampa and Orlando to Winnipeg on Friday.”
Meanwhile, earlier in the week, AEW President Tony Khan publicly stated that attending the company’s September 28 taping was optional for talent, to allow stars living in Florida to look after their homes. The changes that were made to plans for this week’s edition of Dynamite due to the hurricane was also revealed. Fans noted how Keith Lee appeared solo on the show in a backstage segment with The Acclaimed. Another big name missing from the planned card was ROH TV Champion Samoa Joe, who like Swerve, was unable to travel due to living in the area affected by the hurricane.
Hurricane Ian devastated much of coastal southwest Florida into darkness Wednesday, as the monster storm brought “catastrophic” storm surges, wind and flooding that had officials readying a huge emergency response. The US Border Patrol said 20 migrants were missing after their boat sank, with four Cubans swimming to shore in the Florida Keys islands and three rescued at sea by the coast guard. As hurricane conditions spread, forecasters warned of a once-in-a-generation calamity.
