so if you understandably have not been keeping up with pro wrestling news re: the pandemic for the last few days, a brief thread on how insane it has gotten (1)

(2) A horde of WWE employees - wrestlers, backstage talent, everybody - have tested positive for Covid-19. Journalists are reporting it's more than 20 people and that's just the first round.

(3) WWE has not actually released any statement about this and has actually ordered its employees (who are often "individual contractors" because it's a scumbag company) to disclose nothing. Word has gotten out mostly through the wrestlers' whisper network.

(4) We know that the highest-profile name to be confirmed positive with Covid-19 is interviewer Renee Young, who is also the wife of current AEW champion Jon Moxley, who is remaining at home to be by his wife's side - which is why we know about it.

(5) "Sources" informed journalists that none of WWE's important higher-ups called Renee Young to check on her. Given the nature of this news, the only person likely to be the "source" is Jon Moxley himself (who is also "reportedly" furious that WWE is treating his wife this way)

(6) Until this week, WWE was actively discouraging onscreen talent from wearing masks, including the wrestlers and trainees posing as the audience in their current taped shows.

(7) Word has gotten out that WWE's testing regime is "bogus," and has not consisted of enough spot Covid tests to prevent spread.

(8) Vince McMahon was, before this week, planning to run indoor shows in JULY in FLORIDA.

(9) Senior WWE producer Kevin Dunn reportedly has been saying for weeks that the pandemic "isn't a big deal."

(10) Major WWE wrestlers like Roman Reigns, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens are sitting out tapings entirely. Many more threatened to sit out if the mask situation didn't change.

(11) All of this, incidentally, is not meant to downplay any of the equally serious sexual assault revelations that have been sweeping through the industry for the past week and a half - I'm just trying to focus on the pandemic stuff here

(12) On the non-WWE side of things, for comparison: AEW is running all of its tapings at Daily's Place in Jacksonville, which is an outdoor arena (and thus lowers transmission risks greatly), has an intense testing regime and has been public about all results.

(13) They've also ordered talent to stay home whenever there's been so much as a concern about potential infection (as opposed to a confirmed infection). It is safe to say they are taking as few risks as possible.

(14) I'm not suggesting that they're angels per se and a lot of their intensity is no doubt motivated by the fact that if they can't produce shows it's likely the end of the company, since TV revenue is their only major revenue stream now. But they're being much more responsible.