ROH pulls The Collective talent from TV tapings as COVID-19 precaution
Thanks to help from John Pollock of Post Wrestling
ROH officials made a decision today that a number of talents brought in for the television tapings this week would not be used due to being in contact with people who tested positive for COVID-19 at The Collective series of wrestling events over the weekend in Indianapolis.
Three wrestlers have publicly come forward from that weekend, AC Mack, Dan the Dad, and Cabana Man Dan, stating that they had tested positive from the series of events that included a lot of top non-WWE talent that included stars from AEW, ROH, and Impact Wrestling. We are told that the ROH tapings had to be rewritten due to a number of people being sent home after the company learned yesterday they were exposed to people who had tested positive due to the company’s internal protocol being used in conjunction with working with the Maryland State Athletic Commission.
ROH has had some of the strictest COVID protocols of any wrestling company in the world since the outbreak in March, including a long period of not running any events nor taping new television shows. They returned to action with the Pure title tournament.
This was confirmed with multiple sources although officially Joe Koff would not comment on the specific matter.
“While Ring of Honor does not publicly discuss specific internal decisions, ROH is taking every measure to preserve the integrity of its rigorous health and safety protocol for the upcoming tapings,” Koff said in an email to the Observer.
Dave Meltzer is the founder and lead writer on the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the weekly constant when it comes to news and reviews in pro wrestling and mixed martial arts for more than 40 years. Dave also co-hosts Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and had had bylines for The National, Yahoo Sports, MMA Fighting and others.