On Thursday, March 26 it was reported that Roman Reigns had pulled out of WrestleMania 36. Reigns was scheduled to face Goldberg for the WWE Universal Title, but due to his health, he didn't feel comfortable working with the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking on ESPN SportsCenter, Triple H was asked about Reigns' decision to pull out of the match.
"There are various talent -- I don't want to get into the specifics of WrestleMania because that's a must-watch event -- we don't like to take precautions with our talent anymore so than we need to. All of our talents are in this in a voluntary capacity. If they don't want to be part of it or they feel there's a risk, they don't have to be here. Nothing is held against them for that. Same with our crew or everybody else. We don't want to take chances on that. With Roman having a pre-existing condition that would make him more susceptible to something, it's understandable. We've had very few talent that have chosen not to be here. I can tell you, for us, it's been an amazing process to be able to go to these events, everybody is under immense pressure. Obviously there's a ton of work going into these and trying to do them. Even the talent, performing in front of no one, is not the easiest thing in the world. Everybody is here, they feel a sense of purpose. They're all laughing and smiling and having a blast. These have been some of the most fun days of television," he said.
WWE is still advertising Roman vs. Goldberg as taking place at WrestleMania 36. The two men are set for a face-off this Friday on WWE SmackDown.
Elsewhere during the interview, Triple H was asked about WrestleMania moving to two nights. The event was originally scheduled for one night, but with the pandemic, it was decided they would hold WrestleMania 36 on Saturday and Sunday with matches shot at the Performance Center and other locations.
He replied, "WrestleMania is a mega-event and over the last few years, it's gone from an event that has gone from three to four to five-plus hours. This year, there's so much to the card and so many people wanted to participate, especially as it got closer to the event and the world started going through the situation that it's in. We felt like it was the right time for people to be able to sit back and enjoy this, but let's give it to them on multiple days. There was too much here, too much excitement and content, too many great matches for it to be all withheld in one night."
Rob Gronkowski is set to host both nights of WrestleMania 36.
Fightful will have live coverage of both nights of WrestleMania 36 beginning on Saturday, April 4.
If you use any of the quotes above, please give a link back to h/t to Fightful for the transcription.
