The company announced it will hold tapings for the “Ring of Honor Wrestling” television show this month in Maryland. The focus of the tapings will be the Pure Title tournament, which had originally been scheduled to begin in April.
After announcing plans to return to TV tapings later this month (which will be spoiler-free due to the empty arena format), Ring of Honor today announced an extensive testing policy to ensure the safety of their staff, crew and talent. The guidelines have been administered by the Maryland State Athletic Commission and involve the following protocols:
- Two weeks prior to events, all talent and referees are required to undergo the first NMT (Nasal Mid-Turbinate) molecular PCR swab test.
- Within the three days leading up to the event, all talent and referees will be required to undergo another NMT molecular PCR swab test. They must be isolated IMMEDIATELY after taking the second test. Separate hotel and eating arrangements will be required for all talent, who will remain isolated until arriving to work the show.
- On the day of the event/the last day of an individual engaging in the event (the latter only being applicable if the event lasts for more than one day) all talent and referees will undergo a third NMT molecular swab test. This will be used for contact tracing which will be conducted and documented by the state athletic commission; who consider contact tracing as a key factor in reducing the spread of the virus.
- Upon their entry to the venue, all individuals will undergo a temperature check via an infrared thermometer. Entry will be refused if a temperature of 100 degrees Farenheit/37.7 degrees celsius is recorded.
- All other individuals present will be required to follow the standard mask-wearing (over nose AND mouth)/social distancing (2m distance) protocols set out in other regions.
- All individuals other than the participants working in the ring or are physically interacting with participants (i.e. trainers) will be required to undergo second and third NMT molecular PCR swab tests in the respective time frames. All individuals other than the ring announcer will be required to wear a mask and follow social distancing measures at all times.
Ring of Honor made the decision in mid-March to cease running shows until there was a safe way to resume production. The company continued to pay its talent and staff during the hiatus while continuing to offer content on other platforms, a move that garnered high praise from members of the wrestling community.
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