Great news coming out of Charlotte, NC – Michael Bochicchio, the founder of WrestleCon, announced that his company Highspots would no longer be on the hook for over $100,000 claimed in liquidated damages by the Marriott Hotel. WrestleCon had the hotel reserved for guests specifically partaking in the festivities for the planned WrestleMania weekend, but due to the Coronavirus pandemic those plans obviously changed and Marriott still sought the substantial sum of cash.
Big name wrestlers like Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens went to bat for Bochicchio stating how extreme such demands were and even WrestleCade, another colleague in wrestling convention game, stood up for WrestleCon. Bochicchio says in the statement that Florida Governor DeSantis’ decision to cancel all events over the next month played a major factor in having Marriott’s demands changed, but thanked everyone, including other venues that were booked for the support and understanding.
“5:46pm update. Thanks to Marriott Westshore for agreeing to honor the Force Majeure clause and not holding either our guests or WC responsible for the liquidated damages. The Emergency Declaration by Gov DeSantis to cancel events over the next 30 days was a major factor. We’d also like to thank the NY Yankees and Steinbrenner Field for agreeing today to return our rental payment, in full, due to circumstances. They are an outstanding organization and if we are able to return to Tampa in the future, they will be our first phone call. We anxiously await the decision of The Ritz and the Bus company we paid to complete the list of venues and services that we contracted to use in Tampa. And although they specifically mentioned that the social media campaign led by @IAmJericho had absolutely nothing to do with their decision making process, we appreciate both Chris and our Twitter audience for having our back… now back to issuing refunds…”
5:46pm update. Thanks to Marriott Westshore for agreeing to honor the Force Majeure clause and not holding either our guests or WC responsible for the liquidated damages. The Emergency Declaration by Gov DeSantis to cancel events over the next 30 days was a major factor.
— WrestleCon (@wrestlecon) March 17, 2020
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