Wrestlecon has announced its plans for 2021 in Tampa, Florida.
Last year, the global pandemic canceled all WrestleMania week plans. Even WWE had to cancel all of their scheduled events outside of WrestleMania itself which took place from an empty WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.
Now, Wrestlecon, which was scheduled to play host to a multitude of events last year including the TNA Wrestling reunion show, has announced that they will be hosting a convention in Tampa this year but there will be no wrestling events attached.
You can see the full detailing of protocol and hotel information below:
We are pleased to announce that we will be offering a modified Wrestlecon for those who are traveling to Tampa, FL for WrestleMania 37 on April 8-11, 2021. Given that COVID-19 is still a very present risk, the event will look different than previous conventions. If you have previously attended one of our events, please understand this convention will be scaled back considerably. If you have yet to attend a Wrestlecon, please know that the Tampa convention will be a fraction of the large scale events we typically run. Detailed below is what fans can expect, along with safety protocols that will be in place.
Hotel Room Block:
We specifically chose to host Wrestlecon at a Marriott Property, The Westin Tampa Waterside. Having stayed in many hotel brands since the pandemic began, we decided to only host a Wrestlecon event if a Marriott property was available. The Marriott brand has a strong commitment to safety protocols, and enforces a mandatory mask mandate in each of its properties.
The Wrestlecon group rate is $169 per night for stays of 1-4 nights; stays of 5 nights or more are reduced to $139 per night.
The Westin Tampa Waterside is conveniently located in Downtown Tampa, walking distance to many prominent venues as well as the famous “Riverwalk” that is the main artery of downtown Tampa.
Those who stay at the Westin Tampa Waterside using our group block will receive free convention entry to one session per day (Friday and Saturday). Your name must be listed on the reservation as a guest of the room. We will not honor free admission for people not listed under the reservation. If you book at the hotel independently, not inside our block, we cannot offer this complimentary access.
Convention Details:
A small convention will be offered in sessions on Friday, April 9th and Saturday, April 10th. If the sessions fill up, we have an option to also offer additional sessions on Sunday, April 11th.
The convention is entirely indoors across multiple spaces. Under normal circumstances, this space would be equipped to hold 1600 attendees. Per hotel safety guidelines, this space can accommodate 800 persons while adhering to both state and hotel imposed social distancing guidelines. However, Wrestlecon plans to have no more than 320 people (20% capacity) in the room at any one time, including all vendors, talent, guests and staff.
Vendor tables will be spaced according to social distancing guidelines, with stanchions and floor markings used to control lines and one directional flow. Once you have passed a vendor, you must follow the flow of traffic towards the exit and circle around to visit the desired vendor.
Sessions will run from 9am-11am, 12pm-2pm, 3pm-5pm on Friday. Sessions will run 9am-11am, 12pm-2pm on Saturday. Once your session has been completed, patrons must exit the convention area to allow hotel staff ample opportunity to clean and sanitize the area before the next session.
Vendors and talent will use their discretion when interacting with fans; talent will remain masked for all interactions (including photo ops). Some talent may also be seated behind plexiglass screens depending on their personal comfort level.
Walk-up admission will only be sold for sessions that don’t sell out in advance
There will be no live wrestling events as part of Wrestlecon 2021
Safety Protocols
Providing a safe environment for our guests and staff is a top priority. Achieving this is a shared responsibility. You must wear a face covering whenever you’re in public areas of the hotel and at all Wrestlecon events. No patron will be admitted to any Wrestlecon event without wearing a mask (over both mouth and nose); our staff will be monitoring for compliance. Any patron who fails to comply with the event mask mandate will be asked to leave. If you fail to comply, you will be escorted out of the event and no refund will be issued.
Temperature checks will be administered at the entry point of all Wrestlecon event spaces; no guest with a temperature higher than 100.4 (per CDC guidelines) will be admitted to any Wrestlecon event. Refunds will be given as appropriate.
We ask you to practice social distancing, staying at least 6 feet from other convention guests, Wrestlecon staff, and hotel associates. All lines will be spaced to ensure social distancing, and monitored for compliance.
There will be signage throughout the hotel and Wrestlecon spaces to remind guests to maintain social distancing, wear masks, and practice frequent handwashing/sanitizing.
The convention venue will be cleaned, including each vendor table, in between sessions by a professionally trained staff.
Hand sanitizer will be available throughout the convention and the hotel
Elevators in the hotel are limited to two occupants at a time.
There will be no food and beverage for sale at Wrestlecon events, we recommend consuming those outside of the Convention area. No food and beverage will be allowed at this event.
We understand that many people may not be comfortable traveling to Tampa or attending live events; however, we also know that we can provide a safe experience for those who plan to attend events in Tampa during Mania weekend. For those who do not travel, there will be a substantial virtual component of Wrestlecon 2021 that we hope you will attend. For those who plan to be in Tampa, we hope you will choose to stay at our hotel, and participate in the scaled back convention. We carefully considered this decision, weighing many factors; we are committed to keeping our attendees safe. We know that many of you are eager to return to live events, and hope Wrestlecon 2021 provides that opportunity.
