WWE has made it clear in the past week that they have no intention of slowing down their weekly live wrestling broadcasts from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando during the coronavirus pandemic, and on Monday the company was given the seal of approval by Florida state officials. During a press conference Orange County (Florida) Mayor Jerry Demings was asked about WWE was being considered an “essential business” during the statewide “stay at home” order, and he explained, “I think initially there was a review that was done and they were not initially deemed an essential business. With some conversation with the Governor’s office regarding the Governor’s order, they were deemed an essential business. Therefore they were allowed to remain open.”
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So why did Demings and Florida governor Ron DeSantis come to that conclusion? On Thursday DeSantis signed an order through the Division of Emergency Management, in which he made three amendments to the list of what was considered an “essential service.” The first was about programs addressing mental health and substance abuse, while the second had to do with employees who maintain theme parks and zoos. The third was listed as “employees at a professional sports and media production with a national audience – including any athletes, entertainers, production team, executive team, media team and any other necessary to facilitate including services supporting such production – only if the location is closed to the general public.”
WWE fits that last section to a T, and according to CNN DeSantis’ decision came down to money.
“This essential service was added because it is critical to Florida’s economy, officials told CNN,” the site reported on Monday.
WWE released a statement over the weekend defending its decision to tape live episodes every week rather than pre-tape a large sum of episodes in a short period of time, a decision Vince McMahon reportedly didn’t make until late Friday afternoon.
“We believe it is now more important than ever to provide people with a diversion from these hard times,” the statement read. “We are producing content on a closed set with only essential personnel in attendance following appropriate guidelines while taking additional precautions to ensure the health and wellness of our performers and staff. As a brand that has been woven into the fabric of society, WWE and its Superstars bring families together and deliver a sense of hope, determination and perseverance.”
