During the coronavirus pandemic, Florida has come to the conclusion that putting on professional wrestling shows is an essential activity.
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings on Monday said the state has deemed World Wrestling Entertainment an essential business, meaning the company can go back to holding live shows despite the state's stay-at-home order that lasts through the end of the month, ESPN reports. Demings said WWE was given that designation after discussions with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), even though they weren't "initially" deemed essential.
"With some conversation with the governor's office regarding the governor's [stay-at-home] order, they were deemed an essential business," Demings said, per the Miami Herald. "Therefore, they were allowed to remain open."
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WWE has in recent weeks been broadcasting pre-taped shows with no fans in attendance. This includes WrestleMania, which this year was taped without an audience at the WWE's Performance Center in Florida.
A memo from DeSantis' office specifies that "employees at a professional sports and media production with a national audience" are considered essential, although only if the production is in a location closed to the general public. A DeSantis spokesperson said these services are essential "because they are critical to Florida's economy." ESPN notes this could potentially allow other sports to return in Florida.
"We believe it is now more important than ever to provide people with a diversion from these hard times," WWE said in a statement. "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."
WWE recently confirmed a COVID-19 case among an employee but said "we believe this matter is low risk to WWE talent and staff" because the individual developed symptoms after exposure to two health care workers, and "the employee had no contact with anyone from WWE since being exposed to those two individuals."
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