WWE Deemed As 'Essential Business' During Global Pandemic
- Joe Bourne
- Apr 16, 2020
- 3 min read
The officer of Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis has signed an order deeming WWE’s product as ‘essential business’, causing an uproar and a divide between both the company’s fans and employees.
WWE have come under a lot of scrutiny recently, which stems from their resistance against the coronavirus halting their wrestling product despite the COVID-19 death toll in the US surpassing the 50,000 mark.
Vince McMahon’s company has continued with their weekly episodic entertainment, which has ultimately put their employees at risk but has also been deemed as ‘essential business’ by both DeSantis and also Jared Moskowitz, who is the director for the state’s emergency management team.
In a press conference streamed on Twitter, Florida’s Orange Country Mayor Jerry Demings revealed that WWE’s product was initially deemed as void and not ‘essential business’ but was concluded as the latter after several meetings.
According to WESH-TV, he said: "With some conversation with the governor's office regarding the governor's order, they were deemed an essential business. So, therefore, they were allowed to remain open."
The company were pre-recording their shows in March from their training facility ‘The Performance Center’ in Orlando, which included the matches of WrestleMania 36, but this announcement has given the company the green light to proceed with live shows again with the absence of an audience, still from the aforementioned training facility.
The announcement was met with a huge backlash from both political figures and fans alike on Twitter, who have collectively deemed this decision as irresponsible and dangerous.
The General Manager of Gloucestershire's leading wrestling promotion Lewis Nicholls has also given his strong views on Florida's decision to deem the product as 'essential business'.
"Do I miss wrestling? Yes. Is throwing punches, being punched, slamming and being slammed essential business in any capacity? No" Nicholls told Y2SAY.
"By going ahead with shows, whether pre-recorded and being closed doors or not, lives are being put at risk. It's absolutely ludicrous and, to be blunt, stupid.
"Financial gain has been put ahead of the welfare of talent and backstage staff. Fans surely won't rejoice at the fact that the product is carrying on as normal. If they're like me, they will be disgusted and put off by it."
Per Sports Illustrated, John Solow, an economics professor at the University of Central Florida, concurs with the views expressed in the tweets from fans and also the view of Nicholls, and has judged the decision as silly, stating specifically that “there are other things that are far more critical to the Florida economy.”
However, WWE have hit back at this universal scrutiny in a statement that addresses the company’s stance with the unprecedented global pandemic.
"We believe it is now more important than ever to provide people with a diversion from these hard times.
"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."
Coincidentally, the decision came after WWE’s abundance of pre-recorded content had been used up and the day before it needed to film an episode of SmackDown to content the $1 billion contract with sports coverage juggernauts Fox.
In addition to this, the decision also came after the company’s financial struggles after the bankruptcy of the XFL, which the WWE were the major shareholders in, and these financial struggles concluded in the release of 23 on-screen personalities, not to mention their backstage staff.
Much of the talent who were released expressed their disappointment via social media outlets, including wrestler Drake Maverick who took to Twitter and YouTube to post an emotional reaction to the news.
As people self-isolate to continue the push towards normality, these sorts of decisions will undoubtedly change the lives of many and come under immense scrutiny from the public and health professionals; but, for now, WWE continues with business as usual.
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