Florida Governor deems WWE as 'Essential Business'
When it was announced that the state of Florida will go into a lockdown more than a week ago, many had thought that WWE would be forced to go on a brief hiatus. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced a lot of businesses and sports leagues like the NBA, NFL, and MLB to stop their functioning for the time being. WWE, however, still went ahead and delivered WrestleMania 36 and episodes of RAW, NXT, and SmackDown.
The Mayor of Orange County Florida, Mr. Jerry L Demmings was asked about this during his press conference on Monday where he confirmed that WWE has been deemed as 'Essential Business'.
“Initially there was a review that was done and they were not initially deemed an essential business,” Demings replied. “With some conversations with the Governor’s office regarding the Governor’s order, they were deemed an essential business. So, therefore, they were allowed to remain open.”
According to WWE latest news it was reported earlier that WWE will be returning to filming their shows live from this week onwards.
Mr. Demmings was also quizzed about the fact about WWE confirming that an on-screen talent, who is not part of the active roster, being tested positive for COVID-19.
The Mayor responded to this by saying,
“In terms of the specifics associated with the wrestling personality who tested positive, I don’t know any of the details of that obviously because of HIPAA laws."
“But, that’s like a little family. A small family of professional athletes that wrestle. And if one of my family members tested positive in my house, that would be concerning to me. We would have to make some provisions in our house to make sure that the rest of us not get infected. So I would assume that, from a business perspective, the WWE is doing that type of analysis of its own family.”
The WWE talent has since recovered from the virus and the person's condition is also reported to be much better at the moment.
Ever since the pandemic started taking a toll on the daily functions the WWE Performance Center has been hosting the weekly shows with no live audience. This year's WrestleMania, which was conducted across two days, also emanated from the facility in Orlando, Florida.
It will be interesting to see how this news will be accepted across the world as many have been asking for the wrestling business to take a short hiatus until the situation has been solved.
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