By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
The Florida governor’s office released a memo on Monday that added three types of essential services. WWE is covered in the third item listed in the memo, which was dated as Thursday, April 9 despite not appearing to have been released publicly until Monday:
“Employees at professional sports and media production with a national audience – including any athletes, entertainers, production team, executive team, media team, and others necessary to facilitate including services supporting such production – only if the location is closed to the general public.” Read the full memo here.
Powell’s POV: A spokesperson from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s office also told ESPN.com that WWE is considered essential “because they are critical to Florida’s economy.” This story is starting to gain more national attention and it will be interesting to see how much backlash there ends up being. The ruling also seems to open the door for AEW, UFC, and others to run empty venue shows in Florida during the pandemic.
WWE is considered essential “because they are critical to Florida’s economy.”
So is every other business in Florida. If this keeps gaining traction in the media, it will wind up changing.