WWE Classified As An "Essential Business" By Florida Officials
Here's why WWE is able to keep filming through the current crisis.
WWE's pretaped Raw era came to an end last night as the former flagship was broadcast live from the Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, despite a statewide stay-at-home order advising all non-essential businesses to cease activity until at least 30 April.
That Vince McMahon's promotion was able to push forward under such circumstances raised eyebrows when it was announced WWE was going back to live programming last week. Now, we have answers.
The Mayor of Orange County, Florida, Jerry Demings, answered the question of why WWE was still trading at a press conference on Monday:-
"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. And so therefore, they were allowed to remain open."
Demings also said the following on the unknown WWE employee who reportedly tested positive for the ongoing global situation:-
"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 my 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.”
And so the show continues...