WWE professional wrestling is 'essential' state business, Florida governor says

Live broadcasts without spectators will now resume for the sport

Professional wrestling in the state of Florida has been deemed “essential” during the coronavirus pandemic, according to the state governor’s office.

Orange County Mayor Jerry Deming consulted with Governor Ron DeSantis‘ office about WWE continuing during the pandemic after the sport was first labelled as “non-essential”.

WWE switched to pre-taped shows in recent weeks, but it will now resume its live broadcast after getting clearance as “an essential business,” Mr Deming told NBC News‘ Orlando affiliate.

“And so, therefore, they were allowed to remain open,” he said.

“We believe it is now more important than ever to provide people with a diversion from these hard times,” WWE said in a statement to ESPN.

Live broadcast would now resume for the professional sport, but spectators would not be allowed in the arenas to cheer on the wrestlers as Covid-19 continued its spread.

“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 added.

Allowing WWE to resume could open the door for other sports in Florida to also start again if they remained closed to spectators, including Major League Baseball.

But Mr DeSantis’s decision to allow WWE to resume has been met with controversy, as critics have said his office has remained slow on its coronavirus response.

It took until April for the governor to employ a stay-at-home order for the entire state. He also refused to shut down beaches for weeks, allowing spring breakers to gather in large clusters, despite city mayors and health officials saying the call was necessary.

The Miami Herald editorial board recently released an op-ed about Mr DeSantis’s leadership during the pandemic, and a majority of the article was critical.

“Do you know what Florida really needs right now? A governor,” the op-ed read.

Florida coronavirus cases rose in recent weeks with more than 21,000 infections and 524 deaths.

Mr DeSantis previously defended his state by saying Florida’s cases didn’t compare to other hotspots in US, like Los Angeles and New York City. But already Florida has double the amount of infections compared to that of South Korea, a country with a population of 30m residents and leads in testing per capita.