WWE has the blessing of the Orange County Mayor to keep running as they are essential business.
During a press conference on Monday, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said about WWE, "Originally, they were not deemed an essential business. With some conversation with the governor's office regarding the governor's order, they were deemed an essential business." Demings also said WWE is "like a small family" who will be self-policing during the pandemic. Demings did acknowledge that positive case of coronavirus within WWE during his comments.
Essential businesses in Florida that are supposed to remain open during the stay-at-home order include health care, financial, energy, food, communications and transportation sectors.
According to Marc Raimondi of ESPN, an April 9 memo from the governor's office, had recent additions to the list of "essential services" in Florida include "employees at a professional sports and media production with a national audience -- including any athletes, entertainers, production team, executive team, media team and any others necessary to facilitate including services supporting such production -- only if the location is closed to the general public."
Officials told CNN the service was added to the "essential business" list because "it is critical to Florida's economy."
The WWE Performance Center is located in Orange County. In a reply to a Twitter user, the official account of Orange County noted that it was the state's decision, not the county's, to allow WWE to continue running live events.
Good morning, Rob. The WWE taping was the State’s decision; not the County's. However, when they did film, they did not have an audience. You can share your concern with the State. Here is their contact info: 850-717-9337 and governorron.desantis @eog.myflorida.com.
— Orange County FL (@OrangeCoFL) April 14, 2020
Vince McMahon made the decision to resume live tapings last Friday after it was originally planned for WWE to tape weeks of content to have in the can to air on USA and FOX.
WWE put out a statement defending the decision saying, "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. As a brand that has been woven into the fabric of society, WWE and its Superstars bring families together and deliver a sense of hope, determination, and perseverance."
Fightful will continue to update fans on WWE's schedule as more information becomes available.
