This article is more than 5 months old

This article is more than 5 months old

Florida has ruled that WWE is an essential service, putting professional wrestling on an equal footing with hospitals, law enforcement and grocery stores.

XFL files for bankruptcy halfway through return season amid pandemic Read more

WWE, which films shows and events at two locations in Florida, was initially shut down after Republican governor Ron DeSantis put the state under a shelter-in-place order during the Covid-19 pandemic. But Orange county mayor Jerry Demings said that after “some conversation” with DeSantis’s office, the decision was changed.

In an order signed on Thursday, the Florida Division of Emergency Management ruled that essential services now 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”.

A spokesperson for DeSantis’s office told ESPN such services are “critical” to Florida’s economy. WWE started to run live shows, without an audience, on Monday.

DeSantis and WWE chairman Vince McMahon are close allies of Donald Trump. McMahon’s wife, Linda, was a part of Trump’s cabinet from 2017 to 2019, leaving to chair America First Action, a pro-Trump Super Pac, or political fundraising committee.

Vince McMahon is also the owner of the XFL, a football league conceived as an off-season rival to the NFL which filed for bankruptcy on Monday.

In a statement to ESPN, WWE said: “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.”