WWE issued a statement to ESPN regarding their decision to return to live programming at the Performance Center in Orlando, FL next week. As of now, RAW and SmackDown are expected to air live from the Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. WWE NXT is expected to air live from Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL. No fans will be in attendance at any of the events.
As many of you know, Florida currently has a stay-at-home order in place. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis issued the stay-at-home order on April 1st and it runs through April 30th. Only essential businesses are supposed to remain open during that time. Those businesses include the health care (doctors), financial (banks), energy (power), food (grocery stores), communications (911/phones) and transportation (buses/cabs) sectors. As of this writing, Governor DeSantis has yet to comment on why WWE is being allowed to run their events especially when Florida is still increasing in COVID-19 cases every single day.
As noted earlier here on eWn, many talents are upset about the current work environment and don’t think it’s right for them to be put in a situation like this. According to sources, Vince McMahon is the only one who wants the tapings to continue live and obviously he has the final say as long as the state allows for it to happen. It was reported on Saturday that one of WWE’s employees has tested positive for COVID-19.
Here is their statement:
“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.”
