POLLOCK'S NEWS UPDATE: WWE running in Florida gains major traction

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Originally published at POLLOCK'S NEWS UPDATE: WWE running in Florida gains major traction

POST IT NOTES

**Monday’s edition of Rewind-A-Raw features a big discussion on the classification in Florida being adjusted to include sporting events such as WWE. We also chatted about the XFL filing for bankruptcy and a review of Monday’s edition of Raw from the Performance Center.

**On Wednesday morning, I’ll be a guest on the TSN 1050 Toronto morning show with Michael Landsberg and Carlo Colaiacovo at 9:05 am Eastern.

**Later tonight, Wai Ting and I are back with a new Rewind-A-Wai to cover the inaugural Starrcade events from Thanksgiving Night 1983 in Greensboro, North Carolina. This was chosen by our Espresso Executive Producer MCF, who will join us to share her thoughts on the show, the presentation of pro wrestling during this era, and play the 1983 version of the Trivia Gauntlet. This show will be available for all members of the POST Wrestling Café.

POST SCHEDULE

*Tonight: Rewind-A-Wai – Starrcade 1983 (Patreon)
*Wednesday: Rewind-A-Dynamite
*Wednesday: upNXT with Braden Herrington & Davie Portman
*Thursday: Café Hangout (Live at 3 pm ET for all Patrons)
*Friday: British Wrestling Experience
*Friday: Rewind-A-SmackDown (Patreon)
*Saturday: The Rocky Maivia Picture Show (Journey 2: The Mysterious Island)
*Sunday: Thunderstruck Finale with WH Park & John Pollock (Jushin Thunder Liger’s retirement week)

POST VIDEO

 

WRESTLING NEWS

**On Monday night, it was revealed by Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings that WWE falls into the category of ‘essential businesses’ within the state of Florida. Orange County has been hit with a lot of criticism and is deflecting by stating this was a decision made by the state and not the county. On their official Twitter feed, Orange County is directing critics of the classification to contact the office of Governor Ron DeSantis.

In his briefing with the media, Mayor Demings added that initially, WWE was ruled ‘non-essential’ but that changed after conversations with the Governor’s office.

In ESPN’s reporting, they drew attention to a memo that dated April 9th but which wasn’t widely known about until Monday. The memo was issued by the state to the Florida Division of Emergency Management with a list of additional essential services, among them:

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.

Marc Raimondi of ESPN contacted a spokesperson from the office of Governor Ron DeSantis, who stated that such services are essential “because they are critical to Florida’s economy.” The spokesman also stated that the memo does not specify specific sports and implied other events could run as long as they are closed to the public.

This opens the floodgate for any sports outfit with a national television deal to run in the state of Florida. In theory, this would provide companies such as AEW, Impact Wrestling, Ring of Honor, MLW with an opening to run as the precedent is set. If streaming on the internet is considered a national audience then the list is that much longer.

If UFC opted to run in Florida instead of Lemoore, California, there is a strong chance UFC 249 and the following events would be on schedule to occur. The problem UFC had was by attempting to run in California, it drew the attention of Senator Dianne Feinstein and then Governor Gavin Newsom, who placed pressure on Disney and left them no choice but to stop UFC from running. The optics would be bad for Disney to turn around and greenlight events in another state.

**Politico looks at the decision made by Florida while also noting the money earmarked for the state of Florida from the Linda McMahon-led American First Action super PAC to re-elect Donald Trump in November. An ABC report states that McMahon’s Super PAC plans to spend $26.6 million in broadcast TV ad buys to run in battleground states North Carolina and Florida. Of that money, $18.5 is earmarked for Florida with $11.3 in Orlando and $7.2 in Tampa with people openly questioning the timing of these announcements.

**Investigative reporter Stephanie Coueignoux out of Orlando put together a timeline of Florida’s initial executive order and what was considered essential services along with their recent amendment while also at when Linda McMahon’s Super PAC announcement was revealed and Vince McMahon’s decision run live shows in the state.

**I have reached out to several promotions regarding this classification within Florida and if they are considering running in the state and below are the statements we received at POST Wrestling on Tuesday from Ring of Honor and MLW:

Joe Koff of ROH:

I think it’s great for WWE that they are able to operate how they see fit, or how they may even need to for their business. It doesn’t necessarily change our approach to the pandemic though. The safety of all of our performers, staff, vendors, and fans are the most important thing to us right now and we are continuing to improve our infrastructure and find ways to connect with them during this time. Are we eager to get back? Absolutely. For now, we will be monitoring day by day.

From Court Bauer at MLW:

No. I will not put my athletes, crew and staff along with their families at risk of contracting the virus.

**It is expected that Tom Phillips and Byron Saxton will be the ones calling NXT on Wednesday night and the show will take place from Full Sail University while Raw and SmackDown are being done from the Performance Center.

**Last week’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown finished with a 1.40 rating and 2,317,000 viewers, so it avoided being the least-watched episode during its run on Fox. The lowest remains the November 15, 2019, show that finished with 2,309,000 viewers. This week’s show finished 0.6 in the 18-49 demo that translates to 823,000 viewers in the key demo.

**The WWE stock was up today and closed at $38.37.

**Dave Zirin at The Nation has a scathing editorial on WWE’s decision to continue its shows.

**The Wrap has a story on Endeavor’s credit rating being downgraded by S&P Global from B (‘highly speculative’) to CCC+ (‘substantial risk’). The company has been hit tremendously hard during the pandemic because of so many of its revenue streams being impacted, which was why the UFC is able to push through and run cards was of great value to the parent company. Over the past few years, Endeavor accumulated a lot of debt from the purchase of IMG and the UFC that were estimated at a combined price of $6.3 billion. Endeavor has been forced to make layoffs with 250 employees temporarily laid off that are unable to work from home coupled with 30% in pay reductions within the company.

The UFC maintains a credit rating of ‘B’ from S&P. Dana White has stated that there will be no layoffs on the UFC side.

**NBC Universal is doing a soft launch of its Peacock streaming service on Wednesday but will be limited to subscribers of Comcast Xfinity X1 and Flex. It won’t be available on a mobile app, web, or by streaming to a TV-connected device unless you have a Comcast box. The plan is to launch it nationally on July 15th

**The WWE story is gaining a lot of traction among mainstream outlets.

**FS1 has their Tuesday night WWE programming block beginning at 8 pm Eastern. The network will run three consecutive episodes from the WWE Ruthless Aggression series followed by a new edition of WWE Backstage. Edge and CM Punk will be on WWE Backstage and given the amount of mainstream focus on WWE today, it will be interesting to see what topics are brought up by Punk, or avoided.

**Dark Side of the Ring will cover the death of Nancy Argentino on tonight’s episode at 10 pm Eastern on Vice TV and Crave in Canada. We’ll be reviewing this episode later this week.

**ECW Press released The Eighth Wonder of the World today by Pat Laprade and Bertrand Hebert. This is the definitive account of the life of Andre Roussimoff a.k.a. ‘Andre the Giant’ and I learned so much reading this book. We will have Pat on the show in the two weeks to discuss the book and will also be chatting with him about the Dino Bravo episode of Dark Side of the Ring, which airs next Tuesday.

**Here are the matches and segments listed for tonight’s episode of Impact Wrestling at 8 pm Eastern on AXS TV, Twitch, and Fight Network in Canada:
*Contract signing between Ken Shamrock and Sami Callihan
*Taya Valkyrie vs. Tenille Dashwood
*Hernandez vs. Hakim Zane
*Johnny Swinger vs. M. Jackson
*The Rascalz vs. Reno Scum vs. XXXL vs. TJP & Fallah Bahh

**AEW is advertising a match between Billy Gunn and Shawn Spears for tonight’s episode of Dark at 7 pm Eastern on YouTube.

**WWE has announced a match between Finn Balor and Fabian Aichner for NXT this Wednesday. The ad on Raw also advertised an appearance by Charlotte Flair and the start of the Interim Cruiserweight title tournament.

**Scotty Davis of OTT spoke with POST Wrestling’s Andrew Thompson and the full interview can be read on the site. Of note, he was asked about the prospect of going to NXT UK and weighed the pros and cons of it believing that now is not the time for him to be entering a system like that:

It wouldn’t be for me right now. I’m not sure it if may at all. Obviously, there’s a lot of talks about it and there’s been some talks going back and forth from all the PROGRESS stuff but overall, I feel like I’m so young and, I’d rather build my name up and build my brand up. Then when I do make a big move somewhere, it’s a big deal. Like it’s something to talk about, but in terms of the people who have signed, in terms of the people who are currently training away and doing shows, I’m happy for a lot of them but, obviously, there’s some that are frustrated. I’d just say go with your gut and speak out about what you feel you’re worth, pretty much, because that’s a lot of the problem with the lads who are . They’re not speaking up. They’re not pushing themselves forward, but overall I feel like its been beneficial to a lot of people.

**AEW’s Road to the Championship Tournament:

**Being the Elite has released part two of Episode 199 with a third part coming out Wednesday. At the end of today’s show, they held a battle royal and led to the announcement that Matt and Nick Jackson will have a singles match on Episode 200:

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2

Does anyone know if MLW or ROH are paying employees and talent through all of this?

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MLW usually runs monthly, I doubt they have many, if any, salaried employees. I think most are per night deals, which give MLW priority.

ROH I would imagine is paying contracted talent their deals.

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It’s amazing how one sided the coverage of this whole Florida thing has been. There may be a reason no wwe talent are actively speaking out. There is no reporting on WWE talent being given an option to work…if it’s talents choice, who are we to judge? If they are choosing to work it’s probably because they either feel enough safety measures are taken or they can’t afford not to.

We know The Revival weren’t being paid for weeks because they reached their downsides. How many other talent would be going unpaid right now and can’t afford that?

Shameful of WWE to be shady and use politics to get their way (tho the argument can be made they have an obligation to investors), but shame on everyone killing WWE right now not knowing if talent and other employees can’t afford to be out of work.

This question will face every American at home right now in the coming weeks. Weighing feelings of safety and health concerns against the need to have income. It’s being highlighted here because it’s clearly a non-essential business being granted permission. Let’s see what this debate looks like in 3-6 weeks as more “non-essential” business are given the okay to open.

Are we gonna crucify every retailer or restaurant for trying to open and putting their employees at risk? Should we vilify the employees for just trying to earn some money to pay their bills?

We can be mad at the powers in government who aren’t doing what they maybe should do but damn, killllling a business for giving its employees the opportunity to make a living is…crazy!

Sorry for bringing up the reality of it

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MJ,

You’re coming off very poorly here.

Is this safe? That’s the first question you should be starting with beyond fiduciary duties to the company. Your justification of this shows little regard for the risk factors that are being exposed.

Tell me how this is safe per the guidelines of health experts, the CDC, and our own local guidelines to follow?

What is your comfort level sending a brother, sister or loved one into this environment and coming back to your family, only to do it one week later for an indefinite period?

You’re also cherry picking reporting to fit your argument. It’s been said many times by myself that talent has been told it’s their choice to work these shows - the choice to run shows has also been handed to WWE by the state, and are they exercising reasonable judgment with that decision?

Leadership is assessing a situation and making the best decision for the individuals you lead whether popular or not. Why was Roman Reigns left to make that decision on his own? Or, Jerry Lawler who went into cardiac arrest on live television being allowed to fly himself to Florida right now?

I’m disappointed you’re trying to make this an “anti-WWE” story rather than looking at the larger picture. Not even saying you need to agree with it, but to not understand that side of the argument is genuinely surprising.

There has also been zero examples reported of any talent in WWE that has not been paid during this period, whether they have appeared or not at the shows. So, that, much like the broadcasters not willing to pay, is at best a theory that has not been reported or backed up through any evidence.

Some times, the monetary loss is secondary to health and well-being.

Does it personally benefit me for wrestling and MMA to shut down for an indefinite period? Some times there are issues larger than yourself.

  • John
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John,

First and foremost I’ve never been more proud to be part of the POST community as during these times. The respect I have for you, Wai, everyone, goes without say, so I hope there are zero hard feelings. I am honored to have read your response. Thank you!

The safety and health of everyone through all of this should always be the top priority. I don’t know how that can be argued against, and I do not mean to suggest otherwise. While we can question if what they are doing at the PC is enough, we should acknowledge it is not nothing. I bring that up for a reason. (Also, serious question - I really haven’t seen this covered anywhere, is it known for sure talent are not staying local and are in fact flying back and forth each week?)

I am glad you asked this. I can only answer it from my own personal experience (sadly my Dad is not a heel wrestler)…
…but I do have two older parents who have been operating an “essential business” for weeks exposing themselves to hundreds of customers at a retail store. I have basically come to grips that if something happens, I may not see them again as I would need to quarantine upon flying down (not to be dramatic). It’s a reality my family faces as my folks cannot just close down their business. They’ve done everything they can to make it a safe workplace and adhere to as many guidelines as humanly possible - going as far as doing delivery and curb side only. Their employees have been incredible, doing their part to be safe and showing loyalty while my parents afford them the opportunity to keep their job as their friends are laid off.

+++

Now obviously that is different from WWE being given the same “essential” status. (not to mention the merits on which they were granted it are ridiculous and should be investigated, a whole different topic)

Meanwhile behind every camera, every finishing move, every digital replay is a person who is making a choice to participate in their job for reasons only they can know. And to judge or be overly critical of that or their employer providing them the option is not as black and white as I think it has been presented.

IF it is true that all talent and employees would see no change in pay then I am embarrassed for offering this perspective. I cannot imagine WWE cancelling tapings and not being impacted. Speculation or not, it would be hard to think it would have zero impact whatsoever, at least in the short term where uncertainty could prompt precautionary actions.

By my research, the WWE has not incurred layoffs. I commend them for that as I am sure they could just as easily furlough tons of staff to cut costs. I wonder if shows ceased would they go through layoffs or furloughs as precautionary business measures. Just as quickly as we ask “what if somebody gets sick” we could also ask “is this saving peoples jobs”.

There is talk about the morality of running these shows, as if COVID is the only threat to individuals well being right now. 16+ million people unemployed in America (likely 20+ by next report) - is it going to be a moral decision to keep places of business closed while people stay out of work? When we debate if WWE running shows is moral, the part where wrestlers maintain their wages and employees in the company keep their jobs should also be included in the discussion. It is a different perspective. One I don’t see out there and one I am presenting.

And that is not to say one outweighs the other. It is not black or white, it is a situation without precedent, and its not even unique to WWE - it just so happens to be happening to WWE (a business, who like many other have tried to get “essential” status to stay functional).

I apologize to those who view the perspective I shared as cruel or in poor taste. I do think about it from many angles. I am the same MJ who called in to the Cafe on March 12th because my own company was making me choose and I felt horrible. I’m dreading the day they make it my choice again but I am aware that will be a reality.

And part of that reality is that there will likely be a lack of testing or a vaccine before we see more non-essential businesses begin to reopen. So i go back to the fact that like WWE or my parents, all businesses are going to have to take as many precautions as possible, and then ultimately give their employees a choice to return to work. And workers (no pun intended) are going to have to make very hard decisions about what is best for them when it comes to returning to work.

And that isn’t about corporate greed (which we can obviously point to here with WWE and I concede the point) - it is about the individuals.

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I understand that with the TV deals and the wording of the contracts stating for only 3 taped shows a year this is a difficult siutaion for WWE but how can leagues like the NBA, NHL, MLB postpone when surely this impacts their TV deals too (and they must be worth more than WWE’s). In the UK if the Premier League doesn’t restart then teams will lose millions of pounds due to matches not being able to be delivered to broadcasters. Surely in this time a “live TV” contract such as the ones WWE has with FOX and USA can be ammended without penalty due to such an unforeseen circumstance such as what we are going through now.

This whole ordeal has really turned me even more so off WWE and their ethical practices. Everyone else has to abide by the laws to try and curb the spread of the Virus and the United States attempts as a whole has been poor. It’s all about Money over personal safety, from Trump to WWE. You can’t talk about going back to normal when your country is not even through the worst of it. People want to work but they can’t, having WWE as an essential business is laughable and embarrassing.

In my view they should have bulk filmed or used archived footage, the viewership numbers are at an all time low and more people than ever are stuck at home with nothing else to do, what does that tell WWE about the product they are putting out right now.

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I think there’s two stories here that are interlinked- the fact that WWE decided to not bulk tape & their “essential” status.

The essential status is weak as a wet paper bag, it’s only essential to Vince McMahon’s ego / bank account. The shady back alley PAC payments are pretty much the straw that broke the camels back what with their blood money dealings with KSA and complete lack of respect for their workers.

I understand that the Florida governor has been getting flack but why not the networks? Are they really that desperate for content that they want a live empty arena show that has as much atmosphere as the surface of Saturn and is driving viewers away? Have they decreed that WWE has to produce live shows, risking the health of the workers and their family? Has Vince made the decision to satisfy shareholders over the health and safety of the people that make the company? Has Vince even reached out to the networks?

The whole situation is just scummy- WWE’s statement about being interwoven into the fabric of society made me feel nauseous and just made me realise how out of touch / in their bubble they are. Ridiculous.

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Ok, here is where McMahon’s long running strategy of having the talent being contractors and not employees comes into play: McMahon has limited his liability to said talent.

And the reason WWE gets away with the contractor bit is because talent B will step in to take talent A’s place on a TV show; even if management tells talent A they won’t be punished for taking precaution, the bottom line is that talent A knows they can be replaced in a heartbeat. This is why, many of us believe, Vince McMahon doesn’t want to make mega-stars anymore (like the Rock) because such people are not easily controlled.

Look at Roman Reigns as an example: sure, the company when pressed will admit it is better for him to stay in place and not travel. But look at what then happens: on WWE shows Roman Reigns the character just goes poof, disappears down the memory hole. That is why at the WM match Braun Strowman just stepped in WITHOUT ANY EXPLANATION. Roman Reigns has been wiped from the show.

We think that when the pandemic eases and Joe Anao’i can travel again that WWE will reintroduce the Romans Reign character. That may happen.

Anyway, talent is disposable. This is why Vince McMahon treats talent as disposable. If talent have to fly around the country, many needing to stop in more than one airport, and happen to pick up a virus along the way, well, too bad, there is another talent to take the spot.

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The issue I have with WWE right now are more to do with how they are operating than that they have done it at all. I thought from the start they should have brought people in and done tons of tapings get months worth of content in the bank, then go away for several months until things turn up. It is short sighted to say “this is about the talent and their choices.” Which simply isn’t true when you look at all the other people they come in contact with. Having talent flying every week puts everyone in that chain at risk, puts people like your parents at risk if they interact with these wrestlers who are not “being careful.” By traveling etc. I get that it is cool that people aren’t losing their jobs but wrestlers were never getting laid off and other than production crew all other wwe employees probably can work from home: I also wonder about the unemployment, right now laying people off let’s them claim unemployment, rather than keeping them “employed” at a closed business where they cannot collect hourly wages. The situation sucks. But businesses like WWE are not helping to make it any shorter by risking exposure.

Also a wwe/sports specific issue is major injury being a possibility with hospitals being swamped how responsible is it for them to risk the need for one?

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It’s crazy to me that through all of this, there is no hate going to the Young Bucks, especially after the last couple episodes of BTE. These guys are getting their buddies all together and having meaningless matches for a YouTube audience. Sure, these people don’t have to go to airports and travel much, but they are setting a bad example.

I’ve tried to watch all these wrestling shows as a getaway from everything going on, but I haven’t felt more sickened, than I did watching this last BTE.

Even taking away all of the COVID 19 stuff, you’re giving away a big singles match, like Matt vs Nick on a YouTube show? That is terrible in my opinion. That could be built as a big moment on TV. I really hope it’s just a bait and switch.

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I understand you saying there are other business operating and the economic impacts of this on people. It’s unfortunately true.

However I will say COVID is unlikely anything we have ever seen likely in 100 years. It’s devastating.

My ICU has 18 people with COVID including one I brought down yesterday. These people are in their early 50s primarily. Those 70+ often we know aren’t even going to survive and don’t end up on ICU. We have multiple healthy 50 yr olds that are dying that don’t have a single health problem. I graduated medical school in 2005 and I’ve never seen anything even remotely close to this.

The lady I saw yesterday got this from her son because he was working in construction and they didn’t shut down.

Another person their only contact with the outside world was a grocery store.

This is also in Toronto - imagine what it’s like in hot spots like NYC. My brother lives in Seattle and it was chaos there.

I have to go to work - like your family we are obviously an essential business. So are many others - this is an inherent risk. However even we we wear masks all day and try everything to minimize this. It’s not that we want to be here to collect a pay cheque - we have to be.

When you see a company taping 3 times a week when they clearly don’t have any protection on while performing you have to hope they don’t have it. So what is this based on? We don’t have an antibody test. So either they are swabbing everyone (which has false negatives when no symptoms especially) or they are using fever.

Fever - a symptom that less then half of people had.

Read NEJM early release yesterday - (you may not have access) - in Iceland and pregnancy wards they swabbed everyone. There are a lot of asymptomatic people that have it and it’s way higher than we thought.

They flew a 70 yr old man into a show that has a history of severe heart issues. Try to digest this. In my hospital doctors that are 70, who we actually need, are exempt from helping because of their own health risks. These 70 year olds are also healthy and are actually essential.

The economic impacts are real -
Lots of business and employees are hurting. I would argue a lot of people with way less money than WWE or any of their performers. However if you don’t take health seriously right now then even if you don’t care about the lives lost, at least consider that you could turn a 3 month lockdown into much longer if the caseload never goes down.

The best way to reduce any economic impact is to reduce transmission as fast as we can. No one can argue this. If you keep having cases you will need to keep shutting down. So being short sighted here could to an even longer lockdown and economic downfall.

I’m not trying to pick on you at all and yes there is clearly some value in having live content on TV to prevent depression etc. However in this case are all of these risks really worth it?

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I would spend time thoughtfully crafting answers to so many things that should be brought up that are being brought up above but I do want to take a break from putting my views out there.

All I can say is swap Pro Wrestling with any industry or business closed down right now and ask a lot of the same questions? In all of this I wanted to express that what we are seeing with the WWE isn’t unique to them, it’s soon going to be a lot more businesses. Should it be, from the sounds of it more people on the forum are in support of quarantine indefinitely.

Substitute BTE for your group of friends (great point about BTE, and also we should be making this point about every non-remote broadcast happening from a studio on TV).

Will you ever feel safe to go see your friends? Because your government officials tell you you can is that going to change things? Getting together with friends who quarantined may seem safe; It’s what I hope the Bucks were doing (getting together with a smallish group of ppl who all isolated as told and all believe themselves to be Virus free). But I’m open to the idea everyone should be under lock and key. Heck, I see how many people don’t practice good social distancing just staring out my window in NYC - a city that probably can never really reopen safely after all this for many years to come (when you consider travel and tourism, etc).

To @Alex_Patel point we don’t have testing. So what I’m reading is the overwhelming consensus here is people should never go back to Non-essential work and we can not congregate with friends - not just for a few more weeks, maybe years until we know with absolute certainty that we have tested and tracked everyone OR a therapeutic or vaccine is available on mass scale. Maybe that is what should happen. In that case buckle up for the Greatest Depression.

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I agree with Alex 1000%. The government of Florida should be held to the fire for this. That is where anger should be directed at.

I could care less about watching Live or Taped wrestling at this point…I’m talking about the side of the coin where individual workers have free will and the right to choose to work.

I do not support WWE greed or corporate profits over safety. I do support the rights for workers to work. So if a Gov permits a business to operate, this isn’t black and white.

What should be black and white is government mandates on shutdowns but we’ve seen thru all of this that in America at least that hasn’t happened - on both sides of the political spectrum. My city (NYC) is devastated. And yet the subways still run on time. I got a bigger problem with a Mayor who allows that than a CEO who was told he can run closed set tapingsnand then gives his workers the ability to choose.

Ironically there is anger at Vince and not at wrestlers who are equally as complicit in all of this. Seems odd. I wonder if people will turn on them soon. Otherwise it’s all kinda hypocritical.

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One thing I am left wondering about: will the workers and wrestlers be forced to self isolate after every show for 2-3 weeks? I know it isn’t international travel, but there is a fair amount of travel, nonetheless.
And, if we’re being honest, most workers will show up to work if they’re scheduled. We all have bills to pay, and mouths to feed. I know I would be if I had that choice.

16

Some people are freaking out and spouting that non-sense that we have to be locked up for years. However, a bit of rational thinking would suggest that if cities are locked down (travelwise) and # of new cases decreases there is no reason why most people can’t go back to work. Now if you have to travel from city to city you’ll probably have to quarantine but most people will be able to go back to work. We’ll just need contact tracking and testing.

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17

Correct.

So nobody has answered whether WWE performers are traveling state to state after flying in last week. Are we assuming they are traveling around the country?

If they are not, are we being hyper sensitive to them “going back to work”.

Contact tracking and testing is IDEAL and should be a give-in. But the reality which I keep going back to is people will be going back to non-essential work before that is capable at the scale likely required to truly ensure safety.

So substitute WWE with other businesses and ask the same questions about whether we want to see people be permitted to go back to work (if they choose).

18

We know King flew in right?

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19

He flew in. Did he fly out?

Traveling from NY to Florida requires a 14 day quarantine. I do not know where King resides and what the government guidelines are on whether he would be required to quarantine. Seems like anger at not having a travel ban on all states is being misdirected on a business and not those setting the rules.

I have been calling for an all out domestic travel ban from the very start. But we are talking about the actual case presented, not the hypothetical of what a lock down should really look like. Don’t mistake the perspective I offered on WWE and their talent’s decision to move ahead with business with how I feel the lockdown is being handled (which at best is half-ass)

20

If Foot Lockers opened tomorrow and people were going inside trying on shoes I’d criticize it, not sure which businesses you’d want to substitute here MJ.

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