UPDATE: It appears that the initial report from Local 10 News was reporting on the Task Force report and not the full content of the press conference. According to the official Executive Order, no mention of sporting events was found, so it appears Gov. DeSantis may be holding off on the recommendation originally reported.
In a press conference on Friday for the Re-Open Florida Task Force on Friday morning, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced a three-phase plan to get Florida re-opened fully, with Phase 1 kicking off on Monday, May 4. The part of his discussion that affects pro wrestling was the announcement that sporting venues and nightclubs could re-open with a limited capacity, effectively opening up the possibility for running live wrestling events in the state of Florida with a live audience.
“Large spectator sporting events should use strict social distancing guidelines and limit occupancy of venues to 25 percent of building capacity,” the Task Force reported. With WWE holding live events from its Performance Center in Orlando – as well as having Full Sail University at hand – and All Elite Wrestling (AEW) utilizing Daily’s Place amphitheater in Jacksonville, both companies have the opportunity to inject fans back into their current empty arena shows. It also opens up the doors for other companies who use Florida, such as Ring of Honor or Major League Wrestling (MLW) to resume live events should they choose to. As for indie wrestling events, they have even better news. Bars and nightclubs will be re-opening and are allowed to be at 50% capacity.
It will be interesting to see what promotions act on this new report, particularly for AEW, who has their Double or Nothing pay-per-view coming up on May 23, that was originally going to be an empty arena show from Daily’s Place.
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.
