WWE releases five wrestlers, furloughs some workers amid pandemic
WWE, one of the few sports organizations still operating during the coronavirus pandemic, announced Wednesday that it had released five wrestlers and is furloughing a portion of its workforce.
The company tweeted that it had "come to terms on the release of Drake Maverick (James Curtin), Curt Hawkins (Brian Myers), Karl Anderson (Chad Allegra), EC3 (Michael Hutter) and Lio Rush (Lionel Green)."
The furloughs are part of a financial restructuring that also includes reducing executives' salaries, cutting talent expenses and pausing construction of new headquarters, the company said in a release. WWE said it expected the furloughs to be temporary.
Lio Rush acknowledged his release in a tweet, writing "To all of my fellow co workers, whatever happens today or the remainder of this week....just know, we're all going to be good."
On Monday, WWE was deemed an "essential business" in Florida, allowing the company to resume live television shows from its Orlando training facility and Full Sail University in Winter Park.
Essential businesses that are supposed to remain open during Florida's stay-at-home order include those in the health care, financial, energy, food, communications and transportation sectors. A spokesperson from Gov. Ron DeSantis' office told ESPN on Monday that such services were characterized as essential "because they are critical to Florida's economy."
WWE will run live shows without fans after several weeks of taped programming, a spokesperson confirmed to ESPN.
"We believe it is now more important than ever to provide people with a diversion from these hard times," WWE said in a statement Monday. "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."
WWE has three TV shows per week: "Raw" (USA Network) on Monday, "NXT" (USA) on Wednesday and "SmackDown" (Fox) on Friday.
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