Essential Wrasslin’- to be or not to be – that is the question

Its pretty amazing how a global pandemic can just shut the whole world down. Pretty much eliminating the “me first” mentality that is prevalent in society and fostering a mantra of “we are in this together.” Yes, that is definitely true but we also need to come together and lookout for the welfare of our compatriots. To that extent, businesses have shut down in the interest of safety, while others have remained open to provide their workforce with the opportunity to generate income for their families. Is there a right and a wrong approach for these companies? Not necessarily, but these companies are all playing it by ear.

I know a few small business owners and this last month and a half have been hard on them. It’s not always easy to try and conduct business when there is a prevailing sense of angst. To that extent, these companies have been doing their best to guarantee the health and welfare of their staff while also enabling them with the chance to earn some money to pay the bills and I commend them for that.

My issue though is that things need to be kept in perspective. And for that I question the WWE. In what world is wrestling an essential function, making it on par with first responders and manufacturers. Believe me, I’m a huge wrestling fan, watching the then WWF in the 80’s and being a Hulkamaniac. So when I see the WWE putting on Wrestlemania in an empty arena, it makes me think that the almighty dollar is driving the decisions of leadership. Nonetheless, it was decided that WWE is essential in Florida and now the wrestlers have to travel back and forth across the country to perform. It is extremely difficult to practice social distancing when the sport requires physical contact. Not only that, the wrestlers are risking injury performing high risk maneuvers without a crowd in sight. It just all seems a waste. Now I’m not in favor of unions, especially when management is doing everything it can to make its employees happy, but this seems to be a special case. The wrestlers here are all independent contractors traveling on their own dime to perform without benefits. There is no leverage for them at all which just seems unfair. I get that WWE is allowing the wrestlers to work which is great, but at the same time tape a month’s worth of programming. Don’t endanger your employees by making them constantly travel. It just doesn’t seem like the WWE has the best interests of everyone here and again I understand the business need. However money and economic gain should never be placed before safety, and I will never budge on that.

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