Steph De Lander Says Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Asked For Show At WWE Performance Center
With a presidential campaign and a seemingly never-ending war with Walt Disney World to worry about, one would think that Ron DeSantis wouldn't have enough time to worry about, of all things, professional wrestling. But as Lee Corso would say, not so fast my friend. DeSantis not only isn't against wrestling, but he has WWE occasionally doing private shows for him and his family.
That's at least according to Steph De Lander. The former WWE star, who wrestled in "NXT" as Persia Pirotta, and currently serves as the muscle for "The Indie God," Matt Cardona, revealed as much in an interview with Vice that was originally posted to her TikTok and has since made its way to other social media platforms.
W-H-A-T. Steph De Lander (FKA Persia Pirotta in NXT) says she wrestled in front of Ron DeSantis at the WWE Performance Center.
"We got called in on a Saturday that Ron DeSantis wanted to have a wrestling show for his kids." pic.twitter.com/GzDWWaRmMY
— Danny (@dajosc11) July 25, 2023
After discussing numerous issues currently going on in Florida, as well as stating her disbelief that she lived there, De Lander revealed that, during her time in "NXT," she was called to the WWE Performance Center on a Saturday to perform a private show for DeSantis and his family, and subsequently met the governor and presidential hopeful. Both De Lander and the interviewer noted the irony of DeSantis being against drag shows, but being in favor of pro wrestling.
DeSantis and pro wrestling have a past connection, with the governor previously establishing WWE, and by extension AEW, as an essential business during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, allowing pro wrestling shows to continue in the state of Florida. While De Lander didn't reveal when the show took place, her tenure with WWE lasted from March 2021 until April 2022, meaning the private show took place during that time span.