26-05-2025
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis gets VERY surprising crowd reaction at WWE event in Tampa
Has the WWE discovered its newest heel, or were the chants of 'you suck' reportedly emanating from Tampa's Yuengling Center on Saturday night actually directed at Florida Governor Ron DeSantis?
Viral video showing DeSantis at WWE's Saturday Night Main Event on the University of South Florida campus has circulated social media. Several of those clips contain audio in which chants of 'you suck' can be heard, although other online footage appears to contradict those claims.
To many wrestling fans and attendees, though, the 46-year-old Republican and former presidential candidate was definitely being targeted.
'Governor Ron DeSantis just showed up and the crowed started booing him and chanting 'you suck,' one fan wrote online.
'Ron DeSantis with that heel heat,' another added.
The chants fell well short of a mass uprising against DeSantis. The home of the University of South Florida Bulls seats around only 10,000 spectators and the event was far from a sellout.
Crowd boos & chants "You Suck" at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis before WWE Saturday Night's Main Event in Tampa. #SNME
— PWUnlimited (@PWUnlimited) May 25, 2025
He didn't appear to react to the uproar in any way, and greeted a few spectators before meandering back towards the tunnel.
It's hard to say, exactly, the crowd in Tampa was upset about on Saturday.
He recently did bow to pressure by ordering the protection of Florida state parks from the development of golf courses and resorts. And while the order will do more to protect regions like the Everglades, it was mounting criticism against the Governor from across Florida that led prompted DeSantis, according to one state representative.
'It took the entire state of Florida to do that,' Republican state Senator Gayle Harrell told The Associated Press. 'This is democracy at work.'
Since reported plans to develop protected lands first surfaced in 2024, DeSantis has distanced himself from the proposal, claiming he never approved the decision for state park land.
DeSantis' first secretary of the environment stepped down over the initiative, which critics say would have put the state's precious protected lands like the Everglades at risk.
