World Wrestling Entertainment

World Wrestling Entertainment (or WWE) is a professional wrestling organization. It was formerly called the World Wrestling Federation, or the WWF. Following a lawsuit from the World Wildlife Fund WWF, the Federation changed its name to WWE, or World Wrestling Entertainment (click here for details).

WWE is a publicly-traded company controlled by Vince McMahon and his family. As of 2004, the headquarters of the WWE company was in Stamford, Connecticut.

Table of contents

1 History

1.1 Early History
1.2 CWC
1.3 WWWF
1.4 WWF

1.4.1 WWF Goes National
1.4.2 Rock and Wrestling
1.4.3 WWF: The Next Generation
1.4.4 The Montreal Screwjob
1.4.5 WWF Attitude
1.4.6 Invasion

1.5 WWE

1.5.1 The Brand Extension

History

Early History

In 1915, Roderick James "Jess" McMahon (the grandfather of current WWE promoter Vince McMahon) co-promoted a boxing match between Jess Willard and Jack Johnson. In the fight, on April 5, 1915, Johnson lost his title to Willard in Havana. A decade later, in 1925, McMahon joined Tex Rickard in promoting boxing events from the old Madison Square Garden Arena, in New York, starting with the December 11, 1925, lightheavyweight championship match between Jack Delaney and Paul Berlenbach. Jess McMahon's enterprise focused on boxing and live concert / music promotion.

In fact, it was not until 1935, the same year Jim Crockett Promotions was formed, that the McMahon family moved into the wrestling business. His son, Vincent Jess McMahon, began to take an increasing role in the running of the business - especially on the wrestling side. However, the McMahon family was not able to promote wrestling matches at Madison Square Garden due to Rickard's dislike of the sport.

This no wrestling at Madison Square Garden policy ended in 1948, when Joseph Raymond Mondt (known to many as Toots Mondt), backed by millionaire Bernarr McFadden, managed to promote a wrestling show at the famous arena. Mondt doing so was facilitated, in part, by the elder McMahon. Ray Fabiani, who helped Mondt take control of the New York territory after the death of Jack Curley, was influential in drawing the younger McMahon into an alliance with Mondt.

CWC

In January 1953, Jesse's son Vincent J. McMahon and wrestling promoter Toots Mondt took control of the Northeastern United States wrestling circuit as part of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). This group recognized an undisputed champion that went from wrestling company to wrestling company in the alliance and defended the belt around the world. Each one of these wrestling federations had an exclusive "territory".

McMahon's company was called Capitol Wrestling Corporation - or CWC. While originally running shows from the 2,000 seat Turner's Arena, the CWC would eventually control the territories of New England, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. It was able to do this after signing an agreement with WTTG Channel 5, in 1956, to air live CWC wrestling shows. These shows were then syndicated throughout the north-eastern United States.

WWWF

In 1963, Buddy Rogers was the NWA champion and his bookings were controlled by Mondt. The rest of the NWA was upset with Mondt because he rarely let Rogers wrestle outside of the Northeast. It was decided that Mondt and CWC would leave the NWA, and they founded the World Wide Wrestling Federation. Both wanted Rogers to keep the NWA title, but Rogers didn't want to lose his $25,000 deposit on the belt. Rogers lost the NWA title to Lou Thesz in Toronto on January 24, 1963.

In mid-April, Rogers was then awarded the new WWWF title after the WWWF claimed he won a (fictitious) tournament in Rio de Janeiro. He lost the title to Bruno Sammartino a month later on May 17, 1963 after suffering a heart attack shortly before the match.

The WWWF rejoined the NWA in 1971 and their world title was dropped to the status of a regional title.

Mondt (born in 1886) died in 1976.

WWF

The WWWF became the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in mid-1979. The name change was purely cosmetic and the ownership and front office personnel remained.

WWF Goes National

In 1983, Vincent K. McMahon, and his company (Titan Sports, Inc.) took control of the WWF from his father, Vincent J. McMahon. The older McMahon had already established the northeastern territory as one of the most vibrant members of the NWA by recognizing that pro wrestling was more about entertainment than sport. The younger McMahon had perhaps an even bolder vision; he was about to take a gamble that would place both the WWF, and his own life, in jeopardy.

By having the WWF leave the NWA for a second time, he set the groundwork for his bold experiment. Leaving the NWA in itself wasn't that big a step; the AWA had long ago ceased being an official NWA member, and just over a decade earlier the WWWF itself had rejoined the NWA. But in neither instance did the defecting member attempt to undermine, and destroy, the Territory system that had been the foundation of the wrestling industry.

Other wrestling promoters were furious when McMahon began syndicating WWF shows to TV stations across America. McMahon also began selling video tapes of WWF events outside the northeast. He effectively broke the unwritten law the entire American wrestling industry was based around. To make matters worse, McMahon would use the income generated by advertising, TV deals, and tape sales to poach talent from rival promoters. Wrestling promoters nation-wide were now in direct competition to McMahon, and the WWF.

According to several reports, the more senior McMahon warned his son "Vinny, what are you doing?! You'll wind up at the bottom of a river!" In spite of such warnings, McMahon had an even bolder ambition in mind: the WWF would tour nationally. However, touring a wrestling federation nationally takes a huge capital investment; one which placed the WWF on the verge of financial collapse.

The future of not just McMahon's experiment, but also the WWF, the NWA, and the whole industry came down to the success or failure of WrestleMania 1. WrestleMania was a pay per view extravaganza that McMahon marketed as being the Super Bowl of pro wrestling. If it was a financial success, many NWA member territories would go out of business, and most of America's wrestling fans would be united in watching the WWF. A failure would have seen McMahon go bankrupt, and the second golden age of wrestling may never have happend.

Rock and Wrestling

One of the stars that McMahon recruited was a young Terry Bollea, from Verne Gagne's AWA. McMahon gave Bollea the Hulk Hogan gimmick.

For WrestleMania 1, McMahon began cross promoting with MTV, with several hot music stars like Alice Cooper and Cyndi Lauper appearing at the pay-per-view. The rock and wrestling era was characterized by bright, colourful, and sometimes terrible circus-like gimmicks. McMahon once stated that he was more interested in competing with Disney on Ice than other wrestling federations. Both WrestleMania 1 and Hogan were a smash success. WrestleMania became an annual event, while Hogan would lead the WWF's golden age on camera.

McMahon's big gamble paid off. The NWA's member promoters couldn't compete with McMahon's scale or budget, and eventually they were either be forced out of business, or forced to sell out to Jim Crockett Promotions, the fore-runner to WCW. WrestleMania 3 set an indoor attendance world record that would last until a Papal visit over a decade later, and NBC began airing WWF shows nationally. It saw the WWF become the dominant wrestling federation in North America through until mid '90s, when McMahon began facing a new competitor in Ted Turner's WCW under Eric Bischoff.

WWF: The Next Generation

Under Eric Bischoff, WCW began stealing talent from Extreme Championship Wrestling and the WWF. McMahon responded by stating he could create new superstars to regain the ratings war. The WWF began a campaign to promote the next generation of WWF superstars, such as Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Razor Ramon (Scott Hall), and Diesel (Kevin Nash). However, WCW eventually poached most of these wrestlers.

While McMahon tightened contracts to make it harder for WCW to raid WWF talent, the WWF was losing money at a rapid rate. The WWF's flagship Raw Is War show was forced into a head-to-head ratings war with WCW Monday Nitro. The WCW vs. nWo feud drew attention away from the WWF's outdated (and childish) rock and wrestling era gimmicks.

The WWF/WCW feud reached a new level in 1997, when the current WWF champion Bret Hart signed a lucrative deal to jump to WCW. The WWF was extremely concerned about this development, and not just because of Hart's popularity. Earlier in the WWF/WCW feud, the WWF women's champion jumped to WCW while wearing the belt and threw it in a trash can on Monday Nitro (imitating a heavily publicized act by heavyweight boxing champion Riddick Bowe). The WWF's worst nightmare would be for Hart to appear on Monday Nitro while wearing the WWF belt. Therefore, a way had to be found to get the belt off Hart.

Hart had a clause in his WWF contract which gave him a substantial measure of control over his booking in the last 30 days of his deal, which would end with that year's Survivor Series pay-per-view in Montreal. He let it be known to WWF management that he would willingly drop the title—but not to Shawn Michaels, with whom he had a somewhat strained relationship; and not in his home country of Canada. However, by that time, WWF had largely abandoned the concept of switching titles at any events other than pay-per-views. This would set the stage for the turning point in the WWF/WCW feud...

The Montreal Screwjob

The turning point for the WWF came at Survivor Series. New writer Vince Russo handed WWF Champion Bret Hart a script that stated he was to stay in Shawn Michaels' Sharpshooter, which was Hart's standard finishing maneuver, for a few seconds without tapping out. He would soon after regain control, and retain the WWF Title.

Michaels was handed a different script, where Bret would tap out to the Sharpshooter. The WWF followed the version of the script they gave Michaels, without telling Hart. Hart never actually tapped out; immediately after Michaels placed Hart in the Sharpshooter, McMahon, at ringside, yelled at the timekeeper to "ring the f***ing bell!" Michaels left the ring with the belt immediately after the bell rang, without the traditional post-match celebration. Hart walked out on the federation in disgust, and went so far as to punch out McMahon backstage after the event.

The event was known to wrestling fans as the Montreal Screwjob.

Losing a main event star like Bret Hart to WCW was a risky move.

McMahon and Russo set about making new characters again, but this time, they were edgier, Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) inspired wrestlers like The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Mick Foley, and the D-Generation X stable. They gambled that these edgier stars would be enough to win ratings supremacy from WCW. They were right.

It also set up Vince McMahon, on television, as the evil wrestling promoter. This was key to the feud between Austin and McMahon.

WWF Attitude

The Attitude era kicked off in earnest at WrestleMania XIV, when pro boxer Mike Tyson appeared as a special guest referee for the WWF Title match between Shawn Michaels and Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Fans who purchased the Pay Per View were amazed by what they saw; this certainly wasn't the childish Rock and Wrestling or Next Generation era they were witnessing. Many of those who didn't buy WrestleMania, including fans of competitor WCW, tuned in to watch Raw Is War the following week.

The episode saw the tag-team The New Age Outlaws, join D-Generation X, and wrestler Syxx / X-Pac defect from WCW. It was also the start of the epic feud between "evil promoter" Vince McMahon and Stone Cold Steve Austin. For the first time in 18 months, the edgier WWF would beat the weekly WCW Monday Nitro in the ratings.

Over the coming year, the WWF would see new fan favourite The Rock become one of the most popular pro wrestlers in history. Where earlier WCW's edgy WCW vs. nWo angle had managed to almost lead the WWF to financial ruin, it was now WCW that found it increasingly difficult to compete against the one-time northeastern regional territory.

This change was not without critics. Many family groups were outraged at the graphic violence employed by the WWF. They, along with feminist groups, found the regular use of scantily-clad women to attract viewers as offensive. One group, the Parents Television Council, waged a sustained boycott campaign against the WWF. However, the controversial new presentation made the WWF more appealing than ever to its core audience.

Tragedy struck the WWF on May 23, 1999, in Kansas City, MO. Owen Hart, in his "Blue Blazer" superhero character, was scheduled to make a dramatic appearance on that night's WWF Over the Edge pay-per-view telecast, "flying" into the ring by being lowered from a harness attached to the roof of the arena. As Owen was being lowered into position in preparation for this entrance, his harness suddenly disengaged, sending him plummeting almost eighty feet to the ring below. (Those watching the PPV telecast at the time were spared the sight only because the director had cut away to a pre-taped interview just before the accident occurred.) Owen was rushed from the arena to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. A stunned and saddened Jim Ross made the solemn announcement to the PPV audience once word had reached the arena, although the fans in attendance at Kemper Arena were not informed of Owen's death. The decision to continue the card was, and still is, a controversial one among fans. The following night, the WWF dedicated its entire two-hour Raw telecast to Owen's memory, as various WWF performers and employees shared their memories of their fallen friend.

In September 1999, the WWF launched a second weekly show, known as Smackdown!, on the fledgling UPN network. Barring only Star Trek: Voyager and Enterprise, it has remained UPN's most successful program ever since.

Off the back of the success of the Attitude era, on October 19, 1999 the WWF's parent company - Titan Sports, Inc., became a publicly traded company. To boost recognition, the company changed its name to World Wrestling Federation Entertainment (though its wrestling company was still known as the WWF). While the WWF's success was great, professional wrestling is a cyclical business; and to make up for this, WWFE (the original stock-ticker name for WWF Enterainment) would diversify into other businesses, including a nightclub in Times Square and a book publishing business.

In 2000 the WWF announced the creation of the XFL, a new professional football league, but the league only lasted a year.

Invasion

In March 2001, WWF Entertainment, Inc. acquired WCW, WWF's long lasting entertainment rival from AOL Time Warner.

Since WCW's peak in 1997 / 1998, pro wrestling fans had dreamed about a feud between the two federations. The original plan was to have WCW "take over" RAW, turning it back into WCW Monday Nitro. However, many big name WCW stars such as Hulk Hogan, Lex Luger, Kevin Nash, Goldberg, and Sting were contracted to WCW's former parent company Time Warner rather than to WCW itself, and Vince McMahon (at the time) decided not to buy out their contracts. This, combined with McMahon deciding that WWE wrestlers generally shouldn't lose to WCW wrestlers, ended such plans.

The angle was re-tuned after McMahon bought out rival ECW, forming a faction known as the "Alliance".

WWE

Following a lawsuit from the World Wildlife Fund WWF, the Federation changed its name to WWE, or World Wrestling Entertainment. Its parent company, World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, chose to adopt this name as well. The name was changed in the spring of 2002 as it lost a court case with the World Wildlife Fund over the name WWF and the usage of it (for example, wwf.com ). The logo was changed and the motto "Get The F Out" was used to publicise this change.

The Brand Extension

Without WCW as competition, the WWE decided to split the federation into two "sub federations" or brands - RAW and Smackdown!. Under this "split brands" arrangement, each brand maintains a separate and non-overlapping roster of wrestlers, has titles exclusive to that brand (e.g. the WWE Championship Title on Smackdown!, and the World Heavyweight Championship Title on RAW), and is run by a different General Manager. More information on it at those respective pages.