Capitol Wrestling Corporation (1952-1963)
Roderick James "Jess" McMahon was a successful boxing promoter who began working with Tex Rickard in 1926. With the help of Rickard, he began promoting boxing at the third Madison Square Garden. A few years prior, professional wrestler Joseph Raymond "Toots" Mondt had created a new challenge of professional wrestling that he called “Slam Bang Western Style Wrestling”. He convinced wrestler Ed Lewis and his manager Billy Sandow to implement this new solution into the wrestling industry. Following this, he formed a promotion with both men and persuaded many wrestlers to sign contracts with their Gold Dust Trio. After much success, a disagreement over power caused the trio to dissolve and, with it, their promotion. Mondt later formed partnerships with several other promoters, including Jack Curley in New York City. Mondt eventually took over the New York wrestling scene, due to the fact Curley was dying, with the aid of several bookers, one of whom was Jess McMahon.
Together, McMahon and Mondt created the Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd. (CWC), which later joined the National Wrestling Alliance in 1953. In November 1954, Jess McMahon died and Ray Fabiani, one of Mondt's associates, brought in Vincent James McMahon.[14] McMahon and Mondt were very successful and soon controlled approximately 70% of the NWA's booking, largely due to their dominance in the heavily populated Northeast region. In 1963, McMahon and Mondt left the NWA and created the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF).
World Wide Wrestling Federation (1963-1979)
In early 1963, the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) was formed by McMahon and Mondt, following a dispute with the NWA over "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers being booked to hold the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.[15] Both men left the company in protest following the incident and formed the WWWF in the process, awarding Rogers the new WWWF World Championship in April of that year. He lost the title to Bruno Sammartino a month later on May 17, 1963, after suffering a heart attack a week before the match.
The WWWF operated in a conservative manner compared to other pro wrestling territories;[16] it ran its major arenas monthly rather than weekly or bi-weekly, usually featuring a babyface champion wrestling various heels in programs the consisted of one to three matches.[17] Although the business was initially rather strong, the crowds in Madison Square Garden fell off due to a lack of television exposure. After gaining a television program deal and turning preliminary wrestler Lou Albano as a manager for Sammartino’s heel opponents, the WWWF was doing sell out business by 1970.
Mondt left the company in the late sixties and although the WWWF had withdrawn from the NWA, Vince McMahon, Sr. quietly re-joined in 1971. At the annual meeting of the NWA in 1983, the McMahons and WWWF employeeJim Barnett all withdrew from the organization.[15]
World Wrestling Federation / Titan Sports Inc. (1979-1999)
The Golden Era (1980-1992)
In March of 1979, for marketing purposes, the World Wide Wrestling Federation was renamed the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).[18] That same year, the son of Vincent J. McMahon, Vincent K. McMahon, founded Titan Sports, Inc.[19] and was incorporated on February 21, 1980. On June 6, 1982, McMahon purchased CWC from his father and associates Arnold Skaaland, Gorilla Monsoon, and Phil Zacko.[18] The elder McMahon had long since established the northeastern territory as one of the most vibrant members of the NWA. He had long since recognized that professional wrestling was more about entertainment than actual sport. Against his father's wishes, McMahon began an expansion process that fundamentally changed the industry.
McMahon's vision for his promotion was starting to become possible when he hired AWA talent Hulk Hogan, who had achieved popularity outside of wrestling, notably for his appearance in Rocky III as Thunderlips.[20]McMahon signed Rowdy Roddy Piper as Hogan's rival, and then shortly afterward signed Jesse "The Body" Ventura. Other wrestlers took part of the roster, such asAndré the Giant, Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka,The Magnificent Muraco, Junkyard Dog, "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff, Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, Nikolai Volkoff and the Iron Sheik.
With reasonable revenue being made, McMahon was able to secure television deals, and WWF was being shown across the United States. This angered other promoters and disrupted the well-established 'boundaries' of the different wrestling promotions. The syndication of WWF programming forced other promotions to come into direct competition. To make matters worse, McMahon used the income generated by advertising, television deals, and tape sales to poach talent from rival promoters.
The WWF would tour nationally in a venture that would required a huge capital investment; one that 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 McMahon's groundbreaking concept, WrestleMania. WrestleMania was a major pay-per-viewsuccess; and was marketed as the Super Bowl of professional wrestling. However, the concept of a wrestling supercard was nothing new in North America; the NWA had been running Starrcade a few years prior. In McMahon's eyes, however, what separated WrestleMania from other supercards was that he wanted it to be accessible to those who did not watch wrestling. He invited celebrities such as Mr. T, Muhammad Ali, and Cyndi Lauper to participate in the event, as well as securing a deal with MTV to provide coverage. The event and hype surrounding it led to the term Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection, due to the cross-promotion of pop-culture and professional wrestling.
The WWF business expanded significantly on the shoulders of McMahon and his babyfacehero, Hulk Hogan, for the next several years. The introduction of Saturday Night's Main Event on NBC in 1985 marked the first time that professional wrestling had ever been broadcast on network television since the 1950s. The 1980s 'Wrestling Boom' peaked with WrestleMania III at the Pontiac Silverdome in 1987, which set an attendance record of 93,173.[21] A rematch of the Wrestlemania III main event between WWF champion Hulk Hogan and André the Giant took place on The Main Event soon after and was seen by 33 million people, and is still the record for the most watched wrestling match in North America.[22]
New Generation Era (1993-1997)
The WWF was hit with allegations of steroidabuse and distribution in early 1993 and was followed by allegations of sexual harassmentby WWF employees the following year.[23]McMahon was eventually exonerated, but it was a public relations nightmare for the WWF. The steroid trial cost the company an estimated $5 million at a time when revenues were at an all-time low. To compensate, McMahon cut the pay of both wrestlers and front office personnel;– close to 40% in thesexual harassment case. This helped drive many WWF wrestlers to the only major competition at the time, World Championship Wrestling (WCW), including former WWF Champion Hulk Hogan. During this period, the WWF promoted itself under the banner of "The New WWF Generation", featuring Shawn Michaels, Diesel, Razor Ramon, Bret Hart andThe Undertaker, in an effort to promote and push young talent into the spotlight. A few remaining superstars of the 1980s like Roddy Piper, Jimmy Snuka, Tito Santana, and Bob Backlund would mainly be buried, usually asenhancement talent.
In 1993, the WWF broke new ground in televised professional wrestling with the debut of its cable program WWF Monday Night Raw. After becoming a runaway success, which helped WWF to a financial success, WCW countered in 1995 with its own Monday night program, WCW Monday Nitro, which broadcast in the same timeslot as Raw.[24] The two programs would trade wins in the ensuing ratings competition (known as the famous Monday Night Wars) until mid-1996. At this point, WCW began a nearly two-year domination that was largely fueled by the introduction of the New World Order (nWo), a stable led by former WWF performers Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall (a.k.a. Razor Ramon), and Kevin Nash (a.k.a. Diesel).[25]
Despite having high quality talent and in-ring performances that had not been seen since the 1980s, the WWF continued to lose profits. During the financial period between May 1994 and April 1995, the WWF reported a loss of $4.4 million. Although the next financial period between May 1995 to April 1996 resulted in a profit of $3.3 million, the company had a large loss of $6.5 million between May 1996 to April 1997.[26] In 1996,WWF Raw averaged a 2.6 rating for the year. Pay-per-views drew an average 0.63 mean buyrate, while paid attendance dropped to just below 5,000 fans per show.
In early 1997, the company was in serious financial trouble. In order to lure more fans to attend live shows, the WWF drastically cut ticket prices. Most tickets for the 1997 Royal Rumble were reportedly only $10 and most tickets for Wrestlemania 13 were reportedly only $25. Despite this, both shows failed to sell-out. According to Jim Cornette, the 1997 Royal Rumble had 47,514 sold tickets and just before the event began, another 12,511 tickets were given out for free, just to fill the arena.[27] The biggest pay-per-view of the year, Wrestlemania 13 failed to sellout theRosemont Horizon in Chicago, the onlyWrestlemania in history not to sell every available ticket.[28] Out of a total of 18,197 tickets available, 16,467 were sold. The remaining 1,737 tickets were given out for free, again, just to fill the arena.[29] At the same time McMahon was planning to make the WWF a publicly traded company, a move which required him to minimize any long-term financial commitments.[30]
The WWF continued to struggle throughout 1997. In September 1997, the WWF decided to hold a pay-per-view in the UK called WWF One Night Only. It was the first UK pay-per-view since SummerSlam 1992. Despite its low buy-rate and high ticket prices, the event sold-out and was a huge financial success. According to Shawn Michaels in his autobiography, “We wanted to do something different. To go to England...what happened there that night was the right call.”[31] The following month in October, the WWF held its first ever Hell in a Cell match at Badd Blood: In Your House. The main event was given a 5-star match rating by Dave Meltzer. However, the events that were to unfold at November's1997 Survivor Series would permanently change the company's fate.
The Attitude Era (1997-2001)
As the Monday Night Wars continued between Monday Night Raw and WCW'sMonday Nitro, the WWF would transform itself from a family-friendly product into a more adult oriented product, known as The Attitude Era. The era was spearheaded by Vince McMahon and head writer Vince Russo, who drastically changed the way professional wrestling television was written.
The fans of WWF seemed to favor what was posed to them as the bad guy instead of thegood guy. The creative changes made by the company's writers who saw wrestling take on a "street fighting", "bad attitude" approach. However, despite this revolutionary change by the company, WWF continued to lose much of its leading talent to rival promotion, WCW throughout 1996 and 1997. 1997 ended with McMahon facing real-life controversy following Bret Hart's controversial departure from the company, later known as theMontreal Screwjob.[32] This resulted in major financial losses and plummeting ratings with many of McMahon's employees, wrestling critics, and wrestling fans turning against him. This proved to be one of several founding factors in the launch of the Attitude Era as well as the creation of McMahon's on-screen character, "Mr. McMahon"; a dictatorial and fierce ruler who favored heels over faces.
Prior to the Montreal Screwjob which took place at the 1997 Survivor Series, former WCW talent were being hired by the WWF, including Stone Cold Steve Austin, Mankindand Vader. Steve Austin was slowly brought in as the new face of the company despite being promoted as an anti-hero, starting with his Austin 3:16 speech shortly after defeatingJake Roberts in the tournament finals at theKing of the Ring pay-per-view in 1996.[33] The creation of the Mr. McMahon character soon led to the Austin vs. McMahon feud, the central storyline during the Attitude Era. During the rivalry, McMahon founded two heel factions: The Corporation and The Corporate Ministry to help try and defeat Austin. The feud even involved former boxing champion, Mike Tyson, which helped give the company mainstream media attention and a significant increase in ratings.
World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. (1999-2002)
Initial public offerings
On the back of the success of the Attitude Era, several new advances and products were launched. During this period, the WWF's parent company Titan Sports was renamed World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. (WWFE Inc. or WWFE) and on October 19, 1999 became a publicly traded company, offering 10 million shares priced at $17 each.[34] WWF Entertainment announced its desire to diversify, including creating a nightclub in Times Square, producing feature films, and book publishing.
On April 29, 1999, the WWF made its return to terrestrial television by launching a special program known as SmackDown! on the fledgling UPN network. The Thursday night show became a weekly series on August 26, 1999. The show led to further TV ratings competition with WCW, up against WCW Thunder.
In 2000 the WWF, in collaboration with television network NBC, announced the creation of the XFL, a new professionalfootball league that debuted in 2001.[35] The league had high ratings for the first few weeks, but initial interest waned and its ratings plunged to dismally low levels (one of its games was the lowest-rated prime-time show in the history of American television). NBC walked out on the venture after only one season, but McMahon intended to continue alone. However, after being unable to reach a deal with UPN, McMahon shut down the XFL.[36]
Acquisition of WCW and ECW
By the fall of 1999, The Attitude Era had turned the tide of the Monday Night Wars into WWF's favor for good. After Time Warner merged with AOL, Ted Turner's control over WCW was considerably reduced, and the newly merged company announced a complete lack of interest in professional wrestling as a whole, and decided to sell WCW in its entirety. Although Eric Bischoff—whom Time Warner fired as WCW president in October 1999—was nearing a deal to purchase the company, in March 2001, WWF Entertainment, Inc. acquired WCW from AOL Time Warner for a number reported to be around $7 million.[37] Shortly afterWrestleMania X-Seven, the WWF launched the Invasion storyline integrating the incoming talent roster from WCW and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). With this purchase, WWF now became the largest wrestling promotion in the world, and the only one in North America with mainstream exposure. The assets of ECW, which had folded after filing for bankruptcy protection in April 2001, were purchased by WWE in mid-2003.[38]
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. / WWE, Inc. (2002-present)
Brand extension
In March 2002, roughly two months before the name change, WWE decided to create two separate rosters, Raw and SmackDown!due to the overabundance of talent left over from the Invasion storyline. This is known as the WWE Brand Extension. Despite much of the originally drafted talent departing by 2004, WWE has continued to separate the shows, taking on younger talent, and holds aDraft Lottery every year. On May 26, 2006, WWE announced the relaunch of Extreme Championship Wrestling as a WWE brand. The new ECW program aired internationally and on Tuesday nights on Syfy in the United States until February 16, 2010.[39]
Name dispute
In 2000, the World Wide Fund for Nature (also trademarked WWF), an environmental organization, sued World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Inc. in the United Kingdom.[40]The Law Lords agreed that the promotion company had violated a 1994 agreement as Titan Sports which had limited the permissible use of the WWF trademark in Europe, particularly in merchandising. The World Wide Fund and World Wrestling Federation used the initials since March 1979.[41] The last televised event to market the WWF logo was the UK based pay-per-view Insurrextion 2002. On May 5, 2002, the company launched its "Get The F Out"marketing campaign and changed all references on its website from "WWF" to "WWE", while switching the URL fromWWF.com to WWE.com.[42] The next day, a press release announced the official name change from World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. to World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., or WWE, and the change was publicized later that day during a telecast of Monday Night Raw, which was broadcast from the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut.
Following the case, the use of the WWF "scratch" logo became prohibited on all WWE properties. Additionally, past references to theWWF trademark and initials in 'specified circumstances' became censored.[43] Despite litigation, WWE was still permitted use of the original WWF logo, which was used from 1979 through 1994, as well as the "New WWF Generation" logo, which was used from 1994 through 1998. Furthermore, the company could still make use of the full "World Wrestling Federation" and "World Wrestling Federation Entertainment" names without consequence. In 2003, WWE won a limited decision to continue marketing certain classic video games from THQ and Jakks Pacific that contained the WWF "scratch" logo.[44]However, the packaging on those games had all WWF references replaced with WWE.
Starting with the 1,000th episode of Raw in July 2012, the WWF "scratch" logo is no longer censored in archival footage due to WWE reaching a settlement with the World Wide Fund for Nature.[45] In addition, the WWF initials are no longer censored when spoken or when written in plain text in archival footage. Since then, full-length matches and other segments featuring the WWF initials and "scratch" logo have been added to the WWE website and the WWE Classics on Demand service. This also includes WWE Home Video releases since October 2012 starting with the re-release ofBrock Lesnar: Here Comes The Pain.[46] In exchange, WWE is no longer permitted to use the WWF initials or logo in any new, original footage, with any old-school logos for retro-themed programming now using the original WWF logo, but modified without the F.[47]
Network changes and high-definition
In late 2005, WWE Raw returned after a five-year stint on TNN (now Spike) to its original home on USA Network. In 2006, due to contracts with NBC Universal, the parent company of USA Network, WWE revived its classic Saturday night show Saturday Night's Main Event (SNME) on NBC after a thirteen-year hiatus. WWE had the chance to promote the company on a major national network rather than the lower profile CW or cable channels like USA Network. On September 26, 2007, it was announced that WWE would be expanding its international operations. Alongside the current international offices in London and Toronto, a new international office would be established in Sydney.[48]
On January 21, 2008, WWE made the transition to high-definition (HD). All TV shows and pay-per-views after this were broadcast in HD. In addition, WWE also introduced a new HD set that is used for both the Raw andSmackDown brands. A different set, though usually similar to the universal design in layout, is used for pay-per-views.[49] On July 23, 2012, Raw debuted a new, modified HD set which has also become universal for all weekly programming.
Social Media, TV-PG, and Public Service Initiatives
On November 19, 2008, WWE launched their online social network, WWE Universe. It initially appeared in April as the WWE Fan Nation. Similar to Myspace, it offered blogs, forums, and other features for WWE fans. Also the WWE fanbase began being referred to on-air by the announcers and wrestlers as the "WWE Fan Nation", and later the "WWE Universe", similar to how some sports franchises refer to their own fanbases ("Red Sox Nation", "Raider Nation", etc.).[50] The social network ceased operations on January 1, 2011.[51] The company subsequently launched a WWE page on Facebook, which, as of October 7, 2011, had more than 39 million fans worldwide. In 2012, WWE became an investor in the social media siteTout, which is now heavily promoted on all programming.[52]
That same year, WWE initiated a change in its programming content. The United Statesparental guidelines rating system now rates most WWE television programs TV-PG. This was done to promote more family-friendly content in the programming than in the past (especially during the Attitude Era) when most content was rated TV-14. As part of this new policy, WWE's television programs shift toblack-and-white if a wrestler bleeds in front of the camera.[53] In 2012, WWE debuted a new Saturday morning program (WWE Saturday Morning Slam) which is rated TV-G and has special restrictions barring the use of holds and moves aimed at the neck.[54][55] Vince McMahon noted that the change to more family-friendly content is due to the changing demographics in WWE viewership.[56]
With the adjustment made to on-air content, WWE also began to get more involved in public service and community outreach programs, such as in 2011, when WWE (along with several other groups) began the "Be A Star" anti-bullying initiative. In October 2012, WWE formed a partnership with Susan G. Komen for the Cure to promote breast cancerawareness. As part of the campaign, WWE adorned their sets with pink ribbons, put a pink middle rope on the ring, filmed numerous PSAs, and sold special John Cena "Rise Above Cancer" merchandise. All of these efforts culminated in a donation from WWE of $1 Million, which was presented to Susan G. Komen representatives in an in-ring ceremony during the October 29, 2012 episode of Raw. WWE is doing a similar campaign in October 2013 with Susan G Komen, this time with all major wrestlers having special "Rise Above Cancer" gear.[57]
In 2013, WWE became involved in theNothing But Nets program, which involves providing and distributing mosquito nets in Africa to prevent insect bites which may cause malaria. In April 2013, it was announced that WWE would be a founding sponsor in the 2014 Special Olympics USAGames.[58]
On April 7, 2011, WWE Corporate announced that the company would be rebranded from "World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc." to simply "WWE, Inc." This orphan initialismoccurred to reflect WWE's global entertainment expansion away from the ring with the ultimate goal of acquiring entertainment companies and putting a focus on television, live events, and film production. WWE quoted that their new company model was put into effect with the relaunch of WWE Tough Enough, being a non–scripted program (contrary to the scripted nature of professional wrestling) and with the expected launch of a WWE television network in 2012. However, the legal name of the company remains as World Wrestling Entertainment.[13]
Beginning October 2012, episodes of WWE programs SmackDown, NXT, Main Event &Superstars are available in full on Hulu[59]while a shorter, edited version of Raw can be viewed.
"Supershow" format and developmental restructuring
Beginning with the August 29, 2011, episode of Raw, it was announced that Raw would feature talent from both Raw andSmackDown, and would be known as Raw Supershow (the "Supershow" suffix would be dropped on July 23, 2012). The next night, on a special live episode of SmackDown, a similar announcement was made regardingRaw talent appearing on SmackDown. Also, championships previously exclusive to one show or the other were available for wrestlers from any show to compete for, as well as house show cards also featuring a mix of both Raw and SmackDown talent. For all intents and purposes, the "Supershow" format would mark the end of the brand extension, as all programming and live events since the initial announcement was made have featured the full WWE roster.
On March 20, 2012, rumors circulated online reporting that WWE would cease operation of its lone development territory, Florida Championship Wrestling, in three weeks time.[60] However, the next day (March 21) WWE's Executive Vice President of Talent,Paul "Triple H" Levesque, in a statement on WWE.com, revealed that rumors of the impeding closing of FCW were not true, and that after WrestleMania XXVIII there would be a big announcement regarding the development system.[61] In August 2012, FCW was revamped by having its name changed to NXT Wrestling (the name of aWWE program which showcased lower card talent, which was later reformatted to showcasing developmental talent), and by eventually establishing new championships for the developmental roster.[62]
The company announced in early 2013 to build a sports medicine and training center in east Orange County, Florida in partnership with Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. The training facility is targeted at career development for wrestlers and athletic development.[63] This will be similar to theWCW Power Plant in the 1990s.
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