Information about History Of World Wrestling Entertainment

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.
World Wrestling Entertainment logo
	Public (NYSE: WWE)
Founded	1952
Headquarters	Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.
Key people	Vince McMahon, Chairman Linda McMahon, CEO Shane McMahon, Executive Vice President of Global Media Stephanie McMahon, Executive Vice President of Creative Writing
Industry	Professional wrestling, sports entertainment
Revenue	USD$400.05 million (2006) [1]
Operating income	$70.54 million (2006) [1]
Net income	$47.05 million (2006) [1]
Employees	460 (April 2006, excluding wrestlers) [2]
Website	www.wwe.com

This is the history of World Wrestling Entertainment''' (WWE), a sports entertainment/professional wrestling promotion.

Beginning/Capitol Wrestling

Roderick James "Jess" McMahon was a boxing promoter whose achievements included co-promoting a boxing match in 1915 between Jess Willard and Jack Johnson. In 1925, while working with Tex Rickard (who despised wrestling to such a degree that he prevented wrestling events from being held in Madison Square Garden) he started promoting boxing in Madison Square Garden in New York City. The first match during their partnership was a light heavyweight championship match between Jack Delaney and Paul Berlenbach.

Around the same time, former professional wrestler Joseph Raymond "Toots" Mondt had a revolutionary concept. He decided to take wrestling to a higher level, bringing it out of back alleys and rough areas into sporting arenas. He also made wrestling more exciting with his "Slam Bang Western Style Wrestling." His next move was to form a promotion with Ed Lewis and Billy Sandow. They persuaded a lot of wrestlers to sign contracts with the newly named 'Gold Dust Trio'.

Eventually, the trio dissolved and the promotion did also, after a disagreement over power. Mondt formed partnerships with several promoters. When Jack Curley was dying, Mondt knew that New York wrestling would fall apart. Realizing this he gained help from several bookers, one of these being Jess McMahon.

Together, Jess and Mondt created the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC). There is not a lot of information on the early days of the CWC, but it is known that it joined the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) in 1953.

Mondt had been using Antonino Rocca as a main eventer. He was successful in the role and Mondt was pleased to have him as part of the company. Unfortunately, Mondt was unable to keep Rocca happy.

In 1953, Ray Fabiani, one of Mondt's other associates, brought in Vincent J. McMahon, who replaced his father Jess in 1953 (around the time the CWC became a territorial member of the NWA). They controlled all of the Northeastern wrestling circuit.

Vince Sr. and Toots Mondt were a formidable combination: within a short time, they controlled around 70% of the NWA's booking -- given what a far-reaching organization the NWA was, that was a significant achievement. Mondt taught Vince Sr. about booking and how to work in the wrestling industry. This was the start of the wrestling revolution.

In 1956, the CWC signed a deal with WTTG Channel 5 to air live professional wrestling shows.

World Wide Wrestling Federation

The NWA recognized an undisputed NWA World Heavyweight Champion that went from wrestling company to wrestling company in the alliance and defended the belt around the world. In 1963, the champion was "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers.

The rest of the NWA was unhappy with Mondt because he rarely allowed Rogers to wrestle outside of the Northeast. Mondt and McMahon wanted Rogers to keep the NWA World Championship belt, but Rogers was unwilling to sacrifice his $25,000 deposit on the belt (title holders at the time had to pay a deposit to insure they would honor their commitments as champion). Rogers lost the NWA World Championship to Lou Thesz in a one-fall match in Toronto, Ontario on January 24, 1963, which led to Mondt, McMahon and the CWC leaving the NWA in protest, creating the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) in the process.

In mid-April, Rogers was awarded the new WWWF World Championship following an apocryphal tournament in Rio de Janeiro. He lost the title to Bruno Sammartino a month later on May 17, 1963 after supposedly suffering a heart attack shortly before the match.

Toots Mondt left the company in the late sixties for unclear reasons, probably due to old age.

Although the WWWF had withdrawn from the NWA, Vince McMahon Sr. still sat on the NWA Board of Directors, no other territory was recognized in the Northeast, and several "champion vs. champion" matches occurred (usually ending in a double disqualification or some other non-decisive ending).

In March 1979, the WWWF was restarted into the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). The front office personnel remained unchanged during this period and the ownership belonged to Vincent J. McMahon. At some undetermined point, McMahon transferred stock amounting to a total of 50 percent to Phil Zacko (his longtime business partner), Arnold Skaaland, and Gorilla Monsoon

World Wrestling Federation

In 1980, the son of Vincent J. McMahon, Vincent K. McMahon, founded Titan Sports, Inc. and in 1982 purchased Capitol Sports from his father and associates (Monsoon and Skaaland were given lifetime employment with WWF, and all three minority holders received cash payments). After discovering at age 12 that the wrestling promoter was his father, Vince became steadily involved in his father's wrestling business until the latter was ready to retire. The elder 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. Against his father's wishes, McMahon began an expansion process that would fundamentally change the sport, and place both the WWF - and his own life - in jeopardy.

The NWA was not the only wrestling outfit in operation; the American Wrestling Association (AWA) had long ago ceased being an official NWA member, and controlled the US Northern Midwest. But in neither instance did the defecting member attempt to undermine, and destroy, the territory system that had been the foundation of the industry.

The first step McMahon's attempt to go national was to sign AWA superstar Hulk Hogan, who, due to his appearance in Rocky III had a national recognition that few other wrestlers could manage. To play Hogan's nemesis, he signed North Carolina badboy Roddy Piper, and also Jesse Ventura (although Ventura never wrestled in the WWF at that point due to the lung disorder that caused his retirement). It has long been a point of contention whether McMahon could have gone national without Hogan's presence, or vice versa.

Other promoters were furious when McMahon began syndicating WWF television shows to television stations across the United States, in areas outside of the WWF's traditional Northeastern stronghold. McMahon also began selling videotapes of WWF events outside the Northeast through his Coliseum Video distribution company. He effectively broke the unwritten law of regionalism around which the entire industry had been based. To make matters worse, McMahon would use the income generated by advertising, television deals, and tape sales to poach talent from rival promoters. Wrestling promoters nationwide were now in direct competition with the WWF. The WWF bought off talent all around Canada and U.S. including the likes of the British Bulldogs and the Hart Foundation who were based with Stampede Wrestling. Eventually in the 1980s, WWF was able to sign Dusty Rhodes who had been a legend during the regional territory days.

According to several reports, Vince Sr. warned his son: "Vinny, what are you doing? You'll wind up at the bottom of a river." In spite of such warnings, the younger McMahon had an even bolder ambition: the WWF would tour nationally. However, such a venture required 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 sports entertainment concept, WrestleMania. WrestleMania was a pay-per-view extravaganza (most areas of the country saw WrestleMania available on Closed-circuit television) that McMahon marketed as being the Super Bowl of professional wrestling.

The concept of a wrestling super card was nothing new in North America; the NWA had been running StarrCade a few years prior to WrestleMania, and even the elder McMahon had marketed large Shea Stadium cards viewable in closed circuit locations. However, McMahon wanted to take the WWF to the mainstream, targeting the public who were not regular wrestling fans. He drew the interest of the mainstream media by inviting celebrities such as Mr. T and Cyndi Lauper to participate in the event. MTV, in particular, featured a great deal of WWF coverage and programming at this time, in what was termed the Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection.

There were attempts in the Deep South to keep the legacy of the regional territory system alive. Several regional territories in the Deep South merged together to form Jim Crockett Promotions. Starrcade and the Great American Bash were the JCP version of Wrestlemania. However JCP had trouble competing against the WWF. JCP even ran a few shows outside its regional base. The promotion was sold off becoming WCW, which ended up becoming the main competition for the WWF until 2000.

The Golden Age

Main article: 1980s wrestling boom

The new formula of what McMahon deemed sports entertainment was a resounding financial success at the original WrestleMania in 1985. The WWF did incredible business on the shoulders of McMahon and his All-American babyface hero, Hulk Hogan, for the next several years, creating what some observers dubbed a second golden age for professional wrestling.

In addition to Hogan, there were other muscular singles stars who were making their mark in the WWF including the Ultimate Warrior, Ricky Steamboat, and Paul Orndorff. Not only did WWF have a dominant singles division, the tag team division had a myriad of excellent teams such as The Rockers, Demolition, The Hart Foundation, The British Bulldogs, and The Fabulous Rougeaus. Thanks to the success of WrestleMania, additional pay-per-views were produced such as SummerSlam, Royal Rumble, and Survivor Series. The Survivor Series stressed the elimination tag format. The Royal Rumble had a 30-man battle royal which, in 1993, would add the stipulation where the winner faces the WWF Champion at that year's WrestleMania. SummerSlam became the major hit of the summer. This era was noted for some of its excellent matches. Some memories included the Hogan v. Warrior bout at WrestleMania VI in the SkyDome, Steamboat v. Savage Intercontinental Title match at WrestleMania III and Hogan v. Andre the Giant at that same pay-per-view.

The New Generation

The New Generation refers to an era spanning from mid-1994 through late-1997. Technical wrestling and younger stars were pushed such as Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels. Meanwhile, weapons and blood were downplayed (for the most part) and a more "family oriented" television program was broadcast. This is in contrast to the "Federation Years" which was dominated by muscular types, such as Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior, who generally did not wrestle very technically and the "Attitude Era" where a more violent type of wrestling was introduced and the television shows were more vulgar and mature in nature.

The World Wrestling Federation was investigated by the Federal Government in 1991 for a steroid scandal involving Dr. Zaharian, the company's doctor at the time. Reputedly, steroid-use was rampant among wrestlers and in WWF Chairman Vince McMahon's World Bodybuilding Federation, supplied through Zaharian. Large names, including Hulk Hogan gained infamy when news of his long-time steroid use was revealed.

During 1992 and 1993, wrestling's popularity suffered as bland storylines turned many fans away. The WWF's gimmicky characters were strongly criticized as uninteresting, and in response, many fans tuned into the emerging World Championship Wrestling programming on TBS.

Also, McMahon dealt with the fact that the Ultimate Warrior wanted more money on his contract. But the Warrior was fired after SummerSlam 1991 (even though Warrior returned twice after). In the process, fans were tired of seeing the same stars such as Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, and Ted DiBiase. Hogan decided to "retire" from wrestling to pursue a career in acting. Before Hogan left WWF, WCW franchise player Ric Flair jumped to WWF. However, Hogan wasn't able to face Flair on a national stage until he was at WCW. Eventually, Flair returned to WCW.

To make matters even worst, a major lawsuit involving sexual misconduct on the part of Pat Patterson in 1993 further weakened the company. Pat Patterson, a homosexual, had been on trial for molesting a young child. His high position of authority in the Federation, and within the McMahon family, gained great criticism to the WWF, especially weakening for its once "family-oriented" programming.

Because of these losses, McMahon allowed technical wrestlers such as Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Razor Ramon, and The Undertaker to become top players. As for the gimmicks, fans started seeing more cartoonish gimmicks on its superstars. McMahon's top superstar in 1995 was Diesel, who defeated Bob Backlund in 1994 and held the WWF Championship until he lost to Bret Hart at the 1995 Survivor Series. Hart would lose it to Shawn Michaels in a memorable Ironman match at WrestleMania XII.

Starting near the end of 1996, the WWF began to move away from its "family era" and began broadcasting more violence, swearing, and more edgy angles in its attempt to compete with WCW.

Monday Night Wars

Main article: Monday Night Wars

Under Eric Bischoff, World Championship Wrestling, the new name for NWA super territory Jim Crockett Promotions after its purchase by Ted Turner, began using its tremendous financial resources to lure established talent away from the WWF. In 1995, Bischoff upped the ante, creating WCW Monday Nitro, a cable show on Turner's TNT network, to directly compete with the WWF's flagship show, WWF Monday Night RAW. Eventually, on the strength of its newly-acquired WWF talent and the groundbreaking nWo storyline, WCW overtook the WWF in television ratings and popularity.

McMahon responded by stating that he could create new superstars to regain the upper hand in the ratings war, and at the same time tightening contracts to make it harder for WCW to raid WWF talent. Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart were elevated to the top of the card, gaining popularity based mostly on the excellence of their in-ring abilities, a far departure from the Hogan era. Despite this, the WWF was losing money at a rapid rate. WCW's reality-based storylines drew attention away from the WWF's.

In 2004, WWE published a DVD entitled The Monday Night War, which chronicles the battle between the two organizations. Critics say the DVD is one-sided, with the WWF being presented as good and hardworking and WCW portrayed as evil and its success a fluke.

The Attitude era and The Montreal Screwjob

Main article: Montreal Screwjob

The WWF/WCW feud reached new heights in November 1, 1997, when WCW offered a contract to Bret "The Hitman" Hart worth up to a reported nine million dollars over the course of three years. The WWF and Vince McMahon countered with an offer worth much less, but for a much longer period, with greater creative control. Bret Hart took the offer, but after several months of financial hardship and sharply falling profits, McMahon was uncertain if he could write Hart's paychecks. McMahon alerted Hart of the situation prior to Hart's match with Michaels in Montreal, and allowed him to re-open negotiations with WCW. Despite a great sense of loyalty to the WWF, Hart took WCW's offer and was set to appear on their programming by the end of 1997.

While Hart's departure was not a surprise, the WWF was concerned about the fact that the man about to leave was the WWF Champion. Earlier in the WWF/WCW feud, the WWF Women's Champion, Alundra Blayze, signed with WCW while in possession of the belt and threw it in a trashcan on WCW Nitro (imitating a heavily publicized act by heavyweight boxing champion Riddick Bowe). Bret promised that no such thing would ever happen and put an agreement in place that the announcement of his departure would be delayed until the belt could be transitioned to a new champion. However, McMahon was concerned that the word would get out and he sought a way to get the belt off Hart before the deal could be announced on WCW Monday Nitro.

Hart used his contractual control over his booking during that year's Survivor Series pay-per-view at Centre Molson in Montreal, Canada. He let it be known to WWF management that he will drop the title on a couple of conditions. Hart did not want to lose to Shawn Michaels or lose in his home country of Canada. McMahon would deviate from the agreed finish of their match at Survivor Series to allow Shawn Michaels to win the title from Hart. During the match Shawn Michaels put Bret Hart in a Sharpshooter, which Hart was in the process of countering when the referee Earl Hebner, under instruction from Vince McMahon, told the timekeeper to ring the bell to end the match and announced Michaels the winner. Bret Hart was so infuriated at the fake victory he spat in McMahon's face before leaving the ring. Later, in a confrontation with McMahon that same night, Hart punched McMahon in the face, giving him a black eye.

This event set the stage for the turning point in the WWF/WCW feud. McMahon, who had previously acted only as a play-by-play announcer on television, used the backlash stemming from his real-life role as WWF owner in the Montreal Screwjob to cast himself as the evil company owner "Mr. McMahon" in WWF programming, a dictatorial ruler who favored heel wrestlers who were "good for business" over "misfits" like Stone Cold Steve Austin. This led to the Austin vs. McMahon feud, which was the cornerstone of the next phase of development.

The Death of Owen Hart

Main article: Owen Hart#Death, Controversy and Lawsuit

Owen Hart, as his "Blue Blazer" superhero character, was scheduled to make a dramatic appearance on Over the Edge 1999 pay-per-view telecast on May 23 1999, in Kansas City, Missouri, by "flying" into the ring by being lowered from a harness attached to the arena's rafters. As Hart was being lowered into position in preparation for this entrance, his harness disengaged, sending him plummeting 78 feet to the ring below, impacting the top turnbuckle with his upper body.

Those watching the pay-per-view telecast at the time were spared the sight because the director had cut away to a pre-taped interview just before the accident occurred. Hart was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival (although, investigation later proved that Owen died while still lying in the ring). A stunned Jim Ross made the announcement to the pay-per-view audience once word had reached the arena. The fans in attendance at Kemper Arena were not informed of Owen's death. The decision to continue the event remains controversial to this day.

The following night, the WWF dedicated its entire two-hour RAW telecast to Owen's memory, and various WWF performers and employees broke kayfabe and shared memories of their friend. Over the Edge 1999 was never rebroadcast or issued on video or DVD. The name Over the Edge was retired from pay-per-views and most Blue Blazer action figures were removed from circulation.

Business advances

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 and remained UPN's most successful program. SmackDown! was moved to Friday nights with a one-hour special (the second hour, the first being streamed on WWE.com) on September 9 2005. This ended the six-year Thursday night broadcast tradition.

On the back of the success of the Attitude era, on October 19 1999 the WWF's parent company, Titan Sports (renamed World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc.) became a publicly traded company, offering 10 million shares priced at $17 each. WWF announced its desire to diversify, including creating a nightclub in Times Square, producing feature films, and book publishing.

Despite losing superstar Steve Austin to a neck injury, the WWF continued to dominate the ratings and become a pop culture sensation thanks to The Rock's emergence as a pop culture icon and movie actor, and Triple H becoming a certified main-event star. The defection of WCW talent such as Big Show, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Perry Saturn, Dean Malenko and Eddie Guerrero bolstered the talent roster, effectively killing off any chance WCW had of becoming a serious threat ever again. Head writer Vince Russo and his assistant Ed Ferrara were among the last WWF employees to "jump ship" to WCW, leaving the WWF in late 1999. They were replaced by Chris Kreski, known for his extensive use of storyboards to maintain continuity.

In 2000 the WWF, in collaboration with television network NBC, announced the creation of the XFL, a new professional football league. The league had surprisingly high ratings for the first few weeks, but was later pulled from the network after the initial interest waned and its ratings plunged to dismally low levels.

Introduction of ECW

On February 5 2001 Jim Ross confirmed in his "Ross Report" that Extreme Championship Wrestling stars Justin Credible, Jerry Lynn, and World Champion Rhyno had signed with the WWF. Lynn and Rhyno had verbal agreements while Credible signed a three year deal on January 26. Bobby Eaton signed with the WWF on January 26 and was used as an instructor with Memphis Championship Wrestling to help develop talent for the WWF. Paul Heyman debuted as the new color commentator on RAW, and Tazz on SmackDown! following the departure of Jerry Lawler and wife The Kat. ECW fell into bankruptcy the following April.

Acquisition of WCW

With the massive success of Attitude, WCW's financial situation deteriorated significantly, and its newly-merged parent company AOL Time Warner decided to cut the division loose. In March 2001, WWF Entertainment, Inc. acquired WCW from AOL Time Warner for $7 million. During the final WCW Monday Nitro, Vince McMahon (in character as Mr. McMahon) announced on RAW that he had purchased WCW. However, fans worldwide were shocked when Shane McMahon showed up on Nitro and announced it was, in fact, he who had purchased WCW, not Vince. In a surreal moment, the two shows ended split-screen (each showing what was happening in the other arena), and Nitro closed while running an ad for WrestleMania X-Seven. This would eventually lead to a match featuring Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon at WrestleMania X-Seven, and was the start of the InVasion storyline.

In 2002, McMahon and Bischoff reconciled their personal differences, and Bischoff signed with WWE to perform as the storyline General Manager of RAW.

The End of the Attitude Era

Some fans argue that the Attitude era ended after WrestleMania X-Seven, while others contend the end of the Invasion storyline in November 2001 marked its completion. Others insist that the Attitude era ended in late 1999, when corporate sponsor pressures, the actions of the PTC, and the departure of head writer Vince Russo caused the WWF to tone down many of its "risque" storylines. There are even some fans who insist that the era only ended with the brand extension in 2002, or with WrestleMania XX, and others who claim it never ended and instead has just become passe. The issue remains a source of debate among wrestling fans.

Despite this, the WWF kept most of their audience in this transitional period, fueled with a combination of new factors leading to a fresh product. For one, Chris Kreski took over head writer duties after Vince Russo left for WCW. Kreski was admired by many for heading a creative process that had well-planned storylines. Some of the more remembered angles from this time were Triple H vs. Cactus Jack feuding over the WWF Title, the Triple H/Kurt Angle/Stephanie McMahon love triangle, and the TLC feud between the Hardy Boyz, Edge & Christian, and the Dudley Boyz. At the same time, injuries to Steve Austin and the Undertaker allowed WWE to focus on new stars such as Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, The Dudley Boyz, The Hardy Boyz, Rikishi, and Edge and Christian.

In late 2000, WWF RAW is WAR moved from the USA Network to TNN. This coincided with the return of Steve Austin, after being out for close to a year due to injury. Despite having their biggest star back, the WWF's ratings started to slowly decline possibly due to various repetitive storylines. Chris Kreski left the company, and Stephanie McMahon became the head writer. Despite this, the WWF presented what is considered by many to be one of their greatest single cards of all time, WrestleMania X-Seven, headlined by the Rock vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin for the WWF title. At the end of the show, Vince McMahon helped give Steve Austin the win, turning him heel in the process. Austin went on to form a union with Triple H called The Two-Man Power Trip, which carried WWE storylines for most of the Spring. But just as the next phase of the WWF began, the WWF lost two of their top stars, Triple H and Chris Benoit, to injuries. It was during this period that ratings took a serious blow, arguably due to the deaths of WCW and ECW, Steve Austin's heel turn and the absence of some big names.

The Invasion

Main article: The Invasion (pro wrestling)

In the Invasion storyline, Shane McMahon acquired World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and the WCW stars invaded the WWF. For the first time since the Monday Night Wars, the WWF's purchase of WCW had made the interpromotional feud possible, but Invasion (as it was called) turned out to be a disappointment. One reason was that many of WCW's big name stars were under contract to WCW's old parent company, AOL Time Warner, rather than WCW itself, and their contracts were not included in the purchase of the company. These wrestlers chose to sit out the duration of their contracts rather than work for the WWF for less money. Additionally, the WWF decided that their wrestlers should generally not lose to the WCW workers, leaving only a one-sided and predictable feud.

On July 9, 2001, the stars of WCW and Extreme Championship Wrestling (acquired by Stephanie McMahon in a related storyline) joined forces, forming The Alliance with WCW owner Shane McMahon and the new owner of ECW Stephanie McMahon, and supported and influenced by original ECW owner Paul Heyman. After months of feuding, at Survivor Series 2001, the WWF finally defeated WCW and ECW in a "Winner Take All Match" and this concluded the angle.

Despite the company turning a profit for the quarter, the Invasion feud was seen as a major contributor to the company's decline in ratings and attendance.

Undisputed Championship

Main article: WWE Championship

In the aftermath of the Invasion angle, the WWF made several major changes to their product. Ric Flair returned to the company as a "co-owner" in storylines, feuding with Vince McMahon. Jerry "The King" Lawler returned to the RAW broadcast booth, after quitting earlier in the year. Several former Alliance stars were absorbed into the regular WWF roster, such as Booker T, The Hurricane, Lance Storm, and Rob Van Dam. Steve Austin's run as a heel was over, as he was accepted by the fans again as a babyface. And, for the first time ever, the WWF was left with two heavyweight champions. The Rock held the WCW Title, now known as The World Championship, while Austin held the WWF title. It was decided that a mini-tournament would be held at the Vengeance 2001 pay-per-view, consisting of Austin, the Rock, Chris Jericho, and Kurt Angle. The winner of that tournament would hold both titles. Jericho came out the victor that night, defeating both the Rock and Austin. This made Jericho the first WWF Undisputed Champion.

New World Order (nWo)

Main article: New World Order (professional wrestling)

After the WWF bought WCW in 2001, Vince McMahon brought back Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall as the nWo, at the No Way Out 2002 pay-per-view on February 17 2002. In this storyline, the nWo was brought in as McMahon's allies in an attempt to "kill" the WWF so that McMahon would not have to share power with new WWF co-owner Ric Flair. However, Hulk Hogan left the group after he lost his WrestleMania X8 match with The Rock and was assaulted by Hall & Nash. Over time, more members joined the nWo such as X-Pac (formerly known as Syxx in WCW), Big Show (formerly known as The Giant in WCW), Booker T, Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair as a semi-member.

The nWo reunion in the WWF was short-lived. Abruptly on July 15 2002, Vince McMahon, having regained full control of WWE from Ric Flair, disbanded the nWo.

World Wrestling Entertainment

A 2000 lawsuit from the World Wildlife Fund (also WWF) was settled in 2002, when on May 6 2002, the company changed its name to World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., or WWE. This forced the company to issue new licensed merchandise such as apparel, action figures, video games, and DVDs with the new WWE logo. For a short while, WWE adopted the slogan: Get the "F" out.

Brand extension

Main article: WWE Brand Extension

In April 2002, the WWF underwent a process they called the Brand Extension. The WWF divided itself into two de facto wrestling promotions with separate rosters, storylines and authority figures. RAW and SmackDown! would host each division, give its name to the division and essentially compete against each other.



Wrestlers would become show-exclusive, wrestling for their specific show only. At the time this excluded the WWE Undisputed Championship and WWE Women's Championship, as those titles would be defended on both shows. In August 2002, WWE Undisputed Champion Brock Lesnar refused to defend the title on RAW, in effect causing his title to become exclusive to SmackDown! The following week on RAW, General Manager Eric Bischoff awarded a newly created World Heavyweight Championship, with a design similar to the WCW World Heavyweight Championship belt, to RAW's designated #1 contender, Triple H.

Following the Brand Extension, a yearly Draft Lottery was instituted to exchange members of each roster and generally refresh the lineups. tejinder likes manu

Legends program and WWE Hall of Fame

Main article: WWE Hall of Fame

The Legends program began informally with the return of the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony in 2004, held annually during WrestleMania weekends. The introduction of WWE 24/7, WWE's on-demand television service, and the success of career retrospective DVDs such as The Ultimate Ric Flair Collection, Greatest Wrestling Stars of the 80's, and Brian Pillman: Loose Cannon facilitated and enhanced WWE Hall of Fame and at times brought a sense of nostalgia back into older wrestling fans.

The Death of Eddie Guerrero

Main article: Eddie Guerrero

On the morning of November 13 2005, Chavo Guerrero checked into a hotel with his uncle, Eddie Guerrero, in Minneapolis where they were both scheduled be a part of a planned RAW and SmackDown! "Supershow" (a show where both RAW and SmackDown! would take place the same night in the same arena). After Eddie missed a wake-up call, security opened his hotel room and Chavo found his uncle unconscious. Chavo attempted CPR, but 38-year-old Eddie was declared dead at the scene. Vickie Guerrero, Eddie's wife, later announced that an autopsy ruled the cause of death to be massive heart failure. Although he had been sober for four years, his past drug and alcohol problems had taken their toll on Guerrero, as had his gruelling wrestling work and WWE schedule.

Eddie died on the day that he had a match for the World Heavyweight Championship versus Batista and Randy Orton. The company held tributes to Guerrero on both RAW and SmackDown during the week following his death. On April 1 2006 at the WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremonies during WrestleMania 22 weekend, Guerrero's wife Vickie accepted his posthumous induction into WWE Hall of Fame by Rey Mysterio, Chris Benoit and Chavo Guerrero.

Following Guerrero's death, Vince McMahon announced a new drug policy under which performers would be subject to random drug tests by an independent company and would receive regular medical physicals with an emphasis on cardiovascular health [1].

Return of Extreme Championship Wrestling

Main article: Extreme Championship Wrestling (WWE)

On May 26 2006, WWE announced the relaunch of ECW as a stand-alone franchise that would complement WWE's RAW and SmackDown! brands. The promotion would emanate on NBC Universal's Sci Fi Channel starting June 13, 2006. Although a puzzling decision, Sci Fi Channel's President Bonnie Hammer believed that ECW would fit the channel's theme of stretching the imagination.

The Death of Chris Benoit

Main article: Chris Benoit murder-suicide

On June 25 2007, Benoit, his wife Nancy, and their 7-year-old son Daniel were found dead in their Fayetteville, Georgia, home at around 2:30 p.m. EDT. The Fayette County, Georgia Sheriff's Department is currently investigating this case. Lieutenant Tommy Pope reported to ABC News that police entered Benoit's home on a "welfare check" after several missed appointments, leading to concerns. Pope also stated the police are not searching for any suspects outside of the house, as the instruments of death were located at the scene of the crime.

Detective Bo Turner of the Fayette County Sheriff's Department told television station WAGA-TV that the case was being treated as a murder-suicide. The station reported that investigators believe that Benoit murdered his wife and son over the weekend and hanged himself sometime on Monday.

It was first reported to fans of WWE on their WWE Mobile Alerts Service and posted to their official website soon after. On their website, World Wrestling Entertainment released the following statement:

"World Wrestling Entertainment is deeply saddened to report that today Chris Benoit and his family were found dead in their home. There are no further details at this time, other than the Benoit family residence is currently being investigated by local authorities. Tonight’s Raw on USA Network will serve as a tribute to Chris Benoit and his family. WWE extends its sincerest thoughts and prayers to the Benoit family’s relatives and loved ones in this time of tragedy."

WWE cancelled the scheduled three hour long live RAW show on June 25, and replaced the broadcast version with a tribute to his life and career, featuring his past matches, segments from the Hard Knocks: The Chris Benoit Story DVD, and comments from wrestlers and announcers. However, this special broadcast was aired only in the U.S., and because international markets air RAW on a delayed basis, WWE instead aired a two-hour RAW featuring past championship matches of the past year (including the first half of 2007) for the world market.

Once details surrounding the death confirmed that the circumstances pointed to murder-suicide, WWE.com swiftly removed any references to Benoit on their website, including all news articles relating to his death, summarizing any past matches to exclude his name, and ceasing the sale of any Benoit-related merchandise. Before the June 26 edition of ECW, Vince McMahon stated in a prerecorded segment that there would be no future mention of the Benoit murder-suicide from WWE other than through his official statements. ^[3]

Since the events, publicity towards WWE has been mostly negative due to the reigniated debate on steroids in professional wrestling (Benoit was known to have used steroids during his career). The negative press has even resulting in a change of planned appearances by the Jackass Crew, who have distanced themselves from the company since the incident, which caused a planned match at SummerSlam 2007 to be scrapped.^[4]

WWE Online

In 1997, Shane McMahon helped form WWE's digital media department and launched WWF.com (now known as WWE.com), a site that receives more than seven million visitors a month.

On September 25 2006 WWE announced the creation of the official Japanese WWE website, and has stated that they may start a number of other official WWE websites in foreign languages in the future [2].

On September 8 2006, WWE.com reported that it may be going in High-definition in some of its television programs and Home Video DVDs in the near future. [3]

On November 17 2006, WWE.com reported that WWE officials and officials of DSE, the parent company of PRIDE Fighting Championships, had a meeting at WWE global headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut. The meeting focused on the possibility of the two groups doing some form of business together in the future [4] . But on March 27 2007, Nobuyuki Sakakibara, president of DSE, announced that Station Casinos Inc. magnate Lorenzo Fertitta, also one of the co-owners of Zuffa, the parent company of the UFC, had made a deal to acquire all the assets of PRIDE FC from DSE after PRIDE 34: Kamikaze in a deal worth about USD$70 million, and therefore the deal between DSE and WWE has reportedly been called off [5].

References

External links

• Official WWE website
• Official SmackDown! website
• Official RAW website
• Official ECW website
• Official WWE Corporate website
• Official Japanese WWE website
• WWE Stock

World Wrestling Entertainment
History
Black Saturday • Monday Night Wars • Montreal Screwjob • The Invasion • Brand Extension • WWE Video Library
Programming
RAW • SmackDown! • ECW • • Pay-per-views
Developmental territories
Ohio Valley Wrestling • Florida Championship Wrestling
Former and defunct developmental territories
Deep South Wrestling • Heartland Wrestling Association • International Wrestling Association • Memphis Championship Wrestling
Subsidiaries
WWE Films • WWE Niagara Falls • WWE Records • • WWE Home Video • WWE Books
Defunct subsidiaries
Coliseum Video • World Bodybuilding Federation • The World • XFL
Other wrestling organizations acquired
World Championship Wrestling (history) • Extreme Championship Wrestling
Talent
Current roster • WWE Divas • Alumni • Hall of Fame (inductees) • Diva Search • Tough Enough • WWE Draft
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