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World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.

World Wrestling Entertainment logo
Company type	Public (NYSE: WWE)
Industry	Professional wrestling, sports entertainment
Founded	1952
Headquarters	Stamford, Connecticut, USA
Key people	Vince McMahon, Chairman Linda McMahon, CEO Shane McMahon, Executive Vice President of Global Media Stephanie McMahon-Levesque, Senior Vice President of Creative Writing
Revenue	$400.1 million USD (2006)
Operating income	$70.5 million USD (2006)
Net income	$47.0 million USD (2006)
Number of employees	850 (2011)
Website	www.wwe.com

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (WWE) is a publicly traded, privately controlled integrated media (focusing in television, internet, and live events), sports, and entertainment company dealing primarily in the professional wrestling industry, with major revenue sources also coming from movies, music, product licensing, and direct product sales. Vincent K. McMahon is the owner and Chairman of the company and his wife Linda McMahon holds the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Together with their children, Executive Vice President of Global Media Shane McMahon and Senior Vice President of Creative Writing Stephanie McMahon-Levesque, the McMahons hold approximately 70% of WWE's economic interest and 96% of all voting power in the company.

The company's global headquarters are located at 1241 East Main Street in Stamford, Connecticut, with international offices in Los Angeles, New York City, London, and Toronto. The company was previously known as Titan Sports, Inc. before changing to World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc., and most recently becoming World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.

Professional wrestling is the company's main business model. WWE is currently the largest professional wrestling promotion in the world, and holds an extensive library of videos representing a significant portion of the visual history of professional wrestling. The promotion previously existed as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation, which promoted under the banner of the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), and later the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). WWE promotes under three brands; RAW, SmackDown! and ECW. WWE is also home to three of the eight internationally recognized world heavyweight titles.

WWE's revenue in fiscal 2006 (from May 2005 to April 2006) was approximately $400 million (US), with a net profit of approximately $47 million. As of May 2006, the company's market capitalization is over $1 billion (US). Its stock is traded on the NYSE as WWE.

History

The 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, ironically, despised wrestling to such a degree he prevented wrestling events from being held at Madison Square Garden between 1939 and 1948), he started promoting boxing in Madison Square Garden in New York. The first match during their partnership was a light-heavyweight championship match between Jack Delaney and Paul Berlenbach.

Around the same time, former pro 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 up contracts with the newly-named 'Gold Dust Trio'. They also were the group that developed the concept of working. Of course that changed the course of professional wrestling history forever.

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 in 1953.

In 1953, Ray Fabiani, one of Mondt's other associates, brought in Vincent J. McMahon. He replaced his father Jess in 1953.

McMahon and Mondt were a successful combination, and within a short time, they controlled approximately 70% of the NWA's booking, largely due to their dominance in the heavily populated Northeast region. Mondt taught McMahon about booking and how to work in the wrestling business.

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, 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.

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

The WWWF rejoined NWA in 1971. This meant that the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship was downgraded (was no longer a world title) and was renamed the WWWF Heavyweight Title, though the WWWF champions during this NWA Membership were recognized retroactively as World Champions by WWE today.

In March 1979, the WWWF became the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). The change was purely cosmetic, and the ownership and front office personnel remained unchanged during this period.

World Wrestling Federation

In 1980, the son of Vincent J. McMahon, Vincent K. McMahon, founded Titan Sports, Inc. and in 1982 purchased Capitol Wrestling Corporation from his father. 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 would fundamentally change the sport, and place both the WWF - and his own life - in jeopardy.

Leaving the NWA for a second time in itself was not that big of a step; the American Wrestling Association (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 industry for more than half a century.

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.

According to several reports, the elder McMahon 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 concept, WrestleMania. WrestleMania was a pay-per-view extravaganza (in some areas; 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.

The Golden Age

The original WrestleMania, held in 1985, was a resounding success. This event is sometimes credited as the debut of what McMahon called "sports entertainment." However, as mentioned above, his father had emphasized pro wrestling's entertainment value some years before. 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. However, by the 1990s the WWF's fortunes steadily declined as fans were tired of Hulk Hogan's ability to beat anyone and everyone whenever he wanted.

The New Generation

The WWF hit a low point in the wake of allegations of steroid abuse and distribution made against McMahon and the WWF in 1994; there were also allegations of sexual harassment made by WWF employees. McMahon was eventually exonerated, but it was a public relations nightmare for the WWF. The steroid trial cost the WWF 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 the latter case (and about 50% for top level managers such as Bobby Heenan and Jimmy Hart, who both left). This helped drive many WWF wrestlers to its only major competition, WCW, between 1994 and 1996. During this time period, WWF promoted itself as "The New WWF Generation." Unlike the past, this was led by Shawn Michaels, Diesel, Razor Ramon, Bret Hart, and The Undertaker.

The Attitude Era

Starting with Stone Cold Steve Austin's speech, shortly after defeating Jake "The Snake" Roberts of the KOTR finals at the 1996 King of the Ring PPV, the WWF moved away from its "family era" and began broadcasting more violence, swearing, and more edgy angles in its attempt to compete with WCW. After Bret Hart left for WCW following the infamous Montreal Screwjob incident, Vince McMahon used the resulting backlash in the creation of his "Mr. McMahon" character, a dictatorial and fierce ruler who favored heels who were "good for business" over "misfit" faces like Austin. This, in turn, led to the Austin vs. McMahon feud, which, along with the formation of D-Generation X, laid the foundation for the Attitude Era. The Attitude Era also featured the established Monday Night Wars, where both WCW and the WWF had Monday night shows that competed against each other in the ratings.

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.

On the back of the success of the Attitude Era, on October 19 1999 the WWF's parent company, Titan Sports (by this time 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.

In 2000 the WWF, in collaboration with television network NBC, announced the creation of the XFL, a new professional football league that debuted in 2001. The league had surprisingly 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 primetime 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 UPN demanded that SmackDown! be cut by half an hour, McMahon shut down the XFL.

Acquisition of WCW and ECW

With the success of Attitude Era, WCW's already shaky financial situation deteriorated even further. It only survived because Ted Turner retained control over it as a result of Turner Broadcasting System's merger with Time Warner. However, after Time Warner merged with AOL, Turner's power was considerably reduced, and the newly merged company decided to get out of the wrestling business. In March 2001, WWF Entertainment, Inc. acquired World Championship Wrestling, Inc. from AOL Time Warner for $7 million.

The assets of Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), which had folded after filing for bankruptcy protection in April 2001, were purchased by WWE in mid-2003.

World Wrestling Entertainment

In 2000, the World Wildlife Fund (also WWF), an environmental organization now called the World Wide Fund for Nature, sued McMahon and WWFE. A British court agreed that Titan Sports had violated a 1994 agreement not to use the WWF initials outside North America. On May 5 2002, the company quietly changed all references on its website from "WWF" to "WWE", while switching the url from wwf.com to wwe.com. On May 6 2002, a press release announced the official name change to World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., or WWE, and the change was publicized later that day during a telecast of Monday Night Raw. For a short time, WWE used the slogan "Get The 'F' Out".

In April 2002, about a month before the name change, WWE decided to create two separate rosters, one on RAW, the other on SmackDown! due to the overabundance of talent left over from the Invasion storyline (which involved talent from the absorbed ECW and WCW rosters interacting in WWF storylines). This is known as the WWE Brand Extension. Following the Brand Extension, a yearly Draft Lottery was instituted to exchange members of each roster and generally refresh the lineups.

On May 26 2006, WWE revived Extreme Championship Wrestling as its third brand. The new ECW program airs Tuesday nights, on the Sci Fi Channel.

Championships and accomplishments

Current champions

All five members of the Spirit Squad are recognized as the World Tag Team Champions, and any two members can defend the title. This type of title defense is known as the Freebird Rule.

Accomplishments

Current developmental champions

Defunct championships and accomplishments

• WWE Undisputed Championship (2001-2002)
• WWE Hardcore Championship (1998-2002)
• WWE European Championship (1997-2002)
• WWF Light Heavyweight Championship (1981-2001)
• WWF North American Championship (1979-1981)
• WWWF United States Championship (1970-1976)
• WWWF United States Tag Team Championship (1963-1967)
• WWF Women's Tag Team Championship (1983-1989)
• WWF International Heavyweight Championship (1959-1963, 1982-1985)
• WWF International Tag Team Championship (1969-1985)
• WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship (1967-1985)
• WWF Intercontinental Tag Team Championship (1991)
• WWF Million Dollar Championship (1989-1992, 1995-1996)
• WWF New Japan Martial Arts Championship (1978-1985)
• OVW Hardcore Championship (2000-2001)
• OVW Light Heavyweight Championship (1999-2001)

See also

• World Wrestling Entertainment alumni
• World Wrestling Entertainment roster
• Ohio Valley Wrestling
• Deep South Wrestling, LLC
• List of WWE pay-per-view events
• List of WWE Divas
• List of WWE Home Videos
• List of video games based on licensed properties
• Smoking skull
• The World (WWE)
• WWE Draft Lottery
• WWE programs
• WWE Wreckless Intent
• WWE Originals
• WWE Anthology
• WWE Byte This
• WWE Forceable Entry
• WWE Forceable Entry 2
• WWE Action Figures by Jakks Pacific
• WWE ThemeAddict: The Music, Vol. 6
• WWE Unscripted
• WWE 24/7
• WWE diva tapes
• WWE Diva Search
• WWE ThemeAddict: The Music, Vol. 6
• WWE Tough Enough
• WWE 2006 television ratings

References

External links

• Official WWE website
• Official WWE Corporate website
• WWE Stock

• 1952 establishments
• World Wrestling Entertainment
• Sports entertainment
• Entertainment companies of the United States