Mid 20th Century
166-591: Steven Eugene Corino (born May 29, 1973) is a Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler signed with WWE as a trainer at the Performance Center and a producer for the promotion's developmental brand NXT . He is best known for his tenure with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) from 1998 to 2001 and Ring of Honor (ROH) from 2002 to 2006 and 2009–2016. Corino has held the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship ,
332-428: A Double Chain match , when Cabana forced Corino to tap out. On October 16, 2010, Cabana defeated Corino in an "I Quit" match to end their feud. Following Steen's departure from Ring of Honor after December's Final Battle 2010 , Corino proclaimed himself a changed man and turned babyface . Corino began feuding with Mike Bennett , and the two faced each other at Manhattan Mayhem IV on March 19, with Bennett picking up
498-741: A Fight Without Honor . Although the two still hated each other, they shook hands after the match and Corino allowed Homicide to shave his head. After announcing that his retirement would come at the end of 2007, Corino began a retirement tour and traveled to various federations as a part of the tour. On October 6, 2007, Corino captured the B4W North American title in Morganville, New Jersey from then-champion Tommy Thunda. On November 3, 2007, Corino survived three rounds of an 8-man, single-night tournament in Toronto, Ontario, Canada to become
664-435: A bona fide athletic contest or competition. Professional wrestling is not a combative sport. Wrestling constituting bona fide athletic contests and competitions, which may be professional or amateur combative sport, shall not be deemed professional wrestling under this Part. Professional wrestling as used in this Part shall not depend on whether the individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in
830-415: A performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in the 19th century, who later sought to make matches shorter, more entertaining, and less physically taxing. As the public gradually realized and accepted that matches were predetermined, wrestlers responded by increasingly adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stunt work to their performances to further enhance
996-415: A professional wrestling exhibition. All engagements of professional wrestling shall be referred to as exhibitions, and not as matches. In the industry's slang, a fixed match is referred to as a worked match, derived from the slang word for manipulation, as in "working the crowd". A shoot match is a genuine contest where both wrestlers fight to win and are therefore "straight shooters", which comes from
1162-744: A three way dance ) and at Holiday Hell 2000 (against Justin Credible and The Sandman in a three way dance). Due to repeated failures of ECW paying Corino his salary, he left the company on January 7, 2001, the night he lost the ECW World Heavyweight Championship to The Sandman at Guilty as Charged 2001 . His friend Dustin Rhodes got him a contract in World Championship Wrestling , but he never got to make an appearance despite being due to debut at
1328-413: A background in authentic wrestling no longer mattered. After this time, matches became more outlandish and gimmicky and any semblance professional wrestling had to catch wrestling faded. The personas of the wrestlers likewise grew more outlandish. Gorgeous George , who performed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, was the first wrestler whose entrance into the arena was accompanied by a theme song played over
1494-532: A carny term for a shooting gallery gun whose sights were not deliberately misaligned. Wrestling in the United States blossomed in popularity after the Civil War , with catch wrestling eventually becoming the most popular style. At first, professional wrestlers were genuine competitive fighters, but they struggled to draw audiences because Americans did not find real wrestling to be very entertaining, so
1660-519: A central authority. Nor could any of them stomach the idea of leaving the NWA themselves to compete directly with McMahon, for that would mean their territories would become fair game for the other NWA members. McMahon also had a creative flair for TV that his rivals lacked. For instance, the AWA's TV productions during the 1980s were amateurish, low-budget, and out-of-touch with contemporary culture, which lead to
1826-585: A champion that Curley put forth: Dick Shikat . The National Wrestling Association shut down in 1980. In 1948, a number of promoters from across the country came together to form the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The NWA recognized one "world champion", voted on by its members, but allowed member promoters to crown their own local champions in their territories. If a member poached wrestlers from another member, or held matches in another member's territory, they risked being ejected from
SECTION 10
#17327929622061992-417: A deal with Endeavor Group Holdings, under which it would merge with Zuffa , the parent company of mixed martial arts promotion Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to form TKO Group Holdings, a new public company majority-owned by Endeavor, with McMahon serving as executive chairman of the new entity, and Nick Khan becoming president. The merger was completed on September 12, 2023. In 2024, McMahon, who
2158-596: A deal with UPN, McMahon shut down the XFL. WWE maintained control of the XFL trademark before McMahon reclaimed the XFL brand, this time under a separate shell company from WWE, in 2017 with intent to relaunch the XFL in 2020 . On June 24, 2002, episode of Raw , Vince McMahon officially referred to the start of the next era, called the "Ruthless Aggression" era. On May 6, 2002, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) changed both its company name and
2324-401: A degree. Vince Russo, the boss of WCW in 2000, completely disregarded kayfabe by routinely discussing business matters and office politics in public, which alienated fans. I watch championship wrestling from Florida with wrestling commentator Gordon Solie . Is this all "fake"? If so, they deserve an Oscar . World Wrestling Entertainment World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE )
2490-404: A distinct vernacular . It has achieved mainstream success and influence within popular culture , with many terms, tropes , and concepts being referenced in everyday language as well as in film , music , television , and video games . Likewise, numerous professional wrestlers have become national or international icons with recognition by the broader public. In the United States, wrestling
2656-410: A fee, a visitor could challenge the wrestler to a quick match. If the challenger defeated the champion in a short time frame, usually 15 minutes, he won a prize. To encourage challenges, the carnival operators staged rigged matches in which an accomplice posing as a visitor challenged the champion and won, giving the audience the impression that the champion was easy to beat. This practice taught wrestlers
2822-599: A few try-out matches for WWE over a span of two days. Dusty Rhodes, Corino's former rival, was hopeful that WWE would sign him, but he was not offered a contract. Corino stated on his MySpace he enjoyed his time with WWE but felt he was too old school for the company. On the January 4, 2008, Corino won his third Zero1-Max United States Openweight Championship as Mr. Wrestling 3 (named after Mr. Wrestling I and II ) by beating Ricky Landell in Valdosta, Georgia. He then lost
2988-632: A gimmick previously used by Sean Waltman ) and also made some appearances for the WWF as a jobber from 1996 to 1998. In 1998, Corino debuted in Extreme Championship Wrestling as a heel manager . He stood out in ECW as a result of his "King of Old School" gimmick , where he would deride hardcore wrestlers, at one point invading a Limp Bizkit concert and protesting the immoral conduct. In late 1999, Corino took Jack Victory on as
3154-534: A legal dispute with the World Wildlife Fund , the WWF was renamed World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). In 2011, the promotion ceased branding itself as World Wrestling Entertainment and began solely branding itself with the initials WWE . Prior to September 2023, the company's majority owner was its executive chairman, third-generation wrestling promoter Vince McMahon , who retained a 38.6% ownership of
3320-405: A legitimate sport. Firstly, wrestling was more entertaining when it was faked, whereas fakery did not make boxing any more entertaining. Secondly, in a rigged boxing match, the designated loser must take a real beating for his "defeat" to be convincing, but wrestling holds can be faked convincingly without inflicting injury. This meant that boxers were less willing to "take dives"; they wanted to have
3486-687: A manager, and became an advisor for Tajiri and Rhino . He then began feuding with Dusty Rhodes , who defeated him in a gory Bullrope match at Living Dangerously . At Heat Wave 2000 , he lost to Jerry Lynn. Corino went on to win the ECW World Heavyweight Championship on November 5, 2000, at November to Remember by defeating Justin Credible , Sandman and Champion Jerry Lynn in a Double Jeopardy match; then to successfully defend it in December at Massacre on 34th Street (against Jerry Lynn and Justin Credible in
SECTION 20
#17327929622063652-744: A match against Gus Sonnenberg in January 1929. Bowser then broke away from the trust to form his own cartel, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in September 1930, and he declared Sonnenberg to be the AWA champion. This AWA should not be confused with Wally Kadbo's AWA founded in 1960. Curley reacted to this move by convincing the National Boxing Association to form the National Wrestling Association , which in turn crowned
3818-550: A monopoly on the world title. In a now infamous situation, the NWA sent former five-time world champion and legitimate wrestler Lou Thesz to Toronto to face Rogers on January 24, 1963. Thesz recalls this was not planned and prior to the match remembered telling Buddy "we can do this the easy way or the hard way." Rogers agreed to lose the fall and title in a one fall match versus the traditional two out of three fall matchup that most world title matches were defended. Once word reached back to Mondt and McMahon, at first they simply ignored
3984-424: A more literal meaning in those places. A notable example is India's Pro Wrestling League . In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling as: Professional wrestling means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise
4150-440: A new city, attendance was high because there was a waiting fanbase cultivated in advance by the cable TV shows. The NWA's traditional anti-competitive tricks were no match for this. The NWA attempted to centralize and create their own national cable television shows to counter McMahon's rogue promotion, but it failed in part because the members of the NWA, ever protective of their territories, could not stomach submitting themselves to
4316-543: A number of appearances for Frontier Wrestling Alliance in the United Kingdom , where he entered a short rivalry with Alex Shane . The feud culminated in the main event match of Hotwired, where Corino defeated Shane with the assistance of then FWA Heavyweight Champion, Doug Williams . As Steve Corino was a major part of ECW towards the end of its run, rumors swirled surrounding Corino possibly signing with World Wrestling Entertainment and returning to his ECW roots as
4482-757: A part of the new version of ECW , but he squashed those rumors in a posting on his LiveJournal. Instead of signing with WWE, Corino worked in various independent promotions, including Zero-One , Hustle in Japan , Ring of Honor in the United States and both One Pro Wrestling and Celtic Wrestling in the United Kingdom . He was also president of World-1 Fighting Arts, which runs shows in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Georgia. Corino also worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling during its early days. Corino had matches with Low Ki and many other stars before leaving
4648-581: A pay cut, and the company has also suspended construction on its new headquarters for at least six months. The firings caused significant backlash by fans; with Business Insider calling them "livid." Both fans and several media outlets pointed out that while WWE claimed that these actions were "necessary due to the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic", the WWE also claimed to have "substantial financial resources. Available cash and debt capacity currently total approximately $ 0.5 billion". DeSantis's claimed WWE
4814-401: A pre-recorded format. NXT continued to air from Full Sail University, but under similar restrictions. Live broadcasts returned on April 13, with the existing arrangements continuing; WWE stated to ESPN.com that "we believe it is now more important than ever to provide people with a diversion from these hard times", and that the company's programming "bring[s] families together and deliver
4980-734: A publicly traded company, trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) with the issuance of stock then valued at $ 172.5 million. The company is traded on the NYSE under ticker symbol WWE. By the fall of 1999, the Attitude Era had turned the tide of the Monday Night War into WWF's favor. After Time Warner merged with America Online (AOL), Ted Turner 's control over WCW was considerably reduced. The newly merged company lacked interest in professional wrestling as
5146-426: A roll of quarters, McGuinness suspended and banned him from commentary, but then, he was reinstated as a wrestler and was scheduled to fight Whitmer in a Fight without Honor at Final Battle , but Corino announced that he was gonna have neck surgery and that his career may end. He continued to commentary with a mask under the name of Mr. Wrestling 3. Even he was taking that gimmick, Whitmer was saying that Mr. Wrestling 3
Steve Corino - Misplaced Pages Continue
5312-496: A sense of hope, determination and perseverance". It was subsequently reported that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis had deemed WWE a business critical to the state's economy, and had added an exception under the state's stay-at-home order for employees of a "professional sports and media production" that is closed to the public and has a national audience. The decision was met with criticism from media outlets, with several media outlets pointing out that DeSantis's actions happened on
5478-776: A sold out crowd in Michigan City, Indiana. Corino's retirement tour came to an end December 28, 2007, when he wrestled his final match for the Showcase Wrestling Revolution in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. On that night he faced off with "The Prophet" Jeremy Barnoff, "The Seasoned Veteran" Brick Crawford and "Mr. Wrestling" Kevin Steen for the SWR International Championship in a fatal four way elimination match. Corino wrestled
5644-704: A son named Beckham, or "Becks" for short. Corino has repeatedly stated that his favorite old school wrestlers are Tommy Rich and Tully Blanchard . Corino has said that his favorite match while in ECW was the infamous Texas Bullrope Match against Dusty Rhodes at Living Dangerously 2000. Corino hosts the Extreme Odd Couple podcast with Rob Dimension, where they talk about professional wrestling and their personal lives. Professional wrestling 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling )
5810-473: A son, Colby (born August 28, 1996), who is a professional wrestler. Corino and Nicole divorced in 2003. On November 12, 2005, Steve Corino got engaged to his Finnish girlfriend Saana-Maria Huhtimo. They were married on May 12, 2006, in North Carolina . However, the couple separated in mid-2008, divorcing the following year. Corino married Jordan Pennypacker in 2013, and had their first child together,
5976-473: A tag team match that saw him team with Colt Cabana to defeat Low Ki and Homicide . On December 3 in New York City at Steel Cage Warfare , Homicide lost to Corino in a rematch from their feud of 2003 after Colt Cabana, under a mask, interfered in the match. During the match, Homicide separated his shoulder , but opted not to have surgery. As a result of his injury, Homicide was unable to compete at
6142-473: A third brand on May 26, 2006. Two years later, WWE adapted a more family-friendly format and their programming received a TV-PG rating . The final ECW program aired on February 16, 2010, after which it was replaced with NXT . During this time many new and young wrestlers would join the company, many which would become household names for the next years to come such as John Cena , Randy Orton , Brock Lesnar , and Batista . On April 7, 2011, WWE, via
6308-521: A third time on November 29, 2003, at War of the Wire in a barbed wire match . This time however, Julius Smokes threw in the towel for Homicide after Corino throttled him with a length of barbed wire . Corino offered Homicide a handshake after the match, indicating that he finally respected Homicide, but Homicide refused to shake his hand. On October 14, 2005, at Enter the Dragon , Corino returned to ROH in
6474-407: A time of record low revenues. This helped drive many WWF wrestlers over to rival promotion World Championship Wrestling (WCW), including 1980s babyface hero Hulk Hogan. During this period, the WWF promoted wrestlers of a younger age comprising "The New Generation", featuring Bret Hart , Shawn Michaels , Diesel , Razor Ramon and The Undertaker among others in an effort to promote new talent into
6640-503: A typical American household only received four national channels by antenna, and ten to twelve local channels via UHF broadcasting . But cable television could carry a much larger selection of channels and therefore had room for niche interests. The WWF started with a show called All-American Wrestling airing on the USA Network in September 1983. McMahon's TV shows made his wrestlers national celebrities, so when he held matches in
6806-586: A victory for all the pain to which they subjected themselves. In the 1910s, promotional cartels for professional wrestling emerged in the East Coast (outside its traditional heartland in the Midwest ). These promoters sought to make long-term plans with their wrestlers, and to ensure their more charismatic and crowd-pleasing wrestlers received championships, further entrenching the desire for worked matches. The primary rationale for shoot matches at this point
Steve Corino - Misplaced Pages Continue
6972-515: 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 McMahon acquired the rights to WCW's trademarks, tape library, contracts, and other properties from AOL Time Warner for a number reported to be around $ 7 million. Shortly after WrestleMania X-Seven , the WWF launched
7138-539: A wrestling supercard was nothing new in North America; the NWA had begun running Starrcade a few years prior. In McMahon's eyes, however, what separated WrestleMania from other supercards was that it was intended 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
7304-436: Is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with the premise that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches is an open secret , with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions, which
7470-410: Is a true sport. Wrestlers would at all times flatly deny allegations that they fixed their matches, and they often remained in-character in public even when not performing. When in public, wrestlers would sometimes say the word kayfabe to each other as a coded signal that there were fans present and they needed to be in character. Professional wrestlers in the past strongly believed that if they admitted
7636-505: Is an American professional wrestling promotion . It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings , a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into fields outside of wrestling, including film , football , and various other business ventures . The company is additionally involved in licensing its intellectual property to other companies to produce video games and action figures . The promotion
7802-480: Is currently working with NXT as a producer as he was credited for the NXT Championship match between champion Tommaso Ciampa and The Velveteen Dream for a role as a producer for that particular match. Corino is the older brother of retired independent wrestler Allison Danger , and has a half-brother whose first name is also Steven. Corino married Nicole Holmstock on June 14, 1997. Together they have
7968-427: Is generally practiced in an amateur context. No professional league for competitive wrestling exists due to a lack of popularity. For example, Real Pro Wrestling , an American professional freestyle wrestling league, dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In other countries, such as Iran and India , wrestling enjoys widespread popularity as a genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has
8134-470: Is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain a " gimmick " consisting of a specific persona , stage name , entrance theme , and other distinguishing traits. Matches are the primary vehicle for advancing storylines, which typically center on interpersonal conflicts, or feuds , between heroic " faces " and villainous " heels ". A wrestling ring , akin to
8300-628: Is located in Stamford, Connecticut , with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore, Dubai, and Munich. As in other professional wrestling promotions, WWE shows are not true contests but entertainment-based performance theater, featuring storyline -driven, scripted , and partially choreographed matches; however, matches often include moves that can put performers at risk of injury, even death, if not performed correctly. The pre-determined aspect of professional wrestling
8466-527: Is targeted at career and athletic development for the company's wrestlers. Full Sail is also home base to WWE's NXT brand, which served as a developmental territory for WWE. On February 24, 2014, WWE launched WWE Network , an over-the-top streaming service that would feature archive content from WWE and its predecessors, all pay-per-views, (which would continue to be sold through television providers as well), and original programming. Beginning in 2015 WWE started to push Roman Reigns as their face of
SECTION 50
#17327929622068632-815: The ECW World Heavyweight Championship , the MLW World Heavyweight Championship , and the 1PW World Heavyweight Championship once each, and the AWA Superstars of Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship and the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship twice each. In addition to these titles, he has also held the ROH World Tag Team Championship once, as well as numerous titles on the independent circuit . Corino began wrestling in 1994 and spent four years working on
8798-624: The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board that professional wrestling is not a real sport because its matches have predetermined outcomes. Shortly thereafter, New Jersey deregulated professional wrestling. The WWF then rebranded itself as a " sports entertainment " company. In the early years of the 20th century, the style of wrestling used in professional wrestling matches was catch wrestling . Promoters wanted their matches to look realistic and so preferred to recruit wrestlers with real grappling skills. In
8964-938: The ROH World Championship . On June 23, S.C.U.M. was forced to disband, after being defeated by Team ROH in a Steel Cage Warfare match . Since the dissolution of S.C.U.M., Corino has been working with ROH as their regular color commentator alongside play-by-play commentator Kevin Kelly and occasionally Nigel McGuinness while simultaneously having a running feud with B. J. Whitmer and The Decade . The rivalry has included Whitmer goading Corino to join The Decade, with Corino refusing, but Whitmer wasn't talking about Steve but his real-life son Colby and successfully recruiting him into The Decade. During his feud, McGuinness warned Corino that he can't attack any ROH employee or he will be suspended. After attacking Whitmer with
9130-707: The WWWF World Heavyweight Championship was created, with the promotion claiming that inaugural champion Rogers had won a tournament in Rio de Janeiro on April 25, 1963, defeating long time Capitol favorite Antonino Rocca in the finals. In reality, Rocca was no longer in the area, as he was working for Jim Crockett Sr. in the Carolinas. Rogers also had already suffered what would later be a career ending heart attack on April 18 in Akron, Ohio, and
9296-470: The XFL , a new professional football league that debuted in 2001. 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
9462-432: The independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in the United States , Mexico , Japan , and northwest Europe (the United Kingdom , Germany/Austria and France ), which have each developed distinct styles, traditions, and subgenres within professional wrestling. Professional wrestling has developed its own culture and community , including
9628-431: The spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from the competitive sport to become an artform and genre of sports entertainment . Professional wrestling is performed around the world through various " promotions ", which are roughly analogous to production companies or sports leagues . Promotions vary considerably in size, scope, and creative approach, ranging from local shows on
9794-557: The "King of Old School", defeated Vordell Walker with assistance by Jillian Hall and the "Tokyo Monster" Kahagas in Orlando, Florida to become the PWX (Pro Wrestling Extreme) Heavyweight Champion. Corino, although bloodied, successfully defended his title against Tommy "Wildfire" Rich on April 28, 2012, in Orlando, Florida. On December 28, 2012, Steve Corino made his appearance for an ECW "revival" company as he appeared for Extreme Rising as
9960-687: The "mystery challenger" for Stevie Richards ' Extreme Rising World Championship , where he was defeated by submission. In September 2014, Steve Corino defeated Doug Williams for the WAW World Heavyweight Championship in England which he would then defend in the USA in 2014 and 2015 against Curt Robinson and Joe Black. On May 9, 2015, Steve Corino made an appearance at TWE in Red Bank, Chattanooga against Ray Fury, where he
10126-584: The 1920s, a group of wrestlers and promoters known as the Gold Dust Trio introduced moves which have since become staples of the mock combat of professional wrestling, such as body slams, suplexes , punches, finishing moves, and out-of-ring count-outs. By the early 1930s, most wrestlers had adopted personas to generate public interest. These personas could broadly be characterized as either faces (likeable) or heels (villainous). Native Americans, cowboys, and English aristocrats were staple characters in
SECTION 60
#173279296220610292-400: The 1930s and 1940s. Before the age of television, some wrestlers played different personas depending on the region they were performing in. This eventually came to an end in the age of national television wrestling shows, which forced wrestlers to stick to one persona. Wrestlers also often used some sort of gimmick, such as a finishing move, eccentric mannerisms, or out-of-control behavior (in
10458-460: The 1990s, WCW became a credible rival to the WWF, but by end it suffered from a series of creative missteps that led to its failure and purchase by the WWF. One of its mistakes was that it diminished the glamor of its World Heavyweight Championship . Between January 2000 and March 2001, the title changed hands eighteen times, which sapped fan enthusiasm, particularly for the climactic pay-per-view matches. In professional wrestling, two factors decide
10624-653: The Atlantic Athletic Corporation (AAC). The AAC shut down in 1960. In 1958, Omaha promoter and NWA member Joe Dusek recognized Verne Gagne as the world champion without the approval of the NWA. Gagne asked for a match against the recognized NWA champion Pat O'Connor. The NWA refused to honor the request, so Gagne and Minneapolis promoter Wally Karbo established the American Wrestling Association in 1960. This AWA should not be confused with Paul Bowser's AWA, which ceased operations just two months prior. Gagne's AWA operated out of Minnesota . Unlike
10790-802: The GSW Heavyweight Championship in Oberhausen, Germany which was his very last appearance in Europe. On December 8, 2007, Corino made his final Northeast appearance for B4W. He lost the North American title to Jihad in a submission match after his protege Ricky Landell had to throw in the towel. Corino won the Platinum Pro Wrestling Heavyweight Title on December 14, 2007, after defeating "The Indy Wrestling Superstar" Erico in front of
10956-538: The Invasion storyline, integrating the incoming talent roster from WCW and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). With this purchase, WWF now became by far the sole largest wrestling promotion in North America and in the world. The assets of ECW, which had folded after filing for bankruptcy protection in April 2001, were purchased by WWE in 2003. In 2000, the WWF, in collaboration with television network NBC , launched
11122-518: 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 , Mankind , and Vader . Austin was slowly brought in as the new face of the company despite being promoted as an antihero , starting with his " Austin 3:16 " speech shortly after defeating Jake Roberts in the tournament finals at the King of
11288-408: The NWA, at which point his territory became fair game for everyone. The NWA would blacklist wrestlers who worked for independent promoters or who publicly criticized an NWA promoter or who did not throw a match on command. If an independent promoter tried to establish himself in a certain area, the NWA would send their star performers to perform for the local NWA promoter to draw the customers away from
11454-408: The NWA, which only allowed faces to be champions, Gagne occasionally allowed heels to win the AWA championship so that they could serve as foils for him. In August 1983, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), a promotion in the north-east , withdrew from the NWA. Vince K. McMahon then took over as its boss. No longer bound by the territorial pact of the NWA, McMahon began expanding his promotion into
11620-767: The Performance Center in a similar setup dubbed the Capitol Wrestling Center. It had many of the same features as the ThunderDome, but with a small crowd of select live fans included, in addition to the virtual fans. The name is also an homage to WWE's predecessor, the Capitol Wrestling Corporation. On May 21 WWE brought back fans full time, beginning with a 25-city tour, thus ending the ThunderDome residency. The July 16 episode of SmackDown started WWE's return to
11786-485: The Performance Center with paying fans, thus being WWE's last event to have ticketed fans in attendance before the pandemic took full effect. WrestleMania 36 was scheduled to take place on April 5 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa but on March 16, was moved to Orlando to be held behind closed doors. WrestleMania, as well as Raw and SmackDown for a period before and after WrestleMania, shifted from live broadcasts to
11952-615: The Ring pay-per-view in 1996. On April 29, 1999, the WWF made its return to terrestrial television , airing a special program known as SmackDown! on the fledgling UPN network. The Thursday night show became a weekly series on August 26, 1999 – competing directly with WCW's Thursday night program titled Thunder on TBS . In the summer of 1999, Titan Sports, Inc. was renamed World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. On October 19, 1999, World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. launched an initial public offering as
12118-576: The U.S. Title to SJK on March 8, 2008, at the Devil Bhudakahn Memorial Show in Munhall, Pennsylvania. He now wrestles as "Mr. Wrestling 3" Steve Corino without the mask, and sometimes as just Mr. Wrestling 3 with the mask. On July 24, 2008, Corino announced he would begin wrestling full-time again in his online blog. Corino plans to return to Japan where he has been the most successful. On July 19, 2008, Corino participated in
12284-464: The Union of Independent Professional Wrestlers Heavyweight Champion. He defeated Eddie Osbourne in the first round by pinfall, Pepper Parks in the second round by referee stoppage and "Fabulous" John McChesney in the finals by pinfall following a pair of lariat clotheslines. On November 10, 2007, Corino successfully defended the B4W North American title against Jihad. On November 24 he beat Absolute Andy for
12450-578: The Valley" event. Since August 2010, Corino has made appearances in Germany for German Stampede Wrestling. On April 23, 2011, Corino returned to WWC and defeated Carlito , Gilbert and Shane the Glamour Boy in a gauntlet match to win the vacant WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship for the second time. He would lose the title to Carlito on June 4, 2011. On January 28, 2012, Steve Corino, billed as
12616-498: The WWE Corporate website, the company ceased using the full name World Wrestling Entertainment and henceforth referred to itself solely as WWE, making the latter an orphan initialism . This was said 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 noted that their new company model
12782-498: The WWF were former AWA or NWA talent. The WWF would tour nationally in a venture that would require a huge capital investment, one that placed the WWF on the verge of financial collapse. The future of McMahon's experiment came down to the success or failure of McMahon's groundbreaking concept, WrestleMania . WrestleMania was a major success and was (and still is) marketed as the Super Bowl of professional wrestling. The concept of
12948-595: The World 2016 , he will do things that he will never apologize for. At Best in the World, Corino faced Whitmer in a Non-Sanctioned Fight without Honor, but he lost after the interference of Kevin Sullivan . After Best in the World, Corino returned to commentating, but during Whitmer's matches, he was continuously berated by Sullivan. At the Final Battle event, Cody , who defeated Jay Lethal, proceeded to cause chaos in
13114-628: The WrestleMania III main event between WWF champion Hulk Hogan and André the Giant took place on The Main Event I in 1988 and was seen by 33 million people, the most-watched wrestling match in North American television history. In 1983, Titan moved its offices to Stamford, Connecticut . Subsequently, a new Titan Sports, Inc. (originally WWF, Inc.) was established in Delaware in 1987 and
13280-700: The aforementioned draft), and airs live instead of the previous pre-recorded format. Due to the return of the brand split, a new World Championship , called the WWE Universal Championship was introduced at the August 21, 2016 SummerSlam event with Finn Bálor defeating Seth Rollins to become the inaugural WWE Universal Champion. On November 29, 2016, WWE introduced a new program specifically for their cruiserweight division (wrestlers 205 lbs. and under) called WWE 205 Live . The program focuses exclusively on those wrestlers who qualify for
13446-401: The arena's loudspeakers, his being Pomp and Circumstance . He also wore a costume: a robe and hairnet, which he removed after getting in the ring. He also had a pre-match ritual where his "butler" would spray the ring with perfume. In the 1980s, Vince McMahon made entrance songs, costumes, and rituals standard for his star wrestlers. For instance, McMahon's top star Hulk Hogan would delight
13612-418: The art of staging rigged matches and fostered a mentality that spectators were marks to be duped. The term kayfabe comes from carny slang. By the turn of the 20th century, most professional wrestling matches were "worked" and some journalists exposed the practice: American wrestlers are notorious for the amount of faking they do. It is because of this fact that suspicion attaches to so many bouts that
13778-561: The audience by tearing his shirt off before each match. The first major promoter cartel emerged on the East Coast, although up to that point, wrestling's heartland had been in the Midwest. Notable members of this cartel included Jack Curley , Lou Daro, Paul Bowser and Tom and Tony Packs. The promoters colluded to solve a number of problems that hurt their profits. Firstly, they could force their wrestlers to perform for less money. As
13944-424: The cartel grew, there were fewer independent promoters where independent wrestlers could find work, and many were forced to sign a contract with the cartel to receive steady work. The contracts forbade them from performing at independent venues. A wrestler who refused to play by the cartel's rules was barred from performing at its venues. A second goal of the wrestling cartels was to establish an authority to decide who
14110-418: The case of heels). The matches could also be gimmicky sometimes, with wrestlers fighting in mud and piles of tomatoes and so forth. The most successful and enduring gimmick to emerge from the 1930s were tag-team matches. Promoters noticed that matches slowed down as the wrestlers in the ring tired, so they gave them partners to relieve them. It also gave heels another way to misbehave by double-teaming. Towards
14276-423: The character in shows must be considered fictional, wholly separate from the life of the performer. This is similar to other entertainers who perform with a persona that shares their own name. Some wrestlers also incorporate elements of their real-life personalities into their characters, even if they and their in-ring persona have different names. Kayfabe is the practice of pretending that professional wrestling
14442-512: The commission. The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match between Jim Londos and Jim Browning in June 1934. This decree did not apply to amateur wrestling, which the commission had no authority over. Wrestling fans widely suspected that professional wrestling was fake, but they did not care as long as it entertained. In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about
14608-523: The company since having him win the 2015 Royal rumble match , amidst mixed reception . By 2017 Roman Reigns became their highest merchandise seller. On May 25, 2016, WWE relaunched the brand split, billed as the "New Era". Subsequently, Raw and SmackDown have each featured their unique rosters, announcers, championships and ring sets/ropes. A draft took place to determine which wrestlers would appear on what show. SmackDown also moved from Thursdays to Tuesday nights, which began on July 19 (the night of
14774-584: The company's outstanding stock and 81.1% of the voting power. The current entity, which was originally named Titan Sports, Inc. , was incorporated on February 21, 1980, in South Yarmouth, Massachusetts , but reincorporated under Delaware General Corporation Law in 1987. It acquired Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd., the holding company for the WWF, in 1982. Titan was renamed World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. in 1999, and then World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. in 2002. In 2023, its legal name
14940-492: The company's third to last PPV Sin . When World Wrestling Entertainment took over WCW in March 2001, they released Corino from his contract. He went on to wrestle for many of the National Wrestling Alliance regional promotions. On April 24, he won the NWA World's Heavyweight Championship. Corino continued his feud with Rhodes in his Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling promotion as well as Southern Championship Wrestling and
15106-483: The company. During early 2010, Corino formed a partnership with Kevin Steen and together the two of them started a feud with Steen's former tag team partner El Generico and Colt Cabana. On April 3, 2010, Corino made his ROH pay-per-view debut at The Big Bang! , where he and Steen were defeated by El Generico and Cabana via disqualification, when Steen used a chair on his former partner. On September 11 at Glory By Honor IX Generico and Cabana defeated Steen and Corino in
15272-446: The company. The actual date of sale is still unknown but the generally accepted date is June 6, 1982; however, this was likely only the date the deal was struck but not finalized. On WWF television, Capitol Wrestling Corporation maintained copyrights and ownership past the June 1982 date. The World Wrestling Federation was not solely owned by Vincent J. McMahon but also by Gorilla Monsoon , Arnold Skaaland and Phil Zacko. The deal between
15438-540: The current fashion of wrestling is the universal discussion as to the honesty of the matches. And certainly the most interesting phrase of this discussion is the unanimous agreement: "Who cares if they're fixed or not—the show is good." Newspapers tended to shun professional wrestling, as journalists saw its theatrical pretense to being a legitimate sport as untruthful. Eventually promoters resorted to publishing their own magazines in order to get press coverage and communicate with fans. The first professional wrestling magazine
15604-642: The division. The cruiserweights – who first became a fixture in WWE with the Cruiserweight Classic tournament – were originally exclusive to the Raw brand before landing their own brand . On December 15, 2016, WWE established a new WWE United Kingdom Championship , with the inaugural champion being decided by a 16-man tournament to air on WWE Network featuring wrestlers from the UK and Ireland during January 2017. WWE executive Paul "Triple H" Levesque said
15770-405: The end of the 1930s, faced with declining revenues, promoters chose to focus on grooming charismatic wrestlers with no regard for their skill because it was charisma that drew the crowds, and wrestlers who were both skilled at grappling and charismatic were hard to come by. Since most of the public by this time knew and accepted that professional wrestling was fake, realism was no longer paramount and
15936-571: The event WWC Anniversary but only to lose to Eugene . Later on September 20, 2008, he participated in the event Septiembre Negro where he defeated Sabu . Recently he is one of the members of a group called "La Familia", and is in a feud with BJ for the WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship . In this feud thanks to the beatings that lead disqualification by the members of "La Familia", Ray Gonzalez saved BJ and after that Steve Corino attacked Ray Gonzalez in
16102-456: The eventual plan with the new title and tournament was to establish a UK-based brand with its own weekly television show. WWE subsequently launched its UK-based brand as an offshoot of NXT, NXT UK , in June 2018, with Johnny Saint serving as inaugural general manager. Starting in September 2019, NXT had a weekly, live, two-hour show Wednesday nights on the USA Network and WWE began promoting NXT as their "third brand". However, in 2021 NXT
16268-603: The facade of kayfabe as best as they could. In 1989, Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey government that professional wrestling was not a true sport and therefore should be exempted from sports-related taxes. Many wrestlers and fans resented McMahon for this, but Lou Thesz accepted it as the smart move as it gave the industry more freedom to do as it pleased, and because by that point professional wrestling no longer attempted to appear real. The demise of WCW in 2001 provided some evidence that kayfabe still mattered to
16434-428: The film Rocky III . McMahon signed Roddy Piper as Hogan's rival, and then shortly afterward Jesse Ventura as an announcer. Other wrestlers joined the roster, such as The Iron Sheik , Nikolai Volkoff , Junkyard Dog , Paul Orndorff , Greg Valentine , and Ricky Steamboat , joining existing stars such as Jimmy Snuka , Don Muraco , Sgt. Slaughter and André the Giant . Many of the wrestlers who would later join
16600-467: The finals of a tournament to win the vacant ROH World Tag Team Championship . They lost the title to the Briscoe Brothers (Jay and Mark) on December 16 at Final Battle 2012: Doomsday in a three-way match, which also included the team of Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander . On April 6, 2013, Corino became the new leader of S.C.U.M., when the stable turned on Kevin Steen, after he had lost
16766-470: The first place. "Double-crosses", where a wrestler agreed to lose a match but nevertheless fought to win, remained a problem in the early cartel days. At times a promoter would even award a victorious double-crosser the title of champion to preserve the facade of sport. But promoters punished such wrestlers by blacklisting them, making it quite challenging to find work. Double-crossers could also be sued for breach of contract, such as Dick Shikat in 1936. In
16932-560: The first time that professional wrestling had been broadcast on network television since the 1950s when the now-defunct DuMont Television Network broadcast matches of Vincent J. McMahon's Capitol Wrestling Corporation. The 1980s "Wrestling Boom" peaked with the WrestleMania III pay-per-view at the Pontiac Silverdome in 1987, which set an attendance record of 93,173 for the WWF for 29 years until 2016 . A rematch of
17098-540: The following show, Final Battle 2005 . He did show up, however, but with the intent on killing Steve Corino. Following Corino's match, Homicide ran down to the ring and attacked him. Colt Cabana ran down to the ring to save Corino, only to have Homicide pour Drano down his throat. He returned to ROH in August 2006 after a long absence, reigniting his feud with Homicide. The feud culminated on November 4 in Philadelphia , at The Bitter End when Homicide beat Corino in
17264-500: The founder of the CWC was. Some sources state that it was Vincent J. McMahon , while other sources cite McMahon's father Jess McMahon as founder of CWC. The CWC later joined the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and famous New York promoter Toots Mondt soon joined the promotion. Vincent J. McMahon and Toots Mondt were very successful and soon controlled approximately 70% of the NWA's booking power, largely due to their dominance in
17430-405: The four major sports leagues closed locker rooms to the media as a precautionary measure. As other sports cancellations and postponements were being introduced, WWE began to film its weekly programs at the Performance Center without spectators and with only essential staff present, beginning with the March 13 episode of SmackDown – the March 11 episode of NXT had been recorded at
17596-610: The game is not popular here. Nine out of ten bouts, it has been said, are pre-arranged affairs, and it would be no surprise if the ratio of fixed matches to honest ones was really so high. The wrestler Lou Thesz recalled that between 1915 and 1920, a series of exposés in the newspapers about the integrity of professional wrestling alienated a lot of fans, sending the industry "into a tailspin". But rather than perform more shoot matches, professional wrestlers instead committed themselves wholesale to fakery. Several reasons explain why professional wrestling became fake whereas boxing endured as
17762-460: The government. They pledged to stop allocating exclusive territories to its promoters, to stop blacklisting wrestlers who worked for outsider promoters, and to admit any promoter into the Alliance. The NWA would flout many of these promises, but its power was nonetheless weakened by the lawsuit. Paul Bowser's AWA joined the NWA in 1949. The AWA withdrew from the Alliance in 1957 and renamed itself
17928-583: The heavily populated Northeastern United States . In 1963, McMahon and Mondt had a dispute with the NWA over "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers being booked to hold the NWA World Heavyweight Championship . Mondt and McMahon were not only promoters but also acted as his manager and were accused by other NWA promoters of withholding Rogers making defenses in their cities versus only defending in Mondt and McMahon's own cities thus maintaining
18094-606: The independent circuit. During this time, he was a part of the Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts , a promotion run by Matt and Jeff Hardy . Corino began an anti- hardcore gimmick on the independent circuit , because he felt he would have more chance of getting work if he did not work hardcore matches. He gained experience, working in Puerto Rico for the WWC, working under the ring name Lightning Kid (which had been
18260-526: The independent. By 1956, the NWA controlled 38 promotions within the United States, with more in Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. The NWA's monopolistic practices became so stifling that the independents appealed to the government for help. In October 1956 the US Attorney General's office filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NWA in an Iowa federal district court. The NWA settled with
18426-480: The industry was anything but a competitive sport. The first wrestling promoter to publicly admit to routinely fixing matches was Jack Pfefer . In 1933, he started talking about the industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , resulting in a huge exposé. The exposé neither surprised nor alienated most wrestling fans, although some promoters like Jack Curley were furious and tried to restore
18592-496: The industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , maintaining no pretense that wrestling was real and passing on planned results just before the matches took place. While fans were neither surprised nor alienated, traditionalists like Jack Curley were furious, and most promoters tried to maintain the facade of kayfabe as best they could. Not the least interesting of all the minor phenomena produced by
18758-529: The locker rooms and this began a feud for the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship . On February 7, Steve Corino beat Ray Gonzalez to become WWC Universal Heavyweight Champion . On July 11 at Aniversario 2009 he lost the title to BJ. On June 26, 2010- Corino was inducted into the Legends Pro Wrestling "Hall of Fame" by Jack Blaze in Wheeling, West Virginia at their annual "LPW Rumble in
18924-687: The longest world title reign in the WWE since Hulk Hogan from 1984 to 1988. WWE remained at the Amway Center up through early December before relocating the ThunderDome to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida . The ThunderDome relocated to Yuengling Center , located on the campus of the University of South Florida in Tampa, beginning with the April 12, 2021, episode of Raw . In October 2020, NXT events were relocated from Full Sail University to
19090-446: The match, Corino applied a cobra clutch to Homicide, while the rest of The Group mocked New York City, instigating a worked riot . Corino and Homicide had a rematch August 16, 2003, at Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies which saw Corino defeated. After twenty minutes of fighting which saw both men bleeding and carrying injuries, Homicide trapped Corino in a modified STF , prompting Corino's corner man, Guillotine LeGrande, to throw in
19256-498: The members of wrestling cartels as the champion drew big crowds wherever he performed, and this would occasionally lead to schisms. By 1925, this cartel had divided the country up into territories which were the exclusive domains of specific promoters. This system of territories endured until Vince McMahon drove the fragmented cartels out of the market in the 1980s. This cartel fractured in 1929 after one of its members, Paul Bowser , bribed Ed "Strangler" Lewis to lose his championship in
19422-618: The name of its wrestling promotion to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) after the company lost a lawsuit initiated by the World Wildlife Fund over the WWF trademark. Although mainly caused by an unfavorable ruling in its dispute with the World Wildlife Fund regarding the "WWF" initialism, the company noted it provided an opportunity to emphasize its focus on entertainment. In March 2002, WWE decided to create two separate rosters, with each group of wrestlers appearing on one of their main programs, Raw and SmackDown! , due to
19588-519: The organization. McMahon also worked to get WWF programming on syndicated television all across the United States. This angered other promoters and disrupted the well-established boundaries of the different wrestling promotions, eventually ending the territory system, which was in use since the founding of the NWA in the 1940s. In addition, the company used income generated by advertising, television deals, and tape sales to secure talent from rival promoters. In an interview with Sports Illustrated , McMahon
19754-441: The other were available for wrestlers from any show to compete for; the "Supershow" format would mark the end of the brand split, as all programming and live events (until July 2016) featured the full WWE roster. In 2013, the company built the sports medicine and training facility WWE Performance Center in the east Orange County, Florida in partnership with Full Sail University from Winter Park, Florida . The training facility
19920-487: The overabundance of talent left over from the Invasion storyline and the ensuing absorption of WCW and ECW contracts. This was dubbed as the " brand extension ". Beginning in 2002 a draft lottery was held nearly every year to set the rosters, with the first draft to determine the inaugural split rosters, and subsequent drafts designed to refresh the rosters of each show. WWE expanded the brand split by relaunching ECW as
20086-569: The pandemic to have ticketed fans in attendance with a maximum of 25,000 spectators for each night with COVID-19 protocols in place. Also around this time, the WWE Network in the United States became exclusively distributed by Peacock on March 18, 2021 (ahead of Fastlane and WrestleMania 37). The merger of the WWE Network and Peacock did not affect the service outside of the United States. The move to Peacock received some criticisms from fans particularly due to Peacock's heavy censorship policy,
20252-482: The pandemic, including releasing a number of performers ( Karl Anderson , Kurt Angle , Aiden English , EC3 , Epico , Luke Gallows , Curt Hawkins , No Way Jose , Sarah Logan , Mike Kanellis , Maria Kanellis , Primo , Erick Rowan , Rusev , Lio Rush , Zack Ryder , Heath Slater , and Eric Young ), three producers ( Dave Finlay , Shane Helms and Lance Storm ), referee Mike Chioda , and multiple NXT/Performance Center trainees and staff. WWE executives also took
20418-437: The platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of the venue, in a format similar to reality television . Performers generally integrate authentic wrestling techniques and fighting styles with choreography , stunts , improvisation , and dramatic conventions designed to maximize entertainment value and audience engagement. Professional wrestling as
20584-566: The promotion some time later. Steve Corino appeared in the inaugural event “The Era of Honor Begins” on color commentary. Responding to a challenge from The Backseat Boyz , Homicide invited anyone in the locker room to be his partner. Steve Corino made his ROH debut and responded to his offer, resulting in the two facing the Backseat Boys later that night. In the course of the match, Corino turned on Homicide after Homicide accidentally hit him, Old School Kicking his partner and leaving
20750-717: The promotion's closing in 1991. In the spring of 1984, the WWF purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), which had been ailing for some time due to financial mismanagement and internal squabbles. In the deal, the WWF acquired the GCW's timeslot on TBS . McMahon agreed to keep showing Georgia wrestling matches in that timeslot, but he was unable to get his staff to Atlanta every Saturday to fulfill this obligation, so he sold GCW and its TBS timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). JCP started informally calling itself World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1988, Ted Turner bought JCP and formally renamed it World Championship Wrestling. During
20916-574: The ring and then he pushed Corino. The night at the event, Whitmer said that a "brother" has to be sacrificed, which was revealed that Corino was about to fight Cody, who berated Corino's actions with Dusty Rhodes. In their match, Corino lost to Cody, which was Corino's last match in ROH. Corino's ROH contract expired on December 31, 2016. In November 2016, Corino worked as a guest trainer at the WWE Performance Center . Shortly afterwards, it
21082-701: The ring, enabling the Backseat Boyz to easily defeat Homicide. Homicide and Corino would then begin a four-year rivalry , with Corino criticizing Homicide's lifestyle and somewhat checkered past. The feud culminated in a match at the One Year Anniversary Show on February 8, 2003, in Queens, New York, New York . Homicide was the hometown favorite, but lost to Corino following interference from The Group ( Samoa Joe , Michael Shane , C. W. Anderson and Simply Luscious ), Corino's entourage. After
21248-604: The road, taking place at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. In January 2021, WWE moved WrestleMania 37 , which was originally to be held in Inglewood, California on March 28, to Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida – WrestleMania 36's original location – as a two-night event on April 10 and 11, with fans in attendance, though to a limited capacity. This marked WWE's first event during
21414-520: The same day a pro- Donald Trump political action committee led by Linda McMahon , who was previously a part of Trump's cabinet, pledged to spend $ 18.5 million in advertising in Florida, and that, also on the same day, Vince McMahon was named part of an advisory group created by Trump to devise a strategy in re-launching the US economy. On April 15, WWE started a series of cuts and layoffs in response to
21580-439: The special guest referee and Jim Cornette at ringside, Kevin Steen defeated his former mentor, Corino, in a No Disqualification match to be reinstated in ROH. Corino later returned to ROH on May 12, 2012, when he formed the S.C.U.M. (Suffering, Chaos, Ugliness, and Mayhem) stable with Steen and Jacobs. On September 15 at Death Before Dishonor X: State of Emergency , Corino and Jacobs defeated Charlie Haas and Rhett Titus in
21746-422: The spotlight. In January 1993, the WWF debuted its flagship cable program Monday Night Raw . WCW countered in September 1995 with its own Monday night program, Monday Nitro , which aired in the same time slot as Raw . The two programs would trade wins in the ensuing ratings competition (known as the " Monday Night War ") until mid-1996. At that point, Nitro began a nearly two-year ratings domination that
21912-440: The stamina for an hours-long fight. Audiences also preferred short matches. Worked matches also carried less risk of injury, which meant shorter recovery. Altogether, worked matches proved more profitable than shoots. By the end of the 19th century, nearly all professional wrestling matches were worked. A major influence on professional wrestling was carnival culture. Wrestlers in the late 19th century worked in carnival shows. For
22078-407: The term Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection , due to the cross-promotion of popular culture and professional wrestling. The WWF business expanded significantly on the shoulders of McMahon and his babyface hero Hulk Hogan for the next several years after defeating The Iron Sheik at Madison Square Garden on January 23, 1984. The introduction of Saturday Night's Main Event on NBC in 1985 marked
22244-426: The territories of his former NWA peers, now his rivals. By the end of the 1980s, the WWF would become the sole national wrestling promotion in the U.S. This was in part made possible by the rapid spread of cable television in the 1980s. The national broadcast networks generally regarded professional wrestling as too niche an interest, and had not broadcast any national wrestling shows since the 1950s. Before cable TV,
22410-471: The three business partners receiving roughly $ 815,000 among them and Vincent J. McMahon receiving roughly $ 185,000. Seeking to make the WWF the premier wrestling promotion in the country, and eventually, the world, he began an expansion process that fundamentally changed the wrestling business. At the annual meeting of the NWA in 1983, the McMahons and former Capitol employee Jim Barnett all withdrew from
22576-678: The title change. From January until April 1963, Rogers was promoted as the NWA World Champion, or simply the World Heavyweight Champion, in their area. The World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) was not an immediate creation after Rogers's one fall loss to Thesz. Mondt and McMahon both eventually left the NWA in protest and formed the WWWF in the process. They brought along with them Willie Gilzenberg , long time boxing and wrestling promoter in New Jersey. In April 1963,
22742-427: The towel, awarding the match to Homicide. In the course of the match, Corino suffered a legitimate ruptured eardrum , and permanently lost most of the hearing in his left ear following a stiff slap to the side of the head from Homicide. Homicide has since stated in a shoot interview that he is not sorry for costing Corino his hearing, claiming Corino had been stiff with him the whole match. Homicide faced Corino for
22908-519: The trial, witnesses testified that most of the "big matches" and all of the championship bouts were fixed. By the 1930s, with the exception of the occasional double-cross or business dispute, shoot matches were essentially nonexistent. In April 1930, the New York State Athletic Commission decreed that all professional wrestling matches held in the state had to be advertised as exhibitions unless certified as contests by
23074-471: The truth, their audiences would desert them. Today's performers don't "protect" the industry like we did, but that's primarily because they've already exposed it by relying on silly or downright ludicrous characters and gimmicks to gain popularity with the fans. It was different in my day, when our product was presented as an authentic, competitive sport. We protected it because we believed it would collapse if we ever so much as implied publicly that it
23240-419: The two McMahons was a monthly payment basis, in which if a single payment was missed, ownership would revert to the elder McMahon and his business partners. Looking to seal the deal quickly, McMahon took several loans and deals with other promoters and the business partners (including the promise of a job for life) in order to take full ownership by May or June 1983 for an estimated total of roughly $ 1 million with
23406-490: The victory. On May 21 at Supercard of Honor VI , Corino revealed the returning Jimmy Jacobs as the sponsor, who had helped him change his ways. Kevin Steen returned to ROH on June 26 at Best in the World 2011 , seemingly wanting redemption as well. However, after saving Corino from the House of Truth, Steen turned on him and Jacobs, before being dragged out of the arena. On December 23 at Final Battle 2011 , with Jimmy Jacobs as
23572-535: The way of proceedings: the "in-show" happenings, presented through the shows; and real-life happenings outside the work that have implications, such as performer contracts, legitimate injuries, etc. Because actual life events are often co-opted by writers for incorporation into storylines of performers, the lines between real life and fictional life are often blurred and become confused. Special discern must be taken with people who perform under their own name (such as Kurt Angle and his fictional persona ). The actions of
23738-420: The wrestlers quietly began faking their matches so that they could give their audiences a satisfying spectacle. Fixing matches was also convenient for scheduling. A real ("shoot") match could sometimes last hours, whereas a fixed ("worked") match can be made short, which was convenient for wrestlers on tour who needed to keep appointments or share venues. It also suited wrestlers who were aging and therefore lacked
23904-461: The wrestlers' entrances on a level similar to that of pay-per-view productions pre-pandemic. Nearly 1,000 LED boards were installed to allow for rows and rows of virtual fans. It was free of charge for fans to virtually attend the events, though they had to reserve their virtual seat ahead of time. During this time, Roman Reigns began his historic world title reign with the WWE Universal Championship , which would eventually surpass 1,000 days; being
24070-425: Was Wrestling As You Like It , which printed its first issue in 1946. These magazines were faithful to kayfabe . Before the advent of television, professional wrestling's fanbase largely consisted of children, the elderly, blue-collar workers and minorities. When television arose in the 1940s, professional wrestling got national exposure on prime-time television and gained widespread popularity. Professional wrestling
24236-420: Was "essential", which meant that the company's revenues loss would be limited. In August 2020, WWE relocated from the Performance Center to Orlando's Amway Center for a long-term residency, broadcasting episodes of Raw , SmackDown , and pay-per-views through a virtual fan viewing experience called WWE ThunderDome . Inside the ThunderDome, drones, lasers, pyro, smoke, and projections were utilized to enhance
24402-405: Was by now no longer the majority WWE stockholder, ended his ties with the company amid a sex trafficking scandal . Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s WWE's origins can be traced back as far as the 1950s when on January 7, 1953, the first show under the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC) was produced. There is uncertainty as to whom
24568-488: Was challenges from independent wrestlers. But a cartelized wrestler, if challenged, could credibly use his contractual obligations to his promoter as an excuse to refuse the challenge. Promotions would sometimes respond to challenges with "policemen": powerful wrestlers who lacked the charisma to become stars, but could defeat and often seriously injure any challenger in a shoot match. As the industry trend continued, there were fewer independent wrestlers to make such challenges in
24734-468: Was changed to World Wrestling Entertainment, LLC . WWE is the largest wrestling promotion in the world. Its main roster is divided into two touring brands , Raw and SmackDown . Its developmental brand , NXT , is based at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida . Overall, WWE programming is available in more than one billion homes worldwide in 30 languages. The company's global headquarters
24900-551: Was consolidated with the Massachusetts entity in February 1988. The WWF was hit with allegations of steroid abuse and distribution in 1992. This was followed by allegations of sexual harassment by WWF employees the following year. McMahon was eventually exonerated, but the allegations brought bad public relations for the WWF, and an overall bad reputation. The steroid trial cost the company an estimated $ 5 million at
25066-503: Was defeated. On May 22, 2015, Steve Corino became the PWF World-1 Heavyweight Champion defeating Jagger, Emmanuel Ortega and former teammate CW Anderson in a Fatal Four-Way. On March 6, 2016, Corino, along with CW Anderson, returned to Zero1 to take part in the promotion's 15th anniversary event. On the December 7 edition of Ring of Honor Wrestling on HDNet , a video was shown hyping Corino's return to
25232-663: Was founded in 1953 as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC), a Northeastern territory of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). Following a dispute, CWC left the NWA and became the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) in April 1963. After rejoining the NWA in 1971, the WWWF was renamed the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1979 before the promotion left the NWA for good in 1983. In 2002, following
25398-445: Was in an Ohio hospital during the time the alleged tournament took place. Rogers lost the championship to Bruno Sammartino a month later on May 17, with the promotion beginning to be built around Sammartino shortly after. In June 1963, Gilzenberg was named the first president of the WWWF. Mondt left the promotion in the late 1960s and although the WWWF had previously withdrawn from the NWA, McMahon quietly re-joined in 1971. The WWWF
25564-518: Was indeed Steve Corino and was convincing Colby, that Corino replaced him for Corino's new wife and son, and Whitmer continued torturing Colby in front of Corino's eyes. At War of the Worlds , Corino returned as the Steve Corino character, admitting that he didn't want to be the "Evil Man" anymore, but after Whitmer's deeds, he promised that at the newly reinstated match that will happen at Best in
25730-647: Was largely fueled by the introduction of the New World Order (nWo), a stable led by former WWF performers Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall (the former Razor Ramon), and Kevin Nash (the former Diesel). As the Monday Night War continued between Raw Is War and WCW's Nitro , the WWF would transform itself from a family-friendly product into a more adult-oriented product, known as the Attitude Era . The era
25896-581: Was moved to Tuesday nights, having conceded the Wednesday Night Wars to rival promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW), and in September of that year was reinstated to its original function as the developmental brand for the main roster (Raw and SmackDown), under the name "NXT 2.0". In March 2020, WWE began to be impacted by the American onset of the COVID-19 pandemic . In mid-March, three of
26062-546: Was part of the Extreme Horsemen with C. W. Anderson and Barry Windham . He was also part of the Extreme Horsemen in Major League Wrestling with C. W. Anderson, Justin Credible and Simon Diamond . They were briefly managed by the legendary J. J. Dillon before MLW folded. Also, Corino went on to win the MLW World Heavyweight Championship before the promotion was folded. In 2004 Corino made
26228-571: Was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s. In 1989, Vince McMahon was looking to exempt his promotion (the World Wrestling Federation ) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before
26394-503: Was publicly acknowledged by WWE's then-owner Vince McMahon in 1989 in order to avoid taxes from athletic commissions. WWE markets its product as sports entertainment , acknowledging professional wrestling's roots in competitive sport and dramatic theater. In 2023, WWE began to explore a potential sale of the company, amidst an employee misconduct scandal involving McMahon that had prompted him to step down as chairman and CEO, although he returned as executive chairman. In April 2023, WWE made
26560-658: Was put into effect with the relaunch of Tough Enough , being a non-scripted program (contrary to the scripted nature of professional wrestling) and with the launch of the WWE Network (at the time scheduled to launch in 2012; later pushed back to 2014). However, the legal name of the company still remains as World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. Beginning with the August 29, 2011, episode, Raw - referred to as Raw Supershow - featured talent from both Raw and SmackDown (the "Supershow" epithet would be dropped on July 23, 2012). Championships previously exclusive to one show or
26726-637: Was quoted as saying: "In the old days, there were wrestling fiefdoms all over the country, each with its own little lord in charge. Each little lord respected the rights of his neighboring little lord. No takeovers or raids were allowed. There were maybe 30 of these tiny kingdoms in the U.S. and if I hadn't bought out my dad, there would still be 30 of them, fragmented and struggling. I, of course, had no allegiance to those little lords." McMahon gained significant traction when he hired American Wrestling Association (AWA) talent Hulk Hogan , who had achieved popularity outside of wrestling, notably for his appearance in
26892-631: Was renamed the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1979. Vincent J. McMahon's son, Vincent K. McMahon , and his wife Linda , established Titan Sports, Inc., in 1980 in South Yarmouth, Massachusetts and applied trademarks for the initials "WWF". The company was incorporated on February 21, 1980, in the Cape Cod Coliseum offices, then moved to the building on Holly Hill Lane in Greenwich, Connecticut . The younger McMahon bought Capitol from his father in 1982, effectively seizing control of
27058-516: Was reported that he had signed to become a full-time trainer for WWE , starting January 2017. On January 12, 2017, it was confirmed that Corino was now working for WWE. According to Pro Wrestling Torch in September 2017, Corino teaches the advanced class at the WWE Performance Center, the third of four levels of classes. In November 2018, it was revealed through a leaked script of NXT Takeover WarGames that same month that Corino
27224-415: Was something other than what it appeared to be. I'm not sure now the fear was ever justified given the fact that the industry is still in existence today, but the point is no one questioned the need then. "Protecting the business" in the face of criticism and skepticism was the first and most important rule a pro wrestler learned. No matter how aggressive or informed the questioner, you never admitted
27390-493: Was spearheaded by WWF VP Shane McMahon (son of owner Vince McMahon) and head writer Vince Russo . 1997 ended with McMahon facing real-life controversy following Bret Hart 's controversial departure from the company, dubbed as the Montreal Screwjob . 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 ". Before
27556-417: Was the "world champion". Before the cartels, there were multiple wrestlers in the U.S. simultaneously calling themselves the "world champion", and this sapped public enthusiasm for professional wrestling. Likewise, the cartel could agree on a common set of match rules that the fans could keep track of. The issue over who got to be the champion and who controlled said champion was a major point of contention among
#205794