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91-517: World Association of Wrestling (WAW) is a British independent professional wrestling promotion founded by Ricky Knight , Sweet Saraya , and Jimmy Ocean in 1994 in Norwich , England. It is affiliated with the all-female promotion Bellatrix Female Warriors which is also owned by Saraya Knight. The promotion features British-style wrestling and uses British rules. Ricky Knight, Sweet Saraya, and Jimmy Ocean formed WAW in 1994 in Norwich . Ocean left

182-410: A champion there. Independent Mexican wrestlers may use a lot of gimmicks, including some that may be based on copyrighted characters from American television shows, such as Thundercats and X-Men . (These gimmicks are often changed if the wrestler playing them makes it into AAA or CMLL; the most prominent example of non-compliance with this method is midget wrestler Chucky from AAA, whose gimmick

273-417: 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

364-596: 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

455-527: A five-year extension on its TV wrestling monopoly from January 1982 to December 1986. However, by the mid-1980s Dixon had won over many wrestlers and fans from Joint who were tired of the Big Daddy -orientated direction of Joint. Eventually this culminated in All Star gaining a TV show on satellite channel Screensport and later, a slice of ITV's coverage from 1987 until the end of ITV wrestling in 1988. By

546-525: A good impression may be offered a developmental or even a full-professional contract. The advent of the Internet has allowed independent wrestlers and promotions to reach a wider audience, and it is possible for wrestlers regularly working the indie circuit to gain some measure of fame among wrestling fans online. Additionally, some of the more successful indies have video distribution deals, giving them an additional source of income and allowing them to reach

637-581: A large enough crowd to fill such a venue were they able to do so. Instead, they make use of any almost open space (such as fields, ballrooms, or gymnasiums) to put on their performances. Some independent promotions are attached to professional wrestling schools , serving as a venue for students to gain experience in front of an audience. As independent matches are seldom televised, indie wrestlers who have not already gained recognition in other promotions tend to remain in obscurity. However, scouts from major promotions attend indie shows, and an indie wrestler who makes

728-549: A larger audience outside of their local areas. Unlike the North American or Japanese products which have large, globally renowned organisations such as WWE and New Japan Pro-Wrestling with several hundred smaller promotions , Australia only has approximately 30 smaller independent circuit promotions which exist in all but one of the states and territories, that being the Northern Territory . Tours from

819-541: A major promoter with shows featuring himself as headline heel. In 1958, when Bert Assirati was stripped of the British Heavyweight Championship , Lincoln formed the BWF alliance of promoters to support Assirati's claim, later recognising Shirley Crabtree as champion. Lincoln's BWF was eventually bought out into Joint in 1970. Welsh promoter Orig Williams also used the BWF name, promoting from

910-599: 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

1001-581: 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

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1092-401: 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

1183-734: 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

1274-532: A region and maintain a consistent schedule. After Vince McMahon , seeking regulatory relief, gave in 1989 testimony in front of the New Jersey State Athletic Commission where he publicly admitted pro wrestling was in fact a sports-based entertainment, rather than a true athletic competition, many state athletic commissions stopped regulating wrestling. This obviated the need for complying with many expensive requirements, such as

1365-496: 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

1456-473: 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

1547-456: 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

1638-482: A week or once a month in local towns. Independent promotions are usually local in focus and, lacking national TV contracts, are much more dependent on revenue from house show attendance. Due to their lower budgets, most independent promotions offer low salaries (it is not unusual for a wrestler to work for free due to the fact most promoters can only afford to pay well-known talent). Most cannot afford to regularly rent large venues, and would not be able to attract

1729-515: 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

1820-539: 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

1911-710: Is additionally involved in licensing its intellectual property to other companies to produce video games and action figures . The promotion 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

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2002-952: 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 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

2093-640: Is based on the Child's Play movies.) Until 1984, no independent puroresu promotion per se existed in Japan; potential talent went directly into the training dojos of either New Japan Pro-Wrestling or All Japan Pro Wrestling . ( International Wrestling Enterprise also was a third-party promotion until 1981.) The advent of the Japanese Universal Wrestling Federation offered a long-sought third alternative. From 1986 to 1988

2184-573: Is considered by some to be a forerunner to indies since some stars of the past got their start in these low quality local rivals to the big regional territories. The modern definition of the independent circuit came about in the middle to late 1980s and fully formed and flourished after 1990. These promotions initially sought to revive the feel of old school territorial wrestling after former territories either went national, such as WWF , went out of business, or eventually did both, such as WCW . Several indies did in fact manage to tour different towns within

2275-527: 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

2366-610: The CyberFight promotions in Japan. It is also not uncommon for veteran wrestlers who have had past tenures with major promotions to appear on independent shows, either as special attractions or as a way to prolong their careers. The "indie" scene in the United States dates back to the days of regional territories. When a promoter ran opposition in even one town controlled by a National Wrestling Alliance sanctioned territory, they were often called an "outlaw" territory. This

2457-707: 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

2548-470: 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

2639-555: The 1990s there have also been numerous American-style "New School" promotions. Note: Minimum attendance of 5,000. General Specific WWE World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) 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

2730-486: 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

2821-723: The Japanese system went back to the two-promotion system, but then the UWF was reformed and another promotion, Pioneer Senshi, was started. Because of Japanese societal mores which implied that a wrestler was a lifelong employee of a company and thus identified with it wherever he went, neither AJPW nor NJPW made an effort to acquire wrestlers trained in other promotions; wrestlers from the major promotions who left, such as Genichiro Tenryu , Gran Hamada , Yoshiaki Fujiwara , Akira Maeda , Atsushi Onita , and Nobuhiko Takada had to start their own independent promotions in order to keep themselves in

World Association of Wrestling - Misplaced Pages Continue

2912-518: 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

3003-627: 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 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,

3094-595: The North American product are regularly sold out in capital cities such as Melbourne , Sydney , Perth and Brisbane . Lucha libre has many more independent wrestlers in proportion to the rest of North America, because of the weight classes prevalent in the Mexican league system as well as its emphasis on multiple person tag matches; just about anyone with ability can emerge from an independent promotion into either AAA or Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre and be

3185-767: 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

3276-485: 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

3367-615: 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

3458-498: 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

3549-498: 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

3640-628: 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

3731-700: 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

World Association of Wrestling - Misplaced Pages Continue

3822-573: The business after approximately one year. In 2005, Ricky Knight and Sweet Saraya formed the World Association of Women's Wrestling, although the name was later changed to Bellatrix Female Warriors . In 2014, WAW ran more than 100 shows. In September 2016, WAW began airing on Mustard TV . American wrestler Scott Hall was previously a backstage agent for the promotion, working behind the scenes at television tapings and appeared in an on-screen authority role as WAW Commissioner. The promotion

3913-523: 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

4004-530: The company's majority owner was its executive chairman, third-generation wrestling promoter Vince McMahon , who retained a 38.6% ownership of 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.,

4095-497: 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

4186-461: The death of Giant Baba and retirement of Antonio Inoki , which effectively broke their control over the promotions they founded, the major promotions began looking to the smaller promotions for talent. In 2000, the first major signing from an independent, Minoru Tanaka by NJPW from BattlARTS , took place; soon after NJPW stocked the junior heavyweight division with independent talent such as Masayuki Naruse , Tiger Mask , Gedo , and Jado . On

4277-642: 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

4368-505: The end of this period, All Star had effectively replaced Joint (by now owned by Max Crabtree , brother of Shirley) as the dominant promotion in the UK. Joint, renamed Ring Wrestling Stars in 1991, dwindled down before closing with Crabtree's retirement in 1995, All Star has continued to be the dominant non-import live promotion in the UK up to the present day. Its principal competitors since that time have been Scott Conway's TWA, John Freemantle's Premier Promotions, RBW and LDN Wrestling. Since

4459-572: 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

4550-428: 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

4641-560: 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

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4732-500: 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

4823-405: 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

4914-583: 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

5005-417: 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 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 ,

5096-533: The independents that were signed included Akitoshi Saito , Takahiro Suwa , and Taiji Ishimori ). Although AJPW, NJPW, and Noah remain committed to their dojos, the reliance on independents is growing as obscure talent is recognized for its ability. For most of the years of ITV 's coverage of British Wrestling, the dominant promoter in the United Kingdom was the Joint Promotions cartel, which

5187-597: The larger national promotions, as wrestlers in "indie" companies (especially young wrestlers just starting their careers) are usually honing their craft with the goal of being noticed and signed by a major national promotion such as WWE , All Elite Wrestling (AEW) (which also owns Ring of Honor (ROH)), or Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in the United States, Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide or Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre in Mexico, or New Japan Pro-Wrestling , Dragongate , All Japan Pro Wrestling , World Wonder Ring Stardom or

5278-416: The late 1960s up until the early 2000s and then sporadically until his death in 2009. From 1982 to 1995, Williams had a Welsh language TV wrestling show "Reslo" on S4C. Brian Dixon, a referee for Williams, set up his own company Wrestling Enterprises of Birkenhead later renamed All Star Wrestling c.  1984 . An alliance with promoter and former top star Jackie Pallo failed to prevent Joint gaining

5369-405: The limelight ( Wrestling Association "R" , Universal Lucha Libre , Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi , Fighting Network Rings , Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling , and Hustle respectively) . As the 1990s ended, though, things began to change. Independent promotions began gaining more prominence as they were featured in major specialized media such as Shukan Puroresu and Shukan Gong magazines. With

5460-432: The lives of five young wrestlers battling against physical and mental health issues to pursue professional careers under the guidance of Zak Knight. The promotion also includes a wrestling school, The WAW Academy. Trainees perform for both WAW and Bellatrix Female Warriors. The academy trains wrestlers of all ages, including children. Interest in the school increased after Ricky Knight and Sweet Saraya's daughter Saraya-Jade

5551-687: 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

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5642-618: 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

5733-426: The need for an on-site ambulance and trained emergency medical personnel at each bout. After the business was thus exposed and deregulated, just about anyone could be a promoter or a wrestler since no licensing beyond a business license was then required. Many thought they could save money by holding shows in lesser towns and smaller arenas with little to no televised exposure, leading to many shows being held only once

5824-519: 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

5915-441: 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

6006-487: 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

6097-569: 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,

6188-482: 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

6279-604: 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

6370-520: 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

6461-534: The same year, following the Pro Wrestling Noah split, AJPW was forced to fill its ranks with independent talent; Nobutaka Araya , Shigeo Okumura and Mitsuya Nagai signed up (Araya is the only one who remains, but other signings since then have been Kaz Hayashi , Tomoaki Honma , Hideki Hosaka , and Ryuji Hijikata .) Noah admitted one wrestler from the independents, Daisuke Ikeda , to its ranks as well (Ikeda has since left, but other wrestlers from

6552-422: 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

6643-407: 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

6734-471: 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

6825-686: 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,

6916-419: 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

7007-461: 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

7098-420: 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

7189-405: 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

7280-551: 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

7371-536: Was featured in the 2012 Channel 4 documentary The Wrestlers: Fighting with My Family about the Knight family. It was featured in the film Fighting with My Family , which was based on the documentary. Former Norwich City striker Grant Holt and 2012 Olympics boxing bronze medallist Anthony Ogogo both began their wrestling careers with WAW. In 2020, WAW was featured in another documentary, this time on BBC Three. A four-part series, Step Into The Ring followed

7462-445: 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

7553-647: 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

7644-581: 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

7735-415: Was originally modelled on the NWA and later amalgamated into a single company. Nonetheless, throughout this period, untelevised alternative promotions flourished with at least one significant competitor to Joint for live shows. Initially the main rival was the former dominant promotion in the territory, Atholl Oakley 's BWA. By the time of its demise, wrestler/promoter Paul Lincoln had established himself as

7826-503: 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

7917-658: 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

8008-637: 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

8099-631: 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

8190-475: Was signed by the WWE in 2011. Zak Knight and Sweet Saraya are the head trainers at the academy, but they also bring in guest trainers, as well. Past guest trainers have included Scott Hall, Dave Taylor , Mr. Anderson , Steve Grey, Mal Sanders, Marty Jones , Jonny Storm , Dean Allmark , and more. Independent circuit Independent promotions are essentially viewed as a minor league or farm system for

8281-493: 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

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