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46-570: The Legacy Department's library includes all past and present WWE tapes dating back to the 1950s, including the footage from previous forms of the company. The footage saved from WWE's time as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation is among the rare surviving footage of broadcasts from the DuMont Television Network , as most of their footage was destroyed in the mid-1970s. Although not wrestling content,

92-481: A 1991 lawsuit , matches featuring Jesse Ventura on commentary were dubbed over for subsequent home video releases. However, matches featuring Ventura commentating are shown with unaltered audio on the WWE Network . Since 2007, WWE has edited footage featuring Chris Benoit from repeat broadcasts, due to Benoit's murder-suicide . WWE has released some footage of Benoit from its library as well as WCW and ECW in

138-500: A legitimate combat sport into a series of predetermined pseudo-competitive exhibitions. Mondt convinced wrestler Ed Lewis , who then held the World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship , and his manager Billy Sandow to embrace this new predetermined style of wrestling, with the three men forming a business partnership dubbed the " Gold Dust Trio ". The Gold Dust Trio formed what is considered

184-558: A ring announcer and commentator for WWWF television programs since 1969. Beginning in 1971, he began promoting events for his father in isolated regions of the WWWF territory, primarily in Maine . In 1982, Titan Sports, Inc. acquired Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd., effectively relocating its headquarters from New York City to Greenwich, Connecticut . At the annual meeting of the NWA in 1983,

230-538: A gargantuan library of television programs, pay-per-view recordings, video productions, and recordings of wrestling matches dating back to the 1950s and representing a very significant portion of the visual history of modern professional wrestling and sports entertainment . Since World Wrestling Entertainment is no longer allowed to use the "WWF" initialism or their 1998–2002 logo except for "specified circumstances", instances of both were edited and/or removed from pertinent programming. In late July 2012, WWE reached

276-432: A more broad set of four. This was done, according to the free "Month Preview" show hosted by Jack Korpela to make things easier for Classics viewers. The original six buckets and their programming were: Over time the "ECW" bucket was expanded to "Territories - ECW" and began to incorporate shows from the "territorial days" of the business. Later still the name was changed to its current "TV Classics" when it started housing

322-525: A settlement with the WWF which once again allows them to use the "WWF" initials and scratch logo on archive footage. Unedited footage first appeared on Raw 1000 and since then has appeared in full-length matches posted to the WWE website and home video releases. In exchange, WWE is no longer permitted to use the WWF initials or logo in any new, original footage, with any old logos for retro-themed programming now using

368-614: A settlement with the World Wide Fund for Nature which once again allows them to use the "WWF" initials and scratch logo on archive footage. Unedited footage first appeared on the 1000th episode of Monday Night Raw and since then has appeared in full length matches shown on the WWE website and on Classics on Demand. In addition, previously licensed music to which the rights have expired are removed or replaced with alternate songs. Additionally, some formerly live events are censored for language and/or nudity. Ring announcer Michael Buffer

414-572: A specific theme. It was originally called WWE 24/7 On Demand . In September 2008, it was changed to WWE 24/7 Classics on Demand . In April 2009, it was changed again to WWE Classics On Demand. WWE Classics was presented only on digital cable . Among the services carrying it were Comcast , AT&T U-Verse (discontinued in 2012), Verizon FiOS , Mediacom , Charter Communications , Cox Communications , Rogers Cable , EastLink , Seaside Communications , Cogeco , Armstrong , Cablevision , Sky Italia and not long ago, Astro . Some of its programming

460-615: A territorial Northeast-based wrestling promotion into a worldwide entertainment organization. He died from pancreatic cancer at 69 years old on May 24, 1984. In October 2020, WWE's NXT brand introduced the "Capitol Wrestling Center", a new home studio in Orlando, Florida within the WWE Performance Center training facility, which was named as a tribute to the CWC. WWE Classics on Demand WWE Classics On Demand

506-541: A variation of this being used in the November 15, 2010 WWE Raw Old School edition). As a result, any instances of someone saying "WWF" (though not World Wrestling Federation) were edited and shots of the "scratch" logo were either removed or blurred on re-airings or video releases released during that time frame, except for the United Kingdom exclusive WWE Tagged Classics DVD line. In late July 2012, WWE reached

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552-556: Is also edited out of any programming due to his trademarked phrase, "Let's Get Ready to Rumble". In the wake of the Chris Benoit double murder-suicide a number of wrestling websites reported that the likeness of and references to both Chris and Nancy Benoit were being removed from pertinent programming. Eventually Nancy's image was allowed to return to programming, though over six years later Benoit's continued to be excised. Most notably both his wrestling and mention of his name

598-509: Is also incomplete, as likely only the most significant bouts were recorded for posterity, and can be lost to time. Several factors have adversely affected the quality of some surviving tapes. Upon taking control of the World Championship Wrestling library, it was noted that the tapes were unlabeled and not categorized. The condition of some WCW tapes is such that WWE could not air them on WWE Classics on Demand , or on

644-504: Is also never mentioned in the chapters selection, merely stating (insert opponent's name here) in singles action. Event posters that include Benoit, like Backlash 2004 have also been changed. When WWE Network programming began being moved to Peacock in the United States in 2021, WWE and NBCUniversal (NCBU) began editing controversial content from WWE's past in order to meet NBCU's standards and practices ; this also applied to

690-637: The NWA World Heavyweight Championship to Lou Thesz . McMahon and Mondt continued to promote Rogers as the NWA World Heavyweight Champion, despite his loss to Thesz, until April 11 when they awarded him the inaugural WWWF World Heavyweight Championship . Rogers lost the WWWF title to Bruno Sammartino on May 17. Despite the change in the promotion's trade name , the company was still known legally as Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd., which served as

736-469: The WWE Network . WWE owns the unedited master tapes for all content in the library. However, due to a lawsuit over the "WWF" initials brought on by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), from May 2002 until June 2012, they were not allowed to use the letters WWF or the "scratch" logo used between December 15, 1997, and April 29, 2002 (the pre-"scratch" logo was not covered under this lawsuit, with

782-512: The World Wrestling Federation ( WWF ). In 1982, the CWC was acquired by Titan Sports, Inc., owned by Vincent J.'s son Vincent K. McMahon . The CWC was the precursor to today's WWE , currently run by Nick Khan as president and owned by TKO Group Holdings . Jess McMahon was a successful professional boxing promoter who began working with Tex Rickard in 1926. With the help of Rickard, he began promoting boxing at

828-557: The public domain , such as the "Dawn" section of Also sprach Zarathustra used by Ric Flair and Pomp and Circumstance , which was used by Gorgeous George and later Randy Savage ; or songs that the WWE acquired from its purchase of WCW. Additionally, wrestlers who worked for WWE but whose entrance music in other promotions may be owned by an outside company have had their songs in those promotions replaced by their WWE counterparts, such as Chris Jericho 's World Championship Wrestling (WCW) theme being replaced by his WWE theme. Due to

874-542: The CWC. Together, Vincent J. McMahon and Toots Mondt were very successful and controlled approximately 70% of the NWA board's booking decisions, largely due to their dominance in the heavily populated northeastern United States . In early 1963, the CWC pulled out of the NWA and transformed into the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), the precursor to current-day WWE , following a dispute over CWC wrestler Buddy Rogers being booked to lose

920-478: The Classics service. The program features various "legends" of the business, for their work in and out of the ring, having a roundtable discussion about specific topics, persons, or occurrences in the history of wrestling. The show was originally hosted by WWE commentator Jim Ross –with former interviewer Gene Okerlund filling in for him on a few occasions –until Okerlund took over hosting duties completely with

966-550: The Giant , and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper / Terry Funk were also released. The episodes come from the first season, with the exception of "Heatseekers", which is a second-season episode. The WWE Video Library is the largest professional wrestling tape library anywhere in the world, with well over 100,000 hours of content. It not only consists of World Wrestling Entertainment footage (dating back to 1970), but WWE has aggressively purchased regional and national competitors, through time amassing

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1012-818: The McMahons and WWF employee Jim Barnett all withdrew from the organization. In 1984, in an attempt to make the WWF the premier wrestling promotion in the world, McMahon began a national (and later international) expansion that fundamentally changed the wrestling industry and brought an end to its territorial era. By 1985, Titan Sports moved its headquarters to Titan Towers in Stamford, Connecticut and, in 1987, reincorporated itself under Delaware General Corporation Law . Titan Sports later changed its name to World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. in 1999, and World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (WWE) in 2002. Vincent J. McMahon would not live to see his company transform from

1058-493: The New York City wrestling scene. Mondt's control over wrestling in New York City ended after promoter Jack Pfefer revealed the predetermined nature of wrestling to the area's sports writers, harming wrestling's popularity in the city. Mondt additionally had major disagreements with his top star Antonino Rocca , which led to Mondt's partner Ray Fabiani aligning with other promoters to appease Rocca. On January 7, 1953,

1104-559: The WWE Legacy Department is not allowed to use the NWA name or logo to promote their video libraries. Although professional wrestling has been on television throughout the medium's existence, not all broadcasts were recorded, nor necessarily saved, and most promotions did not have a regular television presence until the 1970s. Most broadcasts were taped over, so very little footage exists from pre-1970s promotions. The historical availability of individual, non-televised matches

1150-491: The company bought the complete historical archives of their former competitor World Championship Wrestling . The purchase of the Extreme Championship Wrestling 's intellectual proprieties and video library during its bankruptcy proceedings in 2003 gave WWE control over the majority of all national professional wrestling footage available at the time. On August 13, 2020, WWE announced that shows from

1196-491: The duration of footage that WWE owns and may not necessarily represent the entire extent of the promotion's existence. Throughout its history, WWE has had a long relationship with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). For many decades, from its founding in 1948 until the mid-1980s, the NWA acted as a governing body of America's many regional wrestling promotions, and membership in the NWA allowed for

1242-524: The first modern promotion in professional wrestling history and were successful in getting many wrestlers of the time to sign contracts with their promotion. After much success, a power struggle amongst its members caused the trio to dissolve and, with it, their promotion. Mondt later formed partnerships with several other promoters, including Jack Curley in New York City . Curley's ill health led to Mondt, aided by Jess McMahon and others, taking over

1288-515: The first show under the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC) banner was produced. It is not certain who the founder of the CWC was. Some sources state that it was Jess' son Vincent J. McMahon while other sources (including the website of the CWC's successor, WWE ) credit Jess himself as the founder of the CWC. Shortly after its founding, the CWC joined the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and Mondt soon after joined

1334-498: The holding company for the WWWF and later the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) until 1982. The WWWF operated in a conservative manner compared to other wrestling promotions of its time; it ran its major arenas monthly rather than weekly or bi-weekly, usually featuring a babyface champion wrestling various heels in programs that consisted of one to three matches. After gaining a television deal and turning

1380-524: The largest regional NWA promotions. This was exemplified by the presence of all major NWA titles in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) when JCP morphed into WCW in 1988. WCW's relationship with the NWA continued until 1993, when the promotion pulled out of the NWA. As a result of WWE's former membership in the NWA, through its ownership of WCW and its predecessor, and through its ownership of Extreme Championship Wrestling (which

1426-598: The libraries of active independent wrestling promotions Evolve , Westside Xtreme Wrestling , Progress Wrestling , and Insane Championship Wrestling would begin airing on the WWE Network. As part of the agreement, all the respective promotions would continue to own their footage and remain separate entities from WWE. However, later in 2020, WWE purchased Evolve and Dragon Gate USA , its defunct sister promotion, after which Evolve ceased operations. The dates listed below for purchased organizations and libraries represent

WWE Libraries - Misplaced Pages Continue

1472-582: The library's holdings include footage from various documentaries, reality shows, and fictional works produced for home video, the WWE Network and other broadcasters, and any motion pictures produced by WWE Studios . The library also maintains footage from WWE's non-wrestling sister companies, the World Bodybuilding Federation and XFL . For years, WWE has engaged in a campaign of purchasing libraries of defunct wrestling promotions. The first significant purchase took place in 2001 when

1518-568: The mid-1960s. McMahon later made Mondt a salaried employee of the WWWF, an arrangement that continued until Mondt's death on June 11, 1976. The WWWF rejoined the NWA in 1971. By March 1979, for marketing purposes, the World Wide Wrestling Federation was renamed the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). The following year, Vincent J. McMahon's son, Vincent K. McMahon , founded Titan Sports, Inc., which incorporated on February 21, 1980, originally in Massachusetts . Vincent K. McMahon had served as

1564-430: The original WWF logo, but modified without the F. Music rights issues are also reasons for occasional editing by WWE of its library when airing or releasing videos. While most wrestlers' entrance themes are done in-house (notably by composer Jim Johnston ), those whose music is not owned by WWE are often dubbed over with cheaper alternatives rather than providing the original audio, to save WWE paying licensing fees to

1610-429: The programming found in the "Prime Time" bucket, which was removed altogether. The "Old School" and "Big Ones" buckets were combined, keeping the "Big Ones" name, and becoming a bucket for any and all larger shows. "Hall of Fame" was renamed to the less restrictive "WWE Legends" and began to house material from the "Specials" bucket, which was also removed. Legends of Wrestling is an original series made specifically for

1656-597: The shared use of big-name stars for local wrestling events. WWE (as the CWC) was a member of the NWA between 1950s and 1963, and again (as the WWWF/WWF) between 1971 and 1983. In 1998, WWE (as the WWF) hosted NWA matches on its programming. Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) was an NWA member for its entire post-1948 existence and by the end of the promotion's run was widely regarded as the NWA itself, due to its purchases and control of

1702-548: The shows fourth panel. The series was divided into unofficial "seasons" of hour-long episodes (each with a short intermission) featuring the same panels. In January 2009, a DVD box set of three episodes: Sgt. Slaughter /Ric Flair, Jerry Lawler /the Junkyard Dog , and "Heatseekers"—about wrestlers who have a reputation of "causing trouble" backstage—along with bonus matches involving the stars. Best Buy exclusives episodes Bob Backlund / Hulk Hogan , The Iron Sheik / André

1748-497: The standalone WWE Network feed that remained overseas. Capitol Wrestling Corporation Capitol Wrestling Corporation ( CWC ) was an American sports promotion company. Run by Vincent J. McMahon from the 1950s until the 1980s, the company was originally a professional wrestling and boxing promotion and later became the holding company for the World Wide Wrestling Federation ( WWWF ), later

1794-498: The third Madison Square Garden . McMahon would later take over the wrestling side of Rickard's promotional business; Rickard was noted for disliking wrestling and prevented wrestling events from being held at Madison Square Garden. A few years prior to 1926, professional wrestler Toots Mondt had created a new style of professional wrestling that he called “Slam Bang Western Style Wrestling”. The advent of Slam Bang Western Style Wrestling ultimately transformed professional wrestling from

1840-436: The well-known tag team wrestler Lou Albano into a manager for Sammartino's heel opponents, the WWWF began doing sell out business and, by 1970, became one of the largest promotions of wrestling's territorial era . After disagreements over television deals which were compounded by issues caused by his gambling addiction , Mondt was "muscled out" of the leadership of the WWWF and ultimately sold off his shares to McMahon in

1886-519: The writers/performers of the original songs. Videos heavily affected in particular by these cost-cutting decisions are those featuring footage from Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), which was famous for using recordings by mainstream music acts such as Metallica , AC/DC , and Dr. Dre for their wrestlers' entrances, although AC/DC and Metallica have provided music for WWE pay-per-view events as well. Exceptions to non-Johnston composed themes that WWE leaves in its archives are either songs that are in

WWE Libraries - Misplaced Pages Continue

1932-451: The years since, but all of these have been group shots not focused on Benoit (most notably the 2004 Royal Rumble ). Benoit's wife Nancy Benoit , who performed in a manager role in WCW under the ring name Woman, was also initially removed, but footage of her was later re-added. All archive footage of Chris Benoit has been available uncut on the WWE Network since its launch in 2014. Benoit's name

1978-401: Was an American subscription video on demand television service provided by WWE . It featured footage from WWE's vast archive of wrestling footage , including classic WWE, World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and more. It offered around 40 hours of rotating programming per month, arranged into four (previously six) "programming buckets", often centered on

2024-433: Was an NWA member until it suddenly severed ties in 1994) and other smaller regional promotions, WWE owns a vast amount of NWA footage, making up the majority of significant NWA matches from the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s. While WWE owns the majority of the video libraries of the NWA's previous notable members, WWE does not own the NWA itself, which is currently owned by Billy Corgan 's Lightning One, Inc. company. As such,

2070-512: Was packaged as Madison Square Garden Classics and began airing on MSG Network in the summer of 2006. In November 2007, the service had around 115,000 subscribers. The service closed on January 31, 2014 to make way for their new video-streaming and subscription service WWE Network . The programming buckets and the programs which usually or occasionally appear on them: When the service debuted it did so with six, more specialized, buckets. Around April 4, 2007 they were combined and pruned into

2116-417: Was removed from episodes of Monday Night Wars airings of WCW Monday Nitro , as well as match segments from other shows, though he is occasionally mentioned and shown in brief non-wrestling roles. His image eventually returned in a wrestling role during a rebroadcast of World War 3 from 1997. In early January 2014, WWE issued a memo stating that footage involving Chris Benoit would air on the WWE Network with

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