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173-619: The American professional wrestling promotion WWE has maintained several men's world championships since Capitol Wrestling Corporation seceded from the National Wrestling Alliance in 1963 to become the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), which was later subjected to various name changes, including World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)—in April 2011,

346-460: A Rock Bottom to Damien Sandow and a People's Elbow to Cody Rhodes . The Rock closed out the 20th-anniversary episode of Raw , on January 14, with one of his "Rock Concerts", leading to a brawl with CM Punk. The following week on Raw , The Rock was attacked by The Shield . Vince McMahon then asserted that if The Shield attacked the Rock in his title match with CM Punk, Punk would be stripped of

519-435: 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

692-525: A ladder match at SummerSlam on August 30, where The Rock lost the title to Triple H. In the latter half of 1998, The Rock saw a big uptick in fan support. He also started consolidating his famous persona during this time, which would last until 2000. His popularity caused him to be booked in a feud with fellow Nation members Mark Henry and D'Lo Brown, turning babyface in the process. Henry defeated The Rock at Judgment Day: In Your House on October 18 after interference from Brown, effectively breaking up

865-415: 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

1038-415: 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

1211-605: A "This Is Your Life"-style segment for Cena, and later both members of Awesome Truth. The Rock and Cena defeated Awesome Truth on November 20 at Survivor Series, when The Rock pinned The Miz. After the match, The Rock gave Cena a Rock Bottom . Leading up to WrestleMania, The Rock and Cena had several verbal confrontations on Raw SuperShow . On the March 12, 2012, episode of Raw SuperShow , The Rock hosted his first "Rock Concert" segment since 2004, mocking Cena in his songs. On April 1, at WrestleMania XXVIII, The Rock defeated Cena in

1384-659: A Kiss My Ass match at SummerSlam on August 22. The Rock was also given the privilege of having his own signature match, like The Undertaker with the Buried Alive match, Kane with the Inferno Match and Mankind with the Boiler Room Brawl: the Brahma Bullrope match, a variant of a strap match was a normal singles match where the components are tied together with a rope used for cattle farming, and

1557-571: A Last Man Standing match which ended in a draw, meaning Mankind retained the title. Their feud ended on the February 15 Raw Is War , when The Rock won his third WWF Championship in a Ladder Match after a debuting Big Show interfered on his behalf. The Rock then lost the WWF Championship to Stone Cold Steve Austin at WrestleMania XV on March 28. The Rock's popularity continued to grow and audiences still cheered for him even though he

1730-585: A McMahon in his corner: Triple H had his wife Stephanie , Foley had Linda , The Rock had Vince and Big Show had Shane. The Rock lasted until the final two but was eliminated by Triple H after Vince betrayed him by hitting him with a chair. Due to his image at the time, a Magic: The Gathering deck archetype was named after him. In the following weeks, The Rock continued his feud with Triple H and eventually won his fourth WWF Championship, which he won on April 30, at Backlash , after Stone Cold Steve Austin intervened on his behalf. The following night on Raw

1903-413: 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

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2076-519: A cameo in his hometown of Miami, where he confronted Randy Orton . On the August 23 episode of Raw , he hosted a pie-eating contest, as part of the WWE Diva Search , and ended the segment by giving Coachman a People's Elbow . The Rock's contract with WWE then ended and he started his full-time acting career. On March 12, 2007, the Rock appeared on a WWE show after nearly three years, via

2249-532: 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

2422-519: 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

2595-505: 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

2768-433: 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 . Dwayne Johnson Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock ,

2941-404: 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

3114-410: 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

3287-405: 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

3460-490: A lengthy promo, he addressed the fans and started a feud with John Cena . After numerous appearances via satellite, The Rock appeared live on the Raw before WrestleMania XXVII to confront Cena. After he and Cena exchanged insults, The Miz and Alex Riley appeared and attacked The Rock; he fended off Miz and Riley, only for Cena to blindside him with an Attitude Adjustment . On April 3, at WrestleMania XXVII, The Rock opened

3633-799: 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

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3806-458: A match that took place in an arena with 22,000 empty seats where any part of the facility could be used to contest the match. After 20 minutes of chaotic brawling in the ring, the stands, a kitchen, the catering area, an office, the arena corridors and finally a basement loading area, Mankind pinned The Rock using a forklift truck to win the WWF Championship. The two faced off again, at St. Valentine's Day Massacre: In Your House on February 14, in

3979-424: 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

4152-440: 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

4325-591: A pre-taped promo shown during Raw . He correctly predicted that Bobby Lashley would defeat Umaga at WrestleMania 23 in Donald Trump 's and Vince McMahon's "Battle of the Billionaires" Hair vs. Hair match. On March 29, 2008, Johnson inducted his father Rocky Johnson and grandfather Peter Maivia into the WWE Hall of Fame . His next appearance was through a pre-taped promo on October 2, 2009, during

4498-493: A rematch of the previous WrestleMania match between the two at WrestleMania 29 , only this time with the WWE Championship on the line. On April 7, at WrestleMania 29, The Rock lost the WWE Championship to Cena, ending his reign at 70 days. Despite being advertised for Raw after WrestleMania, where it was stated that The Rock was still entitled a rematch for the WWE Championship, The Rock did not appear because of

4671-602: A term derived from one of The Rock's catchphrases. In the episode, The Rock continued his feud with The Corporate Ministry. This led to a match with Triple H, at Over the Edge on May 23, which The Rock won, and a match for the WWF Championship against The Undertaker, at King of the Ring on June 27, which The Rock lost. The Rock then lost a number one contender's match to Triple H, at Fully Loaded on July 25, after interference from "Mr. Ass" Billy Gunn . The Rock then defeated Gunn in

4844-580: A third brand dubbed ECW on which stars from the former promotion and newer talent competed. When ECW's Rob Van Dam won the WWE Championship at ECW One Night Stand , the ECW Championship was subsequently reactivated as the world championship of the ECW brand (and the third concurrently active world championship in WWE) and was awarded to Van Dam, who held both until he lost the WWE Championship to Raw's Edge

5017-591: A title rematch with The Rock, at Elimination Chamber on February 17, 2013, with the added stipulation that if The Rock was disqualified or counted out, he would still lose the WWE Championship. The Rock would pin Punk to defeat him and retain the championship. The following night on Raw , The Rock unveiled a new WWE Championship design, with a different center plate and removable customizable side-plates which had his "Brahma Bull" logo. The Rock then resumed his rivalry with John Cena, who won that year's Royal Rumble to set up

5190-582: A traditional 5-on-5 Survivor Series tag team match, teaming with Cena at Survivor Series in November. But on the October 24 episode of Raw SuperShow , Cena instead suggested The Rock be his partner in a standard tag team match against The Miz and R-Truth , a team called Awesome Truth , which Rock agreed to the next week. On November 14, during the special Raw Gets Rocked , The Rock appeared live, delivering Rock Bottom s to Mick Foley, who had been hosting

5363-503: 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

World championships in WWE - Misplaced Pages Continue

5536-586: 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

5709-407: Is War , The Rock successfully defended his title against Shane McMahon in a Steel Cage match. On May 21, at Judgment Day , The Rock faced Triple H in an Iron Man match with Shawn Michaels as the special guest referee. With the score tied at five falls each, and with seconds left on the time limit, The Rock was disqualified when The Undertaker attacked Triple H, thus giving Triple H the 6–5 win and

5882-436: 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

6055-410: 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

6228-785: Is an American actor, professional wrestler , and businessman. He is signed to WWE , where he performs on a part-time basis. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Johnson was integral to the development and success of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) during the Attitude Era . He wrestled for the WWF full-time for eight years before pursuing an acting career. His films have grossed over $ 3.5 billion in North America and over $ 12.5 billion worldwide, making him one of

6401-427: 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

6574-470: 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

6747-510: Is on a black strap, the WWE logo is encrusted with black diamonds, the background behind the logo is gold with nugget texturing, and the text at the bottom of the plate says "Undisputed Champion", while the side plates featured Reigns' logo. His manager Paul Heyman had continued to carry around the standard WWE and Universal Championship belts until the end of July. Cody Rhodes would defeat Reigns at WrestleMania XL Night 2 on April 7th, 2024, to win

6920-622: Is the fourth world championship to be established by WWE, and is currently defended on the Raw brand. Its creation came as a result of Roman Reigns, who at the time held both the WWE Championship and the Universal Championship to be recognized as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion. On the April 24, 2023, episode of Raw , WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H announced that regardless of what brand Reigns

7093-464: The Decade of SmackDown . On September 30, 2009, the Rock appeared at a World Xtreme Wrestling (WXW) show to support the professional wrestling debut of Sarona Snuka , the daughter of his longtime friend and mentor Jimmy Snuka . On February 14, 2011, The Rock was announced as the host of WrestleMania XXVII on April 3, 2011, appearing live on Raw for the first time in almost seven years. During

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7266-684: The Fast & Furious films, beginning with Fast Five (2011), helped the franchise become one of the highest grossing in film . He joined the DC Extended Universe by playing the title role in Black Adam (2022). He is also known for voicing Maui in the Disney animated film Moana (2016). Johnson produced and starred in the HBO comedy-drama series Ballers (2015–2019) and

7439-642: The Lehigh Valley region of the state, where he graduated in 1990. At Freedom High School, Johnson initially struggled and was drawn into a culture of conflict and petty crime. By age 17, he had been arrested several times for fighting, theft, and check fraud, and was suspended two weeks for fighting. An article in the local newspaper labeled him "a troubled teenager with a history of run-ins with police." But Freedom High School football coach Jody Cwik saw athletic potential in Johnson, and recruited him to join

7612-814: The Miami-area community, frequently delivering positive messages about his own struggles and encouraging students to remain in school and avoid the dangers of drug use. After graduating, Johnson was signed by the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League . Calgary moved him from defensive tackle to linebacker . He was assigned to Calgary's practice roster, but was cut two months into Calgary's 1995 season. Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s After being cut by Calgary, Johnson began his professional wrestling career

7785-624: 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

7958-806: The Raw brand. There, he had various small feuds, including one with The Hurricane . He also began performing "Rock Concerts", segments in which he played the guitar and mocked WWE performers and fans in song. After failing to win a number one contendership for the World Heavyweight Championship , The Rock went into another program with Stone Cold Steve Austin. This led to a match at WrestleMania XIX on March 30, 2003, which called back to their previous two WrestleMania encounters, both of which Austin had won. The Rock won after delivering three consecutive Rock Bottoms , ending their long-running rivalry in what turned out to be Austin's final match, until WrestleMania 38 . The next night, Raw

8131-487: The USWA tag team championship twice with his partner Bart Sawyer in the summer of 1996, Johnson was signed to a WWF contract. He received additional training from Tom Prichard , alongside Achim Albrecht and Mark Henry . Johnson made his WWF debut as Rocky Maivia, a combination of his father and grandfather's ring names, although announcers acknowledged his real name. He was initially reluctant to take this ring name but

8304-542: The Undisputed WWE Universal Championship ) is the term used by WWE to refer to both the WWE Championship and the Universal Championship being held and defended simultaneously by the same individual. This recognition came as a result of a Winner Takes All match at WrestleMania 38 in April 2022. WWE also billed the match as a championship unification match; however, both titles have maintained their individual lineages despite WWE promoting

8477-557: 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

8650-431: 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

8823-620: The 'Taker , he lost to Savio Vega by countout but retained the title. Audiences became increasingly hostile toward Maivia, with chants of "die, Rocky, die" and "Rocky sucks" being heard during his matches. After losing the Intercontinental Championship to Owen Hart on the April 28 episode of Raw Is War , Maivia suffered a legitimate knee injury in a match against Mankind in June and spent several months recovering. Upon returning in August, Maivia turned heel for

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8996-584: 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

9169-400: 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

9342-460: 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

9515-653: 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

9688-546: The Attitude Era involving steel chairs had at most 2 or 3 shots to the head). After the fifth shot, Mankind was still ringside instead of two-thirds up the entrance ramp where he was supposed to be, and after the eleventh shot, which knocked Mankind out, a recording of Mankind saying "I Quit" from an earlier interview was played over the public address system. On January 31, during an episode of Sunday Night Heat , The Rock and Mankind participated in an Empty Arena match ,

9861-634: The December 8 episode of Raw to help Mick Foley against La Résistance . In 2004, The Rock aided Mick Foley in his feud against Evolution , leading to a reunion of the Rock 'n' Sock Connection. They lost against Ric Flair , Randy Orton , and Batista in a handicap match at WrestleMania XX on March 14, 2004, when Orton pinned Foley after an RKO . This was Johnson's final wrestling match until November 2011. The Rock appeared in WWE sporadically following WrestleMania XX. He made returns to provide support for Eugene against Jonathan Coachman and made

10034-580: The Intercontinental Championship. The next night on Raw Is War , Austin was ordered by Mr. McMahon to defend the title in a rematch, but forfeited it to The Rock instead, handing him the title belt before hitting him with the Stone Cold Stunner . The Rock feuded with Austin and Ken Shamrock through the end of 1997 and beginning of 1998. On January 19, 1998, at the Royal Rumble , The Rock defeated Shamrock by disqualification to retain

10207-480: The Intercontinental Championship. Later that night, he entered the Royal Rumble match and lasted until the final two before he was eliminated by Stone Cold Steve Austin. On March 29, at WrestleMania XIV , he defeated Shamrock by disqualification once again to retain the title. The next night, on Raw is War , The Rock debuted a new Intercontinental Championship design and would later overthrow Faarooq as leader of

10380-415: The January 30, 2003, episode of SmackDown! to set up another match with Hulk Hogan at No Way Out . Because of negative fan reaction during previous matches as a result of his budding acting career, The Rock turned heel for the first time since 1999. He also started a new persona that has been called Hollywood Rock , with a new look and a shaved head. The Rock defeated Hogan at No Way Out before moving to

10553-504: The Jungle (2017), Jumanji: The Next Level (2019), and Jungle Cruise (2021), and the action films Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012), G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013), Hercules (2014), Skyscraper (2018), San Andreas (2015) and Rampage (2018). He also starred in the action comedy films Get Smart (2008), Central Intelligence (2016), Baywatch (2017), and Red Notice (2021). His role as Luke Hobbs in

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10726-578: The McMahons betrayed Mankind. On December 13, at the pay-per-view named after him, Rock Bottom: In Your House , The Rock had a rematch with Mankind for the WWF Championship. Mankind appeared to win the match when The Rock passed out to the Mandible Claw submission move, but Vince McMahon ruled that since The Rock did not tap out, he retained his title. In the main event of the January 4, 1999, episode of Raw Is War , Mankind defeated The Rock for

10899-522: The NWA and grew to become a rival promotion to the WWF. Both organizations grew into mainstream prominence and were eventually involved in a television ratings war, dubbed the Monday Night Wars . Near the end of the ratings war, WCW began a financial decline , which culminated in WWF purchasing WCW in March 2001. As a result of the purchase, the WWF acquired, among other assets, WCW's championships . Thus, there were two world championships in

11072-408: 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

11245-488: 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

11418-569: The NXT brand became WWE's third major brand when the NXT program was moved to the USA Network , with the NXT Championship subsequently regarded as a world championship. However, WWE revamped NXT in September 2021 and returned the brand to its original function as a developmental brand, with the title no longer regarded as a world championship. The Undisputed WWE Championship (formerly known as

11591-540: The Nation of Domination to spark a feud between the two. He then successfully defended the Intercontinental Championship against Faarooq at Over the Edge: In Your House on May 31. The stable would then refer to themselves as simply "The Nation". The Rock and the Nation then feuded with Triple H and D-Generation X (DX), with the two stable leaders first meeting in the quarter-final of the 1998 King of

11764-522: The New Age Outlaws on the October 14 episode of SmackDown! before losing the titles to The Holly Cousins on the October 18 episode of Raw is War . At the Royal Rumble on January 23, 2000, The Rock entered the Royal Rumble match and was one of the final two remaining, along with Big Show. In an attempt at a "false finish", Big Show intended to throw The Rock over the top rope in a running powerslam -like position, before The Rock countered

11937-415: The Ring tournament , which The Rock won. At King of the Ring on June 28, The Rock defeated Dan Severn in the semi-final match and lost to rival Ken Shamrock in the final. The Rock then resumed his feud with Triple H, as the two had a two out of three falls match at Fully Loaded: In Your House on July 26 for the Intercontinental Championship, which The Rock retained in controversial fashion. This led to

12110-548: The Rock to join their team. The Rock then aligned with McMahon and the WWF. The next month, the Rock defeated Booker T at SummerSlam on August 19 to win the WCW Championship for the first time. He later lost the title to Chris Jericho at No Mercy on October 21. The next night on Raw , he teamed with Jericho to win the WWF Tag Team Championship from The Dudley Boyz . The two then lost

12283-619: The Rock, but Kurt Angle revealed his true allegiance by attacking Austin. The Rock then pinned Austin, giving Team WWF the victory and forcing The Alliance to disband. The Rock's WCW Championship was renamed the unbranded "World Championship" following the Alliance's loss. At the next pay-per-view, Vengeance on December 9, The Rock lost the World Championship to Jericho, who would then unify the WWF and World titles later that night. The Rock then unsuccessfully challenged Jericho for

12456-543: The SmackDown brand. Its creation came as a result of the reintroduction of the brand extension in July 2016. On the July 25 episode of Raw , to address the lack of a world championship for the brand since the WWE Championship became exclusive to SmackDown, the Universal Championship was introduced. Finn Bálor subsequently became the inaugural champion at SummerSlam the following month. The titles would switch brands following

12629-448: The U.S. Johnson's father was a Black Nova Scotian with a small amount of Irish ancestry and his mother is Samoan . His father and Tony Atlas were the first black tag team champions in WWE history, in 1983. Johnson's uncle Ricky was also a wrestler. His mother is the adopted daughter of Peter Maivia , who was also a professional wrestler. Johnson's maternal grandmother Lia

12802-547: The Undisputed Championship was the only male wrestler allowed to appear on both brands, as the champion defended the title against challengers from both brands. However, in September 2002, after reigning champion Brock Lesnar signed an exclusive deal to only defend the title on SmackDown, the title dropped the "undisputed" moniker, becoming the WWE Championship, while Raw established the original World Heavyweight Championship as its counterpart, spun off from

12975-679: The Undisputed WWE Championship as the successor to the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. The WWE World Heavyweight Championship was the result of a unification of the WWE Championship and the original World Heavyweight Championship in December 2013. Following the end of the first brand extension in August 2011, both the WWE Champion and World Heavyweight Champion could appear on both Raw and SmackDown . After two years, as there

13148-531: The Undisputed WWE Universal Championship banner exclusive to the brand. A new world title, the World Heavyweight Championship , was created and subsequently designated to Raw. On the June 2, 2023, episode of SmackDown , in celebration of Reigns reaching 1,000 days as Universal Champion, he was presented with a single belt, which features the same " Network Logo " design of the individual titles, but with notable differences. It

13321-576: The WWE Championship and the WWE Universal Championship , are held and defended together as the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship on the SmackDown brand. The third is the World Heavyweight Championship on Raw . The WWE Championship is the original world heavyweight championship of WWE , currently defended on the SmackDown brand. It was established by the then-World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) on April 25, 1963, as

13494-552: The WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view. During the show, he encountered then-reigning WWE Champion CM Punk , Daniel Bryan , and John Cena, all of whom expressed a desire to face him. The Rock later saved Cena from an assault by Big Show , only to be laid out by CM Punk. On the January 7, 2013, episode of Raw , The Rock returned to confront his Royal Rumble opponent CM Punk. On January 11, he made his first SmackDown appearance in ten years, getting into an altercation with Team Rhodes Scholars, resulting in him delivering

13667-456: The WWE Championship. On January 27, at the Royal Rumble , CM Punk would seemingly defeat The Rock after the arena lights went out and someone attacked The Rock. Vince McMahon then came out and was about to strip Punk of the championship, however, at The Rock's request, he instead restarted the match. This culminated in The Rock defeating Punk to win his eighth WWE Championship. Punk received

13840-572: The WWE Undisputed Championship and the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. There is also the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship , which is what the title has been held under since April 2022, but unlike previous unifications, both titles under this undisputed banner have maintained their individual lineages. The WWE Undisputed Championship (formerly known as Undisputed WWF Championship) was

14013-441: The WWE Undisputed Championship to Lesnar along with the record for the youngest WWE Champion, which he had set in 1998. In 2018, writing for ESPN.com , Sean Coyle noted in a retrospective review of the event, that following his victory over Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania X8, The Rock "started to see a dip in fan support" and "that dip turned into a plunge" by the time The Rock had his match with Lesnar at SummerSlam because fans knew he

14186-606: The WWE in 2004; he returned in 2011 as a part-time performer until 2013 and made sporadic appearances from thereon until his retirement in 2019; in 2023, he returned once again on a part-time basis. A 10-time world champion —including the promotion's first of African-American descent —he is also a two-time Intercontinental Champion , a five-time Tag Team Champion , the 2000 Royal Rumble winner, and WWE's sixth Triple Crown champion. Johnson headlined multiple pay-per-view events, including WWE's flagship event WrestleMania six times ( 15 , 16 , 17 , 28 , 29 and 40 ) which includes

14359-472: The WWF Championship to Kurt Angle at No Mercy on October 22, 2000. The next month, The Rock feuded with Rikishi and defeated him at Survivor Series on November 19. The Rock wrestled a six-man Hell in a Cell match for the WWF Championship at Armageddon on December 10, which Angle won to retain the title. On the December 18 episode of Raw is War , The Rock won the WWF Tag Team Championship with The Undertaker, defeating Edge and Christian , before losing

14532-472: The WWF Championship was then put on the line against Big Show at No Way Out on February 27, which Big Show won after Shane McMahon interfered. The Rock then defeated Big Show on the March 13 episode of Raw Is War , to regain the right to face the WWF Champion, Triple H, at WrestleMania 2000 on April 2, in a Fatal Four-way elimination match , also including Big Show and Mick Foley. Each wrestler had

14705-531: The WWF and World Championships, and becoming the first Undisputed WWF Champion; the Undisputed Championship retained the lineage of the WWF Championship while the World Championship was retired. After the company was renamed to WWE, the championship was renamed Undisputed WWE Championship and then WWE Undisputed Championship. With the introduction of the WWE brand extension in March 2002, the company split its roster into two brands, Raw and SmackDown, where wrestlers were exclusively assigned to perform. The holder of

14878-456: The WWF won The Invasion war, disbanding The Alliance. The WCW Championship was subsequently renamed World Championship. As there was not a need for two world championships, a unification match was scheduled for Vengeance the following month. At the event, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin defeated Kurt Angle to retain the WWF Championship, while Chris Jericho defeated The Rock for the World Championship. After this, Jericho defeated Austin, unifying

15051-539: The WWF: the original WWF Championship and the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, which was shortened to WCW Championship upon WWF's acquisition and was eventually renamed the "World Championship" in November. The World Championship was then retired when it was unified into the WWF Championship at Vengeance in December 2001, with the WWF Championship becoming the Undisputed WWF Championship. Chris Jericho

15224-746: The WWWF World Heavyweight Championship, after Capitol Wrestling Corporation seceded from the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) to become the WWWF following a dispute over the NWA World Heavyweight Championship . The inaugural champion was Buddy Rogers . Since its inception, the title has undergone many name changes due to company name changes and title unifications . The WWWF was renamed to World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1979 and then World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in 2002—since April 2011,

15397-401: 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

15570-418: 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

15743-561: 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

15916-805: The autobiographical sitcom Young Rock (2021–2023). His autobiography, The Rock Says , was released in 2000 and was a New York Times bestseller . In 2016 and 2019, Time named him as one of the world's most influential people . Johnson was born in Hayward, California , on May 2, 1972, the son of Mataniufeagaimaleata "Ata" Fitisemanu ( née Maivia) and former professional wrestler Rocky Johnson (born Wayde Douglas Bowles). Growing up, he briefly lived in Grey Lynn in Auckland , New Zealand, with his mother's family, where he played rugby and attended Richmond Road Primary School before returning to

16089-424: 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

16262-418: 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

16435-466: The championship after interference from Stone Cold Steve Austin. Then at the Royal Rumble on January 24, The Rock regained the title in an "I Quit" match , a type of submission match that only ends if one of the combatants says "I quit" on a microphone. Intended to show a vicious streak in The Rock's character, The Rock hit Mankind in the head with a steel chair 11 times instead of the scripted five, five shots already being risky (most wrestling matches in

16608-423: 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

16781-461: 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

16954-616: The company ceased using its full name and has since just been referred to as WWE. The company's first world championship was the WWE Championship , which was established along with the promotion's creation in 1963 as the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship; it is still active today and is WWE's oldest active title. Whenever the WWE brand extension has been implemented (2002–2011; 2016–present), separate world championships have been created or allocated for each brand. As of 2024, WWE promotes three men's world championships. Two of them,

17127-432: The company has operated under the trade name of WWE, although the legal name is still the full unabbreviated name. The WWE Championship is the oldest championship currently active in WWE and is presented as being the promotion's most prestigious title. Aside from company name changes that resulted in the championship being renamed accordingly, the most notable name changes were from championship unifications. These included

17300-540: 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

17473-433: The depth chart, including future NFL star and Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Warren Sapp , and appeared mostly in backup roles. In his time at Miami, Johnson played in 39 games with one start. He recorded 4.5 sacks and 77 tackles. In 1995, Johnson graduated with a Bachelor of General Studies and a dual major in criminology and physiology . He was also one of the university's most prolific student speakers in

17646-405: 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

17819-411: The events of the 2019 Crown Jewel pay-per-view. Since April 2022, the title has been held together with the WWE Championship under the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship banner, but unlike previous title unifications, both titles under this undisputed moniker have maintained their individual lineages. The NXT Championship is the top championship of WWE's developmental brand , NXT ; however, there

17992-603: 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

18165-507: The final holder of the original World Heavyweight Championship. The ECW World Heavyweight Championship was originally the world championship of Extreme Championship Wrestling , and later, WWE's ECW brand. In 1994, Eastern Championship Wrestling seceded from the NWA and became Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and established the ECW World Heavyweight Championship with WWE recognizing Shane Douglas as

18338-470: 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

18511-703: The first time in his career by lashing out at fans who had been booing him and joining Faarooq , D'Lo Brown and Kama in the stable called the Nation of Domination . He then refused to acknowledge the Rocky Maivia name, instead referring to himself in the third person as The Rock, though he would still be billed as "The Rock" Rocky Maivia until 1998. The Rock would then regularly insult the audience, WWF performers, and interviewers in his promos . At D-Generation X: In Your House on December 7, Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated The Rock in under six minutes to retain

18684-412: The fly based on the crowd's response. After the introduction of the first-ever brand extension , the WWF held a " draft lottery " on the March 25, 2002, episode of Raw . The Rock was the number one overall pick, going to the SmackDown! brand before taking a sabbatical from wrestling. The Rock made a surprise return on a June episode of Raw before going to his assigned brand of SmackDown!. There, he

18857-469: The following month. The three world championships at one point or another switched brands over the course of the brand extension, usually as a result of the WWE Draft. The ECW brand was disbanded in 2010, subsequently retiring the ECW Championship. The final champion was Ezekiel Jackson . The WWE Universal Championship is the third world championship to be established by WWE and is currently defended on

19030-610: 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

19203-404: 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

19376-419: The highest ratings ever for a Raw segment. The two lost the titles back to Undertaker and Big Show on the September 9 episode of SmackDown! and won them back from them on the September 20 episode of Raw is War . The Rock and Mankind then lost the titles to The New Age Outlaws on the very next episode of SmackDown! . The Rock and Mankind would win the tag titles for the third and final time after beating

19549-529: The inaugural champion. The championship itself had originally been established as the ECW Heavyweight Championship in 1992 for the previous Eastern Championship Wrestling with Jimmy Snuka as the inaugural champion; however, WWE only recognizes the title history from its change over to Extreme Championship Wrestling. In 2001, the ECW promotion folded due to bankruptcy and WWE bought the assets of ECW in 2003. In June 2006, WWE established

19722-526: 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

19895-480: 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

20068-496: 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

20241-659: The lineage of the WWE Championship while the World Heavyweight Championship was retired. After Dean Ambrose won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Money in the Bank on June 19, 2016, one week later on June 27, the title's name reverted to WWE Championship. After the reintroduction of the brand extension the following month, the title became exclusive to SmackDown and was renamed to WWE World Championship, although it reverted to WWE Championship in December 2016. The WCW World Heavyweight Championship

20414-674: The longest reigning champion for each world championship created and/or promoted by WWE. The following list shows the wrestlers with the most reigns for each world championship created and/or promoted by WWE. The following list shows the wrestlers who have the most world championship reigns in total, combining all titles they have held as recognized by WWE. This list also shows the titles that they won to achieve this record (minimum five world championship reigns). Professional wrestling 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling )

20587-409: The main event after countering Cena's attempt at a People's Elbow into a Rock Bottom and pinning Cena. This event broke the record for biggest professional wrestling pay-per-view buyrate. The following night on Raw SuperShow , The Rock praised Cena, calling their match "an honor". He then vowed to once again become WWE Champion. On July 23, at Raw 1000 , The Rock announced he would wrestle for

20760-602: The match, The Rock attacked The Miz and hit him with the People's Elbow . The next night on Raw , The Rock and Cena agreed to a match at WrestleMania XXVIII the next year. They then worked together to fend off an attack by The Corre , which at the time consisted of Wade Barrett , Heath Slater , Justin Gabriel , and Ezekiel Jackson . The Rock appeared live on Raw in his hometown of Miami to celebrate his 39th birthday. On September 16, WWE announced The Rock would wrestle in

20933-498: 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

21106-552: The most-bought professional wrestling pay-per-view (WrestleMania 28) and main evented the most watched episodes of WWE's flagship television series ( Raw and SmackDown ). Johnson's first film role was in The Mummy Returns (2001). The next year, he played his first leading role in the action fantasy film The Scorpion King . He has since starred in family films The Game Plan (2007), Race to Witch Mountain (2009), Tooth Fairy (2010), Jumanji: Welcome to

21279-412: The move on the ring apron, sending Big Show to the floor before reentering the ring as the winner. But The Rock's feet accidentally hit the floor during the reversal attempt, though those watching the event on television did not see that. This was played up in the storyline as Big Show provided additional video footage showing it and claimed to be the rightful winner. The Rock's number one contendership for

21452-467: The next night's Raw is War , during a steel cage title rematch, Triple H attacked The Rock, allying with McMahon and Austin and helping Austin retain the championship. Austin and Triple H then formed a tag team called The Power Trip , while The Rock was indefinitely suspended in storyline. Johnson used this time off to act in The Scorpion King . The Rock returned in late July when the WWF

21625-431: The next year, in 1996. Veteran wrestler Pat Patterson secured several tryout matches for Johnson with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1996. Wrestling at first under his real name, Johnson defeated The Brooklyn Brawler at a house show on March 10 and lost matches to Chris Candido and Owen Hart . After wrestling at Jerry Lawler 's United States Wrestling Association under the name Flex Kavana and winning

21798-508: The now Undisputed WWF Championship at Royal Rumble on January 20, 2002. At the next pay-per-view, No Way Out on February 17, The Rock defeated The Undertaker in a singles match. The event also saw the WWF debut of the famed WCW faction New World Order (nWo), which at the time consisted of "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan , Kevin Nash , and Scott Hall . This later led to a match between The Rock and Hogan at WrestleMania X8 on March 17. The match

21971-437: 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

22144-717: 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

22317-458: The result of a unification of the then-WWF Championship and the World Championship (formerly WCW Championship ) in December 2001. Earlier that year in March, the WWF acquired World Championship Wrestling (WCW), which shortly after began The Invasion storyline, a war between the WWF and the combined faction of former WCW and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) wrestlers called The Alliance . This culminated at Survivor Series in November where

22490-581: The rope and its attached cowbell could both be used as weapons. The Rock contested this match twice, both times in Texas (vs Triple H in Dallas, and vs Al Snow in Houston). Shortly after SummerSlam, The Rock began teaming with former opponent Mankind and the two became known as the Rock 'n' Sock Connection . They became WWF Tag Team Champions for the first time after defeating The Undertaker and Big Show for

22663-546: The school's football team, where he played defensive tackle , an experience that proved to be a significant personal transformation for Johnson. "My thought process started to change. That's when I started thinking about goals and what I wanted to accomplish", he has since said about his high school football experience. In addition to playing football, Johnson also was a member of Freedom High School's track and field and wrestling teams. By his senior year at Freedom High School, Johnson had played only two years of football, but

22836-542: The show by cutting a promo. After appearing in numerous backstage segments, The Rock came to ringside to restart the main event between Cena and The Miz as a No Disqualification match, after it had ended in a double countout. As revenge for the Attitude Adjustment Cena had given him on Raw , The Rock hit Cena with the Rock Bottom , allowing The Miz to pin him and retain the WWE Championship. After

23009-428: The stable. The Rock was then entered into the "Deadly Game" tournament for the vacant WWF Championship. The finals occurred at Survivor Series on November 15, where The Rock defeated Vince McMahon's associate, Mankind , to win his first WWF Championship. A "double turn" then occurred as The Rock turned heel again after allying with Vince and Shane McMahon as the crown jewel of their stable, The Corporation, after

23182-440: 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

23355-419: The tag titles to Booker T and Test on the November 1, 2001, episode of SmackDown! . The Rock defeated Jericho on the November 5 episode of Raw for his second WCW Championship. As part of the WWF's battle against The Alliance, the Rock wrestled in a "winner takes all" five-on-five elimination tag team match at Survivor Series on November 18 where the losing team's company would be dissolved in storyline. He

23528-426: 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,

23701-478: The title, and he has continued to hold the singular Undisputed belt, now with his own logos on the side plates, while continuing the individual lineages of both championships. Following Rhodes's victory, WWE renamed the unified title to the Undisputed WWE Championship, removing the Universal term from the championship despite the Universal Championship still being active. The current World Heavyweight Championship

23874-617: The title. The Rock won the WWF Championship for a fifth time at King of the Ring on June 25 by scoring the winning pin in a six-man tag team match, teaming with Kane and The Undertaker against Shane McMahon, Triple H and Vince McMahon, whom he pinned. The Rock successfully defended the championship against Chris Benoit on July 23 at Fully Loaded . The next month, he successfully defended his title against Kurt Angle and Triple H at SummerSlam on August 27. The Rock had another successful title defense against Benoit, Kane and The Undertaker on September 24 at Unforgiven . The Rock then lost

24047-481: The titles back to Edge and Christian the next night at a SmackDown! taping. The Rock continued to feud with Angle over the WWF Championship, culminating at No Way Out on February 25, 2001, where he pinned Angle to win the WWF Championship for a sixth time. The Rock then feuded with the Royal Rumble winner, Stone Cold Steve Austin, whom he lost the title to at WrestleMania X-Seven on April 1 after Austin allied with Vince McMahon, who interfered on his behalf. On

24220-414: The titles on the August 30 episode of Raw is War . The two performed a number of critically acclaimed comedic skits together, including one called "This Is Your Life", which saw Mankind bring parody versions of people from The Rock's past on television, such as his high school girlfriend and his high school football coach, only to have The Rock insult them. The segment earned an 8.4 Nielsen rating , one of

24393-519: 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

24566-471: 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

24739-425: The undisputed title as one championship. At WrestleMania 38, SmackDown's Universal Champion Roman Reigns defeated Raw's WWE Champion Brock Lesnar to win the latter's title and become recognized as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion. As the undisputed champion, Reigns was allowed to appear on both brands; as a result of the 2023 WWE Draft , however, he was drafted to SmackDown, thus making both championships under

24912-535: 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

25085-464: The world championships of both the NWA and WCW until the NWA dropped its recognition of Flair as their champion when Flair left WCW with the Big Gold Belt and joined the WWF. Flair subsequently began appearing on WWF television with the Big Gold Belt, calling himself "The Real World Champion"; however, this was never officially recognized as a world championship in WWF. In 1993, WCW seceded from

25258-548: The world's highest-grossing and highest-paid actors . He is a co-owner of the United Football League , a member of the board of directors of TKO Group Holdings —the parent company of UFC and WWE —and co-founder of Seven Bucks Productions . After accepting an athletic scholarship to play football at the University of Miami , Johnson was a member of the 1991 national championship team but

25431-420: 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

25604-437: The wrestlers that are currently holding all active men's world championships in WWE. The following list shows retired men's world championships and the final title holders before the belts were deactivated in WWE. The following list shows the inaugural holders for each world championship created and/or promoted by WWE. The following list shows the ten longest world championship reigns in WWE history. The following list shows

25777-425: 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

25950-399: Was a heel. He then lost the title rematch against Stone Cold Steve Austin at Backlash: In Your House on April 25. The next night on Raw is War The Rock was fired from The Corporation after he was betrayed by Shane McMahon, turning him face again and starting a feud with Triple H, The Undertaker and The Corporate Ministry . On April 29, 1999, WWF aired the pilot episode of SmackDown! ,

26123-440: Was a member of Team WWF along with Chris Jericho, The Undertaker, Kane, and Big Show. The Alliance's team consisted of Stone Cold Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Booker T, Rob Van Dam , and Shane McMahon. In the end, it came down to a one-on-one between the Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin. The Rock seemed to have the upper hand, until his teammate Jericho entered the ring and attacked the Rock. Austin tried to capitalize on this by pinning

26296-419: Was a period of time from 2019 to 2021 in which NXT was regarded as WWE's third brand with the championship regarded as a world championship. In June 2012, WWE established the NXT brand as their developmental territory to replace Florida Championship Wrestling . The NXT Championship was subsequently established and Seth Rollins became the inaugural champion. In September 2019, after years of growth and expansion,

26469-497: Was billed as "The Rock Appreciation Night", in honor of his victory over Austin. That night, he was attacked by a debuting Goldberg . At Backlash on April 27, 2003, Goldberg defeated The Rock, who then briefly left WWE to film Walking Tall . On the June 2 episode of Raw , The Rock joined the Highlight Reel and attacked Christian and Chris Jericho with Booker T , turning face once again. He would later return on

26642-465: Was billed as "icon versus icon", with both men representing the top tier of two generations of wrestling; ultimately The Rock pinned Hogan at WrestleMania X8 to win the match. Despite The Rock portraying a heroic character and Hogan a villain, a portion of the crowd attending the SkyDome was rooting heavily for Hogan. In an interview in 2013, Hogan said he and The Rock changed the style of the match on

26815-488: 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

26988-482: Was dissolved in August 2011, allowing the World Heavyweight Champion and WWE Champion to appear on both brands. With no longer a need for two world championships, the World Heavyweight Championship was retired when it was unified into the WWE Championship at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs in December 2013, with the WWE Championship becoming the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Randy Orton was

27161-483: Was drafted to in the 2023 WWE Draft, he and his undisputed championship would become exclusive to that brand, with Triple H subsequently unveiling the World Heavyweight Championship for the opposing brand. During the draft, SmackDown drafted Reigns, thus the World Heavyweight Championship became exclusive to Raw. Seth "Freakin" Rollins became the inaugural champion by defeating AJ Styles in a tournament final at Night of Champions on May 27, 2023. The following list shows

27334-470: Was feuding with rival promotions World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) during what is known as The Invasion storyline. In reality, WCW was purchased by Vince McMahon and the WWF, and ECW had gone out of business in early 2001. Many former WCW and ECW wrestlers were then brought onto WWF television and formed The Alliance to compete with the WWF in storyline. The Alliance and Vince McMahon then both attempted to persuade

27507-407: Was largely a backup player. Despite aspirations to professional football, he went undrafted in the 1995 NFL draft , and briefly signed with the Calgary Stampeders before being cut in his first season. In 1996, his father assisted in helping him secure a contract with the WWF. Johnson quickly rose to global prominence, aided by a gimmick he employed as a charismatic trash talker . Johnson left

27680-436: Was leaving WWE to pursue an acting career, as evidenced by the negative crowd response during his match with Lesnar. After SummerSlam ended, The Rock was visibly angry at the crowd reaction. When he tried to do a post-show speech for the crowd, the fans booed him. He eventually cut a short promo, declaring that "sing-along with The Rock is over!" The Rock then took time off to kickstart his acting career. The Rock returned on

27853-485: Was left without a world championship. The World Heavyweight Championship was subsequently established and awarded to Triple H , who was originally the number one contender to Lesnar's championship, which dropped the "undisputed" moniker. Throughout the first brand split (2002–2011), the original World Heavyweight Championship and WWE Championship switched brands, usually as a result of the WWE Draft . The brand extension

28026-483: Was named the number one contender for the WWE Undisputed Championship, which he won for a record-setting seventh time at Vengeance on July 21, by defeating Kurt Angle and then-champion The Undertaker in a Triple Threat match. The Rock successfully defended the title at the Global Warning event on August 10 against Triple H and Brock Lesnar after pinning Triple H. On August 25, at SummerSlam , The Rock lost

28199-606: Was no longer a need for two world championships in the company, reigning World Heavyweight Champion John Cena made a challenge to reigning WWE Champion Randy Orton to determine WWE's undisputed world champion. Orton subsequently defeated Cena in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match at the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view on December 15, 2013, to become the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. The WWE World Heavyweight Championship retained

28372-547: Was offered a full athletic scholarship offer from the University of Miami , whose football program was beginning to emerge as one of the nation's top-level NCAA Division 1 teams. As he did in high school, Johnson continued to play defensive tackle at the University of Miami , where he was a member of the Miami Hurricanes 1991 team , which won that year's national championship. Despite playing four years there, however, Johnson found himself behind elite players on

28545-1075: Was one of the first female pro wrestling promoters , taking over Polynesian Pacific Pro Wrestling after her husband's death in 1982 and managing it until 1988. Through his maternal grandfather Maivia, Johnson is a non-blood relative of the Anoaʻi wrestling family . In 2008, he inducted his father and grandfather into the WWE Hall of Fame . Johnson attended Montclaire Elementary School in Charlotte, North Carolina , and then moved to Hamden, Connecticut , where he attended Shepherd Glen Elementary School and then Hamden Middle School. He attended President William McKinley High School in Honolulu and then Glencliff High School and McGavock High School , both in Nashville, Tennessee , and then Freedom High School in Bethlehem Township, Pennsylvania , in

28718-413: Was originally the world championship of World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and later, defended on the then-WWF's programs. The title was established in 1991 when WCW, a member of the NWA, created the title to replace the NWA's world championship and claimed reigning NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair as the inaugural WCW World Heavyweight Champion. Flair's Big Gold Belt simultaneously represented

28891-491: Was persuaded by Vince McMahon and Jim Ross . He was given the nickname "The Blue Chipper", and to play up his lineage, he was hyped as the WWF's first third-generation wrestler. A clean-cut face character, Maivia was pushed heavily from the start despite his wrestling inexperience. He debuted on Monday Night Raw as a member of Marc Mero 's entourage on November 4, 1996. His first match came at Survivor Series on November 17, in an eight-man elimination tag match ; he

29064-571: 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

29237-415: 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

29410-417: 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

29583-526: Was the final WCW Champion. The original World Heavyweight Championship was the second world championship to be established by WWE, which occurred in September 2002. After WWE introduced the WWE brand extension in March 2002, the Undisputed Champion was the only male wrestler allowed to appear on both the Raw and SmackDown brands. However, after reigning WWE Undisputed Champion Brock Lesnar signed an exclusive deal to only appear on SmackDown, Raw

29756-528: Was the sole survivor and eliminated the final two members of the opposing team, Crush and Goldust . On February 13, 1997, he won the Intercontinental Championship from Hunter Hearst Helmsley on a Thursday edition of Monday Night Raw . Maivia then successfully defended the title against Helmsley at In Your House 13: Final Four on February 16. Johnson's first WrestleMania match came at WrestleMania 13 on March 23, where he

29929-423: Was victorious in his Intercontinental Championship defense against The Sultan . WWF fans started to reject his character and push from the company. He defeated Bret Hart by disqualification in a title defense on the March 31 episode of Raw is War . Behind the scenes, Hart mentored Johnson for his first year in WWF and refused to be booked to take the title from him. On April 20, at In Your House 14: Revenge of

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