 |
|
| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Traded as | NYSE: WWE |
| Industry | Professional wrestling, sports entertainment |
| Founded | 1952 (promotion) February 21, 1980 (corporate) |
| Founder(s) | Roderick McMahon Toots Mondt |
| Headquarters | Stamford, Connecticut, United States |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Key people | Vince McMahon (Chairman & CEO)[1] George Barrios (CFO) Michelle D. Wilson (CMO) Stephanie McMahon (Executive Vice President, Creative) |
| Revenue |  $604.0 million (2012)[2] |
| Operating income | $53.02 million (2012)[2] |
| Profit | $39.83 million (2012)[2] |
| Total assets | $388.7 million (2012)[2] |
| Total equity | $388.7 million (2012)[2] |
| Owner(s) | Vince McMahon (59% of shares; 88% of voting power)[3][4] |
| Employees | 585 (2011)[5] |
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.[6] (doing business as WWE, Inc.;[7] NYSE: WWE) is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales. It is currently the largest professional wrestling promotion in the world, reaching 13 million viewers in the U.S. and broadcasting its shows in 30 languages to more than 145 countries.[8] It promotes under two brands, known as Raw and SmackDown.
Vince McMahon is the majority owner, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the company. Together with his wife Linda McMahon, and their children Shane McMahon and Stephanie McMahon-Levesque (WWE Executive Vice President of Talent and Creative Writing), the McMahons hold approximately 70% of WWE's economic interest and 96% of the voting power in the company. The company's headquarters are located in Stamford, Connecticut with offices in New York City, Los Angeles, London, Shanghai, Tokyo, Singapore, and Mumbai.[9][10]
WWE holds an extensive library of videos, representing a significant portion of the visual history of professional wrestling. The company began as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation in 1952, which promoted under the banner of the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) and later the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). In 1982, it was sold to the same family's Titan Sports company, which later changed its name to World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, before becoming World Wrestling Entertainment in 2002, and simplified to WWE in 2011.[11]
Company history
Main article: History of WWE
Capitol Wrestling Corporation
Roderick James "Jess" McMahon was a boxing promoter whose achievements included co-promoting a bout in 1915 between Jess Willard and Jack Johnson. In 1926, while working with Tex Rickard (who actually despised wrestling to such a degree he prevented wrestling events from being held at the third Madison Square Garden
in New York City between 1939 and 1948), he started promoting boxing at
the Garden. The first match during their partnership was a
light-heavyweight championship match between Jack Delaney and Paul Berlenbach.
A few years earlier, around 1920, professional wrestler Joseph Raymond "Toots" Mondt
had created a new challenge of professional wrestling that he called
Slam Bang Western Style Wrestling to make the entertainment more
appealing to spectators. At the time, pro wrestling consisted primarily
of mat grappling; and while the sport had flourished a decade earlier
under Frank Gotch, the fans had since grown tired of the painfully
deliberate pace of the bouts. However, Mondt discovered a solution that
would completely transform the industry, as he convinced Lewis and
Sandow to implement a new form of wrestling that combined features of
boxing, Greco-Roman, freestyle, lumber-camp fighting, and theater into
what he deemed “Slam Bang Western-Style Wrestling.” He then formed a
promotion with wrestler Ed Lewis and his manager Billy Sandow. They persuaded many wrestlers to sign contracts with their Gold Dust Trio.
After much success, a disagreement over power caused the trio to
dissolve and, with it, their promotion. Mondt formed partnerships with
several other promoters, including Jack Curley
in New York City. When Curley was dying, Mondt moved to take over New
York wrestling with the aid of several bookers, one of whom was Jess McMahon.
Together, McMahon and Mondt created the Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd (CWC). The CWC joined the National Wrestling Alliance in 1953. In November 1954, Jess McMahon died, and Ray Fabiani, one of Mondt's associates, brought in Vincent James McMahon to replace his father in the promotion.[12]
McMahon and Mondt were a successful combination, and within a short
time, they controlled approximately 70% of the NWA's booking, largely
due to their dominance in the heavily populated Northeast region. Mondt
taught McMahon about booking and how to work in the wrestling business.
Due to the dominance in the northeast, the CWC was referred to by AWA legend Nick Bockwinkel as the "Northeast Triangle", with its territory being defined by Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C., and Maine as points of the triangle.[13]
World Wide Wrestling Federation
The NWA recognized an undisputed NWA World Heavyweight Champion
that went to several different wrestling companies in the alliance and
defended the belt around the world. The NWA generally promoted strong shooters
as champions, to give their worked sport credibility and guard against
double-crosses. While doing strong business in the Midwest (the
Alliance's core region), these wrestlers attracted little interest in
the Capitol territory. In 1961, the NWA board decided instead to put the
belt on bleach blonde showman "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers, a much more effective drawing card in the region.[14]
The rest of the NWA was unhappy with Mondt because he rarely allowed
Rogers to wrestle outside of the Northeast. Mondt and McMahon wanted
Rogers to keep the NWA World Championship, but Rogers was unwilling to
sacrifice his $25,000 deposit on the belt (title holders at the time had
to pay a deposit to insure they honored their commitments as champion).
Rogers lost the NWA World Championship to Lou Thesz
in a one-fall match in Toronto, Ontario on January 24, 1963, which led
to Mondt, McMahon, and the CWC leaving the NWA in protest, creating the
World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) in the process.
In April, Rogers was awarded the new WWWF World Championship following an apocryphal tournament in Rio de Janeiro. He lost the title to Bruno Sammartino a month later on May 17, 1963, after suffering a heart attack shortly before the match. To accommodate Rogers' condition, the match was booked to last under a minute.
Two years later, NWA president Sam Muchnick
and McMahon discussed a unification match between Thesz and Sammartino,
with both parties agreeing to Sammartino winning the unified title. The
match plans fell apart when Sammartino refused to take on the enlarged
schedule and Thesz demanded a high guarantee for doing the job.[14]
The WWWF operated in a conservative matter compared to other pro wrestling territories;[15] it ran its major arenas monthly rather than weekly or bi-weekly, usually featuring a babyface champion wrestling various heels in programs consisting of one to three matches, with the initial meeting often featuring a heel win in a non-decisive manner.[16] Although business was initially rather strong, crowds in Madison Square Garden
fell off due to a lack of television exposure. After gaining a
television program on a Spanish-language station, and turning
preliminary wrestler Lou Albano
as a manager for Sammartino's heel opponents, the WWWF was doing
sellout business by 1970. Albano was soon joined by fellow managers Ernie Roth and Fred Blassie, forming the "Triumverate of Terror," managing heel opponents for Sammartino and later champions Pedro Morales and Bob Backlund.[17] Heels such as Ivan Koloff and Stan Stasiak were used to transition the title from one babyface to another; Superstar Billy Graham
enjoyed a nine and a half month reign as a heel champion, as McMahon
felt he would need this much time to build up Bob Backlund as
championship material.[18]
Mondt left the company in the late sixties. Although the WWWF had
withdrawn from the NWA, Vince McMahon, Sr. quietly rejoined the
organization in 1971, although he did not book an NWA world champion in
his territory until Harley Race in the late 1970s. At the annual meeting of the NWA in 1983, the McMahons and WWF employee Jim Barnett all withdrew from the organization.[14]
In March 1979, for marketing purposes, the World Wide Wrestling Federation was renamed the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).[19]
Titan Sports, Inc. (1980-1999)
World Wrestling Federation
On February 21, 1980, the son of Vincent J. McMahon, Vincent K. McMahon, founded Titan Sports, Inc.[20] and on June 6, 1982, purchased Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd. from his father and other stock holders (Arnold Skaaland, Gorilla Monsoon, and Phil Zacko).[19]
The elder McMahon had long since established the northeastern territory
as one of the most vibrant members of the NWA. He had long since
recognized that professional wrestling was more about entertainment than actual sport. Against his father's wishes, McMahon began an expansion process that fundamentally changed the industry.
The WWF was not the only promotion to have broken ranks with the NWA; the American Wrestling Association
(AWA) had long ago ceased being an official NWA member (although like
the WWF, they seldom left their own territory). However, neither of the
defecting members attempted to undermine the territory system that had been the foundation of the industry for more than half a century.
Other promoters were furious when McMahon began syndicating WWF television shows to television stations across the United States, in areas outside of the WWF's traditional northeastern stronghold. McMahon also began selling videotapes of WWF events outside the Northeast through his Coliseum Video
distribution company. He effectively broke the unwritten law of
regionalism around which the entire industry had been based. To make
matters worse, McMahon used the income generated by advertising,
television deals, and tape sales to poach talent from rival promoters.
Wrestling promoters nationwide were now in direct competition with the
WWF.
Hulk Hogan, due to his appearance in Rocky III, had a national recognition that few other wrestlers could offer, which is what led McMahon to sign him. Roddy Piper was brought in, as well as Jesse Ventura
(although Ventura rarely wrestled in the WWF at that point due to the
lung disorder that caused his retirement, moving to the commentator
booth alongside Gorilla Monsoon). André the Giant, Jimmy Snuka, Don Muraco, Paul Orndorff, Greg Valentine, Ricky Steamboat, and the Iron Sheik (Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri) rounded out the roster. Hogan was clearly McMahon's biggest star, causing some people[who?] to debate whether the WWF could have achieved national success without him.
The WWF would tour nationally in a venture that required huge capital
investment; one that placed the WWF on the verge of financial collapse.
The future of not just McMahon's experiment, but also the WWF, the NWA,
and the whole industry came down to the success or failure of McMahon's
groundbreaking concept, WrestleMania. WrestleMania was a pay-per-view extravaganza (in some areas; most areas of the country saw WrestleMania available on closed-circuit television) that McMahon marketed as being the Super Bowl of professional wrestling. The concept of a wrestling supercard was nothing new in North America; the NWA had been running Starrcade a few years prior to WrestleMania, and even the elder McMahon had marketed large Shea Stadium cards
viewable in closed-circuit locations. However, McMahon's vision was to
make the WWF and the industry itself mainstream, targeting more of the
general television audience by exploiting the entertainment side of the
industry. With the inaugural WrestleMania the WWF initiated a
joint-promotional campaign with MTV, which featured a great deal of WWF coverage and programming, in what was termed the Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection. The mainstream media attention brought on by celebrities including Muhammad Ali, Mr. T, and Cyndi Lauper at the event helped propel WrestleMania to become a staple in popular culture.
The original WrestleMania,
held in 1985, was a resounding success. This event is sometimes
credited as the debut of what McMahon called "sports entertainment", in
contrast to his father's preference of pure wrestling. The WWF did
incredible business on the shoulders of McMahon and his all-American babyface hero, Hulk Hogan,
for the next several years, creating what some observers dubbed a
second golden age for professional wrestling. The introduction of Saturday Night's Main Event on NBC
in mid-1985 marked the first time that professional wrestling had been
broadcast on network television since the 1950s. In 1987, the WWF
produced what was considered to be the pinnacle of the 1980s wrestling
boom, WrestleMania III.
A rematch of the Wrestlemania III feature bout, once again pitting
Champion Hulk Hogan against Andre the Giant on Main Event, was seen by
33 million people, which is still the record for the most watched
wrestling match in North America.[21]
New Generation
The WWF hit a low point in the wake of allegations of steroid abuse and distribution made against it in 1994; there were also allegations of sexual harassment made by WWF employees. McMahon was eventually exonerated, but it was a public relations
nightmare for the WWF. The steroid trial cost the WWF an estimated $5
million at a time when revenues were at an all-time low. To compensate,
McMahon cut the pay of both wrestlers and front office personnel – close
to 40% in the latter case (and about 50% for top level managers such as
Bobby Heenan and Jimmy Hart, who both left). This helped drive many WWF wrestlers to its only major competition, World Championship Wrestling
(WCW), between 1994 and 1997. During this period, the WWF promoted
itself under the banner of "The New WWF Generation," featuring Shawn Michaels, Diesel, Razor Ramon, Bret Hart, and The Undertaker.
In an effort to promote them and other young talent as the new
superstars of the ring, the WWF began to play on the age restrictions
which former WWF wrestlers such as Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage
(who by now were working for WCW) now faced. This is best seen in the
"Billionaire Ted" parodies of early 1996 (a reference to WCW's owner and
patron, media mogul Ted Turner) which culminated in a "rasslin'" match during the warm-up to WrestleMania XII.
Monday Night Wars
Main article: Monday Night Wars
In 1993, the WWF broke new ground in televised professional wrestling with the debut of its cable program WWF Monday Night Raw. After becoming a runaway success, WCW countered in 1995 with its own Monday night cable program, WCW Monday Nitro, in the same timeslot as Raw.[22] The two programs would trade wins in the ensuing ratings competition until mid-1996, when WCW began a nearly two-year domination that was largely fueled by the introduction of the New World Order, a stable led by former WWF performers Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, and Kevin Nash.
The Attitude Era
Main article: The Attitude Era
See also: Montreal Screwjob
The feuds and match types developed by the end of the mid 1990s began
a new era in wrestling. The fans of WWF seemed to favor what was posed
to them as the bad guy instead of the good guy.
The creative changes made by the WWF creative board saw wrestling take
on a "street fighting", "bad attitude" approach; however, despite the
revolutionary changes in sports-entertainment that the WWF founded, 1997
remains the lowest of the WWF's financial income and a heavy loss in
fan interest to rival WCW. Through to present day many wrestlers
acknowledge that at the time, they were not aware of how close the
company came to liquidation. Throughout 1996 and 1997, the WWF lost much
of its leading talent to WCW, including Razor Ramon (Scott Hall), Diesel (Kevin Nash), Sycho Sid (Sid Eudy), Alundra Blayze (Debra Miceli), and Rick Rude (Richard Rood). The WWF replaced them with former WCW talent such as Vader (Leon White), Stone Cold Steve Austin, Brian Pillman, Mankind (Mick Foley), and Farooq (Ron Simmons).
Eric Bischoff's public humiliation of the WWF, criticizing them for
signing WCW's sacked wrestlers and bragging that WWF wrestlers were
signing for WCW due to higher pay, intensified the Monday Night Wars only for Nitro as the WWF struggled to regain its popularity.
McMahon managed to keep Bret Hart from reverting to WCW, and began a feud with Hart and Steve Austin. In Hart's absence after WrestleMania XII, Steve Austin became the new face of the company, starting with his Austin 3:16 speech, shortly after defeating Jake Roberts in the tournament finals at the 1996 King of the Ring pay-per-view.[23] WrestleMania 13 saw Hart defeat Austin in a critically acclaimed submission match, and shortly after saw Hart reform The Hart Foundation. McMahon revolved the company around Hart, Austin and Shawn Michaels,
feuding with each other for the majority of the year, leaving many to
admire their impact carrying the business through a difficult time.
Despite his strong long running image as a face, the Canadian Hart was turned heel
in an anti-USA gimmick, while Steve Austin became cheered by fans
despite efforts to design him as the ultimate heel, making him a tweener. Rocky Maivia joined the Nation of Domination stable after fans rejected his good guy image, and Shawn Michaels formed the street gang faction D-Generation X with Triple H and Chyna;
similar to the Stone Cold Steve Austin character, DX was designed not
to care for what the fans or other wrestlers thought of them. Michaels
later stated that the concept of DX was brought about after he persuaded
McMahon to take a cruder approach to the companies marketing approach
following him fining Michael's $10,000 for putting large ornaments in
his shorts and exploiting his crotch around the ring during an on-air
interview. The Hell in a Cell match between Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker produced a fresh strong foundation for the WWF's creative board.
1997 ended with McMahon facing real life controversy resulting in
major ratings and financial losses after becoming widely despised by his
employees, wrestling critics, and wrestling fans following Bret Hart's
controversial departure from the WWF, later known as the Montreal Screwjob. This proved to be a founding factor in what was to officially kick start The Attitude Era.
By January 1998, the WWF began broadcasting more violence, swearing,
and more edgy angles in its attempt to compete with WCW. Following Bret
Hart's departure,[24] Vince McMahon used the resulting backlash in the creation of his "Mr. McMahon" character, a dictatorial
and fierce ruler who favored heels who were "good for business" over
"misfit" faces like Austin. This, in turn, led to the Austin vs. McMahon
feud, which, along with D-Generation X who briefly hired Mike Tyson in the build up to WrestleMania XIV,
officially began the Attitude Era. It also featured the established
Monday Night Wars, where both WCW and the WWF had Monday night shows
that competed against each other in the ratings, and saw the WWF finally
beat WCW for the first time in 84 weeks when McMahon made his in-ring
debut against Austin. The evolution of more brutal matches with
different stipulations to increase viewership worked to a major extent,
mainly through the furthering of Hell in a Cell (notably its second
appearance featuring The Undertaker vs. Mankind) and the Inferno match
(introduced by Kane against The Undertaker).[25] Many wrestlers such as Chris Jericho and The Radicalz (Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Perry Saturn, Dean Malenko)
were drafted from WCW, all publicly claiming on both companies' TV
broadcasts that they were extremely unhappy at the storylines and
backstage chaos at WCW, and were further intrigued and happier with the
structural running of the WWF. The 1996 Olympic gold medalist, Kurt Angle,
The Rock (renamed from Rocky Maivia), and Mick Foley (as Mankind,
Cactus Jack and Dude Love) were successfully re-invented to compete at
the main event level. Notably, Mick Foley's WWF Championship win over
The Rock on Monday Night Raw saw WCW lose millions of viewers when Eric Bischoff instructed announcer Tony Schiavone to give away the result minutes before both main events started, which led to Raw drawing eleven million viewers.
World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. (1999-2002)
Initial public offerings
On the back of the success of the Attitude Era, several new advances
and products were launched. During this period, the WWF's parent company
Titan Sports was renamed World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. and on October 19, 1999 became a publicly traded company, offering 10 million shares priced at $17 each.[26] WWF Entertainment announced its desire to diversify, including creating a nightclub in Times Square, producing feature films, and book publishing.
On April 29, 1999, the WWF made its return to terrestrial television by launching a special program known as SmackDown! on the fledgling UPN
network. The Thursday night show became a weekly series on August 26,
1999. The show led to further TV ratings competition with WCW, up
against WCW Thunder.
In 2000 the WWF, in collaboration with television network NBC, announced the creation of the XFL, a new professional football league that debuted in 2001.[27]
The league had high ratings for the first few weeks, but initial
interest waned and its ratings plunged to dismally low levels (one of
its games was the lowest-rated prime-time show in the history of
American television). NBC walked out on the venture after only one
season, but McMahon intended to continue alone. However, after being
unable to reach a deal with UPN, McMahon shut down the XFL.[28]
Acquisition of WCW and ECW
By the fall of 1999, The Attitude Era had turned the tide of the
Monday Night Wars into WWF's favor for good. After Time Warner merged
with AOL, Ted Turner's
control over WCW was considerably reduced, and the newly merged company
announced a complete lack of interest in professional wrestling as a
whole, and decided to sell WCW in its entirety. Although Eric Bischoff
was nearing a deal to purchase the company complete, in March 2001, WWF
Entertainment, Inc. acquired WCW from AOL Time Warner for a number
reported to be around $7 million.[29] Shortly after WrestleMania X-Seven,
the WWF launched the Invasion storyline integrating the incoming talent
roster from WCW and ECW. With this purchase, WWF now became the largest
wrestling promotion in the world, and the only one in North America
with mainstream exposure. The assets of Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), which had folded after filing for bankruptcy protection in April 2001, were purchased by WWE in mid-2003.[30]
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. / WWE, Inc. (2002-present)
Brand extension
In March 2002, roughly two months before the name change, WWE decided to create two separate rosters, Raw and SmackDown! due to the overabundance of talent left over from the Invasion storyline. This is known as the WWE Brand Extension.
Despite much of the originally drafted talent departing by 2004, WWE
has continued to separate the shows, taking on younger talent, and holds
a Draft Lottery every year. On May 26, 2006, WWE announced the relaunch of Extreme Championship Wrestling as a WWE brand. The new ECW program aired internationally and on Tuesday nights on Syfy in the United States until February 16, 2010.[31]
Name dispute
In 2000, the World Wide Fund for Nature (also trademarked WWF), an environmental organization, sued World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Inc. in the United Kingdom.[32] The Law Lords
agreed that the promotion company had violated a 1994 agreement as
Titan Sports which had limited the permissible use of the WWF trademark
in Europe, particularly in merchandising. The World Wide Fund and World
Wrestling Federation used the initials since March 1979.[33] The last televised event to market the WWF logo was UK based pay-per-view Insurrextion 2002. On May 5, 2002, the company launched its "Get The F Out" marketing campaign and changed all references on its website from "WWF" to "WWE", while switching the URL from WWF.com to WWE.com.[34] The next day, a press release announced the official name change from World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. to World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., or WWE, and the change was publicized later that day during a telecast of Monday Night Raw, which was broadcast from the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut.
Following the case, the use of the "Attitude" logo became prohibited
on all World Wrestling Federation properties. Additionally, past
references to the WWF trademark and initials in 'specified circumstances' became censored.[35]
Despite litigation, WWE is still permitted use of the original WWF
logo, which was used from 1979 through 1994, as well as the "New WWF
Generation" logo, which was used from 1994 through 1998. Furthermore,
the company may still make use of the full "World Wrestling Federation"
and "World Wrestling Federation Entertainment" names without
consequence. In 2003, WWE won a limited decision to continue marketing
certain classic video games from THQ and Jakks Pacific that contained the WWF "Attitude" logo.[36] However, the packaging was changed to replace all WWF references with WWE.
Network changes and high-definition
In late 2005, WWE Raw returned after a five year stint on TNN (now Spike) to its original home USA Network. In 2006, due to contracts with NBC Universal, parent company of USA Network, WWE revived its classic Saturday night show Saturday Night's Main Event (SNME) on NBC
after a thirteen-year hiatus. WWE had the chance to promote the company
on a major national network rather than the lower profile CW
or cable channels like USA Network. SNME airs occasionally on NBC as a
WWE special series. On September 26, 2007, it was announced that WWE
would be expanding its international operations. Alongside the current
international offices in London and Toronto, a new international office
would be established in Sydney.[37]
On January 21, 2008, WWE made the transition to high-definition
(HD). All TV shows and pay-per-views after this were broadcast in HD.
In addition, WWE also introduced a new HD set that is used for both the Raw and SmackDown brands. A different set, though usually similar to the universal design in layout, is used for each of the pay-per-views.[38]
WWE Universe and change in programming
On November 19, 2008, WWE launched their online social network, WWE Universe. It initially appeared in April as WWE Fan Nation. Similar to MySpace, it offered blogs, forums, and other features for WWE fans.[39] The social network ceased operations on January 1, 2011.[40] The company subsequently launched a WWE page on Facebook, which, as of October 7, 2011, had more than 39 million fans worldwide.[41]
It was announced on December 19, 2008 that WWE and WGN America had come to an agreement to create a new weekly, one-hour prime time series entitled WWE Superstars.
On April 16, 2009 the show made its debut airing. The show featured
talent from all WWE brands. On February 2, 2010, it was announced that a
new program called WWE NXT would premiere on Syfy on February 23, 2010, over the ECW timeslot. Later that year NXT was removed from the Syfy lineup and was replaced with WWE SmackDown which had been airing on MyNetworkTV since October 2008. NXT continues to air on WWE.com.[42]
In 2008, WWE initiated a change in its programming content. The United States parental guidelines rating system now rates all WWE television programs "PG" indicating family-friendly content in the programming.[43][44] Vince McMahon noted that the change to more family-friendly content is due to the changing demographics in WWE viewership.[45] As of 2010, women and young children make up 40% of the company's audience.[citation needed]
On April 7, 2011, WWE Corporate announced that the company would be
rebranded from "World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc." to simply "WWE,
Inc." This orphan initialism
occurred to reflect WWE's global entertainment expansion away from the
ring with the ultimate goal of acquiring entertainment companies and
putting a focus on television, live events, and film production. WWE
quoted that their new company model was put into effect with the
relaunch of WWE Tough Enough, being a non–scripted program (contrary to the scripted nature of professional wrestling) and with the expected launch of a WWE television network in 2012. However the legal name of the company remains as World Wrestling Entertainment.[11]
Beginning with the August 29, 2011 episode of Monday Night Raw, Triple H
announced that future episodes of RAW (dubbed the RAW Supershow) will
feature talent from both RAW and SmackDown; likewise RAW talent began
appearing frequently on SmackDown as well, effectively ending Brand
Extension. Brand Extension further disintegrated when John Laurinaitis
became GM of both RAW and SmackDown on April 2, 2012 as well as
allowing Superstars from opposing brands (for example, SmackDown
wrestler Daniel Bryan faced RAW wrestler CM Punk for the WWE Championship at WWE Over The Limit (2012).
On March 20, 2012, Rumors circulated online reporting that WWE will cease operation of its lone developement territory, Florida Championship Wrestling in three weeks time.[46] However, the next day (March 21) WWE's Executive Vice President of Talent, Paul "Triple H" Levesque in an statement on WWE.com revealed that rumors of the impeding closing of Florida Championship Wrestling are not true, and after WrestleMania 28
there would be a big announcement regarding the development system of
the company. Paul also mentioned in said statement that FCW is "getting
revamped".[47]
Wellness Program
The Talent Wellness Program is a comprehensive drug, alcohol, and
cardiac screening program initiated in February 2006, shortly after the
sudden death of one of their highest profile talents, thirty-eight year
old Eddie Guerrero.[48] The policy tests for recreational drug use and abuse of prescription medication, including anabolic steroids.[48]
Under the guidelines of the policy, talent is also tested annually for
pre-existing or developing cardiac issues. The drug testing is handled
by Aegis Sciences Corporation. The cardiac evaluations are handled by
New York Cardiology Associates P.C.[48]
After the double murder and suicide committed by one of its performers, Chris Benoit, with a possible link to steroids abuse encouraged by WWE, the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform requested that WWE turn over any material regarding its talent wellness policy.[49]
In August 2007, the program was defended by WWE and its employees in
the wake of several illegal pharmacy busts that linked WWE performers to
steroid purchases even after the policy was put into place. Ten
professional wrestlers were suspended for violating the Wellness Policy
after reports emerged they were all customers of Signature Pharmacy in Orlando, Florida.
According to a statement attributed to WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt, an
eleventh wrestler was later added to the suspension list.[50][51][52]
Because of the Wellness Policy, physicians were able to diagnose one
of its performers with a heart ailment that otherwise would have likely
gone unnoticed until it was too late. In August 2007, then-reigning United States Champion Montel Vontavious Porter (real name Hassan Assad) was diagnosed with Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome,[53]
which can be potentially fatal if gone undiagnosed. The ailment was
discovered while Assad was going through a routine Wellness Policy
checkup.
On September 13, 2010, WWE updated their list of banned substances to include muscle relaxers.[54]
Lawsuit case against TNA Entertainment, LLC
 |
This article may need to be rewritten entirely to comply with Wikipedia's quality standards. You can help. The discussion page may contain suggestions. (June 2012) |
Main article: WWE Inc. v. TNA Entertainment, LLC
In May 2012, WWE has seeking a class-action lawsuit by TNA Entertainment, LLC
in Nashville, claiming that a former employee, Brain Wittenstein gave
WWE secret contractual information about its wrestling talent. TNA wants
a court to stop WWE from using the confidential information to poach
its wrestlers. The suit, which was filed in the Chancery Court of
Davidson County, claims that WWE appears to have already used the
information to try to lure a wrestler away from TNA. [55]
John Laurinaitis,
who is among those scheduled to be deposed, is scheduled for
"previously advertised and committed television appearances" in the
United States and Spain next week as well as the date of the hearing for
the injunction hearing on July 12. WWE noted in their filing that while
the court has allowed a Temporary Restraining Order and expedited
discovery in the case, WWE and TNA have been unable, as of yet, to agree
to the order, locations and dates for the depositions. Wittenstein was
also being sued, had yet to respond to the court or have a legal
representative file paperwork that the company will be representing him
in his defense. [56]
According to the report, that lawsuit is claiming interference with
existing contracts, conversion, breach of contract, civil conspiracy,
unfair competition and violation of the Tennessee Uniform Trade Secrets Act. Wittenstein is also being sued for breach of duty of loyalty. Ric Flair, who wants to return to WWE and approached TNA about getting out of his contract (although his daughter, Ashley is assigned to FCW
weeks prior). TNA also stated that Flair has been no-showing dates
since indicating his desire to be released. A request for an expedited
discovery in the case was filed by TNA, and an affidavit signed by TNA
CFO/COO Dean Broadhead was filed as well regarding what he knew about
the situation. [57]
Expansion beyond wrestling
In addition to licensing wrestling and performers' likenesses to companies such as Acclaim, THQ, and Mattel to produce video games and action figures, WWE has moved into other areas of interest in order to market their product.
Active properties
- WWE Studios: A subsidiary of WWE created in 2002 to create and develop feature film properties. Formerly known as WWE Films.
- WWE Music Group: A subsidiary that specializes in compilation albums of WWE wrestlers' entrance themes. The group also releases titles that have been performed by WWE wrestlers.
- WWE Home Video: A subsidiary that specializes in distributing compilation VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray Disc copies of WWE pay-per-view events, compilations of WWE wrestlers' performances, and biographies of WWE performers.
- WWE Books: A subsidiary of WWE that serves to publish autobiographies of and fiction based on WWE personalities, behind-the-scenes guides to WWE, illustrated books, calendars, young adult books, and other general "Nonfiction" books.
- WWE Kids: A website and comic set aimed at the children's end of the wrestling market, comics are produced bi-monthly. It was launched on April 15, 2008.
Defunct properties
- World Bodybuilding Federation; A subsidiary of Titan Sports launched in 1990 which promoted professional bodybuilding through a television show, magazine, and annual pay-per-view events. Closed in 1992.
- XFL: Folded in 2001, a partially owned subsidiary of WWFE launched in 2000 which comprised eight league-owned professional football teams. The league included television broadcasts on NBC (the other co-owners of the league), UPN and TNN.
- The World, formerly known as WWF New York: A restaurant, night club, and memorabilia shop in New York City launched in 1999. Closed in 2003. Hard Rock Cafe took the building itself since 2005.
- WWE Niagara Falls: A retail and entertainment establishment that was located in Niagara Falls, Ontario and owned by WWE. It was open from August 2002 through March 2011.
Corporate governance
Executive officers
- Vince McMahon (Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer)[58]
- George Barrios (Chief Financial Officer)[59]
- Jim Connelly (Executive Vice President, Consumer Products)[60]
- Paul "Triple H" Levesque (Executive Vice President, Talent and Live Events)[61]
- Michael Luisi (President, WWE Studios and General Counsel)[62]
- Michelle Wilson (Chief Marketing Officer)[63]
- Stephanie McMahon-Levesque (Executive Vice President, Creative)[64]
Board of directors
- Vince McMahon (Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer)[58][65]
- Basil DeVito (Senior Advisor, Business Strategy)[66]
- David Kenin (Executive Vice President of Programming, Hallmark Channel)[65]
- Frank Riddick III (Consultant, TowerBrook Capital Partners)[66]
- Jeffrey Speed (Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Six Flags, Inc.)[66]
- Joseph Perkins (President, Communications Consultants, Inc.)[65]
- Kevin Dunn (Executive Vice President, Television Production)[66]
- Patricia A. Gottesman (President and Chief Executive Officer, Crimson Hexagon)[65]
- Stuart Goldfarb (President and Chief Executive Officer, Atrinsic, Inc.)[67]
Championships and accomplishments
Current champions
Main article: List of current champions in WWE
| Championship | Current champion(s) | Date won | Event | Previous champion(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raw | ||||
| WWE Championship | CM Punk | November 20, 2011 | Survivor Series | Alberto Del Rio |
| United States Championship | Santino Marella | March 5, 2012 | Raw Supershow | Jack Swagger |
| SmackDown | ||||
| World Heavyweight Championship | Sheamus | April 1, 2012 | WrestleMania XXVIII | Daniel Bryan |
| Intercontinental Championship | Christian | May 20, 2012 | Over the Limit | Cody Rhodes |
| Dual-branded | ||||
| Tag Team Championship | R-Truth and Kofi Kingston | April 30, 2012 | Raw Supershow | Primo & Epico |
| Divas Championship | Layla | April 29, 2012 | Extreme Rules | Nikki Bella |
Other accomplishments
| Accomplishment | Latest winner | Date won |
|---|---|---|
| Royal Rumble | Sheamus | January 29, 2012 |
| Raw Money in the Bank | Alberto Del Rio | July 17, 2011 |
| SmackDown Money in the Bank | Daniel Bryan | July 17, 2011 |
| King of the Ring | Sheamus | November 29, 2010 |
Developmental territory champions
| Championship | Current champion(s) | Date won | Previous champion(s) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) | |||||
| Florida Heavyweight Championship | Seth Rollins | February 23, 2012[68] | Leo Kruger | ||
| Florida Tag Team Championship | Corey Graves & Jake Carter | March 15, 2012[69] | Bo Rotundo & Husky Harris | ||
| FCW Divas Championship | Raquel Diaz | December 15, 2011 | Audrey Marie | ||
| FCW 15 Championship | Richie Steamboat | January 13, 2012 | Damien Sandow | ||
Defunct championships
Main article: List of former championships in WWE
In its 50 year history, WWE has operated over twenty different championships. The company's first title, the WWWF United States Tag Team Championship
was created in 1958 and retired in 1967. Throughout its history, the
WWE has formed partnerships with other international promotions which
led to the creation of various titles, however, when those partnerships
ended, these titles were either retired or began operation in the United
States for WWE. Overall, the company has retired 19 championships with
the most recent being the WWE Women's Championship. Created in 1956 and retired in September 2010, the consolidation of the WWE Unified Divas Championship into the WWE's 2008 WWE Divas Championship retired the older title and continued the lineage of the latter.
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