Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

World Wrestling Entertainment

2012-06-10T03:32:26Z

CBauer23:

'''World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.''' ('''WWE''') is a publicly-traded company dealing with wrestling entertainment. It also had failed venues in football (the [[XFL]]) and body building. The WWE puts on live and telecast wrestling shows, produces [[video games]] and licenses various products. The company was previously known was the WWF, (World Wrestling Federation) before changing its name. It is the largest entertainment wrestling organization in the world.

[[Vince McMahon]] is the majority owner and Chairman of the company and his wife [[Linda McMahon]] holds the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Together with their children, Executive Vice President of Global Media [[Shane McMahon]] and Senior Vice President of Creative Writing [[Stephanie McMahon]], the McMahons hold approximately 70% of WWE's economic interest and 96% of all voting power in the company.

The company's main headquarters is located at 1241 East Main Street in Stamford, [[Connecticut]]. There are also international offices in [[Los Angeles]], [[New York City]], [[London]], and [[Toronto]].

Some promotional names that the WWE maintains:

*[[WWE Raw|RAW]]
*[[WWE Friday Night SmackDown!|SmackDown!]]
*[[WWE NXT|NXT]]
*[[WWE Superstars|Superstars]]

WWE's revenue in fiscal 2006 (from May 2005 to April 2006) was approximately $400 million (US), with a net profit of approximately $47 million. As of August 2006, the company's market capitalization is over $1 billion (US). Its stock is traded on the NYSE <ref>http://www.nyse.com/about/listed/wwe.html WWE</ref>.

==History==

The World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) was born in 1963 when Vince J. McMahon split off from the larger NWA league which was mostly a series of "mom and pop" wrestling entertainment outfits with each organization staying in its own area. The company was renamed the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1979. Under Vince K. McMahon, Vince J. McMahon's son, the WWF would start to go national in the 1980's, breaking the unwritten rule of not encroaching on the turf of other regional leagues. As his revenue increased, he also started to sign the best known names from other organizations.

The breakthrough signing that became the first nationally recognized superstar was [[Hulk Hogan]] who, due to his appearance in Rocky III, had a national recognition that few other wrestlers could manage. Other big named wrestlers were brought in including [[Andre the Giant]]. Superstardom hit paydirt with the production of the first nationwide Pay per view [[Wrestlemania]] in 1985. Incorporating well known actors such as [[Mr. T]] into the production helped to turn the WWF and Wrestlemania into a mainstream hit.

Allegations of steroid abuse hit the WWF in 1994 as well as sexual harassment claims. They were a costly public relations nightmare that led to big cuts in salary for the wrestlers and staffs and saw many wrestlers leave to [[Ted Turner]]'s WCW league including Hulk Hogan.

"Stone Cold" [[Steve Austin]] rose as a star in the late 1990s in a new edgier era that saw a movement away from family fun to attacking authority, more violence, and swearing. The WWF and the WCW went more head to head during this time including having competing wrestling shows on Monday nights.

==Going Public==

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.

On the back of the success of the Attitude Era, on October 19, 1999 the WWF's parent company, Titan Sports (by this time renamed World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc.) became a publicly traded company, offering 10 million shares priced at $17 each. WWF announced its desire to diversify, including creating a nightclub in Times Square, producing feature films, and book publishing.

In 2000 the WWF, in collaboration with television network NBC, announced the creation of the XFL, a new professional American football league that debuted in 2001. The league had surprisingly 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 primetime 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 UPN demanded that SmackDown! be cut by half an hour, McMahon shut down the XFL.<ref>[http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/news/2001/05/10/xfl_folds_ap/ sportsillustrated.cnn.com]</ref>

In March 2001 McMahon's empire grew when he acquired his main competitor WCW, which had been losing money and was sold for about $7 million.

In May 2002 the name of the company was changed from the WWF to the WWE after it was ruled that the World Widelife Fund owned the rights to the WWF label in the United Kingdom.<ref>http://contracts.corporate.findlaw.com/agreements/wwf/worldwildlife.1997.01.20.html</ref>.<ref>http://corporate.wwe.com/news/2002/2002_05_06.jsp</ref>

Another smaller wrestling company, Extreme Championship Wrestling, was purchased in mid 2003.

In April 2002, about a month before the name change, WWE decided to create two separate rosters, one on ''RAW'', the other on ''SmackDown!'' due to the overabundance of talent left over from the ''Invasion'' storyline (which involved talent from the absorbed ECW and WCW rosters interacting in WWF storylines). This is known as the WWE ''Brand Extension''. Following the Brand Extension, a yearly ''Draft Lottery'' was instituted to exchange members of each roster and generally refresh the lineups.

In August 2002, the company launched [[WWE Niagara Falls]], a retail establishment in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

In 2003, WWE held their first annual "Tribute to the Troops" shows in [[Iraq]] and [[Afghanistan]].<ref>http://corporate.wwe.com/community/troops.jsp</ref>

On May 26 2006, WWE revived Extreme Championship Wrestling as its third brand with the new ECW program airing Tuesday nights on the Sci Fi Channel.<ref>http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/scifi|accessdate</ref>

The final episode of WWE Extreme Championship Wrestling aired on February 16, 2010. In that episode, the final ECW title match was held. Ezekiel Jackson won the bout and became the final man to hold the ECW title.

The next week, WWE aired a new breed of wrestling television show. WWE NXT aired on the SyFy network in ECW's stead. NXT has sinced been moved to a livestreaming internet format along with WWE Supertstars.

== Championships and accomplishments ==
==== Current champions ====

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Brand
!Championship
!Current Champion
!Date won
!Date aired
|-style="background: #FFEEEE"
|rowspan=2 align="center" |[[WWE Raw|RAW]]
|[[WWE Heavyweight Championship]]
|[[CM Punk]]
|November 20, 2011
|November 20, 2011
|-style="background: #FFEEEE"
|[[WWE United States Championship]]
|[[Santino Marella]]
|March 5, 2012
|March 5, 2012
|-style="background: #FFEEEE"
|rowspan=2 align="center" |[[WWE Friday Night Smackdown!|Smackdown!]]
|[[World Heavyweight Championship]]
|[[Sheamus]]
|April 1, 2012
|April 1, 2012
|-style="background: #EEEEFF"
|[[WWE Intercontinental Championship]]
|[[Christian]]
|May 20,2012
|May 20,2012
|-style="background: #EEEEFF"
|rowspan=3 align="center" |[[Interbrand Championships]]
|-style="background: #FFEEEE"
|[[WWE Diva's Championship]]
|[[Layla]]
|April 29, 2012
|April 29, 2012
|-style="background: #FFEEEE"
|[[WWE Tag Team Championship]]
|[[Kofi Kingston]] and [[R-Truth]]
|April 30, 2012
|April 30, 2012
|}

==== Accomplishments ====
{| class="wikitable"
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Brand
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Accomplishment
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Latest winner
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Date won
|-
|-style="background: #EEEEFF;"
|-
|rowspan=3 align=center|[[WWE Raw|RAW]], [[WWE Friday Night SmackDown!|SmackDown!]]
|[[Royal Rumble]]
|[[Sheamus]]
|January 29, 2012
|-
|[[Money in the Bank ladder match|Money in the Bank]]
|[[Alberto Del Rio ''Raw Money In The Bank'', Daniel Bryan ''Smackdown Money In The Bank'']]
|July 17, 2011
|-
|[[WWE Diva Search|Diva Search]]
|[[Eve Torres]]
|October 29, 2007
|}

==== Current developmental territory champions ====
{| class="wikitable"
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Promotion
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Championship
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Current champion(s)
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Date won
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Date aired
|-style="background: #FFFFEE;"
|rowspan=3 align=center|[[Florida Championship Wrestling|FCW]]
|[[FCW 15 Champion]]
|[[Richie Steamboat]]
|January 13, 2012
|N/A ([[FCW Arena]])
|-
|-style="background: #FFFFEE;"
|[[FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship|FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion]]
|[[Seth Rollins]]
|February 23, 2012
|N/A ([[FCW Arena]])
|-
|-style="background: #FFFFEE;"
|[[FCW Florida Tag Team Championship|FCW Florida Tag Team Champions]]
|[[Jake Carter & Cory Graves]]
|March 15, 2012
|N/A ([[FCW Arena]])
|-
|}

===Defunct championships===
*[[WWE Cruiserweight Championship]] (1991-2007)
*[[WWE Hardcore Championship]] (1998-2002)
*[[WWE European Championship]] (1997-2002)
*[[WCW World Heavyweight Championship]] (2001)
*[[WCW World Tag Team Championship]] (2001)
*[[WWF Light Heavyweight Championship]] (1981-2001) (recognized officially 1997-2001)
*[[Million Dollar Championship|WWF Million Dollar Championship]] (1989-1992, 1995-1996)
*[[WWF Intercontinental Tag Team Championship]] (1991)
*[[WWF Women's Tag Team Championship]] (1983-1989)
*[[WWF Canadian Championship]] (1985-1986)
*[[WWF International Heavyweight Championship]] (1959-1963, 1982-1985)
*[[WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship]] (1967-1985)
*[[WWF International Tag Team Championship]] (1969-1985)
*[[WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship]] (1978-1985)
*[[WWF North American Heavyweight Championship]] (1979-1981)
*[[WWWF United States Championship]] (1970-1975)
*[[WWWF United States Tag Team Championship]] (1963-1967)
*[[WWE ECW Championship]] (2006-2010)
*[[ECW Championship]] (1994-2001)
*[[WWE World Tag Team Championship]] (1971-2010) Unified with the WWE Tag Team Championship to create the WWE Unified Tag Team Championship
*[[ECW Television Championship]] (1992-2000)
*[[ECW Tag Team Championship]] (1992-2000)
*[[WWE Women's Championship]] (1956-2010) Unified with the Diva's Championship and now solely the Diva's Championship

===Defunct accomplishments===
*[[King of the Ring]] (1985-89, 1991, 1993-2002, 2006, 2012)

==References==
<div class="references-small">
<references/>
</div>

==External links==
*[http://www.wwe.com WWE.com]
*[http://corporate.wwe.com/ Official WWE Corporate Website]
*[http://finance.yahoo.com/q?d=t&s=WWE WWE Stock]
*[http://www.wwe.co.jp Official WWE Japanese Website]

[[Category:Wrestling]]
[[category:entertainment]]
[[Category:World Wrestling Entertainment]]

Shawn Michaels

2012-05-04T04:21:39Z

CBauer23:

'''Michael Shawn Hickenbottom''', born 1965, is an [[American]] [[sports entertainer]] who previously performed with [[World Wrestling Entertainment]] under the ring name Shawn Michaels.<ref>http://prowrestling.about.com/od/wwerawwrestlers/p/shawnmichaels.htm</ref> He was trained by [[Jose Lothario]] and made his debut on 16 October 1984. He is best known for his involvement in the [[Montreal screwjob]]. He is known as the greatest in-ring performer of all time. His achievements (in WWF/E) include becoming the WWE Champion, World Heavyweight Champion, Intercontinental Champion, European Champion, and a World Tag Champion. He is also a two time Royal Rumble winner (1995&1996). His career culminated in his induction into the WWE Hall of Fame in the Class of 2011, the year after his retirement. His nicknames include: The Heart Break Kid, The Showstopper, The Icon, Mr. Wrestlemania, The Main Event, and Mr. Hall of Fame.

==WWE==
Michaels briefly appeared in WWE in 1987 alongside tag team partner [[Marty Janetty]]. The two quickly got a reputation for their hard partying and were quickly let go by the company.<ref name="oww">http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/s/shawn-michaels.html</ref> The following year, the duo were given another opportunity and achieved some level of success before ending the team and focusing on solo careers in 1991. In 1992, Michaels added [[Sherri Martel]] as his manager and went on a winning streak that culminated in him winning the [[Intercontinental Title]]. His new found fame ultimately went to his head and he became difficult to deal with back stage. Recalled Michaels: "I don't deny it at all...I was a son of a gun."<ref name="rawmag">Interview with WWE Raw Magazine, April 2004</ref> He was suspended for refusing to lose the title.<ref name="oww"/>

==The Kliq==
Michaels befriended powerful sports entertainers [[Triple H]], [[Scott Hall]] and [[Kevin Nash]]. The trio became known as "The Kliq". Triple H is one of the greatest practitioners of the craft of professional wrestling, while Nash is one of the greatest big men of all time, and Hall is a top-tier performer.
==Christianity==
Michaels attributes his conversion to [[Christianity]] to his wife's influence. Michaels: "She was a witness by example. One day, I just cracked open a Bible and started reading it, and it progressed from there."<ref name="rawmag"/>

==References==
<references/>
{{DEFAULTSORT:Michaels, Shawn}}
[[Category: Christians]]
[[Category: Wrestlers]]

Vince McMahon

2012-05-04T04:01:14Z

CBauer23:

'''Vincent Kennedy McMahon''' (born August 24, 1945 in Pinehust, [[North Carolina]]) is the Chairman of the Board and CEO of [[WWE]].

== Personal Life ==
*Vince is married to [[Linda McMahon| Linda]] who he met when he was 13. They got married on August 26,1966. They have two children [[Shane McMahon|Shane]] and [[Stephanie McMahon|Stephanie]]

*His daughter Stephanie married Paul Levesque (ring name Triple H) and gave birth to his granddaughter, Aurora Rose Levesque born on July 24,2006. Shane is married to to wife Marrissa and has two sons Decon and Kenyon.

{{DEFAULTSORT:McMahon, Vincent Kennedy}}
[[category:Wrestling]]

Hulk Hogan

2012-05-04T03:57:35Z

CBauer23:

'''Terry Bollea''', born 11 August 1953 (age {{age|1953|8|11}}), is a semi-retired [[American]] [[sports entertainer]]. He is best known for his performances for [[World Wrestling Entertainment]] and [[World Championship Wrestling]] under the ring name Hulk Hogan. He has also been billed as Terry Boulder, Hollywood Hogan and Mr. America.

==External Link==
*[http://www.hulkhogan.com/ Official Web Page]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hogan, Hulk}}
[[Category:Actors]]
[[Category:World Wrestling Entertainment]]
[[category:Wrestling]]

World Wrestling Entertainment

2012-05-03T02:14:17Z

CBauer23:

'''World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.''' ('''WWE''') is a publicly-traded company dealing with wrestling entertainment. It also had failed venues in football (the [[XFL]]) and body building. The WWE puts on live and telecast wrestling shows, produces [[video games]] and licenses various products. The company was previously known was the WWF, (World Wrestling Federation) before changing its name. It is the largest entertainment wrestling organization in the world.

[[Vince McMahon]] is the majority owner and Chairman of the company and his wife [[Linda McMahon]] holds the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Together with their children, Executive Vice President of Global Media [[Shane McMahon]] and Senior Vice President of Creative Writing [[Stephanie McMahon]], the McMahons hold approximately 70% of WWE's economic interest and 96% of all voting power in the company.

The company's main headquarters is located at 1241 East Main Street in Stamford, [[Connecticut]]. There are also international offices in [[Los Angeles]], [[New York City]], [[London]], and [[Toronto]].

Some promotional names that the WWE maintains:

*[[WWE Raw|RAW]]
*[[WWE Friday Night SmackDown!|SmackDown!]]
*[[WWE NXT|NXT]]
*[[WWE Superstars|Superstars]]

WWE's revenue in fiscal 2006 (from May 2005 to April 2006) was approximately $400 million (US), with a net profit of approximately $47 million. As of August 2006, the company's market capitalization is over $1 billion (US). Its stock is traded on the NYSE <ref>http://www.nyse.com/about/listed/wwe.html WWE</ref>.

==History==

The World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) was born in 1963 when Vince J. McMahon split off from the larger NWA league which was mostly a series of "mom and pop" wrestling entertainment outfits with each organization staying in its own area. The company was renamed the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1979. Under Vince K. McMahon, Vince J. McMahon's son, the WWF would start to go national in the 1980's, breaking the unwritten rule of not encroaching on the turf of other regional leagues. As his revenue increased, he also started to sign the best known names from other organizations.

The breakthrough signing that became the first nationally recognized superstar was [[Hulk Hogan]] who, due to his appearance in Rocky III, had a national recognition that few other wrestlers could manage. Other big named wrestlers were brought in including [[Andre the Giant]]. Superstardom hit paydirt with the production of the first nationwide Pay per view [[Wrestlemania]] in 1985. Incorporating well known actors such as [[Mr. T]] into the production helped to turn the WWF and Wrestlemania into a mainstream hit.

Allegations of steroid abuse hit the WWF in 1994 as well as sexual harassment claims. They were a costly public relations nightmare that led to big cuts in salary for the wrestlers and staffs and saw many wrestlers leave to [[Ted Turner]]'s WCW league including Hulk Hogan.

"Stone Cold" [[Steve Austin]] rose as a star in the late 1990s in a new edgier era that saw a movement away from family fun to attacking authority, more violence, and swearing. The WWF and the WCW went more head to head during this time including having competing wrestling shows on Monday nights.

==Going Public==

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.

On the back of the success of the Attitude Era, on October 19, 1999 the WWF's parent company, Titan Sports (by this time renamed World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc.) became a publicly traded company, offering 10 million shares priced at $17 each. WWF announced its desire to diversify, including creating a nightclub in Times Square, producing feature films, and book publishing.

In 2000 the WWF, in collaboration with television network NBC, announced the creation of the XFL, a new professional American football league that debuted in 2001. The league had surprisingly 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 primetime 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 UPN demanded that SmackDown! be cut by half an hour, McMahon shut down the XFL.<ref>[http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/news/2001/05/10/xfl_folds_ap/ sportsillustrated.cnn.com]</ref>

In March 2001 McMahon's empire grew when he acquired his main competitor WCW, which had been losing money and was sold for about $7 million.

In May 2002 the name of the company was changed from the WWF to the WWE after it was ruled that the World Widelife Fund owned the rights to the WWF label in the United Kingdom.<ref>http://contracts.corporate.findlaw.com/agreements/wwf/worldwildlife.1997.01.20.html</ref>.<ref>http://corporate.wwe.com/news/2002/2002_05_06.jsp</ref>

Another smaller wrestling company, Extreme Championship Wrestling, was purchased in mid 2003.

In April 2002, about a month before the name change, WWE decided to create two separate rosters, one on ''RAW'', the other on ''SmackDown!'' due to the overabundance of talent left over from the ''Invasion'' storyline (which involved talent from the absorbed ECW and WCW rosters interacting in WWF storylines). This is known as the WWE ''Brand Extension''. Following the Brand Extension, a yearly ''Draft Lottery'' was instituted to exchange members of each roster and generally refresh the lineups.

In August 2002, the company launched [[WWE Niagara Falls]], a retail establishment in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

In 2003, WWE held their first annual "Tribute to the Troops" shows in [[Iraq]] and [[Afghanistan]].<ref>http://corporate.wwe.com/community/troops.jsp</ref>

On May 26 2006, WWE revived Extreme Championship Wrestling as its third brand with the new ECW program airing Tuesday nights on the Sci Fi Channel.<ref>http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/scifi|accessdate</ref>

The final episode of WWE Extreme Championship Wrestling aired on February 16, 2010. In that episode, the final ECW title match was held. Ezekiel Jackson won the bout and became the final man to hold the ECW title.

The next week, WWE aired a new breed of wrestling television show. WWE NXT aired on the SyFy network in ECW's stead. NXT has sinced been moved to a livestreaming internet format along with WWE Supertstars.

== Championships and accomplishments ==
==== Current champions ====

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Brand
!Championship
!Current Champion
!Date won
!Date aired
|-style="background: #FFEEEE"
|rowspan=2 align="center" |[[WWE Raw|RAW]]
|[[WWE Heavyweight Championship]]
|[[CM Punk]]
|November 20, 2011
|November 20, 2011
|-style="background: #FFEEEE"
|[[WWE United States Championship]]
|[[Santino Marella]]
|March 5, 2012
|March 5, 2012
|-style="background: #FFEEEE"
|rowspan=2 align="center" |[[WWE Friday Night Smackdown!|Smackdown!]]
|[[World Heavyweight Championship]]
|[[Sheamus]]
|April 1, 2012
|April 1, 2012
|-style="background: #EEEEFF"
|[[WWE Intercontinental Championship]]
|[[Cody Rhodes]]
|April 29,2012
|April 29,2012
|-style="background: #EEEEFF"
|rowspan=3 align="center" |[[Interbrand Championships]]
|-style="background: #FFEEEE"
|[[WWE Diva's Championship]]
|[[Layla]]
|April 29, 2012
|April 29, 2012
|-style="background: #FFEEEE"
|[[WWE Tag Team Championship]]
|[[Kofi Kingston]] and [[R-Truth]]
|April 30, 2012
|April 30, 2012
|}

==== Accomplishments ====
{| class="wikitable"
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Brand
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Accomplishment
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Latest winner
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Date won
|-
|-style="background: #EEEEFF;"
|-
|rowspan=3 align=center|[[WWE Raw|RAW]], [[WWE Friday Night SmackDown!|SmackDown!]]
|[[Royal Rumble]]
|[[Sheamus]]
|January 29, 2012
|-
|[[Money in the Bank ladder match|Money in the Bank]]
|[[Alberto Del Rio ''Raw Money In The Bank'', Daniel Bryan ''Smackdown Money In The Bank'']]
|July 17, 2011
|-
|[[WWE Diva Search|Diva Search]]
|[[Eve Torres]]
|October 29, 2007
|}

==== Current developmental territory champions ====
{| class="wikitable"
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Promotion
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Championship
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Current champion(s)
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Date won
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Date aired
|-style="background: #FFFFEE;"
|rowspan=3 align=center|[[Florida Championship Wrestling|FCW]]
|[[FCW 15 Champion]]
|[[Richie Steamboat]]
|January 13, 2012
|N/A ([[FCW Arena]])
|-
|-style="background: #FFFFEE;"
|[[FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship|FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion]]
|[[Seth Rollins]]
|February 23, 2012
|N/A ([[FCW Arena]])
|-
|-style="background: #FFFFEE;"
|[[FCW Florida Tag Team Championship|FCW Florida Tag Team Champions]]
|[[Jake Carter & Cory Graves]]
|March 15, 2012
|N/A ([[FCW Arena]])
|-
|}

===Defunct championships===
*[[WWE Cruiserweight Championship]] (1991-2007)
*[[WWE Hardcore Championship]] (1998-2002)
*[[WWE European Championship]] (1997-2002)
*[[WCW World Heavyweight Championship]] (2001)
*[[WCW World Tag Team Championship]] (2001)
*[[WWF Light Heavyweight Championship]] (1981-2001) (recognized officially 1997-2001)
*[[Million Dollar Championship|WWF Million Dollar Championship]] (1989-1992, 1995-1996)
*[[WWF Intercontinental Tag Team Championship]] (1991)
*[[WWF Women's Tag Team Championship]] (1983-1989)
*[[WWF Canadian Championship]] (1985-1986)
*[[WWF International Heavyweight Championship]] (1959-1963, 1982-1985)
*[[WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship]] (1967-1985)
*[[WWF International Tag Team Championship]] (1969-1985)
*[[WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship]] (1978-1985)
*[[WWF North American Heavyweight Championship]] (1979-1981)
*[[WWWF United States Championship]] (1970-1975)
*[[WWWF United States Tag Team Championship]] (1963-1967)
*[[WWE ECW Championship]] (2006-2010)
*[[ECW Championship]] (1994-2001)
*[[WWE World Tag Team Championship]] (1971-2010) Unified with the WWE Tag Team Championship to create the WWE Unified Tag Team Championship
*[[ECW Television Championship]] (1992-2000)
*[[ECW Tag Team Championship]] (1992-2000)
*[[WWE Women's Championship]] (1956-2010) Unified with the Diva's Championship and now solely the Diva's Championship

===Defunct accomplishments===
*[[King of the Ring]] (1985-89, 1991, 1993-2002, 2006, 2012)

==References==
<div class="references-small">
<references/>
</div>

==External links==
*[http://www.wwe.com WWE.com]
*[http://corporate.wwe.com/ Official WWE Corporate Website]
*[http://finance.yahoo.com/q?d=t&s=WWE WWE Stock]
*[http://www.wwe.co.jp Official WWE Japanese Website]

[[Category:Wrestling]]
[[category:entertainment]]
[[Category:World Wrestling Entertainment]]

World Wrestling Entertainment

2012-05-02T18:41:22Z

CBauer23:

'''World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.''' ('''WWE''') is a publicly-traded company dealing with wrestling entertainment. It also had failed venues in football (the [[XFL]]) and body building. The WWE puts on live and telecast wrestling shows, produces [[video games]] and licenses various products. The company was previously known was the WWF, (World Wrestling Federation) before changing its name. It is the largest entertainment wrestling organization in the world.

[[Vince McMahon]] is the majority owner and Chairman of the company and his wife [[Linda McMahon]] holds the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Together with their children, Executive Vice President of Global Media [[Shane McMahon]] and Senior Vice President of Creative Writing [[Stephanie McMahon]], the McMahons hold approximately 70% of WWE's economic interest and 96% of all voting power in the company.

The company's main headquarters is located at 1241 East Main Street in Stamford, [[Connecticut]]. There are also international offices in [[Los Angeles]], [[New York City]], [[London]], and [[Toronto]].

Some promotional names that the WWE maintains:

*[[WWE Raw|RAW]]
*[[WWE Friday Night SmackDown!|SmackDown!]]
*[[WWE NXT|NXT]]
*[[WWE Superstars|Superstars]]

WWE's revenue in fiscal 2006 (from May 2005 to April 2006) was approximately $400 million (US), with a net profit of approximately $47 million. As of August 2006, the company's market capitalization is over $1 billion (US). Its stock is traded on the NYSE <ref>http://www.nyse.com/about/listed/wwe.html WWE</ref>.

==History==

The World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) was born in 1963 when Vince J. McMahon split off from the larger NWA league which was mostly a series of "mom and pop" wrestling entertainment outfits with each organization staying in its own area. The company was renamed the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1979. Under Vince K. McMahon, Vince J. McMahon's son, the WWF would start to go national in the 1980's, breaking the unwritten rule of not encroaching on the turf of other regional leagues. As his revenue increased, he also started to sign the best known names from other organizations.

The breakthrough signing that became the first nationally recognized superstar was [[Hulk Hogan]] who, due to his appearance in Rocky III, had a national recognition that few other wrestlers could manage. Other big named wrestlers were brought in including [[Andre the Giant]]. Superstardom hit paydirt with the production of the first nationwide Pay per view [[Wrestlemania]] in 1985. Incorporating well known actors such as [[Mr. T]] into the production helped to turn the WWF and Wrestlemania into a mainstream hit.

Allegations of steroid abuse hit the WWF in 1994 as well as sexual harassment claims. They were a costly public relations nightmare that led to big cuts in salary for the wrestlers and staffs and saw many wrestlers leave to [[Ted Turner]]'s WCW league including Hulk Hogan.

"Stone Cold" [[Steve Austin]] rose as a star in the late 1990s in a new edgier era that saw a movement away from family fun to attacking authority, more violence, and swearing. The WWF and the WCW went more head to head during this time including having competing wrestling shows on Monday nights.

==Going Public==

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.

On the back of the success of the Attitude Era, on October 19, 1999 the WWF's parent company, Titan Sports (by this time renamed World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc.) became a publicly traded company, offering 10 million shares priced at $17 each. WWF announced its desire to diversify, including creating a nightclub in Times Square, producing feature films, and book publishing.

In 2000 the WWF, in collaboration with television network NBC, announced the creation of the XFL, a new professional American football league that debuted in 2001. The league had surprisingly 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 primetime 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 UPN demanded that SmackDown! be cut by half an hour, McMahon shut down the XFL.<ref>[http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/news/2001/05/10/xfl_folds_ap/ sportsillustrated.cnn.com]</ref>

In March 2001 McMahon's empire grew when he acquired his main competitor WCW, which had been losing money and was sold for about $7 million.

In May 2002 the name of the company was changed from the WWF to the WWE after it was ruled that the World Widelife Fund owned the rights to the WWF label in the United Kingdom.<ref>http://contracts.corporate.findlaw.com/agreements/wwf/worldwildlife.1997.01.20.html</ref>.<ref>http://corporate.wwe.com/news/2002/2002_05_06.jsp</ref>

Another smaller wrestling company, Extreme Championship Wrestling, was purchased in mid 2003.

In April 2002, about a month before the name change, WWE decided to create two separate rosters, one on ''RAW'', the other on ''SmackDown!'' due to the overabundance of talent left over from the ''Invasion'' storyline (which involved talent from the absorbed ECW and WCW rosters interacting in WWF storylines). This is known as the WWE ''Brand Extension''. Following the Brand Extension, a yearly ''Draft Lottery'' was instituted to exchange members of each roster and generally refresh the lineups.

In August 2002, the company launched [[WWE Niagara Falls]], a retail establishment in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

In 2003, WWE held their first annual "Tribute to the Troops" shows in [[Iraq]] and [[Afghanistan]].<ref>http://corporate.wwe.com/community/troops.jsp</ref>

On May 26 2006, WWE revived Extreme Championship Wrestling as its third brand with the new ECW program airing Tuesday nights on the Sci Fi Channel.<ref>http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/scifi|accessdate</ref>

== Championships and accomplishments ==
==== Current champions ====

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Brand
!Championship
!Current Champion
!Date won
!Date aired
|-style="background: #FFEEEE"
|rowspan=2 align="center" |[[WWE Raw|RAW]]
|[[WWE Heavyweight Championship]]
|[[CM Punk]]
|November 20, 2011
|November 20, 2011
|-style="background: #FFEEEE"
|[[WWE United States Championship]]
|[[Santino Marella]]
|March 5, 2012
|March 5, 2012
|-style="background: #FFEEEE"
|rowspan=2 align="center" |[[WWE Friday Night Smackdown!|Smackdown!]]
|[[World Heavyweight Championship]]
|[[Sheamus]]
|April 1, 2012
|April 1, 2012
|-style="background: #EEEEFF"
|[[WWE Intercontinental Championship]]
|[[Cody Rhodes]]
|April 29,2012
|April 29,2012
|-style="background: #EEEEFF"
|rowspan=3 align="center" |[[Interbrand Championships]]
|-style="background: #FFEEEE"
|[[WWE Diva's Championship]]
|[[Layla]]
|April 29, 2012
|April 29, 2012
|-style="background: #FFEEEE"
|[[WWE Tag Team Championship]]
|[[Kofi Kingston]] and [[R-Truth]]
|April 30, 2012
|April 30, 2012
|}

==== Accomplishments ====
{| class="wikitable"
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Brand
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Accomplishment
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Latest winner
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Date won
|-
|-style="background: #EEEEFF;"
|-
|rowspan=3 align=center|[[WWE Raw|RAW]], [[WWE Friday Night SmackDown!|SmackDown!]]
|[[Royal Rumble]]
|[[Sheamus]]
|January 29, 2012
|-
|[[Money in the Bank ladder match|Money in the Bank]]
|[[Alberto Del Rio ''Raw Money In The Bank'', Daniel Bryan ''Smackdown Money In The Bank'']]
|July 17, 2011
|-
|[[WWE Diva Search|Diva Search]]
|[[Eve Torres]]
|October 29, 2007
|}

==== Current developmental territory champions ====
{| class="wikitable"
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Promotion
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Championship
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Current champion(s)
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Date won
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Date aired
|-style="background: #FFFFEE;"
|rowspan=3 align=center|[[Florida Championship Wrestling|FCW]]
|[[FCW 15 Champion]]
|[[Richie Steamboat]]
|January 13, 2012
|N/A ([[FCW Arena]])
|-
|-style="background: #FFFFEE;"
|[[FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship|FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion]]
|[[Seth Rollins]]
|February 23, 2012
|N/A ([[FCW Arena]])
|-
|-style="background: #FFFFEE;"
|[[FCW Florida Tag Team Championship|FCW Florida Tag Team Champions]]
|[[Jake Carter & Cory Graves]]
|March 15, 2012
|N/A ([[FCW Arena]])
|-
|}

===Defunct championships===
*[[WWE Cruiserweight Championship]] (1991-2007)
*[[WWE Hardcore Championship]] (1998-2002)
*[[WWE European Championship]] (1997-2002)
*[[WCW World Heavyweight Championship]] (2001)
*[[WCW World Tag Team Championship]] (2001)
*[[WWF Light Heavyweight Championship]] (1981-2001) (recognized officially 1997-2001)
*[[Million Dollar Championship|WWF Million Dollar Championship]] (1989-1992, 1995-1996)
*[[WWF Intercontinental Tag Team Championship]] (1991)
*[[WWF Women's Tag Team Championship]] (1983-1989)
*[[WWF Canadian Championship]] (1985-1986)
*[[WWF International Heavyweight Championship]] (1959-1963, 1982-1985)
*[[WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship]] (1967-1985)
*[[WWF International Tag Team Championship]] (1969-1985)
*[[WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship]] (1978-1985)
*[[WWF North American Heavyweight Championship]] (1979-1981)
*[[WWWF United States Championship]] (1970-1975)
*[[WWWF United States Tag Team Championship]] (1963-1967)
*[[WWE ECW Championship]] (2006-2010)
*[[ECW Championship]] (1994-2001)
*[[WWE World Tag Team Championship]] (1971-2010) Unified with the WWE Tag Team Championship to create the WWE Unified Tag Team Championship
*[[ECW Television Championship]] (1992-2000)
*[[ECW Tag Team Championship]] (1992-2000)
*[[WWE Women's Championship]] (1956-2010) Unified with the Diva's Championship and now solely the Diva's Championship

===Defunct accomplishments===
*[[King of the Ring]] (1985-89, 1991, 1993-2002, 2006, 2012)

==References==
<div class="references-small">
<references/>
</div>

==External links==
*[http://www.wwe.com WWE.com]
*[http://corporate.wwe.com/ Official WWE Corporate Website]
*[http://finance.yahoo.com/q?d=t&s=WWE WWE Stock]
*[http://www.wwe.co.jp Official WWE Japanese Website]

[[Category:Wrestling]]
[[category:entertainment]]
[[Category:World Wrestling Entertainment]]

World Wrestling Entertainment

2012-05-02T17:44:55Z

CBauer23:

'''World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.''' ('''WWE''') is a publicly-traded company dealing with wrestling entertainment. It also had failed venues in football (the [[XFL]]) and body building. The WWE puts on live and telecast wrestling shows, produces [[video games]] and licenses various products. The company was previously known was the WWF, (World Wrestling Federation) before changing its name. It is the largest entertainment wrestling organization in the world.

[[Vince McMahon]] is the majority owner and Chairman of the company and his wife [[Linda McMahon]] holds the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Together with their children, Executive Vice President of Global Media [[Shane McMahon]] and Senior Vice President of Creative Writing [[Stephanie McMahon]], the McMahons hold approximately 70% of WWE's economic interest and 96% of all voting power in the company.

The company's main headquarters is located at 1241 East Main Street in Stamford, [[Connecticut]]. There are also international offices in [[Los Angeles]], [[New York City]], [[London]], and [[Toronto]].

Some promotional names that the WWE has/had:

*[[WWE Raw|RAW]]
*[[WWE Friday Night SmackDown!|SmackDown!]]
*[[Extreme Championship Wrestling (WWE)|ECW]] now defunct.

WWE's revenue in fiscal 2006 (from May 2005 to April 2006) was approximately $400 million (US), with a net profit of approximately $47 million. As of August 2006, the company's market capitalization is over $1 billion (US). Its stock is traded on the NYSE <ref>http://www.nyse.com/about/listed/wwe.html WWE</ref>.

==History==

The World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) was born in 1963 when Vince J. McMahon split off from the larger NWA league which was mostly a series of "mom and pop" wrestling entertainment outfits with each organization staying in its own area. The company was renamed the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1979. Under Vince K. McMahon, Vince J. McMahon's son, the WWF would start to go national in the 1980's, breaking the unwritten rule of not encroaching on the turf of other regional leagues. As his revenue increased, he also started to sign the best known names from other organizations.

The breakthrough signing that became the first nationally recognized superstar was [[Hulk Hogan]] who, due to his appearance in Rocky III, had a national recognition that few other wrestlers could manage. Other big named wrestlers were brought in including [[Andre the Giant]]. Superstardom hit paydirt with the production of the first nationwide Pay per view [[Wrestlemania]] in 1985. Incorporating well known actors such as [[Mr. T]] into the production helped to turn the WWF and Wrestlemania into a mainstream hit.

Allegations of steroid abuse hit the WWF in 1994 as well as sexual harassment claims. They were a costly public relations nightmare that led to big cuts in salary for the wrestlers and staffs and saw many wrestlers leave to [[Ted Turner]]'s WCW league including Hulk Hogan.

"Stone Cold" [[Steve Austin]] rose as a star in the late 1990s in a new edgier era that saw a movement away from family fun to attacking authority, more violence, and swearing. The WWF and the WCW went more head to head during this time including having competing wrestling shows on Monday nights.

==Going Public==

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.

On the back of the success of the Attitude Era, on October 19, 1999 the WWF's parent company, Titan Sports (by this time renamed World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc.) became a publicly traded company, offering 10 million shares priced at $17 each. WWF announced its desire to diversify, including creating a nightclub in Times Square, producing feature films, and book publishing.

In 2000 the WWF, in collaboration with television network NBC, announced the creation of the XFL, a new professional American football league that debuted in 2001. The league had surprisingly 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 primetime 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 UPN demanded that SmackDown! be cut by half an hour, McMahon shut down the XFL.<ref>[http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/news/2001/05/10/xfl_folds_ap/ sportsillustrated.cnn.com]</ref>

In March 2001 McMahon's empire grew when he acquired his main competitor WCW, which had been losing money and was sold for about $7 million.

In May 2002 the name of the company was changed from the WWF to the WWE after it was ruled that the World Widelife Fund owned the rights to the WWF label in the United Kingdom.<ref>http://contracts.corporate.findlaw.com/agreements/wwf/worldwildlife.1997.01.20.html</ref>.<ref>http://corporate.wwe.com/news/2002/2002_05_06.jsp</ref>

Another smaller wrestling company, Extreme Championship Wrestling, was purchased in mid 2003.

In April 2002, about a month before the name change, WWE decided to create two separate rosters, one on ''RAW'', the other on ''SmackDown!'' due to the overabundance of talent left over from the ''Invasion'' storyline (which involved talent from the absorbed ECW and WCW rosters interacting in WWF storylines). This is known as the WWE ''Brand Extension''. Following the Brand Extension, a yearly ''Draft Lottery'' was instituted to exchange members of each roster and generally refresh the lineups.

In August 2002, the company launched [[WWE Niagara Falls]], a retail establishment in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

In 2003, WWE held their first annual "Tribute to the Troops" shows in [[Iraq]] and [[Afghanistan]].<ref>http://corporate.wwe.com/community/troops.jsp</ref>

On May 26 2006, WWE revived Extreme Championship Wrestling as its third brand with the new ECW program airing Tuesday nights on the Sci Fi Channel.<ref>http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/scifi|accessdate</ref>

== Championships and accomplishments ==
==== Current champions ====

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Brand
!Championship
!Current Champion
!Date won
!Date aired
|-style="background: #FFEEEE"
|rowspan=4 align="center" |[[WWE Raw|RAW]]
|[[WWE Heavyweight Championship]]
|[[CM Punk]]
|November 20, 2011
|November 20, 2011
|-style="background: #FFEEEE"
|[[WWE United States Championship]]
|[[Santino Marella]]
|March 5, 2012
|March 5, 2012
|-style="background: #FFEEEE"
|[[WWE Diva's Championship]]
|[[Layla]]
|April 29, 2012
|April 29, 2012
|-style="background: #FFEEEE"
|[[WWE Tag Team Championship]]
|[[Kofi Kingston]] and [[R-Truth]]
|April 30, 2012
|April 30, 2012
|-style="background: #EEEEFF"
|rowspan=3 align="center" |[[WWE Friday Night SmackDown!|SmackDown!]]
|[[World Heavyweight Championship]]
|[[Sheamus]]
|April 1, 2012
|April 1, 2012
|-style="background: #EEEEFF"
|[[WWE Intercontinental Championship]]
|[[Cody Rhodes]]
|April 29,2012
|April 29,2012
|-style="background: #FFEEEE"
|[[WWE Diva's Championship]]
|[[Layla]]
|April 29, 2012
|April 29, 2012
|-style="background: #E7DDEE;"
|rowspan=1 align=center|[[Extreme Championship Wrestling (WWE)|ECW]]
|[[ECW Championship (now defunct)]]
|[[Ezekiel Jackson]]
|February 16, 2010
|February 16, 2010
|}

==== Accomplishments ====
{| class="wikitable"
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Brand
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Accomplishment
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Latest winner
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Date won
|-
|-style="background: #EEEEFF;"
|-
|rowspan=3 align=center|[[WWE Raw|RAW]], [[WWE Friday Night SmackDown!|SmackDown!]]
|[[Royal Rumble]]
|[[Sheamus]]
|January 29, 2012
|-
|[[Money in the Bank ladder match|Money in the Bank]]
|[[Alberto Del Rio ''Raw Money In The Bank'', Daniel Bryan ''Smackdown Money In The Bank'']]
|July 17, 2011
|-
|[[WWE Diva Search|Diva Search]]
|[[Eve Torres]]
|October 29, 2007
|}

==== Current developmental territory champions ====
{| class="wikitable"
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Promotion
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Championship
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Current champion(s)
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Date won
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Date aired
|-style="background: #FFFFEE;"
|rowspan=3 align=center|[[Florida Championship Wrestling|FCW]]
|[[FCW 15 Champion]]
|[[Richie Steamboat]]
|January 13, 2012
|N/A ([[FCW Arena]])
|-
|-style="background: #FFFFEE;"
|[[FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship|FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion]]
|[[Seth Rollins]]
|February 23, 2012
|N/A ([[FCW Arena]])
|-
|-style="background: #FFFFEE;"
|[[FCW Florida Tag Team Championship|FCW Florida Tag Team Champions]]
|[[Jake Carter & Cory Graves]]
|March 15, 2012
|N/A ([[FCW Arena]])
|-
|}

===Defunct championships===
*[[WWE Cruiserweight Championship]] (1991-2007)1
*[[WWE Hardcore Championship]] (1998-2002)
*[[WWE European Championship]] (1997-2002)
*[[WCW World Heavyweight Championship]] (2001)2
*[[WCW World Tag Team Championship]] (2001)2
*[[WWF Light Heavyweight Championship]] (1981-2001) (recognized officially 1997-2001)
*[[Million Dollar Championship|WWF Million Dollar Championship]] (1989-1992, 1995-1996)
*[[WWF Intercontinental Tag Team Championship]] (1991)
*[[WWF Women's Tag Team Championship]] (1983-1989)
*[[WWF Canadian Championship]] (1985-1986)
*[[WWF International Heavyweight Championship]] (1959-1963, 1982-1985)
*[[WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship]] (1967-1985)
*[[WWF International Tag Team Championship]] (1969-1985)
*[[WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship]] (1978-1985)
*[[WWF North American Heavyweight Championship]] (1979-1981)
*[[WWWF United States Championship]] (1970-1975)
*[[WWWF United States Tag Team Championship]] (1963-1967)

1WCW Cruiserweight title from 1991 to 2002

2Acquisition of WCW and ECW.

===Defunct accomplishments===
*[[King of the Ring]] (1985-89, 1991, 1993-2002, 2006, 2012)

==References==
<div class="references-small">
<references/>
</div>

==External links==
*[http://www.wwe.com WWE.com]
*[http://corporate.wwe.com/ Official WWE Corporate Website]
*[http://finance.yahoo.com/q?d=t&s=WWE WWE Stock]
*[http://www.wwe.co.jp Official WWE Japanese Website]

[[Category:Wrestling]]
[[category:entertainment]]
[[Category:World Wrestling Entertainment]]

WWE Championship

2012-05-02T16:00:28Z

CBauer23:

The '''WWE Championship''' is the top [[Championship belt|prize]] in [[World Wrestling Entertainment]]. It is currently held by [[CM Punk]]. [[CM Punk]] has been the titleholder since he won the belt from [[Alberto Del Rio]] on November 20, 2011. <ref>[http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/wwechampionship/ WWE Official Website].</ref>

==References==
<references/>

[[category:Wrestling]]

World Wrestling Entertainment

2012-05-02T15:55:27Z

CBauer23: A simple udpate of the brands and current champions/championships and the brands they're on.

'''World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.''' ('''WWE''') is a publicly-traded company dealing with wrestling entertainment. It also had failed venues in football (the [[XFL]]) and body building. The WWE puts on live and telecast wrestling shows, produces [[video games]] and licenses various products. The company was previously known was the WWF, (World Wrestling Federation) before changing its name. It is the largest entertainment wrestling organization in the world.

[[Vince McMahon]] is the majority owner and Chairman of the company and his wife [[Linda McMahon]] holds the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Together with their children, Executive Vice President of Global Media [[Shane McMahon]] and Senior Vice President of Creative Writing [[Stephanie McMahon]], the McMahons hold approximately 70% of WWE's economic interest and 96% of all voting power in the company.

The company's main headquarters is located at 1241 East Main Street in Stamford, [[Connecticut]]. There are also international offices in [[Los Angeles]], [[New York City]], [[London]], and [[Toronto]].

Some promotional names that the WWE has/had:

*[[WWE Raw|RAW]]
*[[WWE Friday Night SmackDown!|SmackDown!]]
*[[Extreme Championship Wrestling (WWE)|ECW]] now defunct.

WWE's revenue in fiscal 2006 (from May 2005 to April 2006) was approximately $400 million (US), with a net profit of approximately $47 million. As of August 2006, the company's market capitalization is over $1 billion (US). Its stock is traded on the NYSE <ref>http://www.nyse.com/about/listed/wwe.html WWE</ref>.

==History==

The World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) was born in 1963 when Vince McMahon split off from the larger NWA league which was mostly a series of "mom and pop" wrestling entertainment outfits with each organization staying in its own area. The company was renamed the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1979. Under McMahon, the WWF would start to go national in the 1980's, breaking the unwritten rule of not encroaching on the turf of other regional leagues. As his revenue increased, he also started to sign the best known names from other organizations.

The breakthrough signing that became the first nationally recognized superstar was [[Hulk Hogan]] who, due to his appearance in Rocky III, had a national recognition that few other wrestlers could manage. Other big named wrestlers were brought in including [[Andre the Giant]]. Superstardom hit paydirt with the production of the first nationwide Pay per view [[Wrestlemania]] in 1985. Incorporating well known actors such as [[Mr. T]] into the production helped to turn the WWF and Wrestlemania into a mainstream hit.

Allegations of steroid abuse hit the WWF in 1994 as well as sexual harassment claims. They were a costly public relations nightmare that led to big cuts in salary for the wrestlers and staffs and saw many wrestlers leave to [[Ted Turner]]'s WCW league including Hulk Hogan.

"Stone Cold" [[Steve Austin]] rose as a star in the late 1990s in a new edgier era that saw a movement away from family fun to attacking authority, more violence, and swearing. The WWF and the WCW went more head to head during this time including having competing wrestling shows on Monday nights.

==Going Public==

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.

On the back of the success of the Attitude Era, on October 19, 1999 the WWF's parent company, Titan Sports (by this time renamed World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc.) became a publicly traded company, offering 10 million shares priced at $17 each. WWF announced its desire to diversify, including creating a nightclub in Times Square, producing feature films, and book publishing.

In 2000 the WWF, in collaboration with television network NBC, announced the creation of the XFL, a new professional American football league that debuted in 2001. The league had surprisingly 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 primetime 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 UPN demanded that SmackDown! be cut by half an hour, McMahon shut down the XFL.<ref>[http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/news/2001/05/10/xfl_folds_ap/ sportsillustrated.cnn.com]</ref>

In March 2001 McMahon's empire grew when he acquired his main competitor WCW, which had been losing money and was sold for about $7 million.

In May 2002 the name of the company was changed from the WWF to the WWE after it was ruled that the World Widelife Fund owned the rights to the WWF label in the United Kingdom.<ref>http://contracts.corporate.findlaw.com/agreements/wwf/worldwildlife.1997.01.20.html</ref>.<ref>http://corporate.wwe.com/news/2002/2002_05_06.jsp</ref>

Another smaller wrestling company, Extreme Championship Wrestling, was purchased in mid 2003.

In April 2002, about a month before the name change, WWE decided to create two separate rosters, one on ''RAW'', the other on ''SmackDown!'' due to the overabundance of talent left over from the ''Invasion'' storyline (which involved talent from the absorbed ECW and WCW rosters interacting in WWF storylines). This is known as the WWE ''Brand Extension''. Following the Brand Extension, a yearly ''Draft Lottery'' was instituted to exchange members of each roster and generally refresh the lineups.

In August 2002, the company launched [[WWE Niagara Falls]], a retail establishment in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

In 2003, WWE held their first annual "Tribute to the Troops" shows in [[Iraq]] and [[Afghanistan]].<ref>http://corporate.wwe.com/community/troops.jsp</ref>

On May 26 2006, WWE revived Extreme Championship Wrestling as its third brand with the new ECW program airing Tuesday nights on the Sci Fi Channel.<ref>http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/scifi|accessdate</ref>

== Championships and accomplishments ==
==== Current champions ====

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Brand
!Championship
!Current Champion
!Date won
!Date aired
|-style="background: #FFEEEE"
|rowspan=4 align="center" |[[WWE Raw|RAW]]
|[[WWE Heavyweight Championship]]
|[[CM Punk]]
|November 20, 2011
|November 20, 2011
|-style="background: #FFEEEE"
|[[WWE United States Championship]]
|[[Santino Marella]]
|March 5, 2012
|March 5, 2012
|-style="background: #FFEEEE"
|[[WWE Diva's Championship]]
|[[Layla]]
|April 29, 2012
|April 29, 2012
|-style="background: #FFEEEE"
|[[WWE Tag Team Championship]]
|[[Kofi Kingston]] and [[R-Truth]]
|April 30, 2012
|April 30, 2012
|-style="background: #EEEEFF"
|rowspan=3 align="center" |[[WWE Friday Night SmackDown!|SmackDown!]]
|[[World Heavyweight Championship]]
|[[Sheamus]]
|April 1, 2012
|April 1, 2012
|-style="background: #EEEEFF"
|[[WWE Intercontinental Championship]]
|[[Cody Rhodes]]
|April 29,2012
|April 29,2012
|-style="background: #FFEEEE"
|[[WWE Diva's Championship]]
|[[Layla]]
|April 29, 2012
|April 29, 2012
|-style="background: #E7DDEE;"
|rowspan=1 align=center|[[Extreme Championship Wrestling (WWE)|ECW]]
|[[ECW Championship (now defunct)]]
|[[Ezekiel Jackson]]
|February 16, 2010
|February 16, 2010
|}

==== Accomplishments ====
{| class="wikitable"
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Brand
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Accomplishment
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Latest winner
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Date won
|-
|-style="background: #EEEEFF;"
|-
|rowspan=3 align=center|[[WWE Raw|RAW]], [[WWE Friday Night SmackDown!|SmackDown!]]
|[[Royal Rumble]]
|[[Sheamus]]
|January 29, 2012
|-
|[[Money in the Bank ladder match|Money in the Bank]]
|[[Alberto Del Rio ''Raw Money In The Bank'', Daniel Bryan ''Smackdown Money In The Bank'']]
|July 17, 2011
|-
|[[WWE Diva Search|Diva Search]]
|[[Eve Torres]]
|October 29, 2007
|}

==== Current developmental territory champions ====
{| class="wikitable"
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Promotion
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Championship
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Current champion(s)
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Date won
!style="background: #e3e3e3;"|Date aired
|-style="background: #FFFFEE;"
|rowspan=3 align=center|[[Florida Championship Wrestling|FCW]]
|[[FCW 15 Champion]]
|[[Richie Steamboat]]
|January 13, 2012
|N/A ([[FCW Arena]])
|-
|-style="background: #FFFFEE;"
|[[FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship|FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion]]
|[[Seth Rollins]]
|February 23, 2012
|N/A ([[FCW Arena]])
|-
|-style="background: #FFFFEE;"
|[[FCW Florida Tag Team Championship|FCW Florida Tag Team Champions]]
|[[Jake Carter & Cory Graves]]
|March 15, 2012
|N/A ([[FCW Arena]])
|-
|}

===Defunct championships===
*[[WWE Cruiserweight Championship]] (1991-2007)1
*[[WWE Hardcore Championship]] (1998-2002)
*[[WWE European Championship]] (1997-2002)
*[[WCW World Heavyweight Championship]] (2001)2
*[[WCW World Tag Team Championship]] (2001)2
*[[WWF Light Heavyweight Championship]] (1981-2001) (recognized officially 1997-2001)
*[[Million Dollar Championship|WWF Million Dollar Championship]] (1989-1992, 1995-1996)
*[[WWF Intercontinental Tag Team Championship]] (1991)
*[[WWF Women's Tag Team Championship]] (1983-1989)
*[[WWF Canadian Championship]] (1985-1986)
*[[WWF International Heavyweight Championship]] (1959-1963, 1982-1985)
*[[WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship]] (1967-1985)
*[[WWF International Tag Team Championship]] (1969-1985)
*[[WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship]] (1978-1985)
*[[WWF North American Heavyweight Championship]] (1979-1981)
*[[WWWF United States Championship]] (1970-1975)
*[[WWWF United States Tag Team Championship]] (1963-1967)

1WCW Cruiserweight title from 1991 to 2002

2Acquisition of WCW and ECW.

===Defunct accomplishments===
*[[King of the Ring]] (1985-89, 1991, 1993-2002, 2006, 2012)

==References==
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</div>

==External links==
*[http://www.wwe.com WWE.com]
*[http://corporate.wwe.com/ Official WWE Corporate Website]
*[http://finance.yahoo.com/q?d=t&s=WWE WWE Stock]
*[http://www.wwe.co.jp Official WWE Japanese Website]

[[Category:Wrestling]]
[[category:entertainment]]
[[Category:World Wrestling Entertainment]]