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'''World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.''' ('''WWE''') is a publicly-traded company dealing with [[professional wrestling ]] entertainment. It also had failed venues in football (the [[XFL]]) and body building(the World Bodybuilding Federation). 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) , and before 1979 the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), before changing its namein 2002. It is the largest entertainment wrestling organization in the world.

WWE events are scripted performances with predetermined winners/losers (though unexpected events, sometimes tragic, have taken place during events; notably the death of [[Owen Hart]] after a mechanical failure caused him to fall into the ring with no protection). As such, it prefers to use the term "sports entertainment" to distinguish itself from actual wrestling events. [[Vince McMahon]] is the majority owner and Chairman of the company and his wife [[Linda McMahon]] holds held 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 McMahonLevesque]], the McMahons hold approximately 70% of WWE's economic interest and 96% of all voting power in the company.

Some promotional names that the The WWE hasmaintains three promotional brands:

*''[[WWE Raw|RAW]]''*''[[WWE Friday Night SmackDown!|SmackDown!]]''*''[[Extreme Championship Wrestling (WWE)NXT|ECWNXT]]. ''

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>.

The World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) breakthrough signing that became the first nationally recognized superstar was born former AWA wrestler [[Hulk Hogan]] who, due to his appearance in 1963 when Vince McMahon split off from the larger NWA league which was mostly movie ''Rocky III'', had a series of "mom and pop" wrestling entertainment outfits with each organization staying national recognition that few other wrestlers could manage. Other big named wrestlers were brought in its own area. The company was renamed including [[Andre the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1979Giant]]. Under McMahon, Superstardom hit paydirt with the WWF would start to go national in the 1980's, breaking the unwritten rule production of not encroaching on the turf of other regional leaguesfirst nationwide Pay per view [[WrestleMania]] in 1985. As his revenue increased, he also started Incorporating well known actors such as [[Mr. T]] into the production helped to sign turn the best known names from other organizationsWWF and WrestleMania into a mainstream hit.

The breakthrough signing that became Allegations of steroid abuse hit the first nationally recognized superstar was [[Hulk Hogan]] who, due to his appearance WWF in Rocky III, had 1994 as well as sexual harassment claims. They were a national recognition costly public relations nightmare that few other wrestlers could manage. Other led to big named wrestlers were brought cuts in including [[Andre salary for the Giant]]. Superstardom hit paydirt with the production of the first nationwide Pay per view wrestlers and staffs and saw many wrestlers leave for [[WrestlemaniaTed Turner]] in 1985. Incorporating well known actors such as 's [[Mr. TWorld Championship Wrestling]] into (the production helped to turn the WWF and Wrestlemania into a mainstream hitformer JCP, which Turner bought in 1988), including Hulk Hogan.

Allegations of steroid abuse hit Due to the WWF in 1994 steroid allegations, as well as sexual harassment claimsWCW signing away many wrestlers from the WWF, the company began promoting what they called the New Generation around 1994. They This era focused less on wrestlers with bodybuilder physiques and more on performance. The two big names during this time were a costly public relations nightmare that led Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels, who were smaller, but were known to big cuts be great performers. Other wrestlers who were prominent during this time included the Undertaker, Diesel, and Razor Ramon. Talent who would become prominent in salary for the wrestlers Attitude Era also began to be shown during this time. Most notably, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Mick Foley, The Rock, and staffs Triple H. In 1996, Diesel (Kevin Nash) and saw many wrestlers Razor Ramon (Scott Hall) would leave for WCW. Their last night with the company has been known as the "Curtain Call." At a house show at Madison Square Garden, Hall and Nash, along with Hunter Hearst Helmsley (Triple H) and Shawn Michaels broke character to [[Ted Turner]]'s bid each other farewell. The four were part of a backstage group known as "The Kliq," which also consisted of Sean Waltman, who was not with the company at the time. As a result, since Hall and Nash were leaving for WCW league including and Shawn Michaels was the WWE Champion at the time, only Triple H was punished for the incident. Originally, Triple H was to win the 1996 King of the Ring, but did not. Instead, Stone Cold Steve Austin would win, leading to his now famous Austin 3:16 line and his eventual rise in the company. However, Triple H would win in 1997. Meanwhile, Hall and Nash would start appearing on WCW television in the summer of 1996. Eventually, they would form the heel stable the New World Order, or nWo, with Hulk Hogan.

"Stone Cold" [[Steve Austin]] rose as a star in the late 1990s in a new edgier era that what is known as The Attitude Era, which 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. Superstars such as The Rock, The Undertaker, Mick Foley, Triple H, and Kane were prominent during this time. The Attitude Era also had controversial storylines, such as the Ministry of Darkness, in which the Undertaker formed a Satanist-like faction. As a response to the nWo, the WWF formed their own faction in D-Generation X, or DX for short. In contrast to the nWo, which had more of a gang mentality, DX took a more juvenile prankster approach. The group was originally composed of Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and Chyna. After WrestleMania XIV, Michaels would retire from in-ring action, although he would occasionally be a part of WWF storylines. He would actually return to in-ring action on March 21, 2000, at an event in Texas for independent promotion the Texas Wrestling Alliance (a promotion attached to Michaels' wrestling school, the Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy); at that card's main event, Michaels defeated ECW star Justin Credible to win the TWA Heavyweight Championship, only to vacate the title soon afterward.<ref>[https://www.wrestlingdata.com/index.php?befehl=titles&kategorie=2&liga=157&titel=195 Texas Wrestling Alliance Heavyweight Championship history]</ref> However, his return to WWE would occur at SummerSlam 2002, in a match with Triple H. Triple H took control of DX, and added Sean Waltman, who had been known as the 1-2-3 Kid years prior in WWE, and was known as Syxx in WCW as X-Pac. The New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg and Billy Gunn), who had already been associated with DX formed the DX Army. At SummerSlam 1997, Austin suffered a neck injury during a match with Owen Hart in which Hart botched a piledriver. At Survivor Series 1999, he was written out of WWF storylines in order to have neck surgery that would keep him out of action for the majority of 2000. During Austin's absence, fellow WWF superstar The Rock would begin to rise in popularity. Eventually, he would become just as big as Austin was, becoming the top babyface in the company during Austin's absence. Although some would argue that The Rock became an even bigger star than Austin. It was also during this time another superstar began to rise in Triple H, who had become the top heel in the company. In September 2000, Austin returned to the WWF at the Unforgiven pay-per-view. However, it would be another month or so before he would begin competing in matches on a regular basis. In March 2001, the WWF bought selected assets of WCW (see Going Public below), ending the Monday Night Wars, as well as the Attitude Era. In the years following, many talent from WCW would have runs in WWE. These include Booker T, Buff Bagwell, and Diamond Dallas Page, who were arguably three of the biggest names the WWF brought over in the immediate months following the purchase. Bagwell was released in July 2001, while Booker T and Page would be apart of the Invasion storyline, which ran for the better part of 2001. Other WCW talent who would come over to the WWF included Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Scott Steiner, and Rey Mysterio. On March 31, 2003, Goldberg, who was WCW's most famous home-grown talent made his debut in WWE, but he left a year later at WrestleMania XX when his contract expired.

From 2002-2008, WWE entered the Ruthless Aggression Era. It retained many aspects of the Attitude Era, but also focused more on in-ring action. Talent who would become prominent during this time period included Brock Lesnar, John Cena, Batista, Randy Orton, CM Punk, and Edge, who had already been with the company for a while but was a mid-carder. Lesnar, Cena, Batista, and Orton all made their television debuts within 2002. In 2008, WWE started the PG Era. With no competition to worry about, as well as the unwanted attention garnered by the Chris Benoit double murder/suicide, WWE decided to go back to more family-friendly programming similar of the late 1980s to early 1990s. Talent such as Daniel Bryan, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, Bray Wyatt, Ryback, and Dolph Ziggler would become major names. On February 24, 2014, WWE launched the WWE Network. The network contains the entire past pay-per-view events from the WWF/WWE, WCW, and ECW, as well as original programming and library programming from the Capitol/WWWF/WWF eras and acquired shows from JCP, the AWA, Canadian promotion Stampede Wrestling and other promotions whose program archives were acquired by WWE. It also features Over the Edge 1999, the event in which Owen Hart died from a botched accident, in its entirety, although the fifteen minutes in which paramedics got Hart out of the ring, and the backstage interview with Jeff Jarrett have been edited out. It also features events featuring Chris Benoit, although an advisory is shown prior. On February 22, 2016, Shane McMahon made his first appearance on WWE programming since 2009. This was to set up a match between McMahon and The Undertaker at WrestleMania 32. Afterward, McMahon would return to Raw, co-running it with his sister, Stephanie McMahon. On May 25, 2016, it was announced that another Brand Extension would take place and ''SmackDown'' would start airing live on Tuesdays on the USA Network starting July 19, 2016. ==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, making ''SmackDown!'' the first weekly wrestling show to air on a broadcast network since ''Wrestling from Marigold Arena'' ended its run on the old DuMont network in March 1955.

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 broadcast network televisionat the time). 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 selected assets of his main competitor WCW(including its trademarks, its video library and selected wrestler contracts, though not the promotion itself), which had been losing money and was sold for about $7 million. The former WCW, which remained under Time Warner ownership, reverted to its previous name of Universal Wrestling Corporation<ref>[http://www.timewarner.com/sites/timewarner.com/files/ckeditor/public/files/Time_Warner_Inc_Entity_List_v7.pdf Time Warner Inc.'s Worldwide Subsidiaries and Affiliated Companies List]</ref> and continued to exist only to deal with old wrestler contracts and lawsuits<ref>[https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ga-court-of-appeals/1204668.html Eudy v. Universal Wrestling Corporation Inc.]</ref> until it officially ceased operations on December 16, 2017 when it was merged into Turner Broadcasting System (which itself effectively ceased operations on March 4, 2019 when [[AT&T]], which had bought Time Warner in June 2018 and renamed it WarnerMedia, dissolved Turner Broadcasting System and dispersed its properties to other WarnerMedia divisions).

In May 2002 the name of the company was changed from the WWF to the WWE after it was ruled that the World Widelife Wildlife 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>

Later in 2002, WWE acquired the assets of the defunct American Wrestling Association (specifically, its trademarks and video library) from AWA founder Verne Gagne. Another smaller defunct wrestling company, Extreme Championship Wrestling(which closed its doors in April 2001, notable for its "hardcore" wrestling style which involved frequent use of outside objects and its lack of any "rules"), had its assets, including its video library, was purchased in mid the summer of 2003.

Initially, WWE had planned to branch WCW into its own entity. The original plan was for ''RAW'' to be the WCW show, while ''SmackDown'' would become the WWE show. However, on July 2, 2001, at a show in Tacoma, the last 20 minutes of ''RAW'' were given to WCW. A match between Booker T and Buff Bagwell for the WCW Championship was met with negative criticism from fans. Attendees at the arena began chanting "This Match Sucks!" and "Boring!" A week later, the Invasion storyline began when ECW was added. 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''. For the first few months of the Brand Extension, the WWE Undisputed Champion appear on both shows. After SummerSlam 2002, Brock Lesnar who had won the Championship from the Rock, signed with SmackDown. With that, the Undisputed WWE Championship once again became the WWE Championship. A week later, Eric Bischoff introduced the Big Gold Belt that once represented the WCW Championship (also called the World Championship), as the World Heavyweight Championship for the RAW brand, and awarded it to Triple H. Following the Brand Extension, a yearly ''Draft Lottery'' was instituted to exchange members of each roster and generally refresh the lineups.

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(now SyFy).<ref>http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/scifi|accessdate</ref>

The final episode of WWE's ECW show 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''. On August 29, 2011, it was announced that ''Raw'' would feature ''SmackDown'' Superstars full-time. As a result, the Brand Extension as well as the Draft, was discontinued. However, on May 25, 2016, WWE announced a new Brand Extension. On the July 19, 2016 episode of ''SmackDown'', the Draft took place. WWE World Heavyweight Champion Dean Ambrose was drafted to ''SmackDown''. In response, Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley announced the creation of the WWE Universal Championship. The WWE World Heavyweight Championship simply became the WWE World Championship. At SummerSlam 2016, Finn Bálor defeated Seth Rollins to become the first ever Universal Champion. == Championships =Impact of COVID-19===On March 13, 2020, WWE began taping shows at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, FL, beginning with SmackDown. Three days later, they announced WrestleMania 36 would take place at the Performance Center, being moved from it's original venue, Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL. Roman Reigns, one of the company's top stars, announced he would appear at the tapings, due to his comprised immune system in part to being a Leukemia patient. Reigns was scheduled to face Goldberg for the WWE Universal Championship, but was replaced with Braun Strowman, won the match. After WrestleMania 36, WWE was set to tape five weeks worth of programming, however when Florida Governor [[Ron DeSantis]] deemed WWE an essential business, the company decided to air live episodes of their programming instead. WWE, and more specifically Vince McMahon, came under much criticism for this decision. WWE's next pay-per-view, Money in the Bank, will take place at WWE Headquarters in Stamford, CT. Instead of being a traditional ladder match, the Money in the Bank ladder match will consist of the participants making their way up to the top of the building to a wrestling ring with ladders inside, and the Money in the Bank briefcase suspended above it. COVID-19 would also alter plans regarding WrestleMania. WrestleMania 37, originally scheduled to take place in Inglewood, CA, was rescheduled to take place at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL, the original site of WrestleMania 36. It did so over the span of two nights, April 11 and April 12, 2021. It was also the first event to feature a live audience in over a year. ==2024 Peacock Schedule== * [[Royal Rumble]]* NXT Vengeance Day* Elimination Chamber: Perth* NXT Stand & Deliver* [[WrestleMania]] XL* Backlash France* Bash In Berlin* Money In The Bank* [[SummerSlam]]* [[Survivor Series|Survivor Series: WarGames]] == Current championships and accomplishments ====== Current champions Raw ====

!Brand!Championship!Current Champion!Date won!Date airedWon|-style="background: #FFEEEE"|rowspan=4 align="center" |[[WWE Raw|RAW]]|[[World Heavyweight Championship]]|[[John Cena]]|November 23, 2008|November 23, 2008|-style="background: #FFEEEE"|[[WWE Intercontinental Championship]]|[[Rey Mysterio]]|April 5, 2009Drew McIntyre|April 57, 20092024|-style="background: #FFEEEE"|[[WWE Women's Championship]]|[[Melina]]|January 25, 2009|January 25, 2009|-style="background: #FFEEEE"|[[World Tag Team Championship (WWE)|World Tag Team Championship]]|[[Carlito]] and [[Primo Colon]]Rhea Ripley|December 13April 1, 2008|N/A2023|-style="background: #EEEEFF"|rowspan=3 align="center" |[[WWE Friday Night SmackDown!|SmackDown!]]|[[WWE Intercontinental Championship]]|[[Triple H]]Sami Zayn|February 15April 6, 2009|February 15, 20092024|-style="background: #EEEEFF"|[[WWE Divas Championship]]|[[Maryse]]|December 22, 2008|December 26, 2008|-style="background: #EEEEFF"|[[WWE Raw Tag Team Championship]]|[[Carlito]] and [[Primo Colon]]The Judgment Day|December 22, 2008|December 26, 2008|-style="background: #E7DDEE;"|rowspan=1 align=center|[[Extreme Championship Wrestling (WWEFinn Bálor and Damian Priest)|ECW]]|[[ECW Championship]]|[[Jack Swagger]]|January 12, 2009|January 13October 16, 20092023

==== Accomplishments SmackDown====

|rowspan=3 align=center|[[WWE Raw|RAW]], [[WWE Friday Night SmackDown!|SmackDown!]], [[Extreme Championship Wrestling (WWE)|ECW]]|[[Royal Rumble]]|[[John Cena]]Cody Rhodes|January 27April 7, 20082024

|[[Money in the Bank ladder match|Money in the Bank]]Universal Championship|[[Phil Brooks|CM Punk]]Cody Rhodes|March 30April 7, 20082024

|[[WWE Diva SearchWomen's Championship|Diva Search]]Bayley|[[Eve Torres]]April 7, 2024|-| United States Championship| Logan Paul| November 4, 2023|-| WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship| The Judgment Day(Finn Bálor and Damian Priest)|October 2916, 20072023

==== Current developmental territory champions NXT====

|-style="background: #FFFFEE;"! Championship|[[FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship|FCW Florida Heavyweight ! Current Champion]]|[[Jake Hager]]|February 15, 2008|N/A (<small>[[House show]]</small>)! Date Won

|-style="background: #FFFFEE;"|[[FCW Florida Tag Team NXT Championship|FCW Florida Tag Team Champions]]|[[The Puerto Rican Nightmares]]<br/>([[Eddie Colón]] and [[Eric Perez]])Ilja Dragunov|February 23September 30, 2008|N/A (<small>[[House show]]</small>)2023

===Defunct championships= Accomplishments ====*[[WWE Cruiserweight Championship]] (1991-2007)<small>1</small>{| class="wikitable"*[[WWE Hardcore Championship]] (1998|-2002)*[[WWE European Championship]] (1997! Accomplishment! Latest Winner! Date Won|-2002)*[[WCW World Heavyweight Championship]] | Royal Rumble (2001Men)<small>2</small>*[[WCW World Tag Team Championship]] (2001)<small>2</small>| Cody Rhodes*[[WWF Light Heavyweight Championship]] (1981| January 27, 2024|-2001) | Royal Rumble (recognized officially 1997-2001Women)*[[Million Dollar Championship|WWF Million Dollar Championship]] (1989-1992Bayley| January 27, 19952024|-1996)*[[WWF Intercontinental Tag Team Championship]] | Money in the Bank (1991Men)*[[WWF Women's Tag Team Championship]] (1983| Damian Priest| July 1, 2023|-1989)*[[WWF Canadian Championship]] | Money in the Bank (1985-1986Women)*[[WWF International Heavyweight Championship]] (1959| Iyo Sky| July 1, 2023|-1963| King of the Ring| Xavier Woods| October 21, 19822021|-1985) *[[WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship]] (1967| Queen's Crown| Zelina Vega| October 21, 2021|-1985)*[[WWF International | Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal| Bobby Lashley| March 31, 2023|-| Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Championship]] Classic (1969-1985Men)*[[WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship]] (1978-1985)| The Creed Brothers*[[WWF North American Heavyweight Championship]] (1979-1981Brutus Creed and Julius Creed)*[[WWWF United States Championship]] (1970| February 15, 2022|-1975)*[[WWWF United States | Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Championship]] Classic (1963-1967Women) <small>1</small>WCW Cruiserweight title from 1991 to 2002 <small>2</small>Acquisition of WCW | Io Shirai and ECW.Kay Lee Ray| March 22, 2022===Defunct accomplishments===|-*[[King of the Ring]] (1985-89, 1991, 1993-2002, 2006)|}

[[Category:WrestlingProfessional wrestling promotions]][[categoryCategory:entertainmentEntertainment]]