^{History of WWE}

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is the biggest sports entertainment company, and its history goes back decades. The evolution of professional wrestling into sports entertainment is a fantastic story that completely changed the landscape of the sport worldwide. Wrestling became a part of pop culture, and the stars were treated like actual mainstream celebrities.

Over the past few years, the popularity has declined, with WWE having to rely on former names from time-to-time to create buzz. It is difficult to find a soul who hasn’t heard of Hulk Hogan or Stone-Cold Steve Austin, with the likes of John Cena, Randy Orton, and Roman Reigns being immensely popular in the current generation.

But how did it all begin? How did WWE go from WWWF to WWF to how it's seen currently? Let’s take a look at the evolution of the company.

 

CWC and WWWF

Vincent J McMahon initially started Capitol Wrestling Corporation and was a part of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) before leaving it in the early 1960s. This led to the formation of the World Wide Wrestling Federation, and Buddy Rogers was crowned as the first-ever WWWF World Heavyweight Champion. The title is currently known as the WWE Championship, but it all started out nearly 60 years ago.

Buddy Rogers lost the title to Bruno Sammartino, who held it for a record seven years and became a household name during his tenure. Several other stars such as Bob Backlund, Ivan Koloff, Stan Stansiak, etc., helped WWWF to grow with monthly shows at major arenas.

 

WWF

Vincent McMahon joined the business and bought out WWWF, and started a national expansion with WWF. McMahon’s leadership saw WWF become the biggest promotion in the country, and he started out a major annual event named Wrestlemania in 1985, to garner more revenue for his expansion mission. Stars like Hulk Hogan, Andre The Giant, Randy Savage, etc., helped WWF to become a part of mainstream media, with the likes of Muhammad Ali and Mr.T getting associated with the company.

In this time, World Championship Wrestling (WCW)’s birth took place, as the other territory-based wrestling came to a closure. WWF also started more PPVs and secured a TV deal for RAW in 1993.

 

The Monday Night Wars

Several big names like Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Randy Savage, etc. left the company in the mid-90s, which forced WWE to push younger talents like Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, The Undertaker, etc. WCW started out Monday Night Nitro in 1995, and the introduction of the New World Order made them the No.1 company in 1996.

However, WWE countered with the Attitude Era in 1997, a brand of edgier programming, and it changed the game altogether. The rise of Stone-Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, D-Generation X was enough to put WWF back on the top.

It eventually led to WWF buying WCW in 2001, which led to the invasion storyline.

 

The birth of WWE and Ruthless Aggression Era

After buying out WCW, WWF became the sole leader in the wrestling business. The company was forced to change its name to WWE after a copyright issue. The introduction of WCW and ECW stars into the roster forced WWE to hold the first-ever brand split and the introduction of several new titles.

The Ruthless Aggression Era saw the rise of new stars like John Cena, Edge, Randy Orton, Batista, as the old guards like Rock and Steve Austin left the business. WWE positioned John Cena as the face of the company for a majority of the 2000s before he transitioned into a part-time role in 2015.

 

The New Era

The Ruthless Aggression Era was a high-point for the company, but WWE started declining post-that. WWE’s inability to produce new stars became a huge problem, as McMahon’s latest project, Roman Reigns, was not accepted by the fans.

It also gave rise to a completely new brand of programming in NXT, led by Triple H, which has quickly become the best content produced by the company. WWE started to look for different alternatives for Reigns, as the likes of Drew McIntyre, Braun Strowman, Seth Rollins stepped in to fill the role. find out more at https://wrestlingworld.co/