World Wrestling Federation
The World Wrestling Federation (WWF), founded in 1980 by Vince McMahon, was a pioneering force in the professional wrestling industry, transforming it from regional organizations into a nationwide spectacle. Initially, the WWF competed with entities like the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and the American Wrestling Alliance (AWA), which adhered to traditional wrestling formats. McMahon's innovative strategies, including nationwide syndication of events and the introduction of a pay-per-view championship event called WrestleMania in 1985, significantly expanded the WWF's audience, making it a staple of American pop culture.
Notable wrestlers such as Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper, and André the Giant became iconic figures during this era, drawing millions of viewers and contributing to the WWF's reputation as "sports entertainment." The WWF's emphasis on showmanship and dramatic storylines often blended reality with performance, appealing to a broad audience despite facing criticism for its portrayal of violence and other controversial themes. In 2002, due to a trademark dispute with the World Wide Fund for Nature, the organization rebranded itself as World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Despite these challenges, the WWE continues to thrive, influencing global entertainment and maintaining a significant presence in the wrestling industry.
World Wrestling Federation
Identification Professional sports entertainment organization
The forerunner of the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) empire, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) changed the face of professional wrestling. The company transformed the industry from a fractured regional structure with loose alliances into a cohesive national organization and emphasized professional wrestling as a form of entertainment rather than an authentically competitive sport.
During the early years of professional wrestling, a variety of regional organizations dominated the industry, and despite monikers that denoted global competition, most activities focused on personalities and events in the northeastern United States. In 1980, however, a young Vincent McMahon founded Titan Sports, parent company to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). McMahon, a third-generation wrestling entrepreneur, set out to build a national organization; he purchased regional organizations throughout the 1980s and developed national promotional strategies that ran counter to the industry’s traditional territory system. The WWF’s biggest rivals during this period were the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), a group of northeastern independent wrestling promotions, and the American Wrestling Alliance (AWA), a Minneapolis-based territorial organization that held to the tenet that wrestling was to be presented as a traditional sport. The AWA’s matches were aired weekly on the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) on cable television.
WWF Goes Nationwide
In the early 1980s, McMahon infuriated rival promoters by syndicating his wrestling events to television stations nationwide and by selling videotapes of matches via his Coliseum Video distribution company. He used the revenues generated by televised and videotaped matches and advertising to lure major-name wrestlers from other organizations.
The WWF’s most significant talent acquisition during this period was wrestling superstar Hulk Hogan (Terrence Gene Bollea) who had gained national recognition with his appearance in the 1982 film Rocky III , part of the original Rocky franchise. Hogan was frequently pitted against another WWF employee poached from a rival promoter, the Scottish kilt-wearing bodybuilder Roddy Piper (Roderick George Toombs). This pairing created a sense of ongoing and bitter rivalry that rapidly became a mainstay of professional wrestling.
A number of memorable names and personalities followed, including ultrapatriot Sgt. Slaughter (Robert Remus) and his Iranian nemesis the Iron Sheik (Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri). Additional WWF acquisitions during this time included future Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura, who went by the wrestling name "The Body." Ventura typically acted as a commentator rather than a competitor due to health problems. Other popular personalities included Don Muraco (Don Morrow), a huge Hawaiian wrestler with an arrogant and intimidating persona, and the nearly seven-foot-tall André the Giant (André René Roussimoff). Roussimoff, who had a rare pituitary disorder, also appeared both on television series and in film; he may be best known for his role in the 1987 classic The Princess Bride.
Among other significant changes during this period was the introduction in 1985 of a nationwide pay-per-view championship event, WrestleMania, billed by WWF promoter McMahon as the Super Bowl of professional wrestling. Unlike other national wrestling events, which generally attracted only dedicated wrestling fans, WrestleMania targeted a wider, more mainstream audience by involving celebrities outside wrestling, such as Mr. T and Cyndi Lauper. McMahon later noted that the introduction of WrestleMania was a major turning point in the identification of professional wrestling as “sports entertainment.” The fledgling MTV also helped promote professional wrestling in what was termed the “Rock ’n’ Wrestling Connection,” which featured significant WWF coverage and programming.
The WWF’s business and profits continued to excel through the 1980s, driven in large part by Hogan's popularity. However, Hogan left the organization in 1993 to focus on acting, and when he returned to wrestling the following year he joined the rival World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Meanwhile, the WWF also weathered a scandal over steroids and various criticisms of its impact on popular culture, especially regarding its embrace of violence. Still, the WWF remained successful as it continued to evolve through the 1990s. New stars emerged, and the Monday Night Raw cable program became a popular staple. While real-life controversies often intermingled with the organization's planned dramatic story lines, the company had firmly established itself as a major media presence.
In 2002, the international conservation group World Wide Fund for Nature, known since its founding in 1961 as WWF when it registered the initials and a panda bear symbol as its trademarks, successfully sued the World Wrestling Federation for the sole right to use the initials "WWF." The wrestling group then officially changed its name to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), which cost tens of millions of dollars in changes to merchandise, signage, and other rebranding efforts. McMahon would continue to lead the organization into the 2020s.
Impact
The WWF was a major component of the Second Golden Age of Wrestling and was responsible for revitalizing the sport by emphasizing showmanship and promoting its entertainment value at the national and international scale. Intricate, soap-opera-like plotlines enhanced the wrestling matches and lured millions of viewers from all over the world. This focus on entertainment also de-emphasized fair play in favor of dramatic and otherwise unacceptable elements such as cheating, violent acts both inside and outside the ring, shouting matches, and sexual, financial, and relational intrigue. While these elements raised the ire of many social critics, they helped cement the organization's popularity. In the 1980s the WWF established itself as the primary player in the professional wrestling industry, a position it and its successors would maintain for decades.
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