AllAboutWrestling

WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.) is an American professional wrestling promotion. WWE is a global media and entertainment company that has expanded into films, American football, and other sports. The company is also involved in licensing its intellectual property to other companies for use in video game and toy manufacture.

The Capitol Wrestling Corporation was founded in 1953. The roster of the world's largest wrestling business consists of two major touring groups and two developing groups (referred to by WWE as "brands"). WWE content is available in 30 different languages and is seen by over a billion people worldwide. The company's global headquarters are in Stamford, Connecticut, with offices also in New York, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore, Dubai, and Munich.

However, like other professional wrestling organizations, WWE events are entertainment-based performance theater, with fights that are storyline-driven, planned, and partially choreographed. WWE owner Vince McMahon officially claimed in 1989 that professional wrestling is mostly predetermined in order to avoid taxes by athletic commissions. WWE promotes itself as sports entertainment, acknowledging that professional wrestling has its roots in athletic competition as well as theatrical performance.

Vince McMahon, a third-generation wrestling promoter and former chairman and CEO, owns 38.6% of the outstanding shares and 81.1% of the voting power, making him the company's majority owner. The current organization, Titan Sports, Inc., was founded on February 21, 1980, in South Yarmouth, Massachusetts. The company bought Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd., the parent company of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), then known as the World Wide Wrestling Federation, in 1982. (WWWF). In 1999, the corporation previously known as Titan changed its name to World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc., then again in 2002 to WWE. Although the company's legal name has remained the same since 2002, it has been referred to simply as WWE since 2011.


Titan Athletics comes first (1953–1980)

The Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC) staged the first event on January 7, 1953, which marked the beginning of WWE's long and illustrious history. It is unclear who founded the CWC. Some identify Vincent J. McMahon as the inventor of CWC, while others credit his father, Jess McMahon. The CWC eventually joined the NWA, and well-known New York promoter Toots Mondt also joined.

Because the Northeastern United States has a disproportionately large population, Vincent J. McMahon and Toots Mondt climbed fast to prominence, eventually controlling about 70% of the NWA's booking power. McMahon and Mondt had a falling out with the NWA when "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers was slated to defend the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in 1963. Other NWA promoters alleged that in their position as promoters and managers, Mondt and McMahon stopped Rogers from defending his championship in their locations in order to maintain their monopoly on the world title. On January 24, 1963, the NWA famously sent five-time world champion and genuine wrestler Lou Thesz to Toronto to confront Rogers. Thesz claims that this was not prearranged and that he told Buddy before the match that they could "do this the easy way or the hard way." Instead of the normal two out of three falls necessary to defend a world title, Rogers resigned defeat and surrendered the belt in a single battle. When Mondt and McMahon first learned of the title change, they dismissed it. From January through April of 1963, Rogers was labeled as the NWA World Champion (or just the World Heavyweight Champion). The WWWF did not established immediately after Rogers was beaten by Thesz in one fall. Both Mondt and McMahon eventually left the NWA in protest and founded the WWWF. They recruited Willie Gilzenberg, a seasoned New Jersey promoter of boxing and wrestling, to join them. The WWWF World Heavyweight Championship was founded in April 1963, with Rogers becoming the inaugural champion after defeating longtime Capitol Sports favorite Antonino Rocca in a tournament staged in Rio de Janeiro on April 25, 1963. In truth, Rocca had moved to the Carolinas to work for Jim Crockett Sr. Rogers was already hospitalized in Ohio at the time of the purported tournament after suffering a career-ending heart attack on April 18 in Akron. Bruno Sammartino beat Rogers for the championship a month later, on May 17, and the organization moved its emphasis to Sammartino.

In June 1963, Gilzenberg was elected as the WWWF's first president. The WWWF withdrew from the NWA after Mondt's resignation in the late 1960s, but McMahon quietly rejoined the organization in 1971. The WWWF was renamed the WWF, or World Wrestling Federation, in 1979.


UFC

The American MMA promotion company UFC is located in Sin City. Endeavor Group Holdings owns 100% of Zuffa, LLC, the parent corporation that administers the program. According to 2011 data, it is the world's largest MMA promotion company. It arranges MMA events all around the world, featuring eight male and four female weight classes that follow the Unified Rules of MMA. It has already held over 600 events as of 2022. Dana White has served as the company's CEO since 2001. Under White's guidance, it has grown into a multibillion-dollar global corporation.

Art Davie, a businessman, and Brazilian martial artist Rorion Gracie founded the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). The first tournament was held in 1993 at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado. The earliest UFC bouts included combatants from a broad range of martial arts schools, with no weight classes or constraints to decide which was the most effective. Following that, additional rules were enacted, and contestants began to use techniques from different combat systems, all of which led to the ultimate creation of the unique fighting style known as contemporary mixed martial arts. Zuffa, the parent company of UFC, was bought for US$4.025 billion in 2016 by a consortium led by Endeavor, previously known as William Morris Endeavor (WME-IMG), which included Silver Lake Partners, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, and MSD Capital. Endeavor bought out Zuffa's other stockholders for $1.7 billion in 2021.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has gotten increased exposure in the general media as a consequence of a television partnership and the company's expansion into new markets in the United States, as well as Australia, Asia, and Europe. It earned $609 million in net profits in 2015[16], and its next five-year domestic media rights agreement with ESPN was worth $1.5 billion.



History

Royce Gracie used Brazilian jiu-jitsu to defeat bigger and stronger opponents in his early UFC career.

Art Davie proposed to John Milius and Rorion Gracie a "War of the Worlds" tournament with eight contestants and a single round of elimination. This method was inspired by the Gracie family of Brazil's "Gracies in Action" film series, in which Gracie jiu-jitsu students beat practitioners of other martial arts, including karate, kung fu, and kickboxing. To match the excitement of the clashes Davie saw on the videos, the tournament would also include martial artists from diverse disciplines confronting one another in no-holds-barred combat to choose the best martial art. Milius, a Gracie student who has worked as a film director and screenwriter, volunteered to be the creative director. WOW Promotions was created with the support of 28 investors to transform the event into a television franchise after Davie produced a business plan.

WOW Promotions sought a television collaboration in 1993 by contacting pay-per-view firms TVKO (HBO) and SET (Showtime), as well as Campbell McLaren and David Isaacs at Semaphore Entertainment Group (SEG). WOW found a partner in SEG in May 1993, a pioneer in the pay-per-view television sector that has produced bizarre events like a tennis match between Jimmy Connors and Martina Navratilova. SEG approached Jason Cusson, an art director for video and film, to design the event's battle arena. Rorion and Davie were opposed to utilizing a roped ring because they feared grapplers would gain an advantage by escaping through the ropes or, worse, falling over the edge of the ring during a match. This was sponsored by Vale Tudo vintage footage. SEG management shared this view and was looking for a visual approach to differentiate their presentation from comparable offerings in the professional boxing and professional wrestling marketplaces. Another option was a moat filled with alligators, an elevated platform surrounded by razor-wire fence, electrified fencing, personnel dressed in togas, and netting that could be dropped from the ceiling via a pulley system. Cusson finally devised an arena with eight sides surrounded by chain-link fence, dubbed the "Octagon," which became the event's distinguishing feature. Cusson was the team's production designer until UFC 27. SEG coined the phrase "The Ultimate Fighting Championship" for the show. The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was first promoted as a live-action version of a video game tournament similar to Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat.


ROH

Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. Cary Silkin led the campaign from 2004 to 2011, when it was sold to the Sinclair Broadcast Group, after it was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002. ROH and AEW founder, co-owner, president, and CEO Tony Khan started negotiations in March 2022, and the deal was completed two months later.

Ring of Honor, along with WWE and Impact Wrestling, were among the most renowned in the United States throughout the 2010s. ROH, which is now owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, has developed its own streaming service, Honor Club, and has signed talent-sharing deals with wrestling companies outside of the United States. ROH's popularity started to wane as time passed and the company witnessed the foundation and subsequent growth of All Elite Wrestling (AEW), making ROH seem smaller in comparison to WWE and AEW, both of which had massive financial backing and U.S. broadcast contracts.



In the company's early years, CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, Homicide, and Samoa Joe all won the ROH World Title.

When RF Video's top-selling promotion, Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), declared bankruptcy and WWE purchased its assets in April 2001, the company required a new promotion to drive video sales. RF Video also offers match records from smaller regional promotions in its portfolio as well as online. Rob Feinstein, owner of RF Video, attempted to join Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) for months before deciding to start his own pro wrestling promotion to fill the void left by ECW. All of Feinstein's made-for-DVD/VHS films are distributed only through RF Video. The inaugural event, titled "The Era of Honor Begins," took place on February 23, 2002, in Philadelphia, the old ECW headquarters. The event included Eddy Guerrero vs. Super Crazy for the IWA Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship and a triple threat battle between Christopher Daniels, Bryan Danielson, and Low Ki (who would become known as the "founding fathers of ROH"). Ring of Honor only performed live events in a few chosen locales and venues during its initial year, largely in the northeastern United States. Ten performances were held in Philadelphia, two in Wakefield, Massachusetts, one in Pittsburgh, and one in Queens, New York. In 2003, ROH expanded its geographic reach to include Ohio, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Maryland. Affirmed Use of Citation Required ROH funded Full Impact Pro, a Florida-based sister business that operated from 2003 to 2009. On May 17, 2003, it co-promoted an event in London, England with Frontier Wrestling Alliance, marking the start of the company's attempts to establish itself on the global scale.

Feinstein was the target of an internet sting operation in 2004 after allegedly attempting to participate in online sex solicitation with a person he misunderstood for a child (but was actually an adult, posing as a minor). Feinstein departed ROH in March 2004 as a consequence of this being publicized in the media. When the story arose, TNA promptly released all of its contractual wrestlers from their prior promises to perform in ROH events, including renowned ROH draws A.J. Styles and Christopher Daniels, both of whom had or were going to hold ROH championships. Doug Gentry then bought Feinstein's part in ROH and sold it to Cary Silkin. Soon after, ROH established its own mail-order and online store, where it sold DVDs of its live events, as well as shoot interviews (dubbed The Straight Shootin' Series) with wrestlers and managers, DVDs of SHIMMER (which served as a second sister promotion from 2005 to 2010), and even some merchandise from competitors such as Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. ROH developed abroad as a result of Silkin's leadership.


Impact

Wrestling with an Impact, or IMPACT! Wrestling, or Anthem Sports & Entertainment, is a professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee, that is part of the Anthem Sports & Entertainment family.

Jeff and Jerry Jarrett founded the NWA: Total Nonstop Action (NWA-TNA) wrestling promotion in 2002, which was linked with but not an official member of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The NWA World Heavyweight and Tag Team championships were preserved by the promotion when it changed its name to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in 2004 while still under contract with the NWA. TNA launched its own TNA World Heavyweight and TNA World Tag Team championships when the contract expired in 2007. Following Anthem's purchase of the promotion at the beginning of 2017, it was completely rebranded in March of that year to reflect the name of its primary, weekly television series.

The promotion has traditionally been considered the second-largest in the United States, behind only WWE. The loss of their U.S. broadcast partnership with Spike in 2014, as well as financial and personnel issues, were mentioned as causes for Impact's decline, leading some to assume that they had fallen behind longtime opponent Ring of Honor in 2017. Many feel that Impact has recently turned things around as a result of its continuous global television distribution and the purchase of AXS TV by its parent company, which subsequently began carrying Impact programming. Impact is still regarded a weaker brand in contrast to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), which debuted the same year and has a high-profile U.S. broadcast partnership with TNT (which is seen by more households than AXS).

Beginnings and childhood development (2002–2004)

Jeff Jarrett, co-founder of Impact Wrestling (TNA) and six-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, has been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

TNA was conceived after the fall of WCW in 2001 and the subsequent consolidation of the wrestling industry by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). While fishing, Bob Ryder, Jeff Jarrett, and Jerry Jarrett discussed their future in professional wrestling. Ryder suggested a firm that would exclusively concentrate on pay per view rather than regular television advertising. In July 2002, Vince Russo joined the NWA-TNA organization owned by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett as a creative writer, assisting in the production of the shows. According to Russo, the notion for "Total Nonstop Action" originated from him, and the company's initials, "TNA," are a play on "T&A." The original objective, given their pay-per-view exclusivity, was to be viewed as a more cutting-edge product than WWE.

TNA initially depended mainly on its weekly pay-per-view event rather than rival companies' monthly pay-per-views. The principal location for these events was the Tennessee State Fairground Sports Arena, often known as the "TNA Asylum." Panda Energy purchased Total Nonstop Action Wrestling for 72% in October 2002. TNA Entertainment, formerly known as J Sports and Entertainment, has changed its name to TNA Entertainment. Dixie Carter was appointed president of TNA Entertainment in the early spring of 2003. TNA's first regular cable show, Xplosion, debuted on November 27, 2002, and included TNA Asylum fights and interviews. The last regular weekly pay-per-view was held on September 8, 2004.