Despite a number of name changes, World Wrestling Entertainment remains the dominant name in professional wrestling. Founded in the early-1960s, the WWE forever changed the face of professional wrestling by challenging the long-dominant territory system as well as moving the emphasis from a theatrical representation of competitive sports to pure theater.
Foundation
The WWE began in 1963 as the World Wide Wrestling Federation. Before this point, the organization had been Capitol Wrestling, the northeast affiliate of the National Wrestling Alliance. The first WWWF World Champion was Buddy Rogers, who allegedly won the title in a Rio De Janeiro tournament. Rio would be the site of other "kayfabe" -- old carny speak for a "fake" or "storyline" event, as opposed to "shoot" or "real" events -- tournaments in the years to come.
Early Years
The early years of the WWWF are synonymous with one man -- Bruno Sammartino. "The Living Legend" had two titles runs, spanning most of the 1960s and a good chunk of the mid-1970s. During this time, the WWWF rarely ran promotions outside of its northeast base. In 1983, Vincent K. McMahon took the business over from his father, Vincent J. McMahon. After this change of ownership, the WWF as it became known, moved outside of its original territory.
Golden Years
The WWF became increasingly popular, in part due to appearances on outlets such as MTV. During the 1980s, the WWF and professional wrestling, however, one name shines above all others -- Hulk Hogan. Originally promoted as a "heel" or bad guy, Hogan turned "face" or good guy, capturing the title from the Iron Sheik and leading the company to unprecedented popularity. Hogan held the title for most of the 1980s and continued to be a world title attraction into the 2000s.
Dominance
In the late-1990s, the WWF won the "Monday Night Wars" as rivals ECW and WCW went out of business and were purchased by the WWF. After a lawsuit with the World Wildlife Federation, the WWF changed its name to WWE. The WWE incorporates only one title from another promotion -- the United States Championship. The WWE now holds events throughout the world, having successfully expanded beyond the bounds of its original territory.
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