The history of professional wrestling is one of the strangest and most crazy tales ever to come out of the US. This huge business is currently thriving more than ever before with up to four national TV shows every week. However, the humble beginnings of this wonderful madness were not so glamorous.
During the early 20th century, professional wrestling was little more than the mat grappling, popular in high schools and colleges. After little success, the interest soon started to wane as the predictable nature of the spectacle was no match for the hugely popular sport of boxing. In 1920, professional wrestler Joseph Mondt came up with a new amalgamation of several forms of the sport. His new invention was named 'Slam Bang Western Style Wrestling'.
The new form of the sport had some moderate success, but that was soon cut short after various legal arguments forced Mondt to break away. After meeting Jess McMahon, the pair decided to launch a new organization, called Capitol Wrestling Corporation. This would later develop into the National Wrestling Alliance and had jurisdiction all over the US, including several different regional bodies, but sharing the same world champion.
Under Vincent McMahon Snr's guidance, the CWA soon became the dominant force in the sport, much to the concern of the National Wrestling Alliance. After four decades of dominance, the Alliance became fed up with McMahon's dominance and chose to strip the then champion, Buddy Rogers, of his title. Rogers represented the CWA and the act was seen as an aggressive attempt to limit the CWA's power. In retaliation, McMahon pulled his version of the sport out of the Alliance and set up the World Wrestling Federation in 1979.
In 1982, McMahon's son, Vincent Jnr, bought the company outright from his father and the other shareholders. The NWA was still the governing body of the sport across America, but McMahon Jnr wanted that to change. Breaking an old agreement, he syndicated his WWF show across the country and began to market an alternative to the NWA in every state of the country.
With the creation of Wrestlemania in 1985, the WWF would very quickly surpass its rivals and become the premier brand in the sport. There soon followed the sport's first ever weekly network show, Saturday Night's Main Event. In 1993, the dominance of McMahon's brand would be cemented as the very first episode of Monday Night Raw aired. World Championship Wrestling, or WCW launched a rival shortly afterwards, called Monday Nitro and a ratings battle quickly followed.
The WWF bought rival World Championship Wrestling in 2001 for seven dollars and combined both camps of wrestlers in what was called the 'Invasion'. They later bought competing company ECW. However more trouble wasn't far away as The World Wide Fund for Nature, referred to in Europe as the WWF, sued the wrestling company in the British courts for violations of license agreements in Europe. The WWF changed its name to World Wrestling Entertainment and was forced to remove many WWF logos and references from the past. The WWF later won a legal case to retain their old logo when marketing classic shows from previous years.
The WWE is now a global phenomenon and the only instantly recognizable brand around. They have administration and marketing offices in Sydney, London and Tokyo, giving them a significant presence in every major consumer market. They currently have three regular shows om air: Raw, Smackdown and NXT.
During the early 20th century, professional wrestling was little more than the mat grappling, popular in high schools and colleges. After little success, the interest soon started to wane as the predictable nature of the spectacle was no match for the hugely popular sport of boxing. In 1920, professional wrestler Joseph Mondt came up with a new amalgamation of several forms of the sport. His new invention was named 'Slam Bang Western Style Wrestling'.
The new form of the sport had some moderate success, but that was soon cut short after various legal arguments forced Mondt to break away. After meeting Jess McMahon, the pair decided to launch a new organization, called Capitol Wrestling Corporation. This would later develop into the National Wrestling Alliance and had jurisdiction all over the US, including several different regional bodies, but sharing the same world champion.
Under Vincent McMahon Snr's guidance, the CWA soon became the dominant force in the sport, much to the concern of the National Wrestling Alliance. After four decades of dominance, the Alliance became fed up with McMahon's dominance and chose to strip the then champion, Buddy Rogers, of his title. Rogers represented the CWA and the act was seen as an aggressive attempt to limit the CWA's power. In retaliation, McMahon pulled his version of the sport out of the Alliance and set up the World Wrestling Federation in 1979.
In 1982, McMahon's son, Vincent Jnr, bought the company outright from his father and the other shareholders. The NWA was still the governing body of the sport across America, but McMahon Jnr wanted that to change. Breaking an old agreement, he syndicated his WWF show across the country and began to market an alternative to the NWA in every state of the country.
With the creation of Wrestlemania in 1985, the WWF would very quickly surpass its rivals and become the premier brand in the sport. There soon followed the sport's first ever weekly network show, Saturday Night's Main Event. In 1993, the dominance of McMahon's brand would be cemented as the very first episode of Monday Night Raw aired. World Championship Wrestling, or WCW launched a rival shortly afterwards, called Monday Nitro and a ratings battle quickly followed.
The WWF bought rival World Championship Wrestling in 2001 for seven dollars and combined both camps of wrestlers in what was called the 'Invasion'. They later bought competing company ECW. However more trouble wasn't far away as The World Wide Fund for Nature, referred to in Europe as the WWF, sued the wrestling company in the British courts for violations of license agreements in Europe. The WWF changed its name to World Wrestling Entertainment and was forced to remove many WWF logos and references from the past. The WWF later won a legal case to retain their old logo when marketing classic shows from previous years.
The WWE is now a global phenomenon and the only instantly recognizable brand around. They have administration and marketing offices in Sydney, London and Tokyo, giving them a significant presence in every major consumer market. They currently have three regular shows om air: Raw, Smackdown and NXT.
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