The World Wrestling Federation (now know as World Wrestling Entertainment) is my All-time favorite Wrestling company. Sadly,in recent years,the company has faced a Bunch of near-death experiences,all thanks to the Idiocy of Vincent Kennedy McMahon. Yes,the man who Saved the WWE,is also the one destroying it.
Retro Rebellion proudly presents,The Semi-Complete Timeline History of the WWE.
1953 - The WWE begins life as Capitol Wrestling Corperation,under the leadership of Jess McMahon and his Son,Vincent J. McMahon. Their 1st event is held.
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1954 - Upon His father's death,Vincent J. McMahon takes over the CWC.
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195X - CWC joins the National Wrestling Allience (NWA).
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1963 - The CWC flrms the World Wide Wrestling Federation (the wwwf) after a despute with the NWA. "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers becomes the 1st WWWF Champion after leaving the NWA. Bruno Samartino becomes Champion after defeating Rogers soon after - And The Face of the Company.
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196X - Vince J. McMahon exits the NWA. WWWF slowly finds success.
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1970 - The WWWF sells out every show,especially at Madison Square Garden,which would be tbe company main venue until the late 80's.
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1971 - Vince J. McMahon quietly rejoins the NWA. Vince J. McMahon's Son,Vincent K. McMahon joins the company as a color commentator.
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1978 - Bob Backlund becomes the face of the company after defeating "Superstar" Billy Graham for the WWWF World Title.
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1979 - The WWWF is shortened to the WWF,dropping the 'Wide' from their name. The World Wrestling Federation slowly became the most popular Wrestling Company in Northern America.
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1980 - Vincent K. McMahon,forms Titan Sports.
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1982 - Vince McMahon Sr. sells the WWF and the CWC to His Son and Titan Sports. The Main Headquarters is moved to Stanford,Connecticut. The Legendary Gorilla Monsoon debuts as a color commentator.
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1983 - WWF leaves the NWA,permanently this time. The WWF soon starts airing wrestling shows in syndication all over the U.S.,angering other promotions.
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1984 - Hulk Hogan becomes WWF Champion in January,beating the Iron Sheik for the Belt. The Hulkamania Era begins. In May,to gain a stronger foothold in the South,Vince McMahon buys out most of Georgia Championship Wrestling. This event would be known as "Black Saturday". Due to low ratings,and upset fans,Vince McMahon sells his portion of GCW to Jim Crockett Productions.
Also in May,WWF's Talk Show,Tuesday Night Titans debuts. Late in the year,WWF would team up with the Entertainment industry.
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1985 - The Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection begins and so does the 80's Wrestling Boom. In January,WWF creates 'PrimeTime Wrestling' as their new Main Show. The show would eventually be hosted long-term by Gorrilla Monsoon and Bobby "the Brain" Heenan. In March,WWF's very first Pay-Per-View,WrestleMania,is born.
Soon after,WWF PPV's would become the norm and WrestleMania would become a yearly event.
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1986 - WWF did some experimentation with WrestleMania 2 by splitting it into 3 parts,each part being held at different venues (new york,chicago,and los angeles). In March,the WWF Slammy Awards show is created. The Slammys would become the most sparatic show in WWF History. In September,Tuesday Night Titans ends its run.
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1987 - WrestleMania 3 becomes the WWF's biggest PPV yet,with Hulk Hogan defending his Title against Andre the Giant in the Main Event. Later in November,WWF introduces it's 2nd annual PPV,Survivor Series.
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1988 - Even though it wasn't a PPV,The WWF created the 1st Ever Royal Rumble in January. In August,WWF would deliver it's 3rd Main PPV,SummerSlam.
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1989 - The 2nd Annual Royal Rumble aired on PPV and would become a PPV exclusive,becoming the 4th and final part of WWF's "Big 4" PPV's. Hulk Hogan became the 1st WWF Superstar to become a Hollywood Celeb.
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1990 - At WrestleMania 6 in April,The Ultimate Warrior defeated Hulk Hogan to become the WWF Champion,making him the New Face of the Company. The Hulkamania Era was officially over and the Post-Hulkamania Era begins. WrestleMania 6 was also the 1st WWF PPV to be held in Canada.
Sometime after WrestleMania,WWE would officially retire it's Women's Division,with Rockin' Robin being the last known champion. In September,Vince McMahon would establish The World Bodybuilding Federation and expand his empire.
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1991 - In January,Primetime Wrestling took on a new look and format,it was now a live show in front of a studio audience. Unfortunatly,Gorrilla Monsoon was no longer hosting,but would serve in a backstage role.
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1992 - In January,Primetime Wrestling changes,yet again,by becoming a Round Table Discussion Show. The World Bodybuilding Federation shuts down,due to a Steroid Scandal that the WWE and Vince McMahon was allegedly involved in. Mostly thanks to this,many fans decided to abandon the WWF for,Rival Promotion,WCW.
In August,WWF takes SummerSlam to the U.K. In October,Bret "Hitman" Hart becomes tbe WWF Champion - and the Face of the Company.
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1993 - In January,Primetime Wrestling is replaced with Monday Night RAW,which becomes the WWF's new flagship show. WrestleMania 9 was the 1st WWE PPV event to take place in an outdoor arena. The WWF creates a 5th annual PPV,The King of the Ring,in June.
In honor of Andre tne Giant,who recently passed away,the WWF creates The WWF Hall of Fame and makes the lovable French Giant its First Inductee. The WWF forms a short-term partnership with the USWA. Vince McMahon is indicted by the FBI for alleged steroid distribution and was forced to stand trial a year later. (I'll talk more about this another time).
In July,the WWF enters the Post-Hogan Era,when the Hulk Hogan leaves the company. WWE revives it's Women's Division,with Alundra Blaze becoming the New Champion.
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1994 - After WrestleMania 10,the WWF enters The New Generation Era. In July,The McMahon/WWF Steroid Trial Begins. One Month Later,Vince McMahon is acquitted of all charges,but the damage to his company had already been done. Despite all this,WWF remained strong in '94.
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1995 - In May,WWE creates In Your House,a PPV that would air in the months that the "Big 4" and the King of the Ring didn't air. In July Jack Tunney,President of the WWF,stepped down from his position. Gorilla Monsoon was made Interm-President.
In September,WWF's rival,WCW would debut It's Own Monday Night Show,called Monday Nitro. And since WWF was pre-empted,Nitro went unopposed for it's first episode. But,the very next week RAW returned and the Monday Night War officially began.
Due to Alundra Blaze jumping ship to WCW in December,the WWF retired it's Women's Division,once again. WWF and WCW would trade wins each week and even tie on a few occasions. WWF would either win against or tie with WCW in the PPV War.
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1996 - In March,Gorilla Monsoon officially becomes the President of the WWF. In Late-April,the Infamous 'Curtain Call' at MSG happened. In May,thanks to the 'Outsider Invasion' storyline,WCW,for the first time,defeated the WWF in ratings and would continue to win the Monday Night War until 1998.
In July,WWF is decimated in the PPV buyouts by WCW's Bash at the Beach - Again,thanks to the WCW's 'Outsider Invasion' storyline,which would evolve into the nWo Storyline. WCW would continue to beat the WWF in PPV buyouts ,until January of '98.
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1997 - In February,The WWF introduces the European Championship,which the British Bulldog wins. WWF was getting beat in the Monday Night Wars and needed an edge. So The Night After WrestleMania 13,The New Generation Era ended and a Transitional Era would begin. It was The Road To The Attitude Era or the Pre-Attitude Era.
In April,"Stone Cold" Steve Austin was gaining popularity and would be set up for the next few Months to be the Face of the Next Big Era. After SummerSlam in August,The Attitude Era Began. In the Late Spring,WWF RAW would gain a 2nd Hour,called RAW is WAR,a nod to their war with WCW.
In September,Gorilla Monsoon steps down as President of the WWF and the position is abandoned in favor of having a Commissioner instead. Sgt.Slaughter becomes that Commissioner. In October,WWF held their 1st Hell in a Cell Match,featuring Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker. The biggest game changer was at the Survivor Series in November,where the Montreal Screwjob took place.
McMahon screwed Bret Hart out of his title and would become one of the most hated men in Wrestling after playing victim. Fans and Wrestlers alike hated him and Needed to see him get his ass kicked Hard!
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1998 - In what seems like an eternity,The WWF Finally defeats WCW in the PPV War. This victory would lead the WWF to a comback trail. In Febuary,WWF brings in Mike Tyson to help promote WrestleMania 14.
At WrestleMania 14,"Stone Cold" Steve Austin officially becomes the New Face of the company by winning the WWF Championship. Vince McMahon begins to embrace the hate he has and becomes the Evil Mr.McMahon. This leads to 'Austin v McMahon',the biggest fued of the Era.
The WWF would resurrect the Womens Division with Ms. Jaqueline becoming the new WWF Womens Champion. WWF creates the Hardcore Championchip,with Mick Foley being the first Champion.
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1999 - Thanks to WCW playing Stupidly and the super popular Mick Foley winning the World Title,the WWF gains a Permanant Upperhand against WCW,in the Monday Night War. (I'll talk more about This another day).
In May,Owen Hart was tragicly killed in an accident at Over The Edge. This would lead into a multi-year legal fight with Owen's Widow,Martha Hart. (I'll talk more about this more in depth another time).
WWE retired the Over the Edge PPV soon after Owen's death. In August,WWF debut it's B-Show,Smackdown! on Thursday Nights. Titan Sports is renamed World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Inc. In October,the WWF would become a publicly traded company.
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2000 - Vince McMahon would branch out from Wrestling once again with a Football League,the XFL. That falls quickly. At SummerSlam,WWF debut the Tables,Ladders,and Chairs (TLC) Match,with Edge and Christian,The Hardy's,and the Dudley Boyz taking part.
In September,thanks to a falling out with the USA Network earlier in the Year,The WWF would move RAW to Viacom's TNN (later spike tv).
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2001 - XFL shuts down,due to extremely low ratings. In March,WWF buys WCW,Officially ending the Monday Night War. The Attitude Era ends after WrestleMania. In April,WWF buys ECW. The Post-Attitude Era,another transitional era,begins in the late-spring. This Era was all about WWF v WCW,and then WWF v WCW and ECW.
The Invasion fell short,due to WWF failing to secure the contracts of most of WCW's biggest names. WWF won in the end. At the WWF PPV,Vengeance,The WCW and WWF titles were unified. Chris Jericho became the first Unified Champion.
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2002 - In April,the very first Brand Split happens. In May,thanks to losing a lawsuit by the World Wildlife Fund,the World Wrestling Federation was forced to changed their name to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
In June,The Ruthless Aggression Era was born. Later in the year,the WCW World Championship (aka the Big Gold Belt) returned as the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Triple H became the 1st holder of this Rebranded Title.
In August,tne WWF Hardcore Championship is retired. John Cena becomes the Face of the WWE throughout the Ruthless Aggression Era. The Elimination Chamber match debuts.
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2003 - WWE would revive WCW's United States Championship the WWE United States Championship.
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2004 - WWE launches WWE Classics on Demand aka WWE 24/7,an on Demand Network.
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2005 - The Money in the Bank Ladder Match is introduced in March. In September,the WWE and the USA Network make amends and a new TV Deal is signed. In October,WWE programming returns to the USA Network.
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2006 - In Febuary,due to the death of Eddie Guererro months prior,WWE reboots it's Wellness Program and goes all in on it. In May,WWE would resurrect ECW as a 3rd Brand.
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2007 - WWE's Wellness Policy is called in to question once again with the Death of Chris Benoi (which was a double murder-suicide). Because of the Double Murder Suicide by Benoit,the WWE decided to stupidly erase The Canadian Crippler from Everything WWE related - both Past And Present.
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2008 - In June,WWE ends the Ruthless Aggression Era and begins the so called "PG" Era. The Divas Championship is introduced in July,with Michelle McCool becoming the inaugural champion.
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2010 - In Febuary,WWE's ECW ends And NXT begins...but not as a full-on wrestling show. (I'll talk more about NXT another day and time). In September, The Divas Championship would be unified with the Women's Championship,and renamed tne Unified Divas Title,with the "Unified" being dropped soon after the unification.
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2012 - In Febuary,WWE launched their Youtube Channel. NXT becomes a Wrestling Show. In July,RAW became a 3-Hour Show.
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2013 - Daniel Bryan starts to gain popularity,and by tne summer,becomes tne most popular Babyface in WWE. In December,The WWE unifies both the WWE and World Heavyweight Titles,with Randy Orton defeating John Cena for the Gold.
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2014 - In Febuary,The WWE Network,WWE's first official streaming service,is created. WWE 24/7 shuts down. In March,WWE Enters the Reality Era aka the Universe Era. WWE soon gets official accounts on various social platforms,such as Facebook and Twitter.
At Wrestle Manis 30,Daniel Brian becomes the New WWE Unified World Champion,beating both Batista and Randy Orton in a Triple Threat Match. The Unified WWE World Championship would get a new (and inferior) design after SummerSlam. The,then,2 Belts were now 1.
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2015 - In January,Roman Reigns was being primed to be the New Face of tne Company,much to the anoyance of the fans,who still considered Daniel Brian to be tne Face of tne Company. Thanks to the Hashtag 'Give Diva's A Chance' WWE creates The Women's Revolution Revolution.with A.J. Lee as it's leader.
Due to a series of terrible booking and creative decisions,the WWE would face some disarray. These issues would continue to today. In November,Roman Reigns officially became the Face of tne WWE by Winning the WWE World Title.
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2016 - In May,A New,Unnamed,Era begins and things would only get worse for the WWE from here on in.. At WrestleMania 32,The Divas is retired infavor of a Brand New (and dumb looking) Women's Championship. Sometime during the year,The spirit of the WWF quietly infused itself within NXT,turning the brand into the reincarnation of the WWF. In July,WWE extends it's brand split with a new RAW exclusive title - The Universal Title.
In August the WWE Smackdown Tag Team Championships and the Smackdown Womens Championship are introduced. Smackdow would be renamed to Smackdown! Live and would be moved to Tuesday Nights.
And in October,Sasha Banks and Charlotte Flair did battle in tbe 1st Ever Womens Hell in a Cell Match. In November,WWE creates its own Cruiserweight show,202 Live. And in December,NXT UK was created. Despite all this,the bad booking on the Main Roster got worse and worse.
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2017 - WWE's Woes would continue with the crowning of Part-Timers as Champions,first with Goldburg,then with Brock Lesnar. It was even Worse with Lesnar,as he wasn't required to defend his title often,only on the Big 4 PPVs.
In June,WWE introduces it's very first Womens Money in the Bank. The bad booking continued throught the year and recovery seemed like a fantasy. As usual,NXT was the Only positive.
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2018 - In January,WWE introduces it's very first Womens Royal Rumble,which was won by Asuka. In March,NXT introduced its North American Championship,first held by Adam Cole (Bay-Bay!) In April,The WWE forges a (Horrible!) Multi-Year deal with Saudi Arabia,resulting in bi-yearly PPVs held in that country.
In October,WWE aired it's first ever (and only ever) All-Womens PPV,WWE Evolution. In December,WWE introduced the Women's Tag Team Championships,with Sasha and Bayley becoming the 1st Title Holders.
Despite all of these milestones,there was no escaping the sence of Doom. NXT,on the other hand,continued to be great.
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2019 - In January,Kofi Kingston gains great favor from the fans,and soon,KofiMania is born. At WrestleMania 35,Kofi Kingston wins the thIn May,WWE introduces the 24/7 championship,with R-Truth winning it first.
In August,NXT became a 2-hour show. In October,Smackdown Live! moved to Fox and became a Friday Night show. The most devistating event,however,came when Part-Timer Brock Lesnar defeated Kofi Kingston for his WWE Championship in mere seconds.
This prompted the (proverbial) Hand Of Destruction to appear,stalking the WWE wherever they go,waiting to deliver it's 'Fingerpoke of Doom'. Vince McMahon had damned this Company. NXT,however,didn't have this problem.
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2020 - WrestleMania 36 became the 1st 2-Night Event in WWE history and,thanks to Covid-CCP,was also the first WWE show with no fans. The WWE continue to hold Empty Arena events until August,when the Thunderdome was introduced.
The Thunderdome was a bio-secure arena with a virtual crowd. Fans would attend virtually from home and provide a weak substitute for Fans in the Arena. NXT would move to the Capital Wrestling Center later in the Year,and would continue to thrive.
Thought the year,Vince McMahon would either fire Wrestlers (many of them good ones) or force them to quit the company. Because of these unfair firings and mistreatment of talent,as well as the constant crap booking on the Main Roster,The Hand of Destruction would strike with its 'Fingerpoke of Doom' in November.
Thanks to the 'Fingerpoke of Doom',WWE would enter another new era,The Doomsday Era. The countdown to WWE's destruction begins,with NXT keeping the count slow. Without NXT,the Countdown would be much faster
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2021 - In March,the NXT Womens Tag Team Championships are introduced,with Dakoda Kai and Raquel Gonzales as the inaugural title holders. Also in March,the WWE would make Another stupid mistake by selling their U.S. Streaming Rights to Peacock,a Comcast-owned Streaming Service. Peacock would censor a lot of WWE's archived content.
More unfair firings would occur thought the year. NXT moves to Tuesday Nights from Wednesday Nights. Meanwhile,the countdown to WWE's end continues.
And Thus concludes my brief and mostly complete history of the WWE. As you could tell,the company is in dire trouble,with only NXT keeping it alive. But for how long? NXT is only slowing down that ever ticking Doomsday Clock,not stopping it all together. Our only hope is that if Triple H and Stephanie McMahon buy the company from their Senile Patriarch. Let's hope that happens soon,because WWE doesn't have much time left.
Until After the 4th,
Stay Gold,Space Cowboys
