History of professional wrestling in the United States

Professional wrestling in the United States, up until the 1920s, was viewed as a legitimate sport. This respectability did not endure as professional wrestling became identified with modern theatrics, or "admitted fakeness" ("kayfabe"), moving away from being a showcase for true competition. The scripted nature of the art has made critics view it as an illegitimate sport, particularly in comparison to boxing and amateur wrestling. Ironically, no major promoter or wrestler denies that modern professional wrestling has predetermined match outcomes, making such criticism a straw man.

Through the advent of television in the 1950s and cable in the 1980s, professional wrestling began appearing in powerful media outlets, reaching never before seen numbers of viewers. It became an international phenomenon with the expansion of the World Wrestling Federation. Throughout the 1990s, professional wrestling achieved highs in both viewers and financial success during a time of fierce competition among competing promotions, such as World Wrestling Federation, World Championship Wrestling, and Extreme Championship Wrestling.

The nature of professional wrestling changed dramatically to better fit television, enhancing character traits and storylines. Television also helped many wrestlers break into mainstream media, becoming influential celebrities and icons of popular culture. In the United States, in the First Golden Age of Professional Wrestling in the 1940s-1950s, Gorgeous George gained mainstream popularity, followed in the Second Golden Age in the 1980s-1990s by Hulk Hogan and Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Beginnings (1860s to 1940s)

Carnival days

Professional wrestling, in the sense of traveling performers paid for mass entertainment in staged matches, began in the post-Civil War period in the late 1860s and 1870s.] He also gained a reputation for training some of the best wrestlers of the era, including Gotch, known as one of America's first sports superstars.

Gotch, regarded as "peerless" at his peak, was the first to actually claim the world's undisputed heavyweight championship by beating all contenders in North America and Europe. He was beloved by the news media and the public alike, allowing him to popularize professional wrestling in the early 1900s.Fact|date=November 2007 He became the world's champion by beating European wrestling champion Georg Hackenschmidt, both in 1908 and 1911, seen by modern wrestling historians as two of the most significant matches in wrestling history.

The popularity of wrestling during the early 1900s was highest in the Midwest, where ethnic European communities, many of them German, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Greek, and Scandinavian in ancestry, continued to carry on fighting styles practiced in their home nations. At this time, during the late 1800s, the majority of wrestling was still competitive, and it was immensely popular. In fact, wrestling's popularity was second only to baseball from 1900 to the early 1920s, launching trading cards and competitive wrestling programs in colleges, high schools, and athletic clubs, legacies that have endured to the present day.

Wrestling's popularity experienced a dramatic tailspin in 1915 to 1920, becoming distanced from the American public because of widespread doubt of its legitimacy and status as a competitive sport. Wrestlers during the time recount it as largely faked by the 1880s. It also waned due to Gotch's retirement in 1913, and no new wrestling superstar emerging to captivate the public's eye.

Expansion (1920s to 1930s)

Following the retirement of Frank Gotch, professional wrestling (except in the Midwest) was losing popularity fast. Media attention focused on the illegitimacy of wrestling instead of its athleticism, and without a superstar like Gotch, no major personality reached a wide fanbase.cite book |last=Thesz |first=Lou|title=Hooker |pages=pp. 45] In response, three professional wrestlers, Ed Lewis, Billy Sandow, and Toots Mondt, joined to form their own promotion in the 1920s, modifying their in-ring product to attract fans. The three were referred to as the "Gold Dust Trio" due to their financial success. Their promotion was the first to use time-limit matches, "flashy" new holds, and signature maneuvers. They also popularized tag team wrestling, introducing new tactics such as distracting the referee, to make the matches more exciting.

The Trio's lasting legacy, and perhaps their greatest innovation within professional wrestling, was the use of a regular group of wrestlers for a packaged show. Rather than paying traveling wrestlers to perform on certain dates and combining wrestlers in match-ups when they were available, they decided to keep wrestlers for months and years at a time, allowing long-term angles and feuds to develop. This was the key to their success; they were able to keep wrestlers from their competition, and were able to have regular wrestling cards. Their business succeeded quickly, gaining popularity for its freshness and unique approach to wrestling; a traveling stable of wrestlers.cite book |last=Thesz |first=Lou|title=Hooker |pages=pp. 46 ] The Trio gained great popularity nationwide during their best years, roughly 1920 to 1925, when they performed in the Eastern territory, acquiring fans from the highly-exposed big cities.

The Trio was dealt a severe blow by Stanislaus Zbyszko, when he beat the rookie Wayne Munn for their world heavyweight championship, against the original booking.cite book |last=Thesz |first=Lou|title=Hooker |pages=pp. 47 ] Munn, who had been recruited to wrestling and pushed to the level of champion in only a few months, was the Trio's new star and main attraction. Zbysko was supposed to lose to Munn, but refused to follow along, beating Munn so decisively and thoroughly that the referee awarded him the title to prevent a riot. In addition, Zbyszko quickly dropped the title to Joe Stecher, a rival of Ed Lewis, making the situation worse for the Trio.

Stecher, although an able hooker, was afraid of losing his championship, refusing to wrestle many contenders as a result. This made it impossible for the Trio to retrieve it. They responded by calling the Munn-Zbysko match illegitimate, and reinstated Munn as champion, but quickly had him drop it to Lewis. This left two champions, Ed Lewis and Joe Stecher, who were regarded as the dominant wrestlers of the period.cite book |last=Thesz |first=Lou|title=Hooker |pages=pp. 48 ] However, because Stecher refused to fight Lewis, the anticipated fight to decisively determine the better of the two was never held.Fact|date=December 2007 Stecher and Lewis did agree to a unification match years later, in 1928, when Stecher gave in and lost the title to Lewis. By this time, the Zybysko double-cross had already caused irreparable damage, detracting from the Trio's dominance over the wrestling industry. In addition, the build-up of Munn followed by such a humiliating loss had devalued his title and credibility as a major wrestling superstar permanently.

Growth of wrestling promotions

In 1887, the first professional wrestling title, the American Catch-as-Catch Can Championship, was created.Fact|date=November 2007 Soon, every wrestling promotion had created its own championship, which was considered each company's pride and glory. As promotions were attempting to become nationally-renowned, acquiring rival championships marked victory.

In the 1930s and 1940s, small wrestling promotions had fierce competition with each other, often stealing talents and "invading" enemy companies to win over fans. With inter-promotional matches occurring nationwide, the promotions were vying for dominance. In 1948, wrestling reached new heights after a loose confederation was formed between independent wrestling companies. This was known as the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). In the late 1940s to 1950s, the NWA chose Lou Thesz to unify the various world championships into a single "World Heavyweight" title. Thesz's task was not easy, as some promoters, reluctant to lose face, went so far as to shoot title matches to keep their own champions popular with the fans.

Television era (1950s to 1970s)

Following the advent of television, professional wrestling matches began to be aired nationally during the 1950s, reaching a larger fanbase than ever before. This was a time of enormous growth for professional wrestling, as rising demand and national expansion made it a much more popular and lucrative form of entertainment than in decades previous. This was called a "Golden Age" for the wrestling industry. It was also a time of great change in both the character and professionalism of wrestlers as a result of the appeal of television. Wrestling fit naturally with television because it was easy to understand, had drama, comedy and colorful characters, and was inexpensive for production.cite book |last=Thesz |first=Lou|title=Hooker |pages=pp. 101 ] cite book |last=Assael |first=Shaun |title=Sex, Lies, and Headlocks |pages=pp. 10] From 1948 to 1955, each of the three major television networks broadcasted wrestling shows; the largest supporter being the DuMont Television Network.

Outrageous characters

Gorgeous George became one of the biggest stars during this period, gaining media attention for his outrageous character, which was described as flamboyant and charismatic.cite book |last=Thesz |first=Lou|title=Hooker |pages=pp. 100 ] Already popular among wrestling fans, he became renowned after comedian Bob Hope noticed his performance in the Hollywood Legion Stadium in 1945 and 1946, and began to use him for jokes on his radio station. The publicity brought many people into wrestling events, bringing his stardom to a high point where promoters and television stations alike were paying generously for his performances.

Gorgeous George's impact on wrestling has been interpreted in many ways, demonstrating how fast television changed the product from athletics to performance. His legacy was the enormous change in wrestling personas he inspired. Before him, wrestlers imitated "ethnic terrors" (Nazis, Communist, etc.), but his success birthed a more individualistic and narcissist form of character.cite book |last=Assael |first=Shaun |title=Sex, Lies, and Headlocks |pages=pp. 11] He was also among the first to use entrance music, and was the first ever wrestler to have a valet escort him to the ring, giving him the role of a celebrity.Fact|date=November 2007 His elaborate entrance was parodied in a 1951 "Merrie Melodies" Bugs Bunny short, "Bunny Hugged", featuring a character named "Ravishing Ronald", who was carried into the ring on a large serving platter.

Television changed the on-screen product in many other ways as well. Originally, the impact of television was not well planned for during this period. Promotional spots, which are now used as pre-match rants by wrestlers to warm up the crowds, were often used for simple greetings and welcomes to the local crowds, missing in-ring personality boosts and character skits during this period. No one would discuss promos before shooting them, and promoters usually would not spend time helping wrestlers in front of the camera.

Competitiveness compromised

Professional wrestlers themselves began to change. As popularity grew during the mid-1950s, many more wrestlers joined the ranks of the business, and the number of professional wrestlers over 2,000, far more than ever before. [cite book |last=Thesz |first=Lou|title=Hooker |pages=pp. 115 ] However, many new wrestlers began fresh without notions of athletic sportsmanship that was popular in competitive arenas; they began with dreams of becoming televised superstars. This proved especially true as the product began to lose athletic talent, relying on blood and acrobatic performance. [cite book |last=Thesz |first=Lou|title=Hooker |pages=pp. 116 ]

Wrestling's competitiveness was degraded by television, a fact regarded by many in the business as a natural effect of television over competition. The New York wrestling office soon became dominant, as it refused to use competitive wrestlers, and instead focused on attracting televised entertainment.cite book |last=Thesz |first=Lou|title=Hooker |pages=pp. 125 ] Perhaps the first of the more comic book-like characters known to professional wrestling today was Antonino Rocca.cite book |last=Thesz |first=Lou|title=Hooker |pages=pp. 118 ] Comparatively weak in wrestling ability, his marketable personality and barefoot acrobatics attracted fans and made him a national superstar, especially popular among Italian and Hispanic fans. The New York Wrestling office used him to revive the promotion on television, and found him far easier to exploit than a more athletically skilled wrestler, enabling the office to negotiate wrestler contracts tremendously in its favor.cite book |last=Thesz |first=Lou|title=Hooker |pages=pp. 125]

Moderate slowdown

By the late 1950s, professional wrestling had lost its high ratings, and producers, realizing that they had overexposed it, soon dropped most wrestling shows from their lineups. The remaining televised wrestling promoters had small, local syndicated shows, which network producers placed as late-night fillers rather than signature programming.cite book |last=Assael |first=Shaun |title=Sex, Lies, and Headlocks |pages=pp. 13] Promoters used localized television as a weapon for eliminating the competition by purchasing airtime from rival territories, effectively putting them out of business. [cite book |last=Thesz |first=Lou|title=Hooker |pages=pp. 103 ]

The NWA was the most dominant wrestling body in the 1950s, and a large number of wrestling promotions had been under its leadership. Many promoters, however, viewed it as a crooked tyrant, holding back innovative changes in the sport. It was during this time that several promoters found reason to leave the organization, managing to find niches in the United States. The most prominent of these were the American Wrestling Association (AWA), which became the most popular wrestling promotion during the 1960s, and the New York-based World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), renamed WWF in 1979.

As a top wrestler in the 1950s, Verne Gagne formed his own promotion in the NWA in 1957, which soon became the lead promotion with Gagne winning the World Heavyweight Championship of Omaha. However, after unsuccessfully lobbying for a title match with the NWA Champion, Gagne broke away from the NWA in 1960, renaming his promotion the American Wrestling Association, and making it the dominant organization of the 1960s. Named the AWA World Heavyweight Champion soon after, Gagne was the top wrestler, and engaged in many feuds with heel wrestlers, most notably Nick Bockwinkel, and was the AWA's top draw until his retirement in 1981.

Vincent J. McMahon also withdrew the Capitol Wrestling Corporation from the NWA in 1963, as the NWA Champion Lou Thesz was not a strong draw in the area, and renamed the company "World Wide Wrestling Federation" (WWWF). However, with wrestling's decline in the 1970s, the WWWF suffered a huge blow, and had to rejoin the NWA in 1971. The WWWF, however, rebounded after André the Giant became the company's top superstar when he joined the company in 1973. He was soon the top superstar of all professional wrestling. André became so popular that all NWA territories and the AWA used him, as well.

The AWA was no longer the top promotion after the WWWF rejoined the NWA. However, the AWA reached new heights after powerhouse wrestler Hulk Hogan gained nationwide attention from staring in "Rocky III", and became a solid fan favorite. Despite Hogan being the AWA's top draw, Gagne would not let him be champion, believing technical wrestlers, like him and Nick Bockwinkel, should be the focus of a wrestling company. Since founding the AWA, Gagne had built the company off of technical wrestling [ [http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2007/04/26/71708 Pile-driving, gut-busting, back-breaking theater - Minnesota Daily ] ] . Hogan left in 1983, irreparably damaging the AWA.

In spite of all this, the NWA as a unit was still on top, and gained huge dominance through Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), becoming the first nationally broadcast wrestling program on cable television in 1979. It aired on the TBS network [ [http://slam.canoe.ca/SlamWrestlingFeatures/tbs1-can.html End of an era on TBS: Solie, Georgia and 'Black Saturday' ] ] . By 1981, GCW became the most watched show on cable television. [cite web |url=http://slam.canoe.ca/SlamWrestlingFeatures/tbs1-can.html |title=End of an era on TBS: Solie, Georgia and 'Black Saturday' |last=Molinaro |first=John |publisher=SLAM! Wrestling ]

Explosion (1980s – present)

1980s wrestling boom

The 1980s represented professional wrestling's greatest period of televised entertainment, reaching widespread popularity among American youth, as well as producing some of its most spectacular characters. In comparison to the declining support of media outlets during the 1960s and 1970s, professional wrestling, notably the emerging World Wrestling Federation (WWF; abridged from WWWF in 1979), received great exposure through its reappearance on network television. The WWF expanded nationally through the acquisition of talent from competing promotions and, because it was the only company to air televised wrestling nationally, became synonymous with the industry, monopolizing the industry and the fanbase. The WWF's owner Vince McMahon revolutionized the sport by coining the term "sports entertainment" to describe his on-screen product, admitting to its fakery as well as enhancing its appeal to children.Fact|date=November 2007

The WWF became the most colorful and well-known wrestling brand to children because of its child-oriented characters.Fact|date=November 2007 Its wrestling product was unreal and noticeably fake, characterized by soap-opera dramaticism and cartoon-like personas. Most notable was the muscular Hulk Hogan, who marked the 1980s with his "all-American" persona. His sheer size, colorful character, and extravagance made his main events into excellent ratings draws. By January 1984, Hogan's legions of fans and his dominant role in the industry was termed "Hulkamania." Hogan sold out arenas all across the United States and earned the WWF millions of dollars, making it the number one entity in all of professional wrestling; moments after Hogan defeated the Iron Sheik for the WWF Title, Gorilla Monsoon famously proclaimed "Hulkamania is here." [ [http://www.wwe.com/shows/summerslam07/exclusives/superstarturningpoints WWE: TV Shows > SummerSlam > Exclusives > Superstar Turning Points in WWE history ] ]

Around this time, faces and heels became a generally more obvious and important part of wrestling.'Gimmicks' were more popular, and it widely became a popular sport again. However, wrestling was generally seen more as a form of fun and entertainment than an official sport.It was more about building up face/heel feuds such as Roddy Piper/Hulk Hogan and going into a big blow off match, which people loved. The WWF broke its way into mainstream entertainment and regularly brought in celebrities such as Muhammad Ali.

The "Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection" was a period of cooperation and cross-promotion between the WWF and elements of the music industry. The WWF attracting a degree of mainstream attention with Cyndi Lauper joining in 1984 and WWF personalities appeared in her music videos. [cite web |url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/columns/misc/jakehamar04.html |title=Understanding The Mystique Of Captain Lou Albano |accessdate=2007-04-05 |author=Hamir, Jake |date= March 2006 |publisher=Online World of Wrestling ] Hogan gained mainstream popularity for appearing in the film "Rocky III", reaching to an even greater level of celebrity. In 1985, "Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling", an animated television series starring the character of Hogan, expanded Hogan's young fanbase. [http://www.tv.com/hulk-hogans-rock-n-wrestling/show/3843/summary.html?full_summary=1&tag=showspace_links;full_summary Hulk Hogan's Rock 'N' Wrestling] ]

Meanwhile, the NWA's renowned and highly successful territory system was slowly dying, with Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) became the center of the entire NWA. While the WWF had their major stars at almost all of their shows, the NWA could only manage to have a few of its stars at one show at a time, so as to promote the product in every territory. After the WWF gained huge dominance with Wrestlemania, Crockett responded to the success of the WWF and successfully acquired timeslots on TBS, [ [http://slam.canoe.ca/SlamWrestlingFeatures/tbs2-can.html End of an era on TBS: Crockett, Flair and 'The Clashes' ] ] and would continue to buy out NWA promotions between 1985 and 1987 as well. The advent of nationwide television also weakened the system. Wrestlers could no longer travel to a new market and establish a new persona, since fans there already knew who they were. Meanwhile, McMahon took advantage of this phenomenon by purchasing promotions all over the continent, in order to produce a widely popular nationwide television program and make the WWF the only viewing choice.

To counter the NWA's primary supercard, Starrcade, the WWF created its flagship show, WrestleMania, available on 135 closed-circuit networks.Fact|date=November 2007 The show was a huge success with Hogan, who won in the main event, going on to appear on the cover of "Sports Illustrated". [cite web|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g1epc/is_bio/ai_2419200552|title=Hulk Hogan|author=Patrick Jones|publisher=St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture|accessdate=2007-11-22|date=2002] After the swimsuit issue, it was the magazine's best seller, [cite web|url=http://www.wrestleview.com/info/faq/hogan.shtml|title=Hulk Hogan - FAQ|publisher=WrestleView|accessdate=2008-03-11] and following WrestleMania, four WWF programs became the most watched shows on cable television. [cite web|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,966187,00.html|title=Hype! Hell Raising! Hulk Hogan!|first=Richard|last=Corliss|date=1985-04-15|publisher=TIME|accessdate=2008-03-11] Professional wrestling began to become mainstream, thanks, in large part, to the appeal of Hulkamania among children. Large television networks also took wrestling into their weekly programming, including "Saturday Night's Main Event", premiering on NBC in 1985, the first wrestling show to air primetime since 1955. ESPN also began airing professional wrestling for the first time, first airing Pro Wrestling USA shows-which were created as an alliance between the NWA and AWA in 1984, in an effort to counter the national success the WWF was gaining-, and later AWA shows, after Pro Wrestling USA fell apart by 1986. The WWF also became an international success too.

WrestleMania III, with a reported record attendance of 93,173 people, is widely considered to be the pinnacle of the period. [cite web |url=http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/Wrestlemania20/WrestleMania3.html |title=Steamboat - Savage rule WrestleMania 3 |last=Powell |first=John |publisher=SLAM! Wrestling |accessdate=2007-10-14 ] The first episode of "WWF The Main Event" is the highest rated professional wrestling television show to date, with a 15.2 rating and 33 million viewers. [cite web |url=http://www.411mania.com/wrestling/hall_of_fame/36592/ |title=411's Wrestling Hall of Fame Class of 2006: Andre The Giant |publisher=411mania |date=2006-01-18 |accessdate=2007-10-27 ] Both had a main event featuring Hulk Hogan battling André the Giant for the WWF Championship. Following WrestleMania III, the WWF added to its franchise and created both the Survivor Series, to counterprogram against Starrcade directly on PPV, and the Royal Rumble, to counterprogram against the Bunkhouse Stampede originally on the USA cable networks before transitioning to pay-per-view in subsequent years. The NWA responded by creating Clash of the Champions on TBS to compete against Wrestlemania IV.

Wrestling promotions across the United States feared being forced into bankruptcy by the WWF. They began to unify and conglomerate under more centralized leadership rather than continue independently. Competing promotions aired better talent and attempted to regain their audiences. In late 1987, Continental Wrestling Association wrestler and co-promoter Jerry Lawler had also joined the AWA, and helped establish a relationship between the AWA and CWA, which was formally an NWA territory, that would be somewhat of a revival of Pro Wrestling USA. In 1988, the struggling World Class Wrestling Association- which was formally known World Class Championship Wrestling until it withdrew from the NWA in 1986-, and Continental Wrestling Federation-which was named as Continental Championship Wrestling until it was bought out in 1988- would also take part in this alliance, and the alliance agreed to unify the WCWA and AWA Heavyweight Titles at Superclash III. However, Superclash III was not a success and afterwards, the second Pro Wrestling USA alliance fell apart, and CWA co-promoter Jerry Jarrett bought out the WCWA and renamed the unifed company as the United States Wrestling Association (USWA). Jerry Lawler also took his AWA Title to Jarrett's promotion, and the belt was renamed as the USWA Heavyweight Title. The AWA was, however, able to make a new belt, but the end of 1990, company profits had dwindled so badly that the company went out of business. NWA President Bob Geigel also withdrew from the NWA by December 1987, and attempted to revive his Heart of America Sports Attractions as a national promotion known as World Wrestling Alliance, but would go out of business by 1989 [cite book | author= Hornbaker, Tim | title= National Wrestling Alliance: The Untold Story of the Monopoly that Strangled Pro Wrestling | publisher=ECW Press | year=2007| id=ISBN 978-1550227413] .

After Wrestlemania III, Crockett also acquired the Universal Wrestling Federation-which broke from the NWA in 1986-, and would also establish a second office in their old Dallas headquarters [ [http://www.kayfabememories.com/Regions/jcp/jcp.htm Jim Crockett Promotions (1985-1989) ] ] . To fight the WWF's control of the industry, JCP took the NWA's pay-per-view names and used its best talent to draw ratings. However, Crockett was unable to beat McMahon, and McMahon took big bites out of Jim Crockett Promotions by successfully airing the 1987 Survivor Series and 1988 Royal Rumble on the same nights as Starrcade 1987 and the 1988 Bunkhouse Stampede ppv cards. [ [http://www.bellaonline.org/articles/art53968.asp The Royal Rumble - Wrestling ] ] This left him with no viable option other than selling out to media mogul Ted Turner, who renamed the promotion World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and continued to challenge McMahon's monopoly of the industry. Turner promised a more athletic approach to the product, making Ric Flair the promotion's marquee wrestler and giving young stars big storylines and championship opportunities.

Monday Night Wars (1990s)

During the early 1990s, the growing WWF was being hindered by competing brands and nagging legal troubles. The largest troubles came from WCW, which competed for fans and dominated the industry during the years of 1997 to 1998. The WWF was forced to change itself to overcome its competition, remodeling itself with added bloodshed, violence, and more profane, sexually-lewd characters. This new "Attitude Era" quickly dominated the style and nature of wrestling to become far more teen-oriented than ever before, and made the WWF regain its status as wrestling's top company.

The image of WCW changed when Eric Bischoff was appointed Executive Vice President of WCW in late 1993. He signed former WWF stars and departed from their focus on in-ring action in favor of the WWF's approach. The WWF began to suffer immediately and started building new stars. The Monday Night Wars began in 1995, when WCW started "WCW Monday Nitro", a show that ran directly against "WWF Monday Night RAW". While starting fairly even, the war escalated in 1996 with the formation of the heel stable, the New World Order. They helped WCW gain the upper hand when they became the most powerful group in professional wrestling. WCW also came up with more legitimate, edgy storylines and characters over the WWF's cartoon style.

Away from the WWF and WCW, a new breed of professional wrestling was beginning. NWA Eastern Championship Wrestling renamed itself "Extreme Championship Wrestling" (ECW) and left the NWA. ECW adapted a hardcore style of wrestling, [cite book | author = Mick Foley | title = Have A Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks | publisher = HarperCollins | date= 2000 | pages = 273 | isbn = 0061031011] and it exposed the audience to levels of violence rarely seen in wrestling. The unorthodox style of moves, controversial storylines, and intense bloodthirst of ECW made it intensely popular among many wrestling fans in the 18- to 25-year-old demographic. Its intense fanbase, albeit a small constituency, reached near-cultism in the late 1990s and inspired the "hardcore style" in other wrestling promotions, namely WWF and WCW.

In 1998, the WWF gained momentum with the start of the Attitude Era. McMahon recast himself as the evil boss, known authoritatively as "Mr. McMahon". While an interesting character, it was McMahon's realistic feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin which made the company finally dominate its competition.cite book |last=Bischoff |first=Eric|title=Controversy Creates Cash |pages=pp. 273 ] This was probably among the best of McMahon's storylines, and it came at a time when Bischoff was losing his vigor in WCW's affairs. The WWF gained infamy for its more sexually-explicit, profane, and violent characters. Austin was the top superstar in the company, portraying an anti-hero tough guy who regularly defied his boss; The Rock became a star for his cocky persona, his many catchphrases and attractive charisma; Mankind gained popularity for enduring extreme pain, performing dangerous stunts renowned among the industry today, and; The stable D-Generation X was renowned for its adult themes. Through the collective success of these characters, the company had finally refocused itself in the 18-25 demographic.

By the start of 1999, both shows were consistently getting ratings of 5.0 or higher, and over ten million people tuned in to "RAW" and "Nitro" every week.Fact|date=November 2007 Wrestling continued to grow, as wrestlers made the mainstream media. From November 1998, the momentum was in the WWF's favor for the remainder of the Wars, with "RAW" dominating "Nitro" in the ratings.Fact|date=November 2007 WCW continued its decline as their main eventers were in their 40s or pushing 40 and younger talent were never given the chance to be elevated to main event status. Their attempts at improving failed to turn the ratings tide, with "RAW" getting double the amount by 2000.

WWF's dominance (2000s)

In 2001, the WWF (renamed "World Wrestling Entertainment" (WWE) in 2002) became the dominant company in the global professional wrestling industry with the end of its two leading competitors, WCW and ECW. ECW was in dire financial straits earlier that year and Heyman filed for bankruptcy on April 4 2001. [cite book|title=The Rise & Fall of ECW: Extreme Championship Wrestling|last=Loverro|first=Thom|publisher=Simon and Schuster|date=2006|isbn=1416510583|pages=233] WCW continued to lose more money and finally ended on March 23 2001 with McMahon buying out, [cite book|title=Ringside: A History of Professional Wrestling in America|last=Beekman|first=Scott M.|publisher=Greenwood Press|date=2006|isbn=027598401X|pages=139] after more than 15 years in business and as the biggest threat to the WWF to date. This left professional wrestling fans with no alternative to WWF programming and led to some leaving the sport.

With a demand remaining for Southern-style, cruiserweight, strong style and hardcore wrestling that WWE was not fulfilling, new promotions attempted to offer an alternative to cater to this niche market. The most successful among these were Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and Ring of Honor, both started up in 2002. Other independent promotions like Combat Zone Wrestling also began to gain more exposure.

Controversies

The WWF was investigated by the Federal Government in 1991 for a steroid scandal where, reputedly, steroid use was rampant among wrestlers and in McMahon's World Bodybuilding Federation. Large names, including Hulk Hogan, gained infamy when news of their long-time steroid use was revealed. [cite book|title=Pro Wrestling: From Carnivals to Cable TV|last=Greenberg|first=Keith Elliot|publisher=Lerner Publications|date=2000|pages=93|isbn=0822533324] In addition, a civil lawsuit involving sexual misconduct on the part of Pat Patterson in 1993 further weakened the company. [cite book|title=Wrestling Babylon: Piledriving Tales of Drugs, Sex, Death, and Scandal|last=Muchnick|first=Irvin|publisher=ECW Press|date=2007|isbn=1550227610|pages=66] This gained great criticism to the WWF, weakening its once "family-oriented" programming.

WWE gained national media coverage in 2007 for the Chris Benoit murder-suicide, hypothesized to be related to steroids. Although this has been proven falseFact|date=July 2008, this incident, along with the death of Eddie Guerrero in 2005, made drug use and young deaths in the business a subject of intense controversy. The wrestling industry and the nature of the business were widely criticized for this and WWE was affected on the business-side, with the company's stock losing approximately $15 million in market value in the first week. [cite web |url=http://www.sportsbusinessnews.com/_news/news_365390.php |title=World Wrestling Entertainment – the Chris Benoit communications breakdown |first=Howard |last=Bloom |date=2007-06-29 |accessdate=2007-07-13 |publisher=SportsBusinessNews ] Ratings also suffered for a short period, with "RAW" dropping 10% in total viewers. [cite web |url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117968976.html |title=WWE in ratings decline |first=John |last=Dempsey |date=2007-07-22 |accessdate=2007-07-22 |publisher=Variety ]

ee also

*1980s wrestling boom
*History of World Championship Wrestling
*History of World Wrestling Entertainment
*Monday Night Wars

Notes

References

*cite book |last=Thesz |first=Lou |authorlink=Lou Thesz |coauthors=Bauman, Kit |title=Hooker: An Authentic Wrestler's Adventures Inside the Bizarre World of Professional Wrestling |date=2001 |publisher=Wrestling Channel Press |isbn=0-9706516-0-0
*cite book |last=Guttman |first=James |title=World Wrestling Insanity: The Decline and Fall of a Family Empire |date=2006 |publisher=ECW Press |isbn=1-55022-728-9
*cite book |last=Assael |first=Shaun |coauthors=Mooneyham, Mike |title=Sex, Lies, and Headlocks: The Real Story of Vince McMahon and World Wrestling Entertainment |publisher=Three Rivers Press|date=2004|isbn=1400051436
*cite book |last=Bischoff |first=Eric |authorlink=Eric Bischoff |title=Controversy Creates Cash |publisher=World Wrestling Entertainment|date=2006|isbn=141652729X

External links

* [http://www.houseofdeception.com/Pro_Wrestling_History.html House of Deception - Professional Wrestling History]
* [http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/other/timeline.htm Wrestling Information Archive - Wrestling Timeline]
* [http://www.wrestlingmuseum.com Professional Wrestling Online Museum]
* [http://www.pwi-online.com/pages/wrestlingframe.html Pro Wrestling Illustrated Wrestling History]
* [http://www.kayfabememories.com History of Regional Promotions]
* [http://www.thewrestlingchannel.tv Wrestling and Fighting sports news/history site (UK)]
* [http://www.wrestling-titles.com Pro-Wrestling Title Histories]
* [http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com/index.html ProWrestlingHistory.com]