World Wrestling Entertainment

Infobox Company
company_name=World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.
company_logo=
company_type=Public (nyse|WWE)
foundation= 1952
location=Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.
key_people=Vince McMahon, Chairman
Linda McMahon, CEO
Shane McMahon, Executive Vice President of Global Media
Stephanie McMahon-Levesque, Executive Vice President of Talent Relations, Live Events and Creative Writing.
industry=Professional wrestling, sports entertainment
products=
revenue=profit $485.7 million USD (2007)cite web|url= http://corporate.wwe.com/documents/4Q2007pressrelease_000.pdf|title=World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. Reports Q4 Results|accessdate=2008-02-12|format=PDF|pages=5]
operating_income=profit $68.4 million USD (2007)
net_income=profit $52.1 million USD (2007)
num_employees=560 (December 2006, excluding wrestlers)cite web|title=WWE 2006 10-K Report|publisher=WWE| url=http://corporate.wwe.com/investors/documents/YET200610-K_000.pdf|accessdate=2008-02-12]
homepage= [http://www.wwe.com/ Official Site]
[http://corporate.wwe.com/ Corporate WWE Web Site]

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (WWE) is a publicly traded, privately controlled integrated media (focusing in television, Internet, and live events) and sports entertainment company dealing primarily in the professional wrestling industry, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales. Vince McMahon is the majority owner and Chairman of the company and his wife Linda McMahon holds the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Together with their children, Executive Vice President of Global Media Shane McMahon and Executive Vice President of Talent and Creative Writing Stephanie McMahon-Levesque, the McMahons hold approximately 70% of WWE's economic interest and 96% of the voting power in the company.

The company's global headquarters are located in Stamford, Connecticut with offices in Los Angeles, New York City, London, and Toronto. The company was previously known as Titan Sports before changing to World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc., and most recently becoming World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.

WWE's business focus is on professional wrestling, a simulated sport and performing art which combines wrestling with acting. It is currently the largest professional wrestling promotion in the world and holds an extensive library of videos representing a significant portion of the visual history of professional wrestling. The promotion previously existed as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation, which promoted under the banner of the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), and later the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). WWE promotes under three brands: Raw, SmackDown!, and ECW. WWE is also home to two of the three current world heavyweight championships recognized by "Pro Wrestling Illustrated" and the ECW Championship, which is not recognized by PWI.

WWE's revenue in 2007 was approximately $486 million, with a net profit of approximately $52 million. As of August 2006, the company's market capitalization is over $1 billion. Its stock is traded on the NYSE as WWE.

Company history

Capitol Wrestling

Roderick James "Jess" McMahon was a boxing promoter whose achievements included co-promoting a bout in 1915 between Jess Willard and Jack Johnson. In 1926, while working with Tex Rickard (who actually despised wrestling to such a degree he prevented wrestling events from being held at Madison Square Garden between 1939 and 1948), he started promoting boxing in Madison Square Garden in New York. The first match during their partnership was a light-heavyweight championship match between Jack Delaney and Paul Berlenbach.

Around the same time, professional wrestler Joseph Raymond "Toots" Mondt created a new style of professional wrestling that he called Slam Bang Western Style Wrestling to make the sport more appealing to spectators. He then formed a promotion with wrestling champion Ed Lewis and his manager Billy Sandow. They persuaded many wrestlers to sign contracts with their Gold Dust Trio. After much success, a disagreement over power caused the trio to dissolve and, with it, their promotion. Mondt formed partnerships with several other promoters, including Jack Curley in New York City. When Curley was dying, Mondt moved to take over New York wrestling with the aid of several bookers, one of whom was Jess McMahon.

Together, Roderick McMahon and Raymond Mondt created the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC). The CWC joined the National Wrestling Alliance in 1953. Also in that year, Ray Fabiani, one of Mondt's associates, brought in Vincent J. McMahon to replace his father Jess in the promotion. McMahon and Mondt were a successful combination, and within a short time, they controlled approximately 70% of the NWA's booking, largely due to their dominance in the heavily populated Northeast region. Mondt taught McMahon about booking and how to work in the wrestling business. Due to the dominance in the Northeast by the promotion, American Wrestling Association legend & WWE Hall of Famer Nick Bockwinkel referred to the CWC as the "Northeast Triangle" to signify a triangle-like shape covering the CWC's territory, with Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C., and Maine being the "points" of the triangle. ["The Spectacular Legacy of the AWA" DVD]

World Wide Wrestling Federation

The NWA recognized an undisputed NWA World Heavyweight Champion that went from wrestling company to wrestling company in the alliance and defended the belt around the world. In 1963, the champion was "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers. The rest of the NWA was unhappy with Mondt because he rarely allowed Rogers to wrestle outside of the Northeast. Mondt and McMahon wanted Rogers to keep the NWA World Championship, but Rogers was unwilling to sacrifice his $25,000 deposit on the belt (title holders at the time had to pay a deposit to insure they honored their commitments as champion). Rogers lost the NWA World Championship to Lou Thesz in a one-fall match in Toronto, Ontario on January 24, 1963, which led to Mondt, McMahon, and the CWC leaving the NWA in protest, creating the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) in the process.

In April, Rogers was awarded the new WWWF World Championship following an apocryphal tournament in Rio de Janeiro. He lost the title to Bruno Sammartino a month later on May 17, 1963, after suffering a heart attack shortly before the match. To accommodate Rogers' condition, the match was booked to last under a minute.

Mondt left the company in the late sixties. Although the WWWF had withdrawn from the NWA, Vince McMahon Sr. still sat on the NWA Board of Directors, no other territory was recognized in the Northeast, and several "champion vs. champion" matches occurred (usually ending in a double disqualification or some other non-decisive ending).

In March 1979, the WWWF became the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). The change was purely cosmetic, and the ownership and front office personnel remained unchanged during this period.

World Wrestling Federation

In 1980, the son of Vincent J. McMahon, Vincent Kennedy McMahon, founded Titan Sports, Inc. and in 1982 purchased Capitol Wrestling Corporation from his father. The elder McMahon had long since established the northeastern territory as one of the most vibrant members of the NWA. He had long since recognized that professional wrestling was more about entertainment than actual sport. Against his father's wishes, McMahon began an expansion process that fundamentally changed the sport.

The WWF was not the only promotion to have broken ranks with the NWA; the American Wrestling Association (AWA) had long ago ceased being an official NWA member (although like the WWF, they seldom left their own territory). However, neither of the defecting members attempted to undermine the territory system that had been the foundation of the industry for more than half a century.

Other promoters were furious when McMahon began syndicating WWF television shows to television stations across the United States, in areas outside of the WWF's traditional northeastern stronghold. McMahon also began selling videotapes of WWF events outside the Northeast through his Coliseum Video distribution company. He effectively broke the unwritten law of regionalism around which the entire industry had been based. To make matters worse, McMahon used the income generated by advertising, television deals, and tape sales to poach talent from rival promoters. Wrestling promoters nationwide were now in direct competition with the WWF.

Hulk Hogan, due to his appearance in "Rocky III" had a national recognition that few other wrestlers could offer, which is what led McMahon to sign him. Roddy Piper was brought in, as well as Jesse Ventura (although Ventura rarely wrestled in the WWF at that point due to the lung disorder that caused his retirement, moving to the commentator booth alongside Gorilla Monsoon). André the Giant, Jimmy Snuka, Don Muraco, Paul Orndorff, Greg Valentine, Ricky Steamboat, and the Iron Sheik rounded out the roster. Hogan was clearly McMahon's biggest star, but there was debate as to whether the WWF could have achieved national success without him.

According to several reports, the elder McMahon warned his son: "Vinny, what are you doing? You'll wind up at the bottom of a river." In spite of such warnings, the younger McMahon had an even bolder ambition: the WWF would tour nationally. Such a venture, however, required huge capital investment; one that placed the WWF on the verge of financial collapse. The future of not just McMahon's experiment, but also the WWF, the NWA, and the whole industry came down to the success or failure of McMahon's groundbreaking concept, WrestleMania. WrestleMania was a pay-per-view extravaganza (in some areas; most areas of the country saw WrestleMania available on closed-circuit television) that McMahon marketed as being the Super Bowl of professional wrestling. The concept of a wrestling supercard was nothing new in North America; the NWA had been running Starrcade a few years prior to WrestleMania, and even the elder McMahon had marketed large Shea Stadium cards viewable in closed-circuit locations. However, McMahon wanted to take the WWF to the mainstream, targeting the public who were not regular wrestling fans. He drew the interest of the mainstream media by inviting celebrities such as Mr. T and Cyndi Lauper to participate in the event. MTV, in particular, featured a great deal of WWF coverage and programming at this time, in what was termed the "Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection".

Golden Age

The original WrestleMania, held in 1985, was a resounding success. This event is sometimes credited as the debut of what McMahon called "sports entertainment", in contrast to his father's preference of pure wrestling. The WWF did incredible business on the shoulders of McMahon and his all-American babyface hero, Hulk Hogan, for the next several years, creating what some observers dubbed a second golden age for professional wrestling. The introduction of "Saturday Night's Main Event" on NBC in mid-1985 marked the first time that professional wrestling had been broadcast on network television since the 1950s. In 1987, the WWF produced what was considered to be the pinnacle of the 1980s wrestling boom altogether, WrestleMania III. [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 ]

New Generation

The WWF hit a low point in the wake of allegations of steroid abuse and distribution made against it in 1994; there were also allegations of sexual harassment made by WWF employees. McMahon was eventually exonerated, but it was a public relations nightmare for the WWF. The steroid trial cost the WWF an estimated $5 million at a time when revenues were at an all-time low. To compensate, McMahon cut the pay of both wrestlers and front office personnel – close to 40% in the latter case (and about 50% for top level managers such as Bobby Heenan and Jimmy Hart, who both left). This helped drive many WWF wrestlers to its only major competition, World Championship Wrestling (WCW), between 1993 and 1996. During this period, the WWF promoted itself under the banner of "The New WWF Generation," featuring Shawn Michaels, Diesel, Razor Ramon, Bret Hart, and The Undertaker. In an effort to promote them and other young talent as the new superstars of the ring, the WWF began to play on the age restrictions which former WWF wrestlers such as Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage (who by now were working for WCW) now faced. This is best seen in the "Billionaire Ted" parodies of early 1996 (a reference to WCW's owner and patron, media mogul Ted Turner) which culminated in a "rasslin'" match during the warm-up to WrestleMania XII.

Attitude Era

Steve Austin became the new face of the company, starting with his speech, shortly after defeating Jake Roberts in the tournament finals at the 1996 King of the Ring pay-per-view. [cite book|author=Mick Foley|title=|publisher=HarperCollins|date=2000|pages=229|isbn=0061031011] The WWF began broadcasting more violence, swearing, and more edgy angles in its attempt to compete with World Championship Wrestling. After Bret Hart left for WCW following the Montreal Screwjob incident, [cite book|author=Mick Foley|title=Have a Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks|publisher=HarperCollins|date=2000|pages=648|isbn=0061031011] Vince McMahon used the resulting backlash in the creation of his "Mr. McMahon" character, a dictatorial and fierce ruler who favored heels who were "good for business" over "misfit" faces like Austin. This, in turn, led to the Austin vs. McMahon feud, which, along with the formation of D-Generation X, laid the foundation for the Attitude Era. The Attitude Era also featured the established Monday Night Wars, where both WCW and the WWF had Monday night shows that competed against each other in the ratings. Many new faces came into the WWF such as Mankind (previously Cactus Jack from Extreme Championship Wrestling), Chris Jericho, The Rock (then known as Rocky Maivia), and the 1996 Olympic gold medalist, Kurt Angle. This era also saw the evolution of more brutal matches with different stipulations to increase viewership, mainly Hell in a Cell (introduced by The Undertaker against Shawn Michaels [ [http://www.wwe.com/inside/specialtymatches/hellinacell] ] and the Inferno match (introduced by Kane against The Undertaker [ [http://www.wwe.com/inside/specialtymatches/infernomatch] ]

Business advances

On April 29, 1999, the WWF made its return to terrestrial television by launching a special program known as "SmackDown!" on the fledgling UPN network. The Thursday-night show became a weekly series on August 26, 1999.

On the back of the success of the Attitude Era, on October 19, 1999 the WWF's parent company, Titan Sports (by this time renamed World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc.) became a publicly traded company, offering 10 million shares priced at $17 each.cite web|url=http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/july-dec99/wwf.html|title=WWF Enters the Stock Market|accessdate=2007-05-05|month=10|date=19|year=1999] WWF announced its desire to diversify, including creating a nightclub in Times Square, producing feature films, and book publishing.

In 2000 the WWF, in collaboration with television network NBC, announced the creation of the XFL, a new professional football league that debuted in 2001.cite web|url=http://corporate.wwe.com/news/2000/2000_02_03.jsp|title=WWE Entertainment, Inc. announces the formation of the XFL -- a new professional football league|accessdate=2007-05-05|month=02|date=03|year=2000] The league had surprisingly high ratings for the first few weeks, but initial interest waned and its ratings plunged to dismally low levels (one of its games was the lowest-rated primetime show in the history of American television). NBC walked out on the venture after only one season, but McMahon intended to continue alone. However, after being unable to reach a deal with UPN, McMahon shut down the XFL.cite web|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/news/2001/05/10/xfl_folds_ap/|title=XFL folds after disappointing first season|accessdate=2007-05-05|month=05|date=10|year=2001]

Acquisition of WCW and ECW

WCW was in dire straits after the WWF consistently beat them in the ratings war. It only survived because Ted Turner retained control over it as a result of Turner Broadcasting System's merger with Time Warner. After Time Warner merged with AOL, Turner's power was considerably reduced, and the newly merged company decided to get rid of WCW entirely. In March 2001, WWF Entertainment, Inc. acquired World Championship Wrestling, Inc. from AOL Time Warner for a number reported to be around $7 million.cite web|url=http://corporate.wwe.com/news/2001/2001_03_23.jsp|title=WWE Entertainment, Inc. Acquires WCW from Turner Broadcasting|accessdate=2007-05-05|month=03|date=23|year=2001] With this purchase, WWF was now the largest wrestling promotion in the world, and the only one in North America with mainstream exposure. It remained so until the launch of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in 2002.

The assets of Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), which had folded after filing for bankruptcy protection in April 2001, were purchased by WWE in mid-2003.

World Wrestling Entertainment

In 2000, the World Wildlife Fund (also WWF), an environmental organization now called the World Wide Fund for Nature, sued the World Wrestling Federation. A British court agreed that Titan Sports had violated a 1994 agreement which had limited the permissible use of the WWF initials overseas, particularly in merchandising.cite web|title=Agreement-WWF-World Wide Fund for Nature and Titan Sports Inc.|url=http://contracts.corporate.findlaw.com/agreements/wwf/worldwildlife.1997.01.20.html|accessdate=2006-11-23] On May 5, 2002, the company quietly changed all references on its website from "WWF" to "WWE", while switching the URL from "WWF.com" to "WWE.com". The next day, a press release announced the official name change from "World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc." to "World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.", or WWE, and the change was publicized later that day during a telecast of "Monday Night Raw", which emanated from the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut. For a short time, WWE used the slogan "Get The 'F' Out."cite web|title=World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Drops The "F" To Emphasize the "E" for Entertainment| publisher=WWE|url=http://corporate.wwe.com/news/2002/2002_05_06.jsp|accessdate=2006-08-28] The company had also been ordered by the court to stop using the old WWF Attitude logo on any of its properties and to censor all past references to "WWF", as they no longer owned the trademark to the initials "WWF" in 'specified circumstances'. [ [http://corporate.wwe.com/news/2002/2002_05_06.jsp corporate.wwe.com] ] Despite litigation, WWE is still permitted use of the original WWF logo, which was used from 1984 through 1997, as well as the "New WWF Generation" logo, which was used from 1994 through 1998. Furthermore, the company may still make use of the full "World Wrestling Federation" and "World Wrestling Federation Entertainment" names without consequence.

In April 2002, about a month before the name change, WWE decided to create two separate rosters, one on "Raw", the other on "SmackDown!" due to the overabundance of talent left over from the Invasion storyline (which involved talent from the absorbed ECW and WCW rosters interacting in WWF storylines). This is known as the WWE Brand Extension. Following the Brand Extension, a yearly Draft Lottery was instituted in 2004 to exchange members of each roster and generally refresh the lineups.

In late 2005, WWE Raw returned after a five-year stint on TNN (now Spike TV) to its original home USA Network. In the TNN days, WWE got all advertising revenue during commercial breaks into their own pockets; now on USA Network, USA Network gets all advertising revenue. [ [http://money.cnn.com/2005/05/20/markets/spotlight/spotlight_wwe/index.htm] ] So, WWE had to invest into other lines of products introducing WWE 24/7, an on-demand subscription-only channel which shows classic wrestling matches from WWE's vast video library (more than 80,000 hours) and WWE produced content other than wrestling. In 2006, due to contracts with NBC Universal, parent company of USA Network, WWE had the chance to revive its classic Saturday night show WWE Saturday Night's Main Event (SNME) on NBC after a thirteen-year hiatus. WWE had the chance to promote the company on a major national network rather than the lower profile CW or cable channels like USA Network. SNME airs occasionally on NBC as a WWE special series.

On May 26, 2006, WWE revived Extreme Championship Wrestling as its third brand. The new ECW program airs Tuesday nights, on the Sci Fi Channel.cite web|title=WWE brings ECW to Sci Fi Channel|publisher=WWE.com|url=http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/scifi|accessdate=2006-08-28] On September 26, 2007, it was announced that WWE would be expanding its international operations. Alongside the current international offices in London and Toronto, a new international office would be established in Sydney. [cite web|url=http://corporate.wwe.com/news/2007/2007_09_26.jsp|title=WWE: Flexing its Muscle|date=2007-09-01] On January 21, 2008, WWE made the transition to high-definition (HD). All TV shows and pay-per-views after this were broadcast in HD. In addition, WWE also introduced a new state of the art set that was used for all three brands.cite web|title=WWE Goes HD|url=http://corporate.wwe.com/news/2008/2008_01_14.jsp|publisher=WWE|accessdate=2008-01-25]

Wellness Program

The Talent Wellness Program is a comprehensive drug, alcohol, and cardiac screening program exclusive to World Wrestling Entertainment, initiated in February 2006, shortly after the sudden death of one of their highest profile talents, thirty-eight year old Eddie Guerrero.cite web|url= http://corporate.wwe.com/documents/TalentWellnessProgramOutline2-27-06CORPweb.pdf|title=WWE Talent Wellness Program|accessdate =2007-10-11|date=2007-02-27|publisher=Corporate WWE Web Site] The policy tests for recreational drug use and abuse of prescription medication, including anabolic steroids. Under the guidelines of the policy, talent is also tested annually for pre-existing or developing cardiac issues. The drug testing is handled by Aegis Sciences Corporation. The cardiac evaluations are handled by New York Cardiology Associates P.C.

The program has recently been defended heavily by WWE and its employees in the wake of several illegal pharmacy busts that link WWE performers to steroid purchases even after the policy was put into place. WWE openly suspended/released 11 performers immediately following release of their names in conjunction with anabolic steroid purchases. [cite news |url= http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/more/08/30/wrestlers/|title=Fourteen wrestlers tied to pipeline|publisher=Sports Illustrated|date=2007-08-30|accessdate=2007-10-11] [cite news|first=Paul|last=Farhi|title=Pro Wrestling Suspends 10 Linked to Steroid Ring|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/31/AR2007083101961.html|publisher=Washington Post|date=2007-09-01|accessdate=2007-10-11] The program has fallen under intense scrutiny from branches of the media and professionals in the field of doping,Who?|date=November 2007 who claim that not only has WWE overlooked, if not, encouraged steroid use prior to these pharmacy busts, but that the steroid testing itself is blatantly misleading. Under WWE drug testing policy, positive test thresholds for anabolic steroids are more than twice that of all other major sporting outfits including the Olympic committee.Fact|date=June 2008

WWE is currently under investigation by the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform regarding their talent wellness policy, after the death of one of their performers, Chris Benoit, possibly being linked to steroid abuse.cite web|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20002071/|title=Congress wants WWE's info on steroids, doping|accessdate=2007-07-29]

In August 2007, WWE made the decision to suspend ten professional wrestlers for violating their Wellness Policy after it emerged they were all customers of Signature Pharmacy in Orlando, Florida. According to a statement attributed to WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt, an eleventh wrestler was later added to the suspension list. [cite web|url= http://www.headlineplanet.com/base/articles/1188623664.html|title="WWE Suspends Yet Another Wrestler"|date=2007-09-01|work= Headline Planet]

On the other hand, it has not been mentioned in public outside WWE.com that because of the Wellness Policy, physicians were able to diagnose one of their performers with a heart ailment that otherwise would have likely gone unnoticed until it was too late. In August 2007, then-reigning U.S. Champion MVP was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, [cite web|url=http://www.wwe.com/shows/smackdown/archive/08102007/articles/mvpmostvaluableprogram|title=MVP's Most Valuable Program| publisher=WWE|date=2007-08-10|accessdate=2007-12-07] which if gone undiagnosed can be potentially fatal. The ailment was discovered while MVP was going through a routine Wellness Policy checkup.

Expansion beyond wrestling

In addition to licensing wrestling and performers' likenesses to companies such as Acclaim, THQ, and Jakks Pacific to produce video games and action figures, WWE has moved into other areas of interest in order to market their product.
* WWE Studios: A subsidiary of WWE created in 2002 to create and develop feature film properties. Formerly known as WWE Films.
* WWE Niagara Falls: A retail and entertainment establishment that is located in Niagara Falls, Ontario and owned by WWE.
* WWE Records: A subsidiary that specializes in compilation albums of WWE wrestlers' entrance themes. Also releases titles that have been actually performed by the wrestlers themselves.
* WWE Home Video: A subsidiary that specializes in distributing compilation VHS and DVD copies of WWE pay-per-view events, compilations of WWE wrestlers' performances, and biographies of WWE performers.
* WWE Books: A subsidiary of WWE that serves to publish autobiographies of and fiction based on WWE personalities, behind-the-scenes guides to WWE, illustrated books, calendars, young adult books, and other general nonfiction books.

Key figures

Executive officers

* Vincent K. McMahon (Chairman)cite web|url=http://corporate.wwe.com/company/bios/vk_mcmahon.jsp|title=WWE Corporate Biography of Vince McMahon|accessdate=2007-05-20]
* Linda E. McMahon (CEO)cite web|url=http://corporate.wwe.com/company/bios/le_mcmahon.jsp|title=WWE Corporate Biography of Linda McMahon|accessdate=2007-05-20]
* Michael Sileck (Chief Operating Officer) [cite web|url=http://corporate.wwe.com/company/bios/m_sileck.jsp|title=WWE Corporate Biography of Michael Sileck|accessdate=2007-05-20]
* Shane B. McMahon (Executive Vice President, Global Media) [cite web|url= http://corporate.wwe.com/company/bios/sb_mcmahon.jsp|title=WWE Corporate Biography of Shane McMahon|accessdate=2007-05-20]
* Kevin Dunn (Executive Vice President, Television Production) [cite web|url= http://corporate.wwe.com/company/bios/k_dunn.jsp|title=WWE Corporate Biography of Kevin Dunn|accessdate=2007-05-20]
* Frank G. Serpe (Chief Financial Officer) [cite web|url=http://corporate.wwe.com/company/bios/fg_serpe.jsp|title=WWE Corporate Biography of Frank Serpe|accessdate=2007-05-20]
* Donna Goldsmith (Executive Vice President, Consumer Products) [cite web|url= http://corporate.wwe.com/company/bios/d_goldsmith.jsp|title=WWE Corporate Biography of Donna Goldsmith|accessdate =2007-05-20]
* Geof Rochester (Executive Vice President, Marketing) [cite web|url= http://corporate.wwe.com/company/bios/g_rochester.jsp|title=WWE Corporate Biography of Geof Rochester|accessdate =2007-05-20]
* Stephanie McMahon-Levesque (Executive Vice President, Talent and Creative Writing) [cite web|url= http://corporate.wwe.com/company/bios/s_mcmahon_levesque.jsp|title=WWE Corporate Biography of Stephanie McMahon-Levesque| accessdate=2007-05-20]
* Edward L. Kaufman (Executive Vice President and General Counsel) [cite web|url= http://corporate.wwe.com/company/bios/el_kaufman.jsp|title=WWE Corporate Biography of Edward Kaufman|accessdate =2007-05-20]
* John Laurinaitis (Senior Vice President, Talent Relations) [cite web|url= http://corporate.wwe.com/company/bios/j_laurinaitis.jsp|title=WWE Corporate Biography of John Laurinaitis|accessdate=2007-05-20]
* Michael Lake (President, WWE Films) [cite web|url=http://corporate.wwe.com/governance/bios/m_lake.jsp|title=WWE Corporate Biography of Michael Lake|accessdate=2008-01-08]
* John P. Saboor "Senior Vice President of Special Events" [http://corporate.wwe.com/news/2008/2008_07_28a.jsp]

Board of directors

* Vincent K. McMahon (Chairman of the Board of Directors - WWE)cite web|url= http://corporate.wwe.com/governance/board.jsp|title=Corporate Board of Directors | accessdate=2007-05-20]
* Linda E. McMahon (Chief Executive Officer - WWE)
* Michael Sileck (Chief Operating Officer - WWE)
* Lowell P. Weicker, Jr. (Former Governor of the State of Connecticut and United States Senator)
* David Kenin (Executive Vice President of Programming - Hallmark Channel)
* Joseph Perkins (President - Communications Consultants, Inc.)
* Michael B. Solomon (Managing Principal - Gladwyne Partners, LLC)
* Robert A. Bowman (Chief Executive Officer - Major League Baseball Advanced Media)

Champions

Defunct championships

* WWE Cruiserweight Championship (1991-2007)ref|WCW/ECW/WWE|1
* WWE Hardcore Championship (1998-2002)
* WWE European Championship (1997-2002)
* WCW/World Championship (2001)ref|WCW/ECW|1
* WCW World Tag Team Championship (2001)ref|WCW/ECW|1
* WWF Light Heavyweight Championship (1981-2001)
* Million Dollar Championship (1989-1992, 1995-1996)
* WWF Intercontinental Tag Team Championship (1991)
* WWF Women's Tag Team Championship (1983-1989)
* WWF Canadian Championship (1985-1986)
* WWF International Heavyweight Championship (1959-1963, 1982-1985)
* WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship (1967-1985)
* WWF International Tag Team Championship (1969-1985)
* WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship (1978-1985)
* WWF North American Heavyweight Championship (1979-1981)
* WWWF United States Championship (1970-1975)
* WWWF United States Tag Team Championship (1963-1967)

Websites

WWE have two main websites, the [http://corporate.wwe.com corporate] and the [http://www.wwe.com main website] .

Notes

External links

* [http://www.wwe.com/ WWE.com]
* [http://corporate.wwe.com/ WWE Corporate website]
* [http://finance.yahoo.com/q?d=t&s=WWE WWE Stock]
*
* [http://www.wweaffiliates.com WWE Affiliate website]
* [http://www.wweeuroshop.com/ WWE Euro Shop website]
* [http://www.wwe.co.jp WWE Japanese website]
* [http://www.wwekids.com/ WWE Kids website]
* [http://www.wweshop.com/ WWE Shop website]