World Wrestling Entertainment, now WWE from a strategic perspective. How it started as a very small wrestling organization into one of the biggest sports entertainment companies in the world. How they went about acquiring various competitions, expanding and changing with times to the extent that they can now have their own network.

1. Then.. Now.. Forever..

2. A snapshot of the presentation
Executive Summary
History Eras Acquisition
Superstars
& Divas
Various
Initiatives
PPVs &
Network

3. The Golden Era of Wrestling
History of WWE

4. Bruno Sammartino and Lou Thesz: The mainstays
History of WWE- CWC
► James "Jess" McMahon was a successful boxing
promoter who began working with Tex Rickard in
1926
► Joseph Raymond "Toots" Mondt had created a new
challenge of professional wrestling that he called
“Slam Bang Western Style Wrestling”
► Mondt eventually took over the New York wrestling
scene, with the aid of several bookers, one of whom
was Jess McMahon
► Together, McMahon and Mondt created the Capitol
Wrestling Corporation Ltd. (CWC)

5. The inception of territorial wrestling organizations
History of WWE- WWWF
► In early 1963, the World Wide Wrestling
Federation (WWWF) was formed by McMahon
and Mondt
► The WWWF operated in a conservative manner
compared to other pro wrestling territories
► After gaining a television program deal, the
WWWF was doing sell out business by 1970
► At the annual meeting of the NWA in 1983, the
McMahons and WWWF employee Jim Barnett all
withdrew from the organization

6. End of the territories
History of WWE- WWF
► In March 1979, for marketing purposes, the World Wide Wrestling
Federation was renamed the World Wrestling Federation
► That same year, the son of Vincent J. McMahon, Vincent K. McMahon,
founded Titan Sports, Inc
► Against his father's wishes, McMahon began an expansion process by
acquiring various territories
► McMahon hired AWA talent Hulk Hogan, who had achieved popularity
outside of wrestling, notably for his appearance in Rocky III as Thunderlips
► Other wrestlers took part of the roster, such as André the Giant, Jimmy
"Superfly" Snuka, The Magnificent Muraco, Junkyard Dog, "Mr. Wonderful"
Paul Orndorff, Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, Ricky "The Dragon"
Steamboat, Nikolai Volkoff and the Iron Sheik thus starting the “Golden
Era” of wrestling

7. WWE through the generations
Various Eras

8. Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan: The Pioneers
Various Eras- The Glorious Past
► The WWF was hit with allegations of steroid
abuse and distribution in 1992 and was followed
by allegations of sexual harassment by WWF
employees the following year
► The steroid trial cost the company an estimated
$5 million
► This drove many WWF wrestlers to the only major
competition at the time, WCW
► In 1993, the WWF broke new ground in televised
professional wrestling with the début of its cable
program WWF Monday Night Raw
► WWF was being shown across the United
States by 1983, which was in stark contrast to
the territorial agreements
► WrestleMania, the first ever Pay-Per-View, was
a major pay-per-view success; and was
marketed as the Super Bowl of professional
wrestling
► The event and hype surrounding it led to the
term Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection, due to
the cross-promotion of pop-culture and
professional wrestling
Golden Era New Generation Era

9. Steve Austin: The Biggest Superstar of all time
Various Eras- Changing Guard
► Two of the top stars of the Attitude Era, Steve
Austin and The Rock, left the company
► Replaced by newcomers such as Brock Lesnar
and Randy Orton
► Due to the influx of wrestlers from the acquisition
of WCW and ECW led to brand extension by
creation of Smackdown!, a completely new
show with a different roster
► "Ruthless Aggression" became the major theme
for many years that included an action figure line
► Monday Night Wars continued between
Monday Night Raw and WCW's Monday
Nitro
► WWF transformed itself from a family-friendly
product into a more adult oriented product
► Steve Austin was slowly promoted as an
anti-hero and the face of the company
► The creation of the Mr. McMahon character
soon led to the Austin vs. McMahon
feud, the central storyline during the
Attitude Era
Attitude Era Ruthless Aggression

10. John Cena and CM Punk: Modern Day Hogan & Savage
Various Eras- Present & Future
► In August 2011, WWE effectively ended the
Brand Extension when they gave Raw the
tagline "SuperShow“
► As of Raw's 1,000th episode, airing on July 23,
2012, WWE Raw removed the "SuperShow"
tagline as well as becoming a three-hour
broadcast, extended from two-hours
► Also around the same time, during the promos,
wrestlers started using real life of each other
during the build up to the matches giving this
era the name of “Reality Era”
► In 2008 WWE acknowledged that 60% of
its audience was made up of women and
children
► This forced a shift in programming content
included doing away with most of the
"vulgar" language, heavy violence and
adult themes
► During this period, WWE attempted to
gain popularity with a mainstream
audience by inviting celebrities to be the
guest host of Raw
PG Era Reality Era

11. All down to one man: Vince McMahon
Acquisitions

12. The biggest territory in the entire North America
Acquisitions- Territories
► Vince McMahon believed that wrestling should
market itself as sports entertainment rather than
a sport to grow and hence he went on a buying
spree of territories
► McMahon decided to start telecasting his shows
in the region of these territories and promoting it
to the point that the heads of the wrestling
companies had to accept his offer of buying
them out
► The only company that was able to resist was
Mid Atlantic promotion of Jim Crockett, which
went on to become WCW

13. At one time beat WWE for rating for 117 weeks
Acquisitions- WCW
► After Time Warner merged with AOL, Ted Turner's
control over WCW was considerably
reduced, and the newly merged company
announced a complete lack of interest in
professional wrestling as a whole, and decided
to sell WCW in its entirety
► In March 2001 McMahon acquired WCW from
AOL Time Warner for a number reported to be
around $7 million
► Contracts of the big name stars like Hulk
Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and Bill Goldberg
were not included in the purchase of the
company

14. Pioneers of adult-theme based content on TV
Acquisitions- ECW
► Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), which
was a company started by Paul Heyman in
1994, overnight became the hottest wrestling
show on TV due to an overdoese of violence
and adult-theme based content, which was a
precursor to the Attitude Era
► However a shortage of cash led to Paul Heyman
filing for bankruptcy even though the PPV buy
rates were 2nd only to WWE
► The assets of ECW, which had folded after filing
for bankruptcy protection in April 2001, were
purchased by WWE in mid-2003

15. The backbone of the industry
Superstars and Divas

16. Ever evolving models of contractual relationship
Superstars
► WWE contracts typically range from
developmental contracts to multi-year deals.
Most personnel are independent contractors
► This clause of independent contractors allows
the company to escape from the medical
benefits that the company would otherwise
have to pay and hence saving on a lot of
money and formalities
► However the company offers multiple other
benefits like TA and rehabilitation program fee
► The wrestlers make money out of their
appearances, PPV buy rates and merchandise

17. First promotion to use women as Valets
Divas
► The first promotion to use women as valets and
then later on female wrestlers for which a
separate division was created
► Mae Young, who died in January 2014 was the
first female wrestler to gain prominence and
was showcased on the card along with male
wrestlers
► Miss Elizabeth (For Randy Savage) started the
trend of valet
► WWE partnered with various magazines to allow
the Divas to pose for photo-shoots and gain
royalties out of it

18. Expansion and Community Service initiatives
Various Initiatives

19. Various community services
Various Initiatives- Active

20. The ones that caused a loss
Various Initiatives- Defunct

21. Pioneers in both the fields
PPVs and WWE Network

22. Introduced the concept of PPVs in the industry
PPVs
► In March 1979, for marketing purposes, the WWE
has broadcast pay-per-views since the
1980s, when its classic "big four" events were first
established
► WWE pay-per-views are made available in the
United States by In Demand, Dish Network or
DirecTV
► In January 2014, WWE announced that the WWE
Network, a service launching in February, would
feature its entire back catalog of pay-per-view
events, as well as all future pay-per-views from
WrestleMania XXX onwards

23. Started their own network which helped in stock boost
WWE Network

24. Purchase TNA/ROH
Change the orientation of programming
More social media promotion
Cut down on the movies department
Recommendation For Future

25. We’ve Got Two Words For Ya!!
Thank You!!