World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling organization. WWE performs over 300 wrestling events a year, many of them televised to more than 180 countries. Some WWE wrestlers have become famous, notably John Cena, Hulk Hogan, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Roddy Piper, Jesse Ventura, and “The Undertaker” (Mark Calaway). WrestleMania, an annual televised series of matches begun in 1985, ranks as the oldest and most successful professional wrestling event in history.
WWE wrestling matches are not actual sports contests. Instead, they are staged as entertainment, often with storylines as well as movements that are developed in advance of the match and then executed as though they were spontaneous. Rivalries have been established, with some wrestlers appearing as villains and others as heroes. World championship titles have been established to increase interest among audiences.
The roots of WWE go back to 1952, when the Capitol Wrestling Corporation was founded by wrestling promoters Vincent McMahon, Sr., and “Toots” Mondt. In 1963, McMahon and Mondt formed the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). In 1979, Vincent “Vince” McMahon, Jr., a former wrestler, and his wife, Linda, founded Titan Sports. Titan acquired the WWWF in 1982. A number of name changes have taken place over the years, finally resulting in the creation of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., in 2002. Today, WWE is the worldwide leader in promoting wrestling entertainment. In 2023, WWE and Ultimate Fighting Championship merged to form TKO Group Holdings.
