WWE

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), formerly the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), is a sports entertainment company, focusing primarily in professional wrestling. Founded in 1952 by Roderick McMahon and Toots Mondt, the company is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, with revenue exceeding $475 million annually.http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=wwe The company's Golden Age occurred between the mid to late 1980's. With Hulk Hogan being the face of the WWF, and Saturday Night's Main Event airing on NBC, the company enjoyed much success and attracted a substantial number of fans.http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/

The company is the premier professional wrestling organization in the United States, known for its theatrics as much as its television and pay-per-view matches.http://www.wwe.com/inside/titlehistory/

World Wrestling Federation

In 1980, Vincent Kennedy McMahon purchased Capitol Wrestling Corporation from his father. McMahon saw wrestling as more of an entertainment outlet than an actual sport, and began to expand the company beyond the established northeastern territory. McMahon named his promotion the World Wrestling Federation (WWF for short) and began syndicating WWF television shows to stations across the country. Rival wrestling promoters were displeased with MaMahon's tactics of expansion and marketing, as they were now in competition with his rapidly growing company.

McMahon began signing and developing top talents like Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper. More stars like Andre the Giant, Jimmy Snuka, and Ricky Steamboat would soon follow as the WWF began to become more mainstream. The first WrestleMania was held in 1985 and was a huge success.

The WWF evolved from the wrestling style of the 1980s to a more aggressive style with wrestlers like Stone Cold Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, and The Undertaker. Vince McMahon was also able to purchase longtime rivals WCW and ECW in 2001, making WWF the sole big name wrestling promotion.

World Wrestling Entertainment

In 2000, the World Wildlife Fund filed suit against the World Wrestling Federation over the initials WWF. A British court rules in favor of the World Wide Fund for Nature and Vince McMahon was forced to rebrand his company as World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).