WWE or World Wrestling Entertainment was originally founded by Jess McMahon in 1952. It was then known as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWF). Upon his death, his second son, Vincent J. McMahon. inherited the business and renamed it as World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) in 1963. His son Vincent K. McMahon assumed control in 1971. In March 1979, he renames the organization as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Vincent K. McMahon founded Titan Sports in 1980 and applied the trademark of the WWF. The company changed their name to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) after they lost a lawsuit brought by the World Wildlife Foundation over the initials of WWF in 2002. The name change became official on May 06, 2002.
Timeline
| 1952 | Jess McMahon finds the company with Toots Mondt and is called the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC). It is part of the greater National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) which had several other wrestling organizations |
| 1963 | The CWC leave the NWA over the disputed NWA World Heavyweight Championship creating the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) in the Process. |
| 1963 | Buddy Rogers is the inaugural WWWF Champion |
| 1963 | Bruno Sammartino wins the title and would retain for a total of 2,803 days. |
| 1969 | Vincent K. McMahon joins his father, Vincent J. McMahon in the promotion |
| 1971 | Vincent J. McMahon takes over from his father and assumes full control of the promotion |
| 1979 | Vincent K. McMahon pushes his father to rename the company to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) |
| 1980 | Vincent K. McMahon along with his wife, Linda Mcmahon, find Titan Sports and applied for the trademark initials “WWF” |
| 1983 | Vince purchases Capitol Sports, the parent company of WWF, from his father |
| 1983 | Vince has a different vision for the company. He insists on making it a national promotion and truly break away from the NWA. He wanted the company to be its own entity. |
| 1983 | Vince makes landmark television deals to show WWF across the United States. |
| 1984 | Hulk Hogan is pushed to main event status and defeats the Iron Shiek on January 24 at Madison Square Garden. The arrival of Hulk Hogan launches the Golden Age of Wrestling as it goes mainstream. |
| 1985 | Wrestlemania is launched and attracts celebrities including Mr. T, Mohammed Ali, Cyndi Lauper and Liberace. It’s a rousing success. |
| 1985 | McMahon focuses on Entertainment than wrestling which brings the company mainstream appeal. He adds more PPVs to the mix including SummerSlam, Royal Rumble, Survivor Series and The King of the Ring. |
| 1993 | The WWF goes into prime time with the launch of Monday Night Raw, which aired on the USA Network. |
| 1993 | This time also sees the rise of Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart, Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, Diesel, Razor Ramon and others |
| 1993 | Hulk Hogan would leave the company the same year and sign with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) |
| 1995 | WCW’s Monday Nitro is launched on TNT, going head-to-head with Raw beginning the start of the Monday Night Wars |
| 1997 | Vince announces the start of the Attitude Era with edgier characters. This sees the rise of Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Mankind, HHH, Kurt Angle and groups like Degeneration X and The Nation of Domination |
| 1998 | Raw Finally Defeats Nitro in the ratings after 84 straight weeks and continues its domination going forward |
| 1999 | Smackdown is launched on the UPN Network |
| 1999 | WWE Goes Public and is traded on the New York Stock Exchange |
| 2001 | WWF finally buys WCW, becoming the biggest wrestling promotion in the world |
| 2002 | WWF loses a lawsuit brought on by the World Wildlife Fund over its initials. This forces the company to rebrand as World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). |
| 2008 | The Ruthless Aggression Era ends as the company as it moves away from edgier content and moves towards a family friendly audience. This will become known as the PG era by fans. John Cena becomes the poster boy of this generation. |
| 2014 | Dubbed by fans as the start of the Reality Era, this sees real-life events altering things and becoming storyline. Daniel Bryan emergers as the face of this era along with Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns of the Shield. |
| 2016 | The New Era Begins as Women are pushed to the forefront unlike any other time in the company’s history. |
| 2016 | Raw and Smackdown become 2 separate brands with each one getting their own championships |
| 2018 | The first ever Women’s PPV is announced on Raw and is set to take place at October 28, 2018. |
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