WWE stands for World Wrestling Entertainment. It is the biggest pro-wrestling promotion in the world. Such is WWE’s global footprint, that it has become synonymous with professional wrestling. Some fans always wonder if WWF and WWE are the same, and if so, why did WWF change to WWE.
WWE, as we see it today, wasn’t exactly the same till 2002. Older fans remember the company by the name ‘WWF’. So what happened to the old name? Why was it changed? Read on to find out.
Why was it called WWF?
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The professional wrestling business was totally different a few decades ago. It was a territorial environment, where different promotions operated in different regions called ‘territories’. Vince McMahon Sr. made a pact with other promoters to not poach each other’s wrestlers. When Vince McMahon Jr. took over the company, he reneged on the pact and started poaching the talents.
He soon bought out, or forced other promotions to close down and formed one big federation called World Wrestling Federation, or WWF. McMahon used revenue generated from television deals, advertisements, etc to lure the talent away from their territories. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, McMahon said :
“In the old days, there were wrestling fiefdoms all over the country, each with its own little lord in charge. Each little lord respected the rights of his neighboring little lord. No takeovers or raids were allowed.”
Here is the reason why WWF change the name to WWE
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Unfortunately for Vince McMahon, there was another organization with the same ‘WWF’ initials- World Wildlife Fund. The World Wildlife Fund filed a lawsuit against the company over the name. Vince McMahon was forced to change it after losing said lawsuit. Hence, WWF became WWE.
The fans always wondering why did WWF change to WWE will probably have their answer right now.
