World Wrestling Entertainment

Capitol Wrestling, 1953–1982. Jess McMahon and Joseph Toots Mondt founded the Capitol Wrestling Corporation in 1953. After Jess's death, Vince McMahon Sr. took over leadership. The organization dominated the northeastern United States, including New York and Madison Square Garden, first as CWC and later as the World Wide Wrestling Federation.

The national revolution, 1982–1993. Vince McMahon Jr. took over the company in 1982 and broke open the regional territory system. He built a national and later international organization and introduced the term Sports Entertainment as broader positioning for professional wrestling.

Hulkamania and WrestleMania. With Hulk Hogan as the face of the organization, WWF launched the first WrestleMania in New York in 1985. The combination of wrestling, music, and pop culture, featuring people such as Muhammad Ali and Cyndi Lauper, definitively brought the organization to the mainstream audience.

Monday Night Wars and the Attitude Era, 1995–2001. The competition with WCW led to a direct battle for ratings. WWF won the Monday Night Wars and bought WCW in March 2001. The era produced superstars such as Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H, and The Undertaker.

From WWF to WWE and TKO. After a lawsuit over the WWF name, the organization officially changed its name to World Wrestling Entertainment in 2002. In 2023, WWE and UFC became part of TKO Group Holdings. Creative leadership has since been in the hands of Paul Levesque, better known as Triple H.

Weekly brands. WWE is divided into Raw, SmackDown, and NXT. Raw is the long-running Monday night show, SmackDown is the Friday night show, and NXT serves as a developmental brand for new talent.

Premium Live Events. The biggest annual events are WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series. These shows feature major title matches, special match formats, and storylines built up over several months.

Talent development. Through NXT, young performers and athletes are prepared for the main roster. Many current stars on Raw and SmackDown began in this developmental system.

Parent company: TKO Group Holdings. WWE, together with UFC, is part of the publicly traded TKO Group Holdings, which was formed through a merger led by Endeavor. Nick Khan is WWE's CEO, and Paul Levesque leads its creative direction.

From regional promotion to global empire. WWE grew from the American Northeast's territory system into one of the world's largest live entertainment brands.

Madison Square Garden and New York. Its historic ties to New York are strong. Its predecessor, WWF, held major shows here, and the first WrestleMania took place at Madison Square Garden in 1985.

Cultural influence. WWE brought professional wrestling to a global audience and made superstars such as Bruno Sammartino, Hulk Hogan, The Rock, John Cena, and Roman Reigns part of international pop culture.