Time to Get the "E" Out???

[Steamboat Ricky]

Having just read Steve Anderson's column on the main site, I noticed that he dedicated nearly half of it discussing how much he despises WW"E." Not the organization itself, rather it's name. He mentions how he is tired of all of the blurring and censoring in old school WW"F" video. He goes on to suggest that Vince McMahon attmept to get back the rights to WW"F" at some point.

This brings me to my question: is it time to get the "E" out of WWE? When they first switched over from WWF to WWE in 2002, I couldn't help but think "they chose 'E'?" It's an awkward combination of letters, and the common man still does not know that "WWF" and "WWE" are the same thing. Could this be a detriment to the overall ratings of the show?

Surely, with Vince's money and power, he could somehow get the rights back if he wanted them. If not to make the current product have a better name, then at least the rights would be tremendous in order to make the old video footage less awkward to watch.

I want to get the "E" out...what about you?

[Sasha Fierce]

When the WWF first became the WWE I was outraged. I couldn't believe a HUGE sports organization would have to change its name just because a charity foundation that had nothing to do with the other compnay had the same name. I doubt the NFL, NBA, or NHL would have had to change their name if they were in the same position. They would find it tooth and nail in order to keep they name. Anyways now that it has been a few years(5-6) since the name change I dont think it would help if they changed it back, and it would just confuse everyone again.

[klunderbunker]

I don't really think it makes that big of a deal. It's a letter. As Shakespeare said, a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. Any other letter would be just as awkward. Also, let's say Vince gets the WWF name back. The Summerslam, Wrestlemania and Royal Rumble anthologies, as well as dozens of other dvds have been released. Would you or WWE be willing to go through and unedit then rerelease all of those without the editing? I can't stand the blurring either, but I'm not about to go out and buy a bunch of new dvds because of it. THe wrestling is still there, its just called something different.

[mcflyboy]

Honestly, I don't really care. It's not like folks lost track of the company once the name was changed. The world wildlife federation had every right to try and get the WWF to change their name. And in the end, i don't really see how using "E" instead of "F" really matters or is worth getting upset over. But perhaps I'm just a different breed of cat.

[Uncle Sam]

There was an article about this in FSM. I say article, it was about the quality of one of my posts when I'm bored. It was just suggestions about what Vince could have spent four million, or however much, on instead of bribing the viewers to watch his show.

Personally, I would like a return to the WWF. Why? It's not because I'm sad and want it for nostalgia's sake. Well, I could still be sad, but I don't care about sentimental value or anything. It's just so I can buy these fancy new DVDs with their lovely, luxurious and plain sexy embossed lettering and cardboard sleeves and not feel a little bit robbed when The Rock gets thrown into a turnbuckle and his midsection turns into a massive blur. It's just irritating.

[Davi323]

I don't have a problem with the WWE name, I just despise the World Wildlife Foundation. There is no reason that the WWE should have to blur out WWF from its own videos. Anyone who is watching those videos knows damn well they are watching a Wrestling video, and not some animal conservation thing. There is absolutely no chance of product confusion, which was the initial completely bogus claim the World Wildlife Foundation used when they sued the World Wrestling Federation. it was some bogus argument that they were losing all kinds of website hits, because www.wwf.com was owned by Titan Sports. They somehow convinced a judge that people were confusing them. Why Vince McMahon didn't appeal the hell out of that decision, I don't know. It was simply asinine.

[outrus]

97sese (http://www.97sese-mm.cn)

[RKOwned]

WWE aren't allowed to use the WWF initials and they fought as best they could to not have to change, but the damn pandas won and thus butchered all the Attitude era stuff by blurring and beeping.

[Slyfox696]

First of all, I don't think that a worldwide non-profit organization can be "bought out".

Second of all, it's the WWE's fault for breaching their contract, not the WWF's fault for bringing legal action.


Finally, who cares? Like has been said, it's just one letter, and in 10 ten years, no one is going to think there is anything unusual about the letters WWE. Not only that, WWE is a much more marketable term, and since McMahon is desperate to appeal to other mediums of entertainment, it makes sense to name your company something that can be used for other areas of entertainment as well.

Changing the name now, would only do the same thing that changing from the WWF to the WWE would do. It would be just another step back. Just keep it the way it is, and let's get over it already.

[Tastycles]

I saw an interview with Vince and the American talk show host he argued with from about 2002 recently. Vince said that he supposed that the name would change back in the near future and the F would come back.

I don't understand why the WWF didn't revert to WWWF or just WF, as these would be different, and the letters in your head wouldn't change. You would still be aware of it as the same brand. People who don't know much about wrestling or watch it will recognise the WWF name, but not the WWE. WWE sounds clumsy. Iread a newer edition of Foley's book, and when he wrote "the Federation" in the original, they had changed it to "the Entertainment" which sounds stupid. There is no word in World Wrestling Entertainment that makes it sound like a collective company.

I appreciate that the World Wildlife Fund don't want their initials to be synonomous with violence, but I don't see how having a cameraman's t-shirt that was filmed 15 years ago blurred out is going to repair any damage done. I don't think the name could change back, and I'm not sure it should, but surely the two entities can come to some sort of agreement that doesn't spoil archived footage?

[HBK-aholic]

I do believe it's stupid the WWE has to blur out anything with the WWF logo on, from 10 years ago. However I understand the need of it. They could easily be sued by the World Wildlife Fund if they knowingly published anything with the initials on. They do it to protect themselves, and McMahon would be stupid not to do that.

WWE will never be able to 'buy' the name WWF, or indeed convince anyone they deserve the name. Here's why. In the public view of things the WWF is a non-profiltable charity, organised to help animals at no personal gain to the volunteers. The WWE is a fake sport which promotes violence amongst youngsters and has a number of 'taboo' storylines.

What annoys me is people who still call the WWE, WWF. Sorry, it just gets to me. It's been well over 5 years that it changed, and the initials WWF are seen nowhere on anything from the WWE. Hell, I even owned a "Get the F out" T-shirt. But people still say WWF. No matter how many times I tell them it's changed. Even explain why.

And whenever somene says WWF, I automaically think of wrestling, not some animal charity with a panda as a logo. Ask most people what the WWF stands for, and wrestling will be mentioned. I don't think that's going to be changed for a long time.

That all being said, I don't think the WWE should change their name at all again. WWE is a good name. I don't think it sounds better than WWF, but I think people have gotten used to it being WWE and there is no need for another change. How hard would that be? Everything would have to be changed. The only way I can see it changing is if another lawsuit comes out, which I doubt as I don't believe any other company has the initials.

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

1) I hate how they have to blur it out. That's ridiculous. Nobody that sees the old WWF logos would think "wait a minute...World Wildlife Fund!"

2) I don't like WWE as much as WWF. It doesn't click. People could say "in all of the WWF", but if you say "in all of the WWE", it sounds odd because you're saying "in all of the Entertainment" instead of "in all of the Federation". That's like saying you're a part of the Football instead of the Team lol.

3) I don't understand why the WWF logo that they had couldn't just add a little line at the bottom to make the F part an E. Right now, the logo is WW. Where's the E?


Thusly I'd love for it to go back to the WWF. I miss those days.

[Monkey Winchester]

I think they should do what the column said. At least come up with the money and but the rights so they can stop all the blurring of the logo's. It does get extremely annoying when I buy a new WWE DVD and see all these blurs and edits to get the WWF logo's and mentions out of there.

On the other hand though I really don't care if they get all of the rights back. It is still wrestling and it is only a name. Whether it be WWE or WWF it really isnt going to matter when it comes to the product. Its just a name. Some people may like it for an old school feel, but I only need the rights to it so they can stop all the blurring.

[DC24]

I do believe it's stupid the WWE has to blur out anything with the WWF logo on, from 10 years ago. However I understand the need of it. They could easily be sued by the World Wildlife Fund if they knowingly published anything with the initials on. They do it to protect themselves, and McMahon would be stupid not to do that.

WWE will never be able to 'buy' the name WWF, or indeed convince anyone they deserve the name. Here's why. In the public view of things the WWF is a non-profiltable charity, organised to help animals at no personal gain to the volunteers. The WWE is a fake sport which promotes violence amongst youngsters and has a number of 'taboo' storylines.

What annoys me is people who still call the WWE, WWF. Sorry, it just gets to me. It's been well over 5 years that it changed, and the initials WWF are seen nowhere on anything from the WWE. Hell, I even owned a "Get the F out" T-shirt. But people still say WWF. No matter how many times I tell them it's changed. Even explain why.

And whenever somene says WWF, I automaically think of wrestling, not some animal charity with a panda as a logo. Ask most people what the WWF stands for, and wrestling will be mentioned. I don't think that's going to be changed for a long time.

That all being said, I don't think the WWE should change their name at all again. WWE is a good name. I don't think it sounds better than WWF, but I think people have gotten used to it being WWE and there is no need for another change. How hard would that be? Everything would have to be changed. The only way I can see it changing is if another lawsuit comes out, which I doubt as I don't believe any other company has the initials.

I've watched wrestling for close to 20 years and I will always call it the WWF sorry if that offends you. It was the name I was brought up on as a child and some lawsuit isn't going to change that for me. I don't care if they change the name back or not cause I will always call it the WWF anyway.

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

Vince McMahon wants to be using his time and money on better wrestling programming. Forget the name. It's irrelevant to me personally, but that's me. The focus is supposed to be on the wrestling not logos and names.

I do get pissed off with the blurring on every 'WWF' symbol in existance, but if you watch footage with the old school gold WWF logo and not the white and red scratchy one we have now, they don't bother to blur it (correct me if i'm wrong). I also hate it when they mute part of the commentary for the same reason, but what's really stupid about that is if JR says 'the World Wrestling Federation' it's ok, but if he says 'the WWF' then it has to be edited out.

But then this is a company that officially denies all knowledge of a man who won the main event at WM20. One of the only men to win the Royal Rumble from #1. If Randy Orton wants to talk about his first WHC win, and someone asks 'who did you beat Randy?' what's he gonna say? I beat 'he who shall not be named' or maybe he'll say, 'i don't remember'!

My point is, we all know what they used to be called, and yes in ten years it won't sound wierd because the 10 year olds watching wrestling now will have never known it as anything other than WWE, and i doubt they'll be releasing WWF footage on DVD in 10 years time, it'll all be WWE footage, unless it's another Ladder match or HIAC compilation dvd.

[eddιe™]

As long as there is no actual change in the bnes in relation to the name change there is no prblem, die hard fns know both wwe and wwf, and casual fans wouldnt mind the change either, as it is only the name that changes

[Dead Kennedy]

Everybody who knows me knows about my 15,000 word hand-written hate letter to the World Wildlife Fund. They pissed their pants too much to give me a reply. Ever since, I've done all in my power to thwart their evil plans.

Everybody knows that beneath the blurs is the WWF logo. The blur is even so bad you can see it through the blur. The World Wildlife Fund did themselves a disservice by suing the REAL WWF for the rights to the name - they've ensured the hatred of youth for generations to come. Stab a panda bear to rub it in their faces! And their abbreviation isn't even WWF anymore - it's WWFN! WWE should get down in that courtroom and spank their punk asses with power of attourney.

I say.

[OIL]

Hmm. I'm not fussed either way to be honest. I know some people really don't like WWE, and would love to go back to WWF but it just isn't going to happen. It isn't worth the WWE's time or money to try and change it just because it dosen't make that much of a difference.

Granted, all of my friends who watched wrestling still know it as WWF. If you say WWE they'll go "Oh, WWF?". It's been 6 years or so since the name change, so it's fine as it is because it's been so long. Plus, the WWE are branching out into films and what not. The "E" stands for entertainment. Therefore, it is a good name as it goes with what the WWE are trying to do.

[TM]

The worst part of the deal is the blurring. That is obvious. I wish that the WWE Could work it out with the WWF to have that logo viewed. The Logo is differnent than the Wildlifers, why have to blur it out? They changed it to the WWE, that should be good enough. the Attitude Era "WWF" Logo and the current "WWE" Logo are almost identical, why do they have to censor it out? If the WWF is actually the WWFN, they really shouldn't have to blur the logo now. As for the WWE name, it does reflect on the company better, Its a great way to prevent all those outside the business to challenge the WWE as a sport, because they do not claim to be.

[FoleyIsGod]

The best bet is when this was all going through the courts, the WWE gave the WWf the wwf.com domain naim.

The Wildlife fund then didnt do a thing with it and it ended up being bought by a wrestling website....

Its silly that the WWE had to change its name but as Becca says, it was 5 years ago so its not going to change anytime soon. It would be nice if the WWE gave the WWF some cash just so they dont have to blur every single goddamn logo on a dvd release.

But name changes go even further. The WWF is no longer called the WWf, it is called the world wildlife fund for nature....

So all that money wasted in the courts was for nothing.

Justice just doesnt make sense.

[Rated TSS]

i dont think its time to take the e out at all. Fans are so used to Vince and the crew advertising it as Entertainment and not Wrestling that to change it back/ re-name it would be a waste of time and i would hate to get used to another name change. also if they changed their name it would cause chaos, they'd have to trademark the name, copyright everything again because PPv's are called WWE.... and make the world know that its not Entertainment anymore. silly idea if you ask me.

[Richard]

I don't think that it really matters now 6 years on because if Vince were to somehow be able to re-name the WWE, the WWF then I think it could make it more confusing for some of the newer or younger viewers who have only started watching WWE.

Also I am not going to go out and re-purchase DVDs I have purchased like the history of the WWE championship just so I cant see the "F" on the turnbuckles, or hear Howard Finkle say "for the World Wrestling Federation championship".

[Starchild]

I don't think it makes that much of a difference anymore. Initially, I was rather confused as to how all of a sudden this foundation comes and gets the rights to "WWF" after the wrestling company had been named so for decades. It also took me awhile to be able to naturally call it "WWE" in conversation which also made it more annoying.
But it's been 6 years now or whatever and there's no point. Maybe just someone off the street wouldn't know WWE, but fans of the sport know and have accepted it. Changing it back and unediting the DVDs would just be a hassel that's not worth it. If there was a time to fight for this, it was when it happened not years later.

[Lee]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/2/24/WWF_logo.svg/125px-WWF_logo.svg.png

or

http://collections.lopolis.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/napkins-wwf.jpg

How the heck can anyone get these two confused? A panda or a guy hitting someone with a steel chair!

In all seriousness though, as much as I still call it WWF at times (and the general public as a whole do), I don't see anything wrong with WWE although the thing that keeps coming off is the removal of things from the past the blurring of turnbuckles and the gap in sound is just that bit silly.

Changing the name back to WWF seem the nostalgic thing that says the attitude era was simply the best era ever, and WWE is stuck with shit wrestling like the great Khali.

[Neil]

http://i3.iofferphoto.com/img/item/398/885/36/WWF_LOGO.bmp.jpg

I've seen the above image be used more and more in WWE nowadays. They don't seem to be afraid when referring to their classic years using the proper logo.

But the best part of this lawsuit wasn't the blurring, it was the "World Wrestling *GUNSHOT*" you heard in edited videos.

[Davi323]

As far as I know, this classic logo is allowed, because it is more or less a graphic, rather than text. The attitude era WWF logo, meanwhile, is more obviously text based. If I recall correctly, the old school WWF image that you just posted is allowed, as it is an image, rather than text based.

[AngryGrandpa]

Very good question...

I wish it was still WWF.... Because all this blurring is insane.. I can't even watch my Rock dvd... I've had it since the day it came out and have only seen disc 1... The blurring is just so annoying...Did they really have to go that far? Give the pandas 20 million bucks and buy some rights!

Something..Anything!

I wouldn't care if it was WWE if we could simply stop editing classic matches....

Try watching Wrestlemania 17 after it's been edited.... 10 bucks say you'll want to cut ur eyes out of your head before Austin vs The Rock even happens.

[Upgrayedd]

I don't really mind the name WWE at this point though I'd love it if it went back to being the WWF. But I absolutely hate how they have to blur out the WWF logos and edit out announcers from saying "WWF" on their DVDs. That's one of the reasons I refuse to buy the wrestlers "Best ofs" DVDs because if it's someone like Austin (last one I bought) most of his success came in the the WWF and during his matches, promos, etc. you just see all of the logos blurred out and Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler only say "WW... title". It's awful. McMahon should have at least fought for the rights to use the logo and name in all old videos.

Also, let's say Vince gets the WWF name back. The Summerslam, Wrestlemania and Royal Rumble anthologies, as well as dozens of other dvds have been released. Would you or WWE be willing to go through and unedit then rerelease all of those without the editing? I can't stand the blurring either, but I'm not about to go out and buy a bunch of new dvds because of it. THe wrestling is still there, its just called something different.

They wouldn't have to go back and unedit anything. I'm sure they have all of the original tapes that they could release on DVD that are unedited.

Edit: Someone already brought it up but I want to know anyways... why are they allowed to show the old WWF logo from the '80s and '90s but not the scratch logo?

[Rusty]

It doesn't bother me in all honesty. I don't see it as a big deal to me, its only a name after all. WWE are 3 great initials that really stand for what the show is about. It is known globally around the "World". It is a "Wrestling" show and it involves a fair bit of "Entertainment". Wrestling and Entertainment are fairly balanced in the WWE nowadays as they don't outweigh each other. They are also mixed in together well and nobody wants to watch a wrestling match that is 'unentertaining'. Also, I personally think WWE sounds better than WWF anyway.

But many people that don't follow wrestling and are over 20 years old still think of wrestling when you mention the initials WWF. Hardly anyone knows that the WWF lost the rights to the letters a few years ago. I'm only talking about people who don't watch wrestling here. But as mentioned before, I also dislike the blurring out of the WWF initials on the new WWE dvd's. It is quite distracting and annoying when watching a match in my opinion. Its been 6 years already, so why change it back now? It's not like its going to make a difference to the fans viewing it or a change in the product itself.

I say keep the WWE initials for as long as they possibly can. I don't see the need of change and even if they somehow change initials, I most likely won't care. It's not a big deal to me and it doesn't affect the product to me one bit. I'll still watch it no matter what initials the program decides to have. Loyal fans should feel and do the same. But if I had a choice, I would leave it the way it is now as I have grown to like the initials "WWE".

[Prodigy]

personally i liked the wwf but since tht is no longer i say keep wwe. i mean i really cant think of anything else it could be. so for now i say keep it cause its probly the only one that would fit right now

[ThePhenom13]

i say keep it since people really wouldnt care if they change it back to wwf.but it would be nice to see the old ww...title(as referred to in dvds)back instead of the spinner one.and i agree with flameleeuk.how r people gonna get someone getting hit in the head with a steel chair,to a freaking panda?it makes no sense.

[dleight123]

I do believe it's stupid the WWE has to blur out anything with the WWF logo on, from 10 years ago. However I understand the need of it. They could easily be sued by the World Wildlife Fund if they knowingly published anything with the initials on. They do it to protect themselves, and McMahon would be stupid not to do that.

WWE will never be able to 'buy' the name WWF, or indeed convince anyone they deserve the name. Here's why. In the public view of things the WWF is a non-profiltable charity, organised to help animals at no personal gain to the volunteers. The WWE is a fake sport which promotes violence amongst youngsters and has a number of 'taboo' storylines.

What annoys me is people who still call the WWE, WWF. Sorry, it just gets to me. It's been well over 5 years that it changed, and the initials WWF are seen nowhere on anything from the WWE. Hell, I even owned a "Get the F out" T-shirt. But people still say WWF. No matter how many times I tell them it's changed. Even explain why.

And whenever somene says WWF, I automaically think of wrestling, not some animal charity with a panda as a logo. Ask most people what the WWF stands for, and wrestling will be mentioned. I don't think that's going to be changed for a long time.

That all being said, I don't think the WWE should change their name at all again. WWE is a good name. I don't think it sounds better than WWF, but I think people have gotten used to it being WWE and there is no need for another change. How hard would that be? Everything would have to be changed. The only way I can see it changing is if another lawsuit comes out, which I doubt as I don't believe any other company has the initials.
No offense hbk but according to your profile you are only 16 and to you a good part of your life since getting into wrestling it has been called wwe but to us a little older we was brought up in the WWF! and it will be WWF for life for me and my homies! Seriously I could care less if they change the name back or not I can live with the wwe because it is not about the name but about the product and I know what wwe is and I know what wwf was and will always be in my heart and if I still call it wwf that is my right because that is what wrestling was for a great part of my life!