Get the F Back

[Sexcellence of Sexecution]

So back in 2002 there was some kind of legal issue that led to the WWF losing the rights to their name, ultimately becoming rebranded as WWE. I'm sure many of you remember the whole "Get the F Out!" campaign. Since then WWE has done an excellent job in building their "new" brand, and the name change seems almost fitting in hindsight, as the company entered a new era with a decidedly different public image. To me, the change from WWF to WWE really represents the shift from a family-owned wrestling promotion to a publically traded corporate wrestling promotion. The WWF going public was followed not long after by this whole name dispute.

Despite the fact that the WWE and WWF are essentially the same company, I think there still exists a divde of sorts within the collective minds of fans, both diehard and casual. "WWF" and "WWE" have different connotations and have different senses about them. They evoke a different sort of feel and response. They are, in fact, different brands. When one hears "WWF" I think it carries a certain sense of nostalgia, whether it be for the Golden Era of the 80s or the Attitude Era of the late 90s. In many ways, the WWE brand name is affiliated with a product that many fans would consider much less cool or interesting, for any number of reasons. However it is also important to note that for an entire generation of fans WWE is really all they've known, and these fans will in turn come to have their own childhood memories wrapped up in that branding. It's been over a decade now since the WWF became WWE, and in that decade a lot has happened and a lot has changed.

So now let's a imagine a world where the WWE for some reason got the legal rights back to the WWF name. If you were in charge of the company, would you want to change the name back to WWF, or would you want to stick with WWE? If they did decide to change the name back, what sort of impact do you think it would have? Would we see a resurgance of interest in the product based on the name change alone? If so, how would you leverage this interest in order to expand the audience? Would a full rebranding need to occur, would the product need to be changed or alterred in some way to reflect the move from WWE back to WWF? How would this be accomplished?

 

[relentless1]

its always been WWF to me, thats how I refer to it in casual conversation, I've always hated WWE and come to think of it I really stopped watching shortly after the name change. Id love it if they went back to the original name...god damn pandas....

 

[The Brain]

I really don't see it making any difference at all. How could it? I highly doubt anyone that stopped watching long ago would suddenly come back just because it's called WWF again. I admit I was not happy about the name change in 2002 but it really didn't affect the product at all. Why should anyone expect any improvement because of a change like that? Now if Vince went on tv and gave us another shoot speech announcing a change of direction like he did in 1997 and incorporated the name change with that we might see a difference, but even then a name change wouldn't be necessary. Just changing the name on its own though would accomplish nothing.

 

[Navi]

I don't think it matters either. If changing one letter in a name from an "F" to an "E" makes you stop watching, then you weren't much of a fan to begin with.

It's all wrasslin to me and I don't give two flying monkeys what they call themselves. The World Wildlife Fund had that name long before the WWE did, so they were within their rights to keep it, just as the WWE would have been if they owned it first.

Maybe Vince should have kept the WWWF, and this would have never happened. But he has an ego, used it and got slapped for it.

 

[Jerichoholic_6]

I kind of disagree with some of the posts above, having the word 'federation' somewhat legitimised it and although there has been some great times in the WWE since the name change I can't help but feel some sort of coolness and/or realness was lost when it stopped being the WWF.
In saying that, I think there is no way WWE would change the name back right now if they had the option. Its clear that entertainment is what they want to be and encompasses all the other bs they concern themselves with (eg movies, total divas).
I will always want it to be the WWF again though.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

It was weird at first and I used to slip up constantly when referring to the company, but after some time WWE became second nature. If I remember correctly I think the company went public before the name change. I believe that happened around 99 or 00 and they changed their name a few years after in 02.

 

[King Patrick Star]

The company name went from Federation to Entertainment. The name change never really bothered me back in 2002. It just felt like the company was expanding into bigger things, which eventually, it did. I don’t really care if they ever change it back or not, but my wallet will if they ever do. Do you know how many Championship Title Belts I have in my house that doesn’t have the F’in F!? The easier question might be, do you know how many Championship Title Belts I have in my house that does have the F’in F!? The answer is 5 WWF Championship Title Belts vs. about 150, give or take 10, WWE Championship Title Belts . 51% of me says “Keep the F out”!!

 

[Mustang Sally]

The company has been called WWE for so long that younger fans they've been cultivating since then might be confused, wondering why in the world WWE felt compelled to change their name.

If Vince McMahon & friends decided to go back to WWF, with a hearty ad campaign proclaiming: "We're going back to the Golden Era!".....a lot of fans would neither know (nor care) what the Golden Era was, making the name change extraneous......or even damaging.

Additionally, there would be a huge financial cost to changing everything WWE back to WWF, from business cards to ring banners.....to the graphics on those huge trucks that carry WWE to arenas all over the country.

Then, of course, there's the amount WWE would have to compensate the World Wildlife Fund to allow all this is the first place.

Forget it!

 

[Softcore Holly]

If I was in charge I would stick to E. For one thing I was already forced to spend a lot of time, money and effort over a decade ago to not only do all the work necessary to copyright and make a new logo for the E but to get all my fans used to the change, there's no way I'm just going to flush all that down the drain unless I'm forced to again. Next I've spent the last 10+ years since then turning that E into a huge success, literally a entire generation of younger fans around the world grew up with it and so are their kids that are starting to get into it. They're long past used to it and there's little to no chance that changing it would make them happier/get them to spend more money.

And lastly I know that the change not only really sucked for me it sucked for my old fans/customers since they grew up loving the F, but I had no choice in matter back then. There's no way I would want my current fans to go through the same thing if I had a say in the matter.

 

[Jonyboyuk2]

I used to prefer WWF. But I appreciate why it changed and not only that - WWE sits more with the Vince McMahon Sports Entertainment ethos. The WWE name is a global brand and I think it should stay as it is. The only thing that annoys me is when we see old WWF matches with logos and commentary/announcers/Promos where it is bleeped out. No need at all for that shit.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I don't see how this makes any sort of difference. Like most people, I was unhappy about the name change but it's not as though Vince had a choice as they were sued by the World Wildlife Fund for Nature over the use of the WWF acronym. Apparently, this was something of a situation that'd been going on since the late 70s and Titan Sports and the World Wildlife Fund reached an agreement in 1994 that allowed Titan to continue using the name. However, and all this is pretty technical, the Fund sued claiming that Titan Sports, AKA WWF, had violated the agreement, especially when it came to merchandising. A court ruled in the Fund's favor as did the Court of Appeals.

In the grand scheme of things, WWE would just be flushing money down the toilet on something that's already been decided by the courts.

 

[rmp0012002]

Not much to discuss. Entertainment not wrestling is what Vince's vision always was so changing the company letters would be a step backwards but I enjoyed it when they were the WWWF. After not abiding by the agreement with the World Wildlife Fund and losing the lawsuit I think Vince would avoid that situation again. The WWWF sold wrestling, the WWF sold wrestling with entertainment and the WWE sells entertainment with wrestling added in. I wonder how wrestling would have turned out if WM had bombed and Vince had to sell to the other partners.

 

[Makaveli31]

From what I understand Vince was thinking of a name change all they way back to the "Attitude Era" and he did change the name from Titan Sports to World Wrestling Federation Entertainment. I've heard where Vince wanted to drop "Wrestling" from the title and use some combination of the "World" and "Entertainment" but there was push back.

Bottom line is they have been WWE was about 15 years now and there is no going back. They've enjoyed tremendous success as World Wrestling Entertainment and successfully have integrated the new name into pop culture. I saw a clip from SportsCenter where one of the anchors referred to the "WWF" and was quickly admonished by his co-anchor that it was now called the "WWE"

 

[WorstWrestlingExcrement]

World Wrestling Federation as it should be and it is not hard to change the E to a F by painting over the last line over. Mc Moron has the money and it should go back to what it was back then for all fans who remembered it as wwf

 

[ColeMc]

Out of all of the problems that the WWE has at the moment and this is what you think will make things better? Find another windmill to tilt at Sexcellence, this is a nonstarter.

 

[timothy26]

It would have cost the WWF money and been bad for their public image to enter a legal battle with the World Wildlife Fund

Anyway, I think it was a good thing, the company by then was a mix of ex WCW, ECW and WWF talent for one thing and felt like a new era I think World Wrestling Entertainment probably sounded better to corporate sponsors than World Wrestling Federation, plus they have branched out into the wider entertainment world with WWE films.

The so called "Ruthless Aggression" was probably one of the best times for pro wrestling fans and I certainly have fond memories of it and the name change never made any difference to me personally

 

[King Patrick Star]

That’s an interesting point you accidently made there. WWE could in fact stand for Wwf Wcw Ecw. I know it's not the case, but I like it!!

 

[Rocky84]

I actually like this topic. I don't think the OP is referring to Vince having another legal battle with the World Wildlife Foundation or Fund whatever it's called. I think he means like a behind the scenes agreement.

If that is the case and Vince was given the ability to bring it back I think he would. I don't believe someone's point about Vince wanting to change the name back in the Attitude Era...the name and company was his fathers and it had to have killed him to change it. It makes no sense that he willingly did it...hence the court battles and appeal.

With that said, it also wouldn't cost much in terms of merchandise and logo changes either. I mean they make new merch and logos for new ppv's and crap all the time...whats the difference?

It would be a huge change that would/could get a lot of recognition and old fans tuning back in the same way that guys like the Rock, Brock, and Sting coming back did.

The WWE change didn't drive fans away on it's own. People have to understand that the change (which was huge) came at a time when everything in the company was changing...for the worse. It was at a time when WCW was totally dismantled, and the dream merge/Invasion was the exact opposite of what we all expected. The major players were on their way out (Rock & Austin), fan fav ECW/WCW guys were crushed and misused or didn't even come at all; and ratings were dropping as a result of even more poor booking/storylines. This name change was the cherry on top.

The WWE is synonymous with PC, PG, corporate sellout, company going public. The name even sounds so squeaky clean.

To change it back to WWF would go a long way, and maybe turning up the notch a little and getting slightly more risque (which they have been doing more progressively since 2011) would be the way to go. This would most certainly be best for business.

 

[FromGlasgow]

I hated the name change too, I still mention it as the WWF to non wrestling fans in conversation, I think it was just arrogance on the part of the World Wildlife Fund to take claim to their name just because they could as nobody would have been getting the two mixed up so it wouldn't have affected the charity and still can't understand how initials can be trademarked especially when they have nothing to do with each other.
I don't think changing the name back now would improve anything as the younger generation probably know it as only WWE now, Would have prefered them to go with their original name the WWWF but too late now.

 

[Sexcellence of Sexecution]

I'm gonna start by saying that I neither love or hate the name change, it is what it is.

The point of this topic was that if the WWE somehow changed their name back to WWF they would be able to generate an interest in the product, if they were to market this change effectively and build upon it. There is a large segment of wrestling fans that have simply stopped watching. I don't think anyone can really deny that the overall wrestling audience is much smaller today than it has been in generations past. Anecdotally I can say that when I mention to people that I'm a wrestling fan I'll often get some variant of this response: "Really? I remember when I used to watch that stuff. Back when it was WWF. Isn't it like WWE now? Is Stone Cold still around?"

Now let's imagine for a moment that along with the name change we saw a marketing campaign proclaiming that "The WWF is BACK!" I think it would at least peak the interest of people who have fallen off of the wagon in terms of their fandom, and it really wouldn't pose much risk to the fans currently watching every week regardless. However, I do agree that a name change alone is obviously not enough. But this thread isn't just about a name change, it's about a rebranding. If along with that change to WWF we saw a change in the set, a change in production style, in writing style, a new apparoach to how wrestling television is created, I think that the WWF would be able to sustain the increase in audience that could come with effectively marketing the name change. This is what I mean by leveraging the name change to generate interest in the product. By doing an exciting rebranding in this way you are taking a risk, but you also have the ability to grow your audience in a major way. Granted, the WWE business model is working just fine right now so it's probably not worth the risk, but I definitely think it's interesting to think about and would have a more profound impact than people realize.

 

[Rocky84]

I'm gonna start by saying that I neither love or hate the name change, it is what it is.

The point of this topic was that if the WWE somehow changed their name back to WWF they would be able to generate an interest in the product, if they were to market this change effectively and build upon it. There is a large segment of wrestling fans that have simply stopped watching. I don't think anyone can really deny that the overall wrestling audience is much smaller today than it has been in generations past. Anecdotally I can say that when I mention to people that I'm a wrestling fan I'll often get some variant of this response: "Really? I remember when I used to watch that stuff. Back when it was WWF. Isn't it like WWE now? Is Stone Cold still around?"

Now let's imagine for a moment that along with the name change we saw a marketing campaign proclaiming that "The WWF is BACK!" I think it would at least peak the interest of people who have fallen off of the wagon in terms of their fandom, and it really wouldn't pose much risk to the fans currently watching every week regardless. However, I do agree that a name change alone is obviously not enough. But this thread isn't just about a name change, it's about a rebranding. If along with that change to WWF we saw a change in the set, a change in production style, in writing style, a new apparoach to how wrestling television is created, I think that the WWF would be able to sustain the increase in audience that could come with effectively marketing the name change. This is what I mean by leveraging the name change to generate interest in the product. By doing an exciting rebranding in this way you are taking a risk, but you also have the ability to grow your audience in a major way. Granted, the WWE business model is working just fine right now so it's probably not worth the risk, but I definitely think it's interesting to think about and would have a more profound impact than people realize.

What types of changes in particular do you suggest they make in regards to writing style, production style, and change in the set? Like do you have any specific ideas in the direction? Like more of a throwback to the old styles but still a bit of the new..like a hybrid? Imo, I think everything is way too bright, like the actual arena and lighting around the set is incredibly and overly lit...adds too much to the squeaky clean image. Even the Raw theme song is too main stream-ish. I'd like them to make the writing not so predictable either. Wasn't always that way until the PG era. Give us some more shock factor more often.