Had WWE maintained its ban of the word "wrestling" what would Wrestlemania be called?

[Creepy Old Man]

I was remembering their utterly asinine ban of the word "wrestling" in 2011, a time period when Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler would utter a random "wr!", stutter, then say "performing". Finally the company let CM Punk say "wrestling" and others followed suit.

Perhaps they forgot that their biggest show is WrestleMania. Got me to thinking though, what would it have been renamed as, had WWE really pushed forward with the ban?

 

[Jimmy Carter]

Probably PerformaMania or CompeteMania. Maybe WWEMania. Whatever the case, it would have been a steep downgrade.

 

[laodaron]

So, there was never a BAN on saying wrestling, CM Punk wasn't a revolutionary that broke the rules, but Vince wanted his product to evolve past the terrible history of Professional Wrestling, and make it a more open product to all forms of entertainment.

They would have called it Wrestlemania, like they did in 2011, 2012, and always since it started.

 

[Slash-LN]

Entertainmentmania

Although realistically I don't think it would have changed.

Wrestlemania is almost its own brand and I think Vince wouldn't have messed with it.

 

[The Boss]

Personally I am surprised (though pleased) that Vince didn't change the name of the event to WWEMania years ago. Sure it would have sounded dumb at first, just like when they changed from WWF but, there would have been a big campaign to generate support and slowly the marks would accept it and the IWC would adapt to just calling it "Mania" as many already have.

 

[TheICChampion]

I don't know if anything else would have stuck like "Wrestle"Mania. Sure, we use the short word 'Mania, but there's nothing like that feeling of Vince or anyone else saying WWWWRRRRREEESSSSTTTLLLLLEEEEEEMANIA!!!! It just would never feel right if it were anything else

 

[The Mattitude Era]

They would have never changed the name, but obviously it would be Sports EntertainmentMania. Got a nice ring to it.

 

[GeminiGarlord]

SportsEntertainMania. Shortened SEM

Then you have a version exclusively for england, and there is where the magic happens.

 

[No Count Pup]

Welcome everyone to ESTLEMANIA!

We take the WRong out of estling!

Kidding aside, I think "Mania" is the only alternative WWE could have used. It is the least silly variation of "WrestleMania" I can think of.

 

[the green b@stard]

Wrestlemania is almost its own brand*

No almost about it. Wrestlemania is its own brand and in name value is almost as valuable as wwe.

Would vince ever even consider renaming it? NO CHANCE IN HELL !

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

So, there was never a BAN on saying wrestling, CM Punk wasn't a revolutionary that broke the rules, but Vince wanted his product to evolve past the terrible history of Professional Wrestling, and make it a more open product to all forms of entertainment.

They would have called it Wrestlemania, like they did in 2011, 2012, and always since it started.

This. I think the 'ban' was a work. I genuinely believe that, more often than we realise, WWE plans certain things in advance (the amount of times we can look in hindsight and see foreshadowing is quite high); I always figured that the 'ban of the word wrestling' was a concept which was used as a prop to help CM Punk's famous June 27th 2011 promo - listen to the pop when he uses the term. It added a degree of doubt to many viewers, was he actually shooting? Of course he wasn't, he'd never have been allowed to say ANY words if it was a shoot on live tv. But little things like him using the term 'wrestling' made it more shoot-style, and that couldn't have happened if the term hadn't been 'outlawed' by Vince.

I do believe that a lot of the stuff that is leaked is leaked on purpose with a plan

 

[Mustang Sally]

Wrestlemania is almost its own brand and I think Vince wouldn't have messed with it.

That.

It would be like the NFL changing the name "Super Bowl" to something else. After establishing a brand known the world over, I can't imagine why the organization that owns it would want to get away from what everyone was familiar with, even if they actually banned the word "wrestling."

In WWE, Wrestlemania was the first of it's kind; the first PPV extravaganza. No matter what happened afterward, no other wrestling organization could use that name. Don't fix what isn't broken by re-naming.

But if WWE chose to change the name of the PPV, I think they would have called it.......Starrcade.

 

[tvcolosi]

the answer is "WrestleMania" I don't want to flame the OP but that name was such an institution in pop culture that there was never the smallest molecule of a chance that they changed that name.. If there was a problem with the word I believe it was "wrestler" not "wrestling" or "wrestle". A major league baseball player is rarely called a "baseball player"
He plays baseball, but he is a "Major Leaguer"


that's like saying since the "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" allows country and hip hop acts in now, they needed to change their name. no chance

 

[Uncle Sam]

Mania. WWE presents... Mania. Many of us call it Mania anyway, seeing as "WrestleMania" is an absolute chore to type out. Short, marketable, even somewhat recognizable: Mania.

But thank fuck we turned back from that path, eh? That sounds stupid as shit.

Credit to Coco the Monkey.

 

[tvcolosi]

Funny, after my posting my post and then seeing yours... I could think of a lot of worse names than "WWE Mania" with a number after it.
Interestingly enough, most of the NWA/WCW annual show names left "wrestling" out.. Starrcade, Halloween Havoc, War Games, Great American Bash, the very very underrated Superbrawl.

Again Dusty 20 years ahead of his time.

 

[Dagger Dias]

It would still be called "Wrestlemania". Brand loyalty is a very powerful thing that WWE need to always utilize when it comes to their fans. Wrestlemania is a brand that has been around for three decades, and during this time has become known as THE biggest night each year in all of pro wrestling. There is no reason for the WWE to EVER change that name. "Sports Entertainment Mania" just sounds weird, and shortening the name to "Mania" would devalue the show. When you change the name of a brand/product, your fanbase has to adjust to the new name. Why start from scratch when you have 30 years worth of history behind the biggest show of them all? The name is staying "Wrestlemania" forever, I highly doubt that anything is ever going to change that as long as the WWE is in business.