WWE Bringing Back The Word "Wrestling."

[AttitudeChild]

I remember reading on a lot of websites and even in the newspapers that WWE would be dropping the name World Wrestling Entertainment and would simply be known as WWE. They even edited out the words World Wrestling Entertainment at the end of their intro video. Then I remember reading that WWE sent out press releases to various media outlets informing them not to use the word Wrestling. This even caused TNA to change their name to Impact Wrestling as an attempt to gain fans. For a while the word Wrestling wasn't heard on WWE television, but then there was Punk. Recently on RAW punk has been using the word very often. I even remember hearing Cena say it a couple times. At first I thought that was just an exception for Punk & Cena, but then I saw this. Skip the 1:05 mark.

[YOUTUBE]HJXtK7-9spI[/YOUTUBE]

They clearly say World Wrestling Entertainment. So what do you guys think. Do you think this ban on the word wrestling in the WWE has been lifted. Or are these just a few exceptions that I'm blowing out of proportion.

 

[RicoLen]

Don't know, I read that in 2012 the world was going to end and WWE was going to have it's on TV Network and to help facilitate that they were going to stop calling themselves World Wrestling Entertainment and just call themselves WWE, kind of like ABC is the American Broadcasting Company but no one says that, they say ABC. But what do I know? I'm just an unfrozen caveman lawyer, your modern ways frighten and confuse me.

 

[The Future Rises]

The reason for not mentioning the word "Wrestling" is considered by the WWE because they think the company has gone beyond being a wrestling promotion. And they're right. WWE is a sports entertainment company. What's the sport part? Professional Wrestling. the word Wrestling is not gone from the WWE nor will it be gone. Because let's face it what they do in the ring is Professional Wrestling and nothing is going to change that. The WWE was the company that made wrestling "cool" for alot of people back in the Attitude Era. Why would they ignore the existence of the word?

 

[AttitudeChild]

kind of like ABC is the American Broadcasting Company but no one says that, they say ABC.

There's a difference here. People might not call ABC the American Broadcast Company but that is still technically its full name. WWE however said that it was dropping the name World Wrestling Entertainment COMPLETELY and the initials WWE didn't stand for anything. It wasn't that they just weren't saying the whole name anymore, they changed the named, eliminating all mentions of the title World Wrestling Entertainment and was simply known as WWE.

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

They wished to put more emphasis on the entertainment aspect and demanded that references to 'wrestling' and 'wrestlers' be dropped, which has resulted in much mirth in media circles. Given the amount that these words are being said now, I can only assume they've come to their senses and realised the stupidity and futility of removing these terms from a WRESTLING programme.

 

[TM Punk]

There's a difference here. People might not call ABC the American Broadcast Company but that is still technically its full name. WWE however said that it was dropping the name World Wrestling Entertainment COMPLETELY and the initials WWE didn't stand for anything. It wasn't that they just weren't saying the whole name anymore, they changed the named, eliminating all mentions of the title World Wrestling Entertainment and was simply known as WWE.

KFC did the same thing a while back. They dropped kentucky fried chicken from their name, because they feel as a company that they have more to offer people than the greasy, fried goodness that is their chicken. People still know damn well that when you go to KFC, your getting kentucky fried chicken. Same thing here. WWE is a publically traded company on the U.S. stock market. Thei MAIN goal as a company is not to put out the best WRESTLING product, but to garner intrest from people outside of the industry to buy their stock. And to be completly honest, the word wrestling, and the thought that your investing in a wrestling company sounds a hell of a lot less legit than investing in an entertainment company. So they chose to drop world wrestling entertainment from their name in an effort to do so. That doesn't mean they aren't a wrestling company. That doesn't mean their "superstars" cannot make mention of it. All it is, is them trying to let people know that they have more to offer.

 

[The_Grimace]

I think they changed to WWE to simplify things, look at it this way they are not just a wrestling company they are an entertainment company that braces out past wrestling. WWE films ring a bell to anyone. You don't call panda energy a wrestling company just cause they own tna now do ya.

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

I think they changed to WWE to simplify things, look at it this way they are not just a wrestling company they are an entertainment company that braces out past wrestling. WWE films ring a bell to anyone. You don't call panda energy a wrestling company just cause they own tna now do ya.

That's fine and good outside of their wrestling products but dropping terms like 'wrestling' or 'wrestlers' from a wrestling programme or stropping because Cena or Orton is referred to as a 'wrestler' by the press is childish, at best!

 

[ccotreau1]

Here is what I am wondering. If the WWE is dropping the whole "wrestling" thing, what about Wrestlemania? They aren't gonna change that at all, but even still, kinda is a wink and a nudge to what their main thing is, which is wrestling

 

[amishpyrate]

Mtv is also no longer Music Television. They are just MTV now. I see why they did it since they haven't played much music in years. Hopefully WWE can find alot of success in other areas, but I still hope they don't stray too far from wrestling. I think if they are just going by WWE and not world wrestling entertainment from now on its probably gonna be a gradual thing. It never bothered me tho I haven't really spelled out or said World Wrestling Entertainment/Federation in a long time

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

Ok you got me there, its all the rocks fault then lol, he was the first to distance himself from WWE when he dropped rock from his name. Lmao

I think that's why John Cena is actually building legitimate support against good old Dwayne. Another reason why it is surprising that the WWe was trying to de-emphasise it's wrestling legacy; Mr Johnson trying to distance himself from his WWF history must have really hurt Vince, why would he follow his example?

 

[VinnieSunshine]

Take it at face value...it doesn't really mean anything.

Non wrestling viewers of NBC and its affiliates might not know them as WWE, they probably know them AS World Wrestling Entertainment. NBC is just trying to promote it in a way that MIGHT bring in outside viewers.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

The idea of banning the use of the word wrestling really was an idiotic one at the beginning. Hell, even Vince himself used the term when he was talking with John Cena on Raw when Cena convinced Vince to "reinstate" CM Punk and give him his match at MITB. Vince said he didn't want to risk CM Punk showing up in "some other wrestling organization" with the WWE Championship. At the end of the day, WWE will always be a wrestling company first and foremost. That's just simply how it is.

At the same time though, internet smarks have blown this whole thing out of proportion. As usual, the smarks have taken something that has virtually no meaning beyond the superficial surface and tried to give it fare more relevance. Was the "ban" on the word wrestling foolish? Of course it was. At the same time, it was just as foolish for smarks to actually wonder, and even proclaim in some cases, that WWE was going to cut out wrestling altogether.

All this nitpicking and word play really is idiotic. Just because WWE doesn't have wrestlers shout the word wrestling 10 or 20 times thoughout Raw or SmackDown! means nothing. We know it's wrestling and we don't have to be informed by someone in a suit that it is or it isn't. Just look at what's on the screen and it's as plain as day.

 

[Guyzwitgunz]

They have their reasons as outlined in above posts for changing the company name but completely banning the word 'wrestling' from being used went too far and I knew it wouldn't last. I assume they have unbanned it since, since banning it made no sense whatsover

 

[(s)AINT]

It was never a ban, it was a re-branding. Like how Kentucky Fried Chicken turned into just simply KFC. Their chicken is still fried, everyone knows this but they just don't promote that word anymore. Or about how Disney changed "Rapunzel" to 'Tangled' in order to attract a broader audience since their market research found a lot of boys didn't want to watch a movie about a princess. Changing the name, promoting the male lead a lot and changing really nothing about the story totally worked for them. Thus, Tangled was highly successful.

=)

 

[WWEIsLife2]

I don't think WWE ever banned the word to begin with and I don't know where that story came from. They still say it on RAW,Smackdown,and the PPVs alot so to me its just the Internet geeks making it a non-story as usual.

 

[The "Blueprint"]

When i see the announcement tables they still say "World Wrestling Entertainment Inc." so i never really took the whole dropping wrestling thing seriously. We all know WWE stands for so it doesn't matter. It would be a different story if they renamed the company to "WE" or "WSE".

 

[GameOver]

WWE name change had nothing to do with removing "wrestling" this has been already covered alot of times. They didn't want to be thought of as just Wrestling which has been the case for the better part of 50yrs b4 Vince took over and 20yrs after. Move with the times, Hogan/Roddy Piper got the ball rolling with a mix of Wrestling/Movies/Music and it's just continued on that path. that was 30yrs ago, just so happens they still put 95% of the emphasis on using wrestling as the backbone to fund other endevours and that won't change.

It's no different then Kentucky Fried Chicken changing there name to purely KFC. It's still the same company, they still produce wrestling. The diference was WWF/E was never purely about wrestling once Vince McMahon took over. They used "Wrestling" to get there stars over in main stream media onto movies and other side projects etc.

hence the word Entertainment.

WWE is what the majority of people would recognize it as, it's easier to market, easier to banner anyway.

UFC rarely refer to themselves as Ultimate Fighting Championships. it's just UFC

i will sayt though that it seemed since WCW went kaput that Vince lost the plot and obviously employing people who have no clue about wrestling, filling his ear with nonsense about what people really get into hadn't helped, it's IMO is still where they wanted to be as far as being a multi entertainment machine, but as a result the wrestling side suffered for those of us that remember what it use to be like when it was entertaining most of the time

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

I don't see the big deal. They've used the word "wrestler" a lot. I they they're just trying to expand the marketability of their product, doesn't make them any less "wrestling". Shit, when has the WWE promoted itself as primarily "wrestling"? Never. Mania I on down Vince has been a smart business man, trying to sell his product to more and more people.

 

[Azane]

I'm surprised this has gotten so much buzz, it's a word. We all know what WWE is and stands for, I don't see a big difference, I think everyone's just looking way too much into this.

 

[mr_dna]

I did a little resarch and have found a few things that conflict .

World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, became World Wrestling Entertainment in 2002, and simplified to WWE in 2011, But yet if you where to look at various sites for stock the company is shown as World Wrestling Entertainment Inc.

Bascily WWE & World Wrestling Entertainment Inc are one in the same and they will use what ever name suits them at the time for what product or storyline they are doing

I would think useing World Wrestling Entertainment Inc for TV,PPV and Useing WWE for Movies,Music and any non wresting related stuff and then cross over the two when needed for product promotion

Wrestling is being used to go with the current storyline could it stay of course will it stay maybe we will just have to tune in to WWE Monday Night Raw

 

[jungledeano]

I actually heard Michael Cole refer to the WWE as World Wrestling Entertainment just after Money in the Bank, or during the PPV, I can't remember which. But it doesn't bother me eitherway what they call their company. WWE or World Wrestling Entertainment, they still produce a wrestling show, featuring wrestlers doing wrestling holds and manuvers. And it's fair enough if they want to refer to themselves as an entertainment company rather than a wrestling company, seeing as they have subsidiaries that produce films, music and books, etc. They're more than a wrestling company now, and they probably felt that they needed a name to reflect that. But still, the forefront of their company is their wrestling product, and people will always associate them with that, regardless of what they decide to do.

 

[DForce]

They should bring back the word wrestling. Otherwise McMahon is a damn hypocrit. How can he have a Stand Up for WWE campaign and then act as if he's bigger than the industry? People aren't bashing just the WWE; they're bashing prowrestling in general. Therefore you'd think that Vince with his billion dollar company would play big brother and stand up for the industry. He wants the Universe to stand up for WWE, yet he turns his back on the industry. You can put a dress and lipstick on pig and call it Sarah Palin, but guess what, it's still a pig. You can take the word "wrestling" out of W.W.E., but it's still wrestling.

 

[D-Man]

What difference does it make, really? "Wrestling" is merely a word. Correct me if I'm wrong, but when you turn on Raw and Smackdown each week, don't you all see "wrestling" matches? The WWE has plenty of wrestling and it should pretty much go without saying that wrestling is exactly what they are trying to portray. However, calling it by this word can be quite misleading, considering the fact that it is nothing more than a portrayal of a sporting event and not the real thing. Therefore, the WWE is merely trying to be honest with its audience.

If nothing changed about their product, why should we care if they eliminate a word from their description of the product they produce? Who really cares when you could still turn it on every week and be entertained? It's a moot point, really.

 

[DForce]

Therefore, the WWE is merely trying to be honest with its audience.

If nothing changed about their product, why should we care if they eliminate a word from their description of the product they produce?

I think you're being naive. The suits at WWE aren't "trying to be honest with [their] audience". They're like a nerd that distances himself from his nerd friends in public but is up their asses behind closed doors. Come on, dude, you seem to be a true wrestling fan; haven't you taken insults about being a fan? Of course you have and WWE knows that. That's why they're trying to potray an image that's BIGGER than wrestling, and that's what pisses me off. I'm a true fan; cater to me. Fuck those judgemental, pompus assholes that diss "wrestling" and it's fans.