World Wrestling Entertainment “WWE” was earlier called World Wrestling Federation “WWF” earlier. The name had to be changed for legal reasons. WWE is not a genuine sport and is best described as sports entertainment. The wrestlers are all trained athletes who have years of training which enables them to perform such movies with ease.
The Concept of WWE
Basically it is nothing but a soap opera where in there is a good guy “a baby face” and a bad guy “heal” who would end up fighting at a pay per view, for a month or so each one would taunt their opponent, have a storyline developed and the climax of their feud would usually end at a match in a PPV. The storyline is altered to suit the character, there could be various variations of love, sex, action, murder, rising from the dead added to it, it is just like watching an action thriller with some spice added to it. In my mind WWE athletes are the best actors/ actress in the world.
Each super star would ultimately try to become the champion in their respective show, the champion would have a title belt, and there are various types of Championship titles which can be held
The highest recognition is given to the WWE / World Heavy weight / ECW championship titles
This is followed by Intercontinental / US / European championship Title
There is a Tag team title for each show “2 person form a team”, there is a women’s title which can be held by a women only, a light weight championship title, hardcore championship title in general.
TV Shows
WWF was in 90’s was shown on star sports, now for the last 5-6 years it is been broadcasted on Ten sports. There are 3 shows which have a duration of 2 hrs “Raw / Smack Down/ ECW” each of these shows has their own set of superstars which make up its roaster, each show has its own GM and own set of titles. At times for large PPV inter show matches take place
There are 3 shows of 1 hr duration also “Vintage/ after burn/ Bottom line” which either show older matches or highlights of Raw / Smack down and ECW.
Pay per views each have a duration of 3 hrs, only wrestle mania which is the biggest pay per view has a duration of 4 -5 hrs and a hall of fame ceremony before the actual event.
Besides wrestle mania which happens somewhere in March/April for the last 25 years we have 3 other big pay per views like Royal Rumble “Jan – called the road to wrestle mania” Summer slam “Aug” and Survivor series “Nov”. Then there are about 8 other pay per views held each month.
Type of matches
Singles match, with DQ no DQ, Tag matches in multiple variations, table match, Ladder match, cage match, hell in a cell, elimination chamber, triple threat, fatal four way, blood match, buried alive match, special referees match, bull rope match, bra and panty match, battle royal, king of ring tournament, royal rumble match, money in the bank, traditional survivor series match, iron man match, casket match, last man standing match, I quit match, extreme rules match, Handicapped match and many more. Some matches would have clauses, stipulations and Some may be championship or qualifier matches.
Signature moves – each superstar would have a host of signature moves and finishing moves.
Some Pay per views are made famous by the matches they host.
Royal Rumble Match at Royal Rumble where 30 superstars compete in a over the top rope elimination match to earn the rights to face the champion at wrestlemania.
Money in the bank match at Wrestle Mania – where 6 – 8 participants fight to earn a contract for which they need to climb a ladder and retrieve it, the winner can encash this anytime for a period of one year.
Survivor series elimination match where each team comprising of 4-5 members would fight it out till one team is completely eliminated, this happens at the survivor series.
WWE is owned by Vince Mcmahon and his family. The highest attendance was at Wrestlemania 3 of 93000 fans, WWE has viewership in over 80 countries and is also popular on gaming consoles, the WWE merchandise has huge sales world wide.
WWE was my favorite show when I was a kid and I religiously followed the shows, today too I enjoy watching the show but do not follow it with that vigour due to other commitments.