WWE WrestleMania 41 Becky Lynch & Lyria vs. Liv Morgan & Raquel

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings.[9] A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into fields outside of wrestling, including film, football, and other business ventures, such as licensing its intellectual property to other companies to produce video games and action figures.

The promotion was founded in 1953 as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC), a Northeastern territory of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). Due to booking dispute, CWC left the NWA and became the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) in April 1963. After rejoining the NWA in 1971, the WWWF was renamed the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1979, and left the NWA in 1983. Following a trademark dispute with the World Wildlife Fund, the WWF was renamed World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in 2002. In 2011, the promotion ceased branding itself as World Wrestling Entertainment and began solely using the initials WWE, although their legal name remained the same.[10]

WWE is the largest wrestling promotion in the world. Its main roster is divided into two touring brands, Raw and SmackDown. Its developmental brands, NXT and Evolve, are based at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. The promotion's programming is available in more than one billion homes worldwide in 30 languages and its global headquarters is located in Stamford, Connecticut,[11] with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore, Dubai, and Munich.[12]

As in other professional wrestling promotions, WWE does not promote a legitimate sporting contest but entertainment-based performance theater, featuring storyline-driven, scripted, and partially choreographed matches; however, matches often include moves that can put performers at risk of serious injury or death if not performed correctly. The pre-determined aspect of professional wrestling (an industry open secret)

WWE's corporate entity, Titan Sports, Inc., was incorporated on February 21, 1980, by Vince McMahon: Titan acquired Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd., the holding company for the wrestling promotion, in 1982. Titan was renamed World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. in 1999, and World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. in 2002. In January 2023, WWE began to explore a sale of the company, amidst an employee misconduct scandal involving McMahon that initially prompted him to step down as chairman and CEO.[13] In September, WWE merged with Zuffa, the parent company of mixed martial arts promotion Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), to form TKO Group Holdings, a new public company majority-owned by Endeavor Group Holdings, with McMahon as executive chairman:[14] the promotion's legal name was then changed to World Wrestling Entertainment, LLC.[15] In 2024, McMahon departed TKO amid a sex trafficking scandal and was replaced as executive chairman by Ari Emanuel.[16]

On April 1, 2024, Triple H stated that WWE had entered "another era".[158] The next day, before WrestleMania XL, TKO's parent company, Endeavor was taken private by its largest investor, Silver Lake, a year after Endeavor's three-year run as a public company where Endeavor purchased WWE a year prior.[159][160] On April 3, WWE wrestler Cody Rhodes coined the term "Renaissance Era" for the period.[161] At WrestleMania XL, the WWE would officially debut a new signature intro ahead of the event's first match. Paul "Triple H" Levesque would introduce the fans in attendance, “Welcome to a new time, welcome to a new era,”[162] and at the WrestleMania's second night Stephanie McMahon would reiterate this, referring to it as the "Paul Levesque era”.[163] On April 7, in the main event of the second and final night of the event, Cody Rhodes defeated Roman Reigns to win the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.[164]

On January 23, 2024, WWE announced that WWE Raw will move to Netflix streaming service in January 2025,[165] while also providing behind-the-scenes series.[166] On May 4, 2024, WWE held Backlash France, their first ever pay-per-view event in France.[167] On October 29, WWE announced launching their own independent wrestling development program named WWE ID, short for WWE Independent Development.[168]

In 2024, WWE began a wider talent exchange with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). Several TNA wrestlers would make appearances on NXT's weekly television series and livestreaming events and vice versa. A multi-year partnership between Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) and WWE was officially announced on January 16, 2025.[169][170] WWE also formed partnerships with Pro Wrestling Noah and Dream Star Fighting Marigold.[171][172]
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