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World Wrestling Entertainment(WWE, Inc.)
AcronymWWE
Founded1952
StyleAmerican Wrestling
HeadquartersStamford, Connecticut
Founder(s)Vincent J. McMahon
Toots Mondt
Owner(s)Vince McMahon

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. or (WWE) is a publicly traded (NYSE: WWE) integrated media, sports and entertainment company dealing primarily in the professional wrestling industry. Vincent K. McMahon is the owner and Chairman of the company and his wife Linda McMahon holds the position of WWE Chief Executive Officer. Together with their children, Executive Vice President of Global Media Shane McMahon and Vice President of Creative Writing Stephanie McMahon-Levesque, the McMahon’s hold approximately 70% of WWE's economic interest, but due to the multi-voting structure of their shares, they hold 96% of all voting power in the company. The company's global headquarters are located in Stamford, Connecticut at 1241 East Main Street, with international offices in Los Angeles, New York, London, and Toronto.

The company was previously known as TitanSports, Inc. before changing to World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc., and most recently, World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.

World Wrestling Entertainment or WWE is the company's main business module, which is the basis of the running of the organization. It is a professional wrestling promotion, currently the largest in North America. It has previously done business as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation, preceded by the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), then the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).

WWE's revenue in the last twelve months was approximately US$400 million, with a net profit of approximately $50 million. As of early March 2006, the company's market capitalization is over US$1 billion.

History

Early history

In 1915, Roderick James "Jess" McMahon, grandfather of current WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, co-promoted a boxing match between Jess Willard and Jack Johnson. In the fight, on April 5 1915, Johnson lost his title to Willard in Havana. A decade later, in 1925, McMahon joined Tex Rickard in promoting boxing events from the old Madison Square Garden, in New York, starting with the December 11, 1935, light-heavyweight championship match between Jack Delaney and Paul Berlenbach. Jess McMahon's enterprise focused on boxing and live concert and music promotion.

It was not until 1945, coincidentally the same year Jim Crockett Promotions was formed, that the McMahon family moved into the wrestling business. Roderick James "Jess" McMahon's son, Vincent Jess McMahon, began to take an increasing role in the running of the business, especially on the wrestling side. However, the McMahon family was not able to promote professional wrestling matches at Madison Square Garden due to Rickard's dislike of the sport.

The "no wrestling at the Garden" policy ended in 1949, when Joseph Raymond "Toots" Mondt, backed by eccentric millionaire publisher Bernarr McFadden, managed to promote a wrestling show at the famous arena. Mondt's doing so was facilitated, in part, by the elder McMahon. Ray Fabiani, who helped Mondt take control of the New York territory after the death of Jack Curley, was influential in drawing the younger McMahon into an alliance with Mondt, and in 1952, the Capitol Wrestling Corporation was officially born.

World Wide Wrestling Federation

In 1963, "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers was the NWA World Heavyweight Champion and his bookings were controlled by Mondt. The rest of the NWA was unhappy with Mondt because he rarely allowed Rogers to wrestle outside of the Northeast, which led to Mondt and the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC) leaving the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), creating the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) in the process. Mondt and the WWWF wanted Rogers to keep the NWA World Championship, but Rogers was unwilling to sacrifice his $25,000 deposit on the belt (titleholders at the time had to pay a deposit to ensure they would honor their commitments as champion). Rogers lost the NWA World Championship to Lou Thesz in Toronto, Ontario on January 24 1963.

In mid-April, Rogers was awarded the new WWWF World Championship following an apocryphal tournament in Rio de Janeiro. He lost the title to Bruno Sammartino a month later on May 17 1963 after supposedly suffering a heart attack shortly before the match.

The WWWF rejoined the NWA in 1971. In March 1979, the WWWF became the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) . The name change was purely cosmetic, and the ownership and front office personnel remained unchanged during this period.

World Wrestling Federation

File:WWF Old Logo.JPG
The old WWF Logo

In 1980, Vincent K. McMahon founded Titan Sports, Inc., and in 1982 purchased Capitol Sports from his father, Vincent J. McMahon. After discovering at age 12 that the wrestling promoter was his father, Vince became steadily involved in his father's wrestling business until the latter was ready to retire. The elder McMahon had already established the northeastern territory as one of the most vibrant members of the NWA by recognizing that pro wrestling was more about entertainment than sport. Against his father's wishes, McMahon began an expansion process that would fundamentally change the sport, and place both the WWF - and his own life - in jeopardy.

Leaving the NWA for a second time in itself was not that big of a step; the AWA had long ago ceased being an official NWA member, and just over a decade earlier the WWWF itself had rejoined the NWA. But in neither instance did the defecting member attempt to undermine, and destroy, the territory system that had been the foundation of the industry.

Other promoters were furious when McMahon began syndicating WWF television shows to television stations across the United States, in areas outside of the WWF's traditional Northeastern stronghold. McMahon also began selling videotapes of WWF events outside the Northeast through his Coliseum Video distribution company. He effectively broke the unwritten law of regionalism around which the entire industry had been based. To make matters worse, McMahon would use the income generated by advertising, television deals, and tape sales to poach talent from rival promoters. Wrestling promoters nationwide were now in direct competition with the WWF.

According to several reports, Vincent Sr. warned his son: "Vinny, what are you doing?! You'll wind up at the bottom of a river!" In spite of such warnings, the younger McMahon had an even bolder ambition: the WWF would tour nationally. However, such a venture required huge capital investment; one that placed the WWF on the verge of financial collapse.

The future of not just McMahon's experiment, but also the WWF, the NWA, and the whole industry came down to the success or failure of McMahon's groundbreaking sports entertainment concept, WrestleMania. WrestleMania was a pay-per-view extravaganza (in some areas; most areas of the country saw WrestleMania available on Closed-circuit television) that McMahon marketed as being the Super Bowl of professional wrestling.

The concept of a wrestling super card was nothing new in North America; the NWA had been running StarrCade a few years prior to WrestleMania, and even the elder McMahon had marketed large Shea Stadium cards viewable in closed circuit locations. However, McMahon wanted to take the WWF to the mainstream, targeting the public who were not regular wrestling fans. He drew the interest of the mainstream media by inviting celebrities such as Mr. T and Cyndi Lauper to participate in the event. MTV, in particular, featured a great deal of WWF coverage and programming at this time, in what was termed the Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection.

The Golden Age

The new formula of what McMahon deemed Sports Entertainment was a resounding financial success at the original WrestleMania. The WWF did incredible business on the shoulders of McMahon and his All-American babyface hero, Hulk Hogan, for the next several years, creating what some observers dubbed a second golden age for professional wrestling. However, by the 1990s the WWF's fortunes steadily declined as fans were tired of Hulk Hogan's act and circus-like wrestling gimmicks (such as a clown and animal mascots).

The New WWF Generation

File:WWF94Thumb.jpg
The "New WWF Generation" logo was used from 1995-1998.

The WWF hit a low point in the wake of allegations of steroid abuse and distribution against McMahon and the WWF in 1984; there were also allegations of sexual harassment by WWF employees. McMahon was eventually exonerated, but it was a public relations nightmare for the WWF. The steroid trial cost the WWF an estimated $5 million at a time when revenues were at an all-time low. To compensate, McMahon cut wrestler's and front office personnel's pay, close to 40 percent in the later case. This helped drive many WWF wrestlers to WCW during the years 1994-96.

Monday Night War

Main article: Monday Night War

Under Eric Bischoff, World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the new name for NWA super territory Jim Crockett Promotions after its purchase by Ted Turner, began using its tremendous financial resources to lure established talent away from the WWF. Beginning in 1994, these acquisitions included Hulk Hogan, "Macho Man" Randy Savage, Lex Luger, as well as Scott Hall and "Big Sexy" Kevin Nash in 1996 along with many others. In 1995, Bischoff upped the ante, creating WCW Monday Nitro, a cable show on Turner's TNT network, to directly compete with the WWF's flagship show, WWF Monday Night RAW. Eventually, on the strength of its newly-acquired WWF talent and the groundbreaking nWo storyline, WCW overtook the WWF in television ratings and popularity.

McMahon responded by stating that he could create new superstars to regain the upper hand in the ratings war, and at the same time tightening contracts to make it harder for WCW to raid WWF talent. Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart were elevated to the top of the card, gaining popularity based mostly on the excellence of their in-ring abilities, a far departure from the Hogan era. Despite this, the WWF was losing money at a rapid rate. WCW's reality-based storylines drew attention away from the WWF's.

In 2004, WWE published a DVD entitled The Monday Night War, which chronicles the battle between the two organizations. Critics say the DVD is one-sided, with the WWF being presented as good and hardworking and WCW portrayed as evil and its success a fluke.

The Montreal Screwjob

Main article: Montreal Screwjob

The WWF/WCW feud reached new heights in November 1, 1997, when WCW offered a contract to Bret "The Hitman" Hart worth up to a reported nine million dollars over the course of three years. The WWF and Vince McMahon countered with an offer worth much less, but for a much longer period, with greater creative control. Bret Hart took the offer, but after several months of financial hardship and sharply falling profits, McMahon was uncertain if he could write Hart's paychecks. McMahon alerted Hart of the situation prior to Hart's match with Michaels in Montreal, and allowed him to re-open negotiations with WCW. Despite a great sense of loyalty to the WWF, Hart took WCW's offer and was set to appear on their programming by the end of 1997. While Hart's departure was not a surprise, the WWF was concerned about the fact that the man about to leave was the WWF Champion. Earlier in the WWF/WCW feud, the WWF Women's Champion, Alundra Blayze, signed with WCW while in possession of the belt and threw it in a trashcan on WCW Nitro (imitating a heavily publicized act by heavyweight boxing champion Riddick Bowe). Bret promised that no such thing would ever happen and put an agreement in place that the announcement of his departure would be delayed until the belt could be transitioned to a new champion. However, McMahon was concerned that the word would get out and he sought a way to get the belt off Hart before the deal could be announced on WCW Monday Nitro.

Hart used his contractual control over his booking in the last 30 days of his deal, which would end with that year's Survivor Series pay-per-view in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He let it be known to WWF management that he would willingly drop the title, but not to rival Shawn Michaels in Montreal. McMahon would deviate from the agreed finish of their match at Survivor Series to allow Shawn Michaels to win the title from Hart. During the match Shawn Michaels put Bret Hart in a Sharpshooter, which Hart was in the process of countering when the referee Earl Hebner, under instruction from Vince McMahon, told the timekeeper to ring the bell to end the match and announced Michaels the winner. Bret Hart was so infuriated at the fake victory he literally spat in McMahon's eye before leaving the ring. Later, in a confrontation with McMahon that same night, Hart punched McMahon.

This event set the stage for the turning point in the WWF/WCW feud. McMahon used the backlash from the event to cast himself as the evil company owner "Mr. McMahon" in WWF programming, a dictatorial ruler who favored heel wrestlers who were "good for business" over "misfits" like "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. This led to the Austin vs. McMahon feud, which was the cornerstone of the next phase of development.

The Attitude Era

Running with the momentum from the Montreal Screwjob, McMahon, along with head writer Vince Russo, took the WWF in an edgier, reality-based direction he called WWF Attitude, and in the process created a new corporate logo. Borrowing many of the exciting wrestling and storyline styles from then-insurgent wrestling promotion ECW, the WWF Attitude Era was based largely on the growing popularity of the wrestler "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Popular with the fans ever since winning the King of the Ring tournament as a heel in 1996. Austin's rough-and-redneck style won over enough fans that the WWF was forced to turn him into a fan favorite at WrestleMania 13 in spring 1997. (in a rare double-switch in which Bret Hart turned heel after a legendary match between the two wrestlers). During the summer and fall of 1997, Austin enhanced his status as a rebel willing to challenge any authority by giving his Stone Cold Stunner finishing move to WWF announcer Jim Ross, then-Commissioner Sgt. Slaughter, and eventually WWF owner Vince McMahon himself. Hints of the Austin-McMahon feud in WWF storylines began after Stone Cold won the 1998 Royal Rumble to become #1 Contender for the WWF Title at WrestleMania. McMahon said in a pre-WrestleMania press conference that it was not in the WWF's best interest to have Austin as champion. The relationship would deteriorate over the next few years of WWF programming. The Attitude era kicked off in earnest at WrestleMania XIV, when the controversial professional boxer Mike Tyson appeared as a special guest referee for the WWF Championship match between Shawn Michaels and Stone Cold Steve Austin. The highlight was the verbal confrontation between Austin and Tyson during the months leading up to WrestleMania, which ended with Austin flipping off Tyson. This would come to nothing as Tyson (who was supposed to be in Michaels' corner) counted the 1, 2, 3 for Austin to win his very first WWF championship. Michaels and Tyson then had an argument, which ended with Tyson punching Michaels' lights out. Fans who purchased the pay-per-view were amazed by what they saw; this certainly was not the childish Rock and Wrestling era they still expected from the WWF. Despite putting on a great show at WrestleMania XIV, Vince's company was still behind in the ratings, but one month later, RAW finally overcame its rival in the ratings war.

Over the coming year, the WWF would see new fan favorites. The Rock would become one of the most popular professional wrestlers in history. Mick Foley, as Mankind, became one of the most beloved figures in wrestling after the memorable Hell in a Cell match at 1998 King of the Ring, where Foley was thrown off the cage by The Undertaker, who remained one of the WWF's most enduring characters. D-Generation X, led by Shawn Michaels, had now taken the place of the nWo as the most interesting stable on television. Where earlier WCW's edgy WCW vs. nWo angle managed to almost lead the WWF to financial ruin, it was now becoming stale, and fans turned back to the WWF, drawn in by the popularity of Austin and the edgy nature of the television programming.

This change was not without critics. Many family groups were outraged at the graphic violence employed by the WWF. They, along with feminist groups, found the regular use of scantily clad women to attract viewers as offensive. One group, the Parents Television Council, waged a sustained boycott campaign against the WWF. However, the controversial new presentation made the WWF more appealing than ever to its core audience.

The death of Owen Hart

Tragedy struck on May 23, 1999, in Kansas City. Owen Hart, as his "Blue Blazer" superhero character, was scheduled to make a dramatic appearance on that night's Over the Edge pay-per-view telecast, "flying" into the ring by being lowered from a harness attached to the roof of the arena. As Hart was being lowered into position in preparation for this entrance, his harness suddenly disengaged, sending him plummeting 78 feet to the ring below, smashing into the top turnbuckle upon impact.

Those watching the pay-per-view telecast at the time were spared the sight because the director cut away to a pretaped interview just before the accident occurred. Hart was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival (although, investigation later proved that Owen died while still lying in the ring). A stunned Jim Ross made the solemn announcement to the pay-per-view audience once word had reached the arena. The fans in attendance at the Kemper Arena were not informed of Owen's death. The decision to continue the event was (and still is) a controversial one.

The following night, the WWF dedicated its entire two-hour RAW telecast to Owen's memory, as various WWF performers and employees broke character and shared memories of their friend. Over the Edge 1999 was never rebroadcast, nor issued on video or DVD. The "Over the Edge" name was retired and most "Blue Blazer" action figures were removed from circulation.

Business advances

On April 29, 1999, the WWF made its return to terrestrial television by launching a special program known as SmackDown! on the fledgling UPN network. The show became a weekly series on August 26, 1999. It has remained UPN's most successful program overall ever since. SmackDown! was moved to Friday nights with a one-hour special (the second hour, the first being streamed on wwe.com on September 9, 2005) ending its Thursday night broadcasts since the first one in 1999.

Off the back of the success of the Attitude era, on October 19, 1999 the WWF's parent company, Titan Sports (which was renamed World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. at this point) became a publicly traded company, offering 10 million shares priced at $17 each. WWF announced its desire to diversify into other businesses, including a nightclub in Times Square, film production and book publishing.

Despite losing Steve Austin to injury, the WWF continued to dominate the ratings and become a pop culture sensation due to The Rock emerging as a pop culture icon and movie actor, and Triple H becoming a certifiable main eventer. The defection of WCW talent such as The Big Show, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero bolstered the talent roster, effectively killing off any chance WCW had of becoming a serious threat ever again. Head writer Vince Russo and his assistant Ed Ferrera were among the last WWF employees to "jump ship" to WCW, leaving the WWF in late 1999. They were replaced by Chris Kreski, known for his extensive use of storyboards to attain continuity.

In 2000 the WWF, in collaboration with television network NBC, announced the creation of the XFL, a new professional football league. The league had surprisingly high ratings for the first few weeks, but was later pulled from the network after settling into dismally low ratings.

Introduction of ECW

On February 5, 2001 Jim Ross confirmed in his "Ross Report" that Extreme Championship Wrestling stars Justin Credible, Jerry Lynn, and World Champion Rhino had signed with the WWF. Lynn and Rhyno had verbal agreements while Credible signed a three year deal on January 26. Bobby Eaton signed with the WWF on January 26th and will be used as an instructor in Memphis, Tennessee with Memphis Championship Wrestling to help develop talent for the WWF. Paul Heyman debuted as the new color commentator on Monday Night RAW and Tazz on SmackDown! following the departure of Jerry Lawler and wife The Kat. ECW went bankrupt in April that year.

Acquisition of WCW
File:Simulcast.jpg
Shane McMahon (left) announcing during the RAW/Nitro simulcast that he had purchased WCW.

With the massive success of Attitude, WCW's financial situation deteriorated significantly, and its newly-merged parent company AOL Time Warner looked to cut the division loose. In March 2001, WWF Entertainment, Inc. acquired WCW from AOL Time Warner for a bargain price of $5 million. During the final WCW Monday Nitro, Vince McMahon (as the character Mr. McMahon) announced on RAW that he had purchased WCW. However, fans worldwide were shocked when Shane McMahon showed up on Nitro and announced it was, in fact, himself who had purchased WCW, not Vince. In a surreal moment, the two shows ended split-screen (each showing what was happening in the other arena), and Nitro ended by running an ad for WrestleMania X-Seven. This would eventually lead up to a match featuring Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon at WrestleMania X-Seven, and is considered to be the start of the failed 'InVasion' storyline. Months later, McMahon and Bischoff reconciled their personal differences, and Bischoff signed with WWE to perform as the storyline General Manager of RAW.

The end of the Attitude Era

The attitude era is believed to have started declining at WrestleMania X-Seven. The writing team (led by Stephanie McMahon at this point), in many people's opinion, began to lose their creative originality, changing characters like Steve Austin from an anti-hero to a paranoid champion and Gregory Helms (though in need of a new character) to a superhero. In the meantime, Triple H and Chris Benoit, two of the WWF's largest drawcards, were injured in May with a quadricep tear and in June with a nagging neck injury, respectively. In addition, The Rock left for a few months to film the movie The Scorpion King.

Some people think the Attitude era ended at the end of WrestleMania X-Seven and others say November 2001 once the Invasion was finished or even the brand extension in April 2002. Others think that the Attitude era ended in late 1999, when corporate sponsor pressures, the actions of the PTC, and the departure of head writer Vince Russo caused the WWF to tone down many of its "risque" storylines. It is still a debate amongst wrestling fans.

The Invasion
Main article: The Invasion

While the WWF's purchase of WCW made an interpromotional feud possible for the first time since the "Monday night wars," the Invasion, as it was called, turned out to be a disappointment. One reason was that many of WCW's big name stars were under contract to AOL Time Warner rather than WCW itself, and so their contracts were not included when the company was purchased. These wrestlers chose to sit out the duration of their contracts rather than work for McMahon for less money. Additionally, the WWF decided that their wrestlers should generally not lose to the WCW workers, which made for a one-sided and predictable feud. Of course, you can always expect the unexpected from Vince McMahon. In the storylines, Shane McMahon aquired WCW and the WCW stars invaded the WWF. On July 9, 2001, the WCW and ECW (ECW having been acquired in storylines by Stephanie McMahon) stars joined forces making "The Alliance” with the owner of WCW, Shane McMahon, and the new owner of ECW, Stephanie McMahon. It was clear that the invasion was taken to a completely new level. After about a week, Vince McMahon wanted the old Stone Cold to come back and lead team WWF into InVasion on July 22. Stone Cold did lead team WWF, on July 16, 2001 (RAW), Stone Cold came back and cleaned house insinuating that the old rattlesnake was back. But, at InVasion, Stone Cold made a shocking turn when he aligned himself with the WCW and ECW. Stone Cold took over as The Alliance leader. The Rock came back on July 30, 2001 (RAW) to choose either The Alliance or the WWF, of course, not forgetting his roots, The Rock chose the WWF. It all ended at the Survivor Series in November when Team WWF (Captain: The Rock) defeated The Alliance (Captain: Stone Cold) In a traditional 5 on 5 Survivor Series elimination match. The WWF finally beat WCW and ECW to conclude the story. Despite the company turning a profit for the quarter, the Invasion feud is seen as a major contributor to the company's decline in ratings and attendance.

Undisputed Champion
Main article: WWE Undisputed Championship

Following Survivor Series 2001, WWF now had the WWF and WCW world titles available, but all other titles had been unified at Survivor Series. Mr. McMahon announced that at Vengeance 2001 the two titles would be unified in a four-man tournament, featuring WCW champ The Rock and WWF champ "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, as well as Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle. Jericho won the tournament, beating the Rock and Austin to become the first undisputed champion since Lou Thesz.

New World Order (nWo)
Main article: nWo

After the WWF bought WCW in 2001 Vince McMahon brought back Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall as the nWo, at the No Way Out pay-per-view on February 17, 2002. In this storyline, the nWo was brought in as McMahon's allies in an attempt to "kill" the WWF so that McMahon would not have to share power with new WWF co-owner "Nature Boy" Ric Flair. However, Hogan left the group after he lost his WrestleMania X8 match with The Rock and was assaulted after that match by Hall & Nash. Hall & Nash brought back two nWo members afterwards, X-Pac (formerly known as Syxx), on March 21, 2002, at SmackDown! in Ottawa and The Big Show (formerly known as The Giant), on April 22, 2002.

The nWo reunion in the WWF would not last long. Hall was released in May due to personal problems. Flair later became a semi-member of the nWo after turning on "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. As owner of RAW, Flair set up a lumberjack match with Austin against the newest member of the nWo. It turned out to be none other than Booker T. Nash introduced Shawn Michaels into the nWo on June 3, 2002. Michaels proceeded to literally kick Booker out of the nWo one week later. Abruptly, McMahon on July 15, 2002, after (in storylines) he regained full control of WWE, disbanded the nWo from Ric Flair.

World Wrestling Entertainment

A 2000 lawsuit from the World Wildlife Fund (also WWF) was settled in 2002, when on May 6, 2002, the company changed its name to World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., or WWE. WWE also chose to split its talent roster among its two largest television shows, RAW and SmackDown!. Under this "split brands" arrangement, each brand maintains a separate and non-overlapping roster of wrestlers, has championships exclusive to that brand, and is run by a different storyline "General Manager". This forced the company to issue new licensed merchandise such as apparel, action figures, video games, and DVDs with the new WWE logo. The Legends program began informally with the Hall of Fame ceremony to add new inductees, held during WrestleMania weekend. The introduction of WWE 24/7, WWE's on-demand television service, and the success of career retrospective DVDs such as The Ultimate Ric Flair Collection, have facilitated and enhanced the WWE Hall of Fame and at times brought a sense of nostalgia back into older wrestling fans. The WWE Hall of Fame currently holds such legends as Andre The Giant, Sgt. Slaughter, Big John Studd, Antonio Rocca, "Cowboy" Bob Orton Jr., Rowdy Roddy Piper, Eddie Guerrero and Hulk Hogan.

The Death of Eddie Guerrero

See Also: Eddie Guerrero, Tributes to Eddie Guerrero

On the morning of November 13, 2005, Chavo Guerrero checked into a hotel with his uncle, Eddie Guerrero, in Minneapolis where they were both scheduled to be a part of a planned WWE RAW and SmackDown! "Supershow". After Eddie missed a wake-up call, security opened his hotel room and Chavo found his uncle unconscious. Chavo attempted CPR, but Eddie was declared dead on the scene. Vickie Guerrero, Eddie's wife, later announced that an autopsy ruled the cause of death to be massive heat failure. Although he had been sober for four years, his drug and alcohol problems took their toll on Guerrero, as did his time spent in the ring. Guerrero was the first active WWE superstar to die since Owen Hart in 1999. The company held tributes to Guerrero on both Raw and Smackdown.

Following Guerrero's death, Vince McMahon announced a new drug policy under which performers would be subject to random drug tests by an independent company and would receive regular medical physicals with an emphasis on cardiovascular health [1]. The announcement of the new drug policy was also made shortly after another WWE wrestler, Nick "Eugene" Dinsmore, was found passed out in a hotel lobby due to alleged use of Somas.

Though the tribute shows to Guerrero were well received, WWE has been using Guerrero's name in several recent storylines, most notably in a feud between Randy Orton and Guerrero's good real-life friend Rey Mysterio. After a month of Mysterio dedicating numerous matches to Guerrero, Orton challenged Mysterio, saying Guerrero wasn't in Heaven, but "down there, in Hell!!" and that Rey had as much chance of winning the World Heavyweight Championship as there was a chance of Eddie coming back to life. Several wrestlers have publicly criticized the angle, and many fans have expressed outrage over the continued use of Eddie's name in storylines. Recently the Guerrero name had not been used in storylines despite the plans that Triple H was going to mock Guerrero due to the large amount of face heat he was getting when he was supposed to be heel.

Leading the Charge

The WWE's success has continued to grow since the move into USA primetime slot over that of Spike TV. The ratings for RAW have increased by several points, currently averaging a 4.3 rating over what Spike produced (low 3's).

Logos


Championships

Current RAW / SmackDown! Champions

Brand Championship
or accomplishment 		Current champion(s) Held since
File:WWERawLogo.png WWE Champion John Cena January 29, 2006
Intercontinental Champion Shelton Benjamin February 20, 2006
Women's Champion Mickie James April 2, 2006
World Tag Team Champions Spirit Squad (Kenny, Mikey, Mitch, Johnny and Nicky)† April 3, 2006
File:Fridaynightsmackdown.jpg World Heavyweight Champion Rey Mysterio April 2, 2006
United States Champion John "Bradshaw" Layfield April 2, 2006
Cruiserweight Champion Gregory Helms January 29, 2006
WWE Tag Team Champions MNM (Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro) December 27, 2005


  • † By "executive edict," all five members of the Spirit Squad are recognized as the World Tag Team Champions.

Current Ohio Valley Wrestling / Deep South Wrestling Champions

Brand Championship
or accomplishment 		Current champion(s) Held since
File:OVWLogo.PNG Heavyweight Champion Brent Albright March 1, 2006
Television Champion Seth Skyfire March 8, 2006
Southern Tag Team Champions Roadkill and Kasey James April 5, 2006
File:DSW Logo.gif Deep South Heavyweight Champion Derek Neikirk December 22, 2005

Defunct Championships and accomplishments

Current Commentary Teams

See also

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