Major Promotions (a partial list)
USA:
- World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)
- NXT (WWE Developmental)
- Ohio Valley Wrestling (formerly NWA/independent, now WWE developmental)
- Ring of Honor (ROH)
- 2002-Present
- Broadcasting pay-per-views on Sinclair Broadcasting
- National Wrestling Alliance (NWA)
- formerly the governing body for most regional wrestling, originally governing WWF & WCW among others
- now works with several other independent promotions
- All Elite Wrestling (AEW)
- brand-spanking new (2019)
- inaugurated at the ALL IN pay-per-view, held in Chicago in Sept, 2018: headlined by Cody (Rhodes), The Elite, and featuring other talent from NJPW and ROH
- positioned as a potential threat to the WWE and to the pro-wrestling industry as it has been since 2001
- independent promotion that is still in the process of coming together
- Company Twitter
- World Championship Wrestling (WCW)*
- formerly a regional NWA promotion, grew to be WWF’s main competition
- now defunct–bought out by Vince K. McMahon in 2001
- Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW)*
- founded by Paul Heyman (originally Eastern Championship Wrestling)
- 1992-2001: now defunct, bough tout by Vince K. McMahon
- featured hardcore wrestling and international styles (lucha libre, japanese puroresu)
Canada:
- Impact Wrestling (formerly NWA Total Nonstop Action/TNA)
Japan:
- New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW)
- Popular world-wide
- Many of wrestling’s biggest stars come through NJPW or currently work there
- Birthplace of the Bullet Club
- All-Japan Pro-Wrestling (AJPW) *Note, this site is in Japanese
- Pro-Wrestling Noah *Note, this site is in Japanese
Mexico/Lucha Libre
- AAA *Note, this site is in Spanish
- Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) *Note, this site is in Spanish
United Kingdom/Ireland:
Austin Local Independent Wrestling Promotions & Schools
A Basic Timeline of the WWE
- 1952 Roderick James “Jess” McMahon (a boxing promoter) and Toots Mondt found Capitol Wrestling Corp. and join NWA (then the governing board for regional wrestling promotions)
- 1954 Jess dies. His son, Vincent James McMahon takes over.
- Large NYC/Northeast audience
- Soon, this group controls 70% of NWA booking
- 1963 Vincent J. McMahon and Mondt leave NWA and form WWWF.
- Dispute over who should win the NWA world heavyweight chapmionship
- Shows based around a standard babyface and heel formula
- 1980: Vincent K. McMahon (Vince J.’s son) founds Titan Sports
- Trademarks WWF
- Vince K. buys out Vince J.
- Gets WWF on syndicated cable TV and home video
- Adopts pay-per-view system to pay for nation-wide tours
- 1985: The first WrestleMania
- 1987: WrestleMania III: Hulk Hogan defeats Andre the Giant.
- Largest recorded live audience at the time, over 93,000 in attendance
- Gave rise to other annual pay-per-views: Summerslam, Survivor Series, Royal Rumble
- 1993: Monday Night RAW debuts on USA Network (it’s still there).
- 1995-2001: Monday Night Wars
- Competition with WCW’s Monday Nitro on TNT
- Ted Turner bought WCW in 1988: personal rivalry with Vince McMahon
- Nielson ratings ~8-11 million during this period
- McMahon buys out WCW & ECW in 2001
- Incorporates talent from WCW & ECW in an “invasion” storyline
- 2002: Name changed from WWF to WWE
- Lawsuit from the World Wildlife Fund
- Focus on entertainment
- 2002: Debut of Smackdown! (also on USA)
- Named after The Rock’s catchphrase (one of them)
- 2010: NXT (developmental) formed
- 2014: Launch of WWE Network, paid streaming service
- Recent/Current Company “Eras”
- 1997-2002: “Attitude Era”
- 2002-2008: “Ruthless Aggression Era”
- 2008-2013: “PG Era”
- 2014-2016: “The Reality Era”
- 2016-Present: “The New Era”
Wrestling Resources
Here, we will compile a list of useful resources for our class projects. Many of the resources that we will come back to (or that you will be asked to consult) can be found here). This list will grow over time, and you will have the chance to suggest additions to it.
Political Reporting and Cultural Commentary:
- Ian Frisch, “Breaking Kayfabe: An Inside Look at WWE’s Unlikely Business Empire,” Vice , 2016 .
- Roland Barthes, “The World of Wrestling,” Mythologies (1972)
- “Wrestling with Success,” an interview with Vince K. McMahon, Sports Illustratated, 1991.
- Mike Piellucci, “Dust to Dust,” a profile of Cody Rhodes, The Ringer, 2018.
- Justin Barrasso, “All-In Accomplishes Near Perfection in Pay-Per-View Debut,” Sports Illustrated, 2018.
- Jasmine Garsd, “In Macho Mexico’s Lucha Libre, The ‘Lady’ Is Often The Champ,” NPR, 2013.
- “Lucky Cheng’s Celebrates 25 Years With a Drag Wrestling Spectacular,” Out, 2018.
- Valeria Perasso, “Lucha Libre in the US: The Wrestler Who Taunts Latino Fans,” BBC Mundo, 2011.
- Drew Schwartz, “The ‘Progressive Liberal’ is the Most Hated Man in Wrestling,” Vice, 2017.
- Caity Weaver, “Dwayne Johnson for President,” GQ, 2017.
- Liam Hainey, “Spectacle of Excess: Pro Wrestling and the Concept of the ‘Perfect Bastard,'” Vice Fightland Blog, 2017.
- Jeremy Gordon, “Is Everything Wrestling?” The New York Times, 2016.
- Tyson Smith, “Will Trump Continue to Pull from a Pro-Wrestling Playbook?”, 2017.
- Tom Scocca, “The Times Editorial Board Completes Amazon’s Tag Team,” HmmDaily, 2019.
- David Bixenspan, “Ronda Rousey Basically Called Becky Lynch A Beta Snowflake Cuck On Raw This Week,” DeadSpin, 2018.
- David Bixenspan, “WWE Taking Tens of Millions in Saudi Money Sure Looks Awful,” Deadspin, 2018.
- “John Oliver Gives The WWE A SmackDown Over Its Ties with Saudi Arabia,” Last Week Tonight segment, October 2018.
- Ashley D’Altilio, “Stephanie McMahon Says Crown Jewel was ‘A Tough Decision'” WrestleTalk, October 2018.
- “Live Results from Women’s Evolution Pay per View,” WrestleTalk, October 2018.
- Raj Giri, “Cody Admits to Thinking about Using AEW to Avenge Vince McMahon Ending WCW, Talks Ranking System,” Wrestling Inc, February, 2019.
- WWE Highest Paid Wrestlers REVEALED! WrestleTalk News, March, 2019.
- “How Vince McMahon Compares To AEW Investor Shahid Khan And Ted Turner On Forbes Billionaires List,” WrestlingInc. March, 2019.
- Alfred Konuwa, “WWE’s Business is Being Propped Up,” Forbes, March 2019.
- WrestleTalk Salary Coverage.
- “John Oliver on Vince McMahon: He’s An Asshole Who Has Sheilded Himself from Responsibility,” Fightful, April 2019.
- “Backstage Reactions to HBO-WWE Story from John Oliver,” Fightful, April 2019.
- WrestleTalk episode reporting on the WWE/John Oliver Story, April 2019.
Sports Journalism and Fan Culture:
- Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter and podcast
- A sports-journalism approach to both the in-ring performances and the business of professional wrestling.
- WrestleTalkTV YouTube channel
- A daily-posting, well-produced, UK-based fan-news and reviewing source for various popular wrestling organizations (WWE, Total Nonstop Action/Imact, Ring of Honor) from all over the world.
- Pro-Wrestling Tees store
- An independent wrestling merchandise store for wrestlers on the independent circuit. A good source of iconography.
- The Rock Reacts to His First Match, The Rock’s YouTube Channel 2016
- Jack Slack, “Roots of Kayfabe: Why the Abdominal Stretch is Not Just the Lamest Rest Hold in Wrestling,” VICE Fightland, 2017
- Jack Slack, “Pro Wrestling’s Shinsuke Nakamura and the Bombaye Knee,” VICE Fightland, 2016
- TV Tropes entry for the Five Moves of Doom
- Wikipedia entry for Unexpected John Cena
- Forbes: Wrestlemania 35 by the Numbers
Wrestler/Performer and Company-Generated Content:
- UpUpDownDown YouTube channel
- WWE superstar Xavier Woods’s channel (now officially owned by WWE), inviting other superstars to play video games against one another(and develop on and off-screen personas) for fans
- Being the Elite YouTube channel
- A YouTube channel created by and promoting Bullet Club wrestlers Kenny Omega and Matt & Nick Jackson, showcasing antics and building personas for fans
Profiles of a Local Independent Comedy/Wrestling Show, PWR