The Piledriver Report 05.18.12: Getting the “F” Out- Ten Years Later

Last week, the WWE celebrated their ten year anniversary of when the World Wrestling Federation was forced to get the “F” out, and become World Wrestling Entertainment. The events leading up to the name change were due to a dispute that the WWF had with another WWF brand. Before you get confused, let me explain.

WHY THE NEED TO GET THE “F” OUT?

On April 26th, 1961, a foundation to protect endangered animals was created. The company’s name was World Wildlife Fund, or WWF for short. In 1979, the United States professional wrestling promotion the World Wide Wrestling Federation decided to shorten their name to the World Wrestling Federation, and thus professional wrestling’s WWF was born. In 1994, both WWFs came to an agreement with each other. The World Wrestling Federation was allowed to use the “WWF” initials in the United States, but not on an international basis.

In 2000, the World Wide Fund for Nature sued the World Wrestling Federation for unfair trade practices. They stated the professional wrestling organization had violated their agreement regarding international use of the WWF initials. This mainly stemmed from the Federation creating their website www.wwf.com. Since the Internet is able to be accessed worldwide, the World Wide Fund for Nature (which they were now being called) felt that they had ample rights to have the World Wrestling Federation relinquish their usage of the “WWF” initials.

On August 10, 2001, an English court ruled in favor of the World Wide Fund for Nature. The World Wrestling Federation filed an appeal in October 2001. However, on May 5, 2002, the World Wrestling Federation changed its web address from WWF.com to WWE.com, and replaced every “WWF” reference on the existing site with “WWE”, as a prelude to changing the company’s name to “World Wrestling Entertainment.” Its stock ticker also switched from WWF to WWE.
Abandonment of the initialism did not end the two organizations’ legal conflict. Later in 2002, the World Wide Fund for Nature petitioned the court for $360 million in damages, but was not successful. A subsequent request to overturn by the World Wide Fund for Nature was dismissed by the British Court of Appeal on June 28, 2007. In 2003, World Wrestling Entertainment won a limited decision which permitted them to continue marketing certain pre-existing products with the abandoned WWF logo. However, WWE was mandated to issue newly branded merchandise such as apparel, action figures, video games, and DVDs with the “WWE” initials. Additionally, the court order required the company to remove both auditory and visual references to “WWF” in its library of video footage outside of the United Kingdom.

Since that day in May 2002, the Federation has become Entertainment. Over the last decade, the now WWE has decided to embrace the “entertainment” portion of the World Wrestling Entertainment name. The WWE has a film division. While the division started under the WWF Films umbrella, WWE Studios didn’t start to make their mark in producing films until 2006 when “See No Evil” hit the theaters. In 2004, the WWE created WWE 24/7, which is an On Demand channel that features different classic wrestling programming each month. The WWE’s On Demand station is a precursor to the upcoming WWE Network that should be available by the end of this year. A couple of years ago, the WWE tried to emphasize “Entertainment” in its core wrestling product by calling their performers “entertainers,” as opposed to “sports entertainers” or professional wrestlers. Luckily, the name did not catch on.

With ten years in the books, it is now time to take a look back at the “Entertainment” company that is no longer the Federation.

THE BEST OF THE BEST

Face of the WWE Era: There were several huge names that made an impact during the last ten years. The Rock, Steve Austin, the Undertaker, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, Brock Lesnar, Triple H, John Cena, Shawn Michaels, Batista, Edge, and Randy Orton have all had successful runs during the last decade. All of the wrestlers on the list had memorable runs in the WWE from 2002-2012. The Rock spent most of the decade making movies. Steve Austin bounced around from being involved in mostly non-wrestling activities in the WWE as mainly an authority figure. When he was away from the WWE, Austin was making movies of his own. Kurt Angle left the WWE a few years ago. Brock Lesnar tried his hand in the UFC and mixed martial arts throughout most of the past ten years. Chris Jericho bounced between Fozzy, and Hollywood gigs in between stints in the WWE. His second stint in the company was amongst the best runs that any performer had in the WWE. The Undertaker became too much of a part time player as the decade progressed. The leaves us with the six performers who could lay claim to being the face of the WWE’s first ten years. Batista had a huge run in the WWE. He started his career as D-Von Dudley’s sidekick. However, once he joined Evolution, his star sky rocketed. Batista exploded as a face after his split from Triple H. Batista helped carry the face side of the SmackDown! brand. Along with the Undertaker and Edge, Batista gave SmackDown! main event level star power that could compete with the “A” show that was Monday Night RAW. More than any other performer in the company, Edge was SmackDown!. He helped carry the brand when stars like Batista and the Undertaker were on the shelf. The Rated R Superstar became Must See TV every Friday night. More than any other wrestler of the past ten years, Edge was definitely the face of SmackDown! If this was the best wrestler of the past ten years, Shawn Michaels would win, and there wouldn’t be another person that would come close. When Shawn Michaels career ended prematurely in 1998, he was arguably the best performer in the business. When he came back in 2002, no one knew what to expect out of the “Heartbreak Kid.” What they got was a more mature person, and an even better performer then he was in 1997. Shawn wrestled in some of the greatest matches of the decade. He had a three match wrestling clinic against Kurt Angle. He worked a very entertaining angle with Hulk Hogan that saw a little of the “old” Shawn creep up to the surface. He carried Vince McMahon to a very good match at WrestleMania. Michaels fought John Cena, not only at WrestleMania 23, but also in a nearly one hour match on RAW. He faced Chris Jerlcho in one of the best feuds of the decade. I didn’t even mention his two classics against the Undertaker at WrestleMania XXV and XXVI. This leaves us with the final two. Triple H and John Cena. Both men have been at the top of the WWE for most of the past decade. Both men have faced a who’s who in the WWE. Triple H headlined WrestleManias X-8, XX, 21, 22, XXV, and was probably in the biggest match at XXVII, and second most hyped match this year. John Cena main evented WrestleManias 23, XXVII, and XXVIII, while being in World title matches in every WrestleMania from 21 up until XXVII. I give the edge to John Cena as the Face of the WWE for the past ten years. Triple H spent more time away from the ring dealing with injuries, as well as learning the inner workings of the business side of the WWE. Whereas, John Cena has never stopped. Even when Cena needed to take time off due to injury, he came back early. You may not be a mark for Cena, but one thing is clear, John Cena is the face of the first decade of the WWE.

Best Match: WOW! There have been so many good matches over the past decade. For sheer emotional involvement from the crowd, CM Punk vs. John Cena at the 2011 Money in the Bank was tops. However, Rob Van Dam vs. John Cena at One Night Stand, along with Cena vs. The Rock at this year’s WrestleMania would deserve an honorable mention. For a sheer adreneline rush, the Money in the Bank matches usually delivered excitement. However, for working ability, Shawn Michaels was involved in many classics. His war with the Undertaker at WrestleMania XXV was one of the greatest matches in, not only WrestleMania history, but in all of wrestling history that I have ever seen. When non-wrestling fans ask why I like wrestling, all I have to do is show them the DVD of this match in order to give them my answer.

Best Moment: Like the Best Match, the Best Moment is really hard to select. For as much bad television as the WWE has given us since the end of the “Attitude Era,” the WWE has also given us some great moment too. I would have chosen the Benoit/Guerrero WrestleMania XX celebration. However, I can never watch that moment again ever since Chris Benoit committed the murder/suicide of his wife, child, and himself. With that moment taken out of concideration, my favorite moment was the WWE’s retirement of Ric Flair would be it. Everything about Flair’s “retirement” during the weekend of WrestleMania XXIV was perfect. First was Flair’s induction into the WWE’s Hall of Fame. The next night, he had a terrific match with Shawn Michaels that ended with Michaels telling Flair “Sorry. I love you” before delivering sweet chin music for the pin. The next night on RAW, the WWE gave Ric Flair a celebration send-off that was fitting of the legend that the “Nature Boy” is.

Best Technical: WWE Goes HD! HDTV has added a whole new element to viewing professional wrestling. The picture is brighter. Watching wrestling on HDTV makes the show seem like a top rate production. Don’t believe it? Watch some old RAWs on the WWE 24/7 channel. Then go watch Monday Night RAW in HD this week. You’ll see a big different. It isn’t just the picture either. The sound is clearer. I can’t recall how many times I have watched the WWE since they went HD, and was able to hear a random fan chant that I wouldn’t have been able to hear on standard definition.

Best Tag Team: OK, this isn’t fair, because more than at any other point in the company’s history, the WWE has probably did more to destroy tag team wrestling over the last decade than ever before. Gone are the days of the Wild Samoans, the Moondogs, the British Bulldogs, the Hart Foundations, the Rockers, the Road Warriors, Demolition, the New Age Outlaws, the Hardys, the Dudleys, and Edge/Christian. Instead, the tag team scene is mostly littered with mid-card wrestlers, or singles stars that get thrown together, because there is nothing else for them to do. However, over the last ten years, one team brought me more joy than any other. The team was The Miz and John Morrison. Before the two started to team up, I was not a fan of The Miz. However, the two men clicked together and had an instant chemistry. They were both extremely entertaining as a team. Plus, they could verbally bitch slap any team the WWE had to offer. I remember one night on RAW when they were announcing along with Cryme Tyme. With their insults, they made Cryme Tyme look like a couple of chumps. Of course, their most entertaining contribution came in the form of the WWE.com’s weekly web-isode featuring The Miz and Morrison called “The Dirt Sheet.” It was definitely a Must Download every week. This was THE Internet show to watch in a pre-Zack Ryder world. Years later, and I still miss them as a team. That’s impact, at least for me.

Best Angle: My favorite angle just happens to be three different angles. All three angles follow a similar pattern. They each deal in realism. At Summer Slam 2008, Shawn Michaels was embroiled in a feud with Chris Jericho. Shawn cut a promo that night announcing his retirement from wresttling due to all of the injuries he had suffered throughout his career. After a heated exchange with Chris Jericho, Michaels and his wife Rebecca went to leave the ring. Jericho took a swing at Michaels, who ducked, and the punch hit Rebecca in the face. However, unlike your normal wrestling punch, this blow fully landed across Rebecca’s mouth. Her lip immediately began to swell. While Chris Jericho (out of character) felt very badly, the visual of her puffed out lip put more heat on the Michaels/Jericho angle. Sure, you expected Rebecca to take the “punch.” However, you never expected her to get potatoed. This mistake helped the Shawn-Jericho war to become one of the most memorable feuds in the company’s history.

The next angle that I have as the “Best Angle” would be CM Punk’s pipe bomb promo from last year. His promos last year basically reflected the feelings that were going through the fan’s minds who had become disenchanted with the WWE product. CM Punk became the voice of the voiceless, as he spoke what was on his mind. It was a breath of fresh air from the standard WWE scripted twenty minute promo. His promo, combined with his WWE contract set to expire, had places that normally do not talk wrestling, (like the Jim Rome Show) talking all about CM Punk. Punk’s uncertain WWE future led to one of the most memorable pay per views that the WWE ever put on. The crowd was on fire the whole night, which ended with CM Punk “leaving” the WWE with the WWE World title. In the end, the WWE screwed up the “Summer of Punk II.” However, for three weeks, CM Punk and his verbal pipe bombs were the hottest thing in the WWE since “Austin 3:16 said I just whooped your ass.”

The third angle on my list is from last month. I absolutely loved the John Cena/Brock Lesnar build up. It was so different than anything else I have ever seen from the WWE. Brock Lesnar busted Cena’s mouth open during a time when the WWE doesn’t allow blood. For the week’s leading up to the match, Lesnar was a human destruction machine, as John Cena was always thwarted by Brock. The match was a different kind of awesome. It was just pure ass kicking by Lesnar. It was like watching the violence of UFC, but having a predetermined winner in the match. Do I agree with the WWE having John Cena beat Brock Lesnar in Brock’s first match back? No. However, the match was so different from the usual WWE fare. That helped make this match even more special. The whole build up to the end of the match was incredible, because of how different it was from the normal WWE fare. Different is good. Hopefully the WWE realizes this, as the Brock/Cena stuff led to one of the greatest angles in the past ten years.

Best Storyline: CM Punk’s Straight Edge Society against admitted drug user, Jeff Hardy. I loved this storyline. Long before Punk delivered any pipe bombs, he took the WWE by storm by preaching his anti-drugs/alcohol campaign. Even though Punk previously held the World Heavyweight title, I still didn’t believe that the WWE was behind Punk. It wasn’t until Punk’s feud with Jeff Hardy that he seemed to take his game to another level. His heel promos against Jeff Hardy featured some of the best mic work of the year in the WWE. Punk’s work here would prove that he would be a major player in the WWE. We should have seen the pipe bomb coming.

Best WrestleMania: OK, so I may be biased since I just attended the event, but I believe that WrestleMania XXVIII was the greatest WrestleMania of the past ten years. This card had everything. The Rock vs. John Cena was one of the most intense matches in WrestleMania history. The Triple H vs. the Undertaker Hell in a Cell was one of the most emotional WrestleMania matches. CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho brought the workrate. One of the worst moments in Mania history, Daniel Bryan losing the World Heavyweight title in 18 seconds helped to turn Bryan into one of the company’s most popular stars. Who would have thought that such a negative WrestleMania moment would turn out to be one of Daniel Bryan’s biggest career highlights? The Big Show finally got his WrestleMania moment. Plus, having the event in an open air stadium put the event on a grander scale than the usual grandeous WrestleMania platform.

Was everything over the last ten years memorable? Of course not. For every Rock vs. Cena, you had Katie Vick and Torrie Wilson’s dad. For every advancement, like high definition and the WWE On Demand station, you were forced to deal with the blurred out WWF “Attitude Era” logo on DVDs featuring matches from that time period. The last ten years were filled with both good and bad moments. Just as the next ten will. What will the next decade bring? Only time will tell. One thing I know for sure. Good or bad, I’ll be along for the ride.