History of WWE Games

Wrestling is one of the oldest sports and dates back to the ancient eras of Babylon and Greek Olympian games. Today, however, things have changed and wrestling is not just limited to mere sport but have also become a part of the entertainment industry. World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) was not formed overnight but took decades from starting as a small wrestling group to becoming a global entity.

  1. Wrestling in the Early 1960s

    • Wrestling in the early 1960s was a lot about grappling and hand-to-hand combat. Vincent J. McMahon, more fondly known as Vince Sr., learned the aspects of professional sporting and entertainment from his father, a promoter of boxing in the Madison Square Garden. Vince Sr. inherited Capitol Wrestling Corp. from his father and gained control over 70 percent of the collaborated wrestling business between CWC and NWA (National Wrestling Alliance). However, they later broke away from the NWA to create the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF).

    Formation of WWF

    • In the early 1980, Vincent Sr.'s son, Vincent K. McMahon, launched a new company by the name of Titan Sport and got hold of the WWWF through certain acquisitions and company mergers, which by the time was known as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Vince was quick to capitalize on the WWF and had plans of expanding it to states outside the Northeast region of the U.S. He soon started television shows on TV channels and signed contracts with popular wrestling names such as Hulk Hogan. He introduced a pay-per-view system and made a high amount of revenue that surpassed that of every other wrestling company at the time.

    Competition with WCW and Rising to No. 1 Position

    • In the early 1990s, Ted Turner acquired NWA and created a new wrestling group known as World Championship Wrestling (WCW), which had different storylines and better technical wrestlers that were gaining more reputation among fans. WCW started signing contracts with popular WWF superstars like Hogan, Lex Luger and Bret Hart and had its own TV show competing with that of the WWF, which by then had been renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). However, the WWE was quick to turn the tables around with the introduction of its Attitude Era, inflicting more violence, sexuality and explicit material. Because of the growing success, the WWE bought the WCW in early 2000, thus regaining its top position.

    Popular Merchandise and Gaming Culture of WWE

    • With the rising popularity of WWE, many PC and video games emerged. "WrestleFest," the first arcade game was released in 1991. With the advent of gaming consoles, 2000 saw a lot of games launched -- "WWF Wrestlemania," "WWF: Here Comes the Pain" and "WWF No Mercy." "WWE Smackdown! Vs. Raw 2006" gained a lot of recognition on the PlayStation 2 and was followed with new versions in 2008 and 2010.