WORLD WRESTELING FEDERATION

World Wrestling Entertainment
In 2000, the World Wildlife Fund (also WWF), an environmental organization now called the World Wide Fund for Nature, sued the World Wrestling Federation. A British court agreed that Titan Sports had violated a 1994 agreement which had limited the permissible use of the WWF initials overseas, particularly in merchandising.On May 5, 2002, the company quietly changed all references on its website from "WWF" to "WWE", while switching the URL from WWF.com to WWE.com. The next day, a press release announced the official name change from World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. to World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., or WWE, and the change was publicized later that day during a telecast of Monday Night Raw, which emanated from the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut. For a short time, WWE used the slogan "Get The 'F' Out."The company had also been ordered by the court to stop using the old WWF Attitude logo on any of its properties and to censor all past references to WWF, as they no longer owned the trademark to the initials WWF in 'specified circumstances'. Despite litigation, WWE is still permitted use of the original WWF logo, which was used from 1984 through 1997, as well as the "New WWF Generation" logo, which was used from 1994 through 1998. Furthermore, the company may still make use of the full "World Wrestling Federation" and "World Wrestling Federation Entertainment" names without consequence.
WWE superstars performing for the Coalition troops at Camp Victory
In April 2002, about a month before the name change, WWE decided to create two separate rosters, one on Raw, the other on SmackDown! due to the overabundance of talent left over from the Invasion storyline (which involved talent from the absorbed ECW and WCW rosters interacting in WWF storylines). This is known as the WWE Brand Extension. Following the Brand Extension, a yearly Draft Lottery was instituted in 2004 to exchange members of each roster and generally refresh the lineups.
In late 2005, WWE Raw returned after a five-year stint on TNN (now Spike TV) to its original home USA Network. In the TNN days, WWE got all advertising revenue during commercial breaks into their own pockets; now on USA Network, USA Network gets all advertising revenue.So, WWE had to invest into other lines of products introducing WWE 24/7, an on-demand subscription-only channel which shows classic wrestling matches from WWE's vast video library (more than 80,000 hours) and WWE produced content other than wrestling. In 2006, due to contracts with NBC Universal, parent company of USA Network, WWE had the chance to revive its classic Saturday night show WWE Saturday Night's Main Event (SNME) on NBC after a thirteen-year hiatus. WWE had the chance to promote the company on a major national network rather than the lower profile CW or cable channels like USA Network. SNME airs occasionally on NBC as a WWE special series.
On May 26, 2006, WWE revived Extreme Championship Wrestling as its third brand. The new ECW program airs Tuesday nights, on the Sci Fi Channel. On September 26, 2007, it was announced that WWE would be expanding its international operations. Alongside the current international offices in London and Toronto, a new international office would be established in Sydney. On January 21, 2008, WWE made the transition to high-definition (HD). All TV shows and pay-per-views after this were broadcast in HD. In addition, WWE also introduced a new state of the art set that was used for all three brands.
Wellness Program
The Talent Wellness Program is a comprehensive drug, alcohol, and cardiac screening program exclusive to World Wrestling Entertainment, initiated in February 2006, shortly after the sudden death of one of their highest profile talents, thirty-eight year old Eddie Guerrero. The policy tests for recreational drug use and abuse of prescription medication, including anabolic steroids. Under the guidelines of the policy, talent is also tested annually for pre-existing or developing cardiac issues. The drug testing is handled by Aegis Sciences Corporation. The cardiac evaluations are handled by New York Cardiology Associates P.C.
The program has recently been defended heavily by WWE and its employees in the wake of several illegal pharmacy busts that link WWE performers to steroid purchases even after the policy was put into place. WWE openly suspended/released 11 performers immediately following release of their names in conjunction with anabolic steroid purchases.
WWE is currently under investigation by the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform regarding their talent wellness policy, after the death of one of their performers, Chris Benoit, possibly being linked to steroid abuse.
In August 2007, WWE made the decision to suspend ten professional wrestlers for violating their Wellness Policy after it emerged they were all customers of Signature Pharmacy in Orlando, Florida. According to a statement attributed to WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt, an eleventh wrestler was later added to the suspension list.
On the other hand, it has not been mentioned in public outside WWE.com that because of the Wellness Policy, physicians were able to diagnose one of their performers with a heart ailment that otherwise would have likely gone unnoticed until it was too late. In August 2007, then-reigning U.S. Champion MVP was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which if gone undiagnosed can be potentially fatal. The ailment was discovered while MVP was going through a routine Wellness Policy checkup.
Expansion beyond wrestling
In addition to licensing wrestling and performers' likenesses to companies such as Acclaim, THQ, and Jakks Pacific to produce video games and action figures, WWE has moved into other areas of interest in order to market their product.
* WWE Studios: A subsidiary of WWE created in 2002 to create and develop feature film properties. Formerly known as WWE Films.
* WWE Niagara Falls: A retail and entertainment establishment that is located in Niagara Falls, Ontario and owned by WWE.
* WWE Records: A subsidiary that specializes in compilation albums of WWE wrestlers' entrance themes. Also releases titles that have been actually performed by the wrestlers themselves.
* WWE Home Video: A subsidiary that specializes in distributing compilation VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray Disc copies of WWE pay-per-view events, compilations of WWE wrestlers' performances, and biographies of WWE performers.
* WWE Books: A subsidiary of WWE that serves to publish autobiographies of and fiction based on WWE personalities, behind-the-scenes guides to WWE, illustrated books, calendars, young adult books, and other general nonfiction books.