Over the last two weeks the WWE has sent out press releases and contacted various media outlets to inform the public that the WWE will be dropping its wrestling label in efforts to create a broader entertainment company. On Wednesday, Wrestlheat.com reported that the WWE has banned certain terms or labels from being used to describe it's product on Television and in various media mediums. One example of this change is that the WWE wants to be known as an "action soap opera" not pro-wrestling or even sports entertainment.
In the early 90's Vince McMahon shocked the world when he came out and told the WWE Universe that his brand of wrestling is no longer to be considered pro-wrestling but is now known as sports entertainment. McMahon made this switch in effort to avoid certain regulations from various state athletic commissions and to avoid certain state taxes on athletic events. This announcement broke down the walls of 'kayfabe' where wrestlers pretended that everything was real to make the audience believe that it was real.
Fast forward 2 decades and Vince is at it again. No longer will the WWE be labeled pro-wrestling or sports entertainment but now commentators and media outlets are to refer to the WWE as an "action sopa opera", "soap opera" and/or "entertainment". The initial response coming into Fight Sports Examiner is that most pro wrestling fans find this change of labels insulting. The majority of feedback believes that calling pro-wrestling a soap opera demeans the athletic aspect of the sport.
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In addition to the change to "action soap opera" the WWE has also banned the following terms in favor of new labels:
- "Wrestling" or "Catch" is banned in favor of just calling the product "WWE"
- "Catchers" or "Wrestlers" is banned in favor of "WWE Superstars"
- "Athletes" or "Sportsmen" is banned in favor of "WWE Superstars" or "WWE Entertainers"
- "Fight" is banned in favor of "Match" or "Bout"
- "Fighting" is banned in favor of the term "Action"
The WWE closed their press release with the following emphasized changes:
- WWE is pure entertainment
- WWE is an action soap opera
- WWE Superstars are entertainers with tremendous athletic prowess
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