For quite some time, it has been common knowledge within pro wrestling circles that WWE wanted to move away from the stigma of being branded as a “wrestling” company.
A notable example was the emphasis on referring to the talent as “Superstars” and “Divas” rather than wrestlers. While the “wrestler” term occasionally makes its way through, the announcers and talent had largely focused on using WWE’s branded-names for referring to their colleagues.
Things came to a head recently, when a media outlet was asked to re-write or remove a story on Drew Carey’s Hall of Fame induction that referred to WWE as a “wrestling” company. At the time, a WWE representative told the outlet, “We are no longer a wrestling company but rather a global entertainment company with a movie studio, international licensing deals, publisher of three magazines, consumer good distributor and more.”
According to PWInsider.com, despite the negative PR that move generated, WWE will be sticking to that philosophy. Going forward, “wrestling” is to be removed to an even greater extent, with the company looking to only use the WWE initials (rather than “World Wrestling Entertainment”) in official mentions and on merchandise. One would assume announcers and talents were similarly given an even stricter directive not to use the word ‘wrestling’ moving forward.
Of course, with WWE’s “WRESTLE-Mania” airing on pay-per-view tonight, WWE still appears to be locked into the pro grappling roots.
