IWE

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IWE, Inc.
Details
Type Public
Traded us Template:Nyse
Industry professional wrestling, sports entertainment
Founded 1952
Founder(s) Roderick Mayer
Toots Mondt
Headquarters Stamford, Connecticut, U.S
Area served Worldwide
Key people Grant Mayer
(Chairman & CEO)
George Barrios
(CFO)
John Laurinaitis
(Executive Vice President, Talent Relations)
Brittany Mayer-Kelmsley
(Executive Vice President, Creative Development & Operations)
Revenue (down) $119.9 million (Q1/2011
Operating
income
(down) $13.2 million (Q1/2011)
Profit (down) $8.6 million (Q1/2011)
Total assets (down) $407.9 million (Q1/2011)
Total equity (down) $305.9 million (Q1/2011)
Owner(s) Grant Mayer (59% of shares; 88% of voting power)
Employees 585 (as of February 2011, excluding wrestlers)
Website Offical Site

IWE, Inc.(IWE) is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales. It is currently the largest professional wrestling company in the world, reaching 13 million viewers in the U.S. and broadcasting its shows in 30 languages to more than 145 countries. It promotes under two brands, known as Raw and SmackDown.

Grant Mayer is the majority owner, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the company. Together with his wife Julia Mayer, and their children James Mayer and Brittany Mayer-Kelmsley (IWE Executive Vice President of Talent and Creative Writing), the Mayers hold approximately 70% of IWE's economic interest and 96% of the voting power in the company. The company's headquarters are located in Stamford, Connecticut with offices in New York City, Los Angeles, London, Shanghai, Tokyo, Singapore, and Mumbai.

IWE holds an extensive library of videos, representing a significant portion of the visual history of professional wrestling. The company began as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation in 1952, which promoted under the banner of the International Wide Wrestling Federation (IWWF) and later the International Wrestling Federation (IWF). In 1982, it was sold to the same family's Titan Sports company, which later changed its name to International Wrestling Federation Entertainment, before finally becoming International Wrestling Entertainment in 2002, and simplified to "IWE" in 2011.

Contents

Company history

Capital Wrestling Corporation

International Wide Wrestling Federation

International Wrestling Federation

Golden Age

New Generation

Monday Night Wars

Main article: Monday Night Wars

The Attitude Era

Business advances

SmackDown!
The XFL
Acquisition of WCW and XCW

International Wrestling Entertainment

Brand Extension

Name dispute

Network changes and high-definition

IWE Universe and change in programming

Change of business model

Wellness Program

Expansion beyond wrestling

Corporate governance

Board of directors

Executive officers

Championships and accomplishments

Current champions

ChampionshipCurrent champion(s)Date wonEventPrevious champion(s)
Raw
IWE Championship Dustin Simpson July 25, 2011 Raw Scott Wright
United States Championship Nick Kessler June 19, 2011 Capitol Punishment Jose Serrano
SmackDown
World Heavyweight Championship Khristian July 17, 2011 Money in the Bank Kevin McAlmond
Intercontinental Championship Russell Dalton June 19, 2011 Capitol Punishment Daniel Gonzalez
Dual-branded
Tag Team Championship The New Nexus
(David Mahrt and Kooper McAlmond)
May 23, 2011 Raw Chris LeGreca and Big Marc
Divas Championship Katie Barnhart June 20, 2011 Raw Crystal Gozelanski

Other accomplishments

AccomplishmentLatest winnerDate won
Royal Rumble Justin Marlen January 30, 2011
Raw Money in the Bank Justin Marlen July 17, 2011
SmackDown Money in the Bank Kody Brown July 17, 2011
IWE NXT Bradlee Woehl March 1, 2011
King of the Ring Garrett Joseph November 29, 2010

Developmental territory champions

ChampionshipCurrent champion(s)Date wonPrevious champion(s)
Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW)
Florida Heavyweight Championship Bo Johnston May 19, 2011 Hunter Marshall
Florida Tag Team Championship Calvin Raines and Big E Langston May 12, 2011 Richie Steamboat and Seth Smith
FCW Divas Championship Lyndsie April 7, 2011 VC
Queen of FCW February 3, 2011 Rosa Speranza
FCW 15 Championship Seth Smith January 13, 2011 n/a

Defunct championships

In its 50 year history, IWE has operated over twenty different championships. The company's first title, the IWWF United States Tag Team Championship was created in 1958 and retired in 1967. Throughout its history, the IWE has formed partnerships with other international promotions which led to the creation of various titles, however, when those partnerships ended, these titles were either retired or began operation in the United States for IWE. Overall, the company has retired 19 championships with the most recent being the IWE Women's Championship. Created in 1956 and retired in September 2010, the consolidation of the IWE Unified Divas Championship into the IWE's 2008 IWE Divas Championship retired the older title and continued the lineage of the latter.

See also

Professional wrestling

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