The history of the entity currently known as WWE can be traced back to 1952. Roderick "Jess" McMahon and James "Toots" Mondt created the Capitol Wrestling Corporation, a New York-based NWA affiliate that withdrew from the parent company in 1963 under the watch of Jess's son, Vincent James McMahon. The younger McMahon and Mondt formed a new company, the World Wide Wrestling Federation, which later shortened its name to the World Wrestling Federation. When Vincent's son, Vincent Kennedy McMahon, refused to abide by a court order issued in favor of the World Wildlife Fund, the company was forced to change its name again, becoming World Wrestling Entertainment in 2002. As jarring as the name changes must have been, they're nothing compared to what's gone on in front of the camera. WWE's product has evolved greatly over the decades, and while many longtime fans can point to changes that they've seen happen before their eyes, newer fans - especially teenagers and younger children - have no idea how things were just a few short years ago. The changes are picking up speed, too - the WWE of 1963 and the WWE of 1983 had a lot more in common than the WWE of 1995 and the company as it is today do. Only the hardcore fans are able to track the changes, remember the past, and tell tales of an unrecognizable wrestling giant.
15. Tag Team Wrestling Had A Few Boom Periods
Vincent K. McMahon has never been a big fan of tag team wrestling. Whether he sees it as a bygone relic from the age of old school grappling or he simply feels that tag team stars don't become big money players is unknown, but even today, McMahon's lack of interest in the division is apparent. The ultra-entertaining New Day are currently giving the titles more focus than they'd usually get, but a lack of strong competition for the trio has led to the return of Attitude Era act The Dudley Boyz. WWE's tag team division has had brief periods of greatness, though. After the boom of late 1980s - where teams like Demolition, Strike Force, The Hart Foundation, The Rockers, and more competed for the titles - there was a lull, but in the late 1990s, Edge and Christian and The Hardy Boyz ushered in an era of more athletic tag competition. When The Dudley Boyz added their hardcore style to the excitement in 2000, the company entered a brief, but memorable, golden age of tag team wrestling. A few years later, Smackdown introduced brand-exclusive tag titles, with teams such as Los Guerreros, Edge and Rey Mysterio, and Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit putting on classics for the belts.