11 Misconceptions About WWE You Probably Believe
3. WWF To WWE Was A Philosophical Shift
In 2020, WWE decided to finally stop re-monetising the Attitude Era and package together a long-form Network profile series on some wilderness years. The only problem was, they weren't comfortable considering the time period as a down spell.
From these shaky foundations, the "Ruthless Aggression" (more on that presently) series aired, with so many half-truths that it became little more than excuse to see a few new clips while ignoring the asinine commentary offered by the usual gang of brothered-in talking heads. Never was this more apparent than when the market leader marched forth with a brand new strain of nonsense about the 2002 decision to "get the F out" and rename the company WWE.
Per the new company line, the change was nothing to do with the breaking of a legal agreement and the punishment henceforth, but a creative drive from Vince McMahon to move the Federation even closer towards Entertainment.
Eh?
To recap, the World Wrestling Federation had shared initials with British nature charity the World Wildlife Fund for many years, and though the relationship wasn't exactly harmonious, it existed thanks to a deal McMahon made not to hammer the "WWF" branding. Then he did, over and over again, voiding any legal agreements and pushing his luck beyond the patience of the group. 2002 was merely the culmination of a battle the company were destined to lose, not a carefully plotted course change by a false idol pretending not to have lost his Midas touch.