Wrestling as we all know it was invented in 1985.
Not really, but you'd be forgiven for thinking so thanks to the way World Wrestling Entertainment set about completely reimagining how the industry could be promoted and presented from the inaugural WrestleMania onwards. Powered by Hulkamania, the company was omnipresent; shorthand for business it didn't even like the label of. Pro-wrestling was out, "Sports Entertainment" was in, and the world was indeed watching as a growth in popularity positioned WWE as the undisputed and unassailable market leader.
40+ years later, and by some judgment and no end of luck, that still remains true.
Though stylistically never for everybody, WWE briefly became the primary custodians of wrestling by force and dominance. The territorial system fell in its wake in the 1980s, nearest competitors WCW and ECW were done by 2001, and for nearly two decades, the company toasted a monopoly by gobbling up every bit of wrestling's past all in service of owning a library it could revisit, reimagine and re-monetise. WWE history was suddenly wrestling history, being written by the winners of various business wars. Almost as if the company's own back catalogue wasn't worth mining.
This was patently not true. From the heroes of the aforementioned Hulkamania era through to legends forged in the New Generation, Attitude, PG, the Paul Levesque rebirth and every doldrum in between, WWE has generated enough product to pose a million questions with a million spare. For now, here's 25 to get you started...
Michael Hamflett
Contributor
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for 10 years. Alongside the production of daily written, audio and video content covering WWE and AEW, he also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years.
As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot on the UK's wrestling podcast charts with over 10,000 episodes and 70,000,000 total downloads. He also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House!, Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast, and has guested on long-running Sunderland AFC podcast Wise Men Say.
With WhatCulture, he has provided in-person coverage of some of the biggest pay-per-views and Premium Live Events in wrestling history, including WrestleMania, Survivor Series, All In & Double Or Nothing in destinations such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. He has also been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana, 411Mania and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling.
Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in music and culture magazines The Crack, Pilot as well as Sunderland AFC's premiere fanzine A Love Supreme. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it every other Saturday at the Stadium Of Light, and at Cribs gigs nationwide.
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Michael