http://getmonthlypay.com/index.php?invite=108078 The Attitude Era (1997-2001)

Main article: The Attitude Era

See also: Montreal Screwjob

As the Monday Night Wars continued between Monday Night Raw and WCW's Monday Nitro, the WWF would transform itself from a family-friendly product into a more adult oriented product, known as The Attitude Era. The era was spearheaded by Vince McMahon and head writer Vince Russo, who drastically changed the way professional wrestling television was written.

The fans of WWF seemed to favor what was posed to them as the bad guy instead of the good guy. The creative changes made by the company's writers who saw wrestling take on a "street fighting", "bad attitude" approach. However, despite this revolutionary change by the company, WWF continued to lose much of its leading talent to rival promotion, WCW throughout 1996 and 1997. 1997 ended with McMahon facing real-life controversy following Bret Hart's controversial departure from the company, later known as the Montreal Screwjob.^[33] This resulted in major financial losses and plummeting ratings with many of McMahon's employees, wrestling critics, and wrestling fans turning against him. This proved to be one of several founding factors in the launch of the Attitude Era as well as the creation of McMahon's on-screen character, "Mr. McMahon"; a dictatorial and fierce ruler who favored heels over faces.
Prior to the Montreal Screwjob which took place at the 1997 Survivor Series, former WCW talent were being hired by the WWF, including Stone Cold Steve Austin, Mankind and Vader. Steve Austin was slowly brought in as the new face of the company despite being promoted as an anti-hero, starting with his Austin 3:16 speech shortly after defeating Jake Roberts in the tournament finals at the King of the Ring pay-per-view in 1996.^[34] The creation of the Mr. McMahon character soon led to the Austin vs. McMahon feud, the central storyline during the Attitude Era. During the rivalry, McMahon founded two heel factions: The Corporation and The Corporate Ministry to help try and defeat Austin. The feud even involved former boxing champion, Mike Tyson, which helped give the company mainstream media attention and a significant increase in ratings.

World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. (1999-2002)

WWE, also known by its legal name of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.,^[7][8][9] is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company that deals primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing and direct product sales.
"WWE" also refers to the professional wrestling promotion itself, founded by Jess McMahon and Toots Mondt in 1952, and, as of 2011, the largest in the world, reaching 6 million viewers in the U.S, and approximately another 30 million worldwide by broadcasting its shows in more than 150 countries.^[10]

Like in other professional wrestling promotions, WWE shows are not legitimate sporting contests, but purely entertainment-based, featuring storyline-driven, scripted and choreographed matches, though they often include moves that can put performers at risk of injury if not performed correctly. WWE first acknowledged this publicly in 1981, breaking the gentlemen's agreement that previously existed among promoters.^[11]
Vince McMahon is the majority owner, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the company. Together with his wife Linda McMahon, and their children Shane McMahon and Stephanie McMahon, the McMahons hold approximately 70% of WWE's equity and 96% of the voting power in the company. The company's headquarters are located in Stamford, Connecticut and also has offices in New York City, Los Angeles, London, Shanghai, Tokyo, Singapore, and Mumbai.^[12][13]

The promotion was previously called the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC), the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Since 2011, the company has officially branded itself solely as "WWE", which is no longer an acronym, though the company's legal name was not changed.^[9][14]
On November 19, 2008, WWE launched their online social network, WWE Universe. It initially appeared in April as the WWE Fan Nation. Similar to Myspace, it offered blogs, forums, and other features for WWE fans. Also the WWE fanbase began being referred to on-air by the announcers and wrestlers as the "WWE Fan Nation", and later the "WWE Universe", similar to how some sports franchises refer to their own fanbases ("Red Sox Nation", "Raider Nation", etc.).^[44] The social network ceased operations on January 1, 2011.^[45] The company subsequently launched a WWE page on Facebook, which, as of October 7, 2011, had more than 39 million fans worldwide. In 2012, WWE became an investor in the social media site Tout, which is now heavily promoted on all programming.^[46]
That same year, WWE initiated a change in its programming content. The United States parental guidelines rating system now rates most WWE television programs TV-PG. This was done to promote more family-friendly content in the programming than in the past (especially during the Attitude Era) when most content was rated TV-14, in comparison to The Golden Era, and The New Generation Era, which also used to promote a family friendly content. As part of this new policy, WWE's television programs shift to black-and-white if a wrestler bleeds in front of the camera.^[47] In 2012, WWE debuted a new Saturday morning program (WWE Saturday Morning Slam) which is rated TV-G and has special restrictions barring the use of holds and moves aimed at the neck.^[48][49] Vince McMahon noted that the change to more family-friendly content is due to the changing demographics in WWE viewership.^[50]

WWE, also known by its legal name of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.,^[7][8][9] is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company that deals primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing and direct product sales.
"WWE" also refers to the professional wrestling promotion itself, founded by Jess McMahon and Toots Mondt in 1952, and, as of 2011, the largest in the world, reaching 6 million viewers in the U.S, and approximately another 30 million worldwide by broadcasting its shows in more than 150 countries.^[10]
Like in other professional wrestling promotions, WWE shows are not legitimate sporting contests, but purely entertainment-based, featuring storyline-driven, scripted and choreographed matches, though they often include moves that can put performers at risk of injury if not performed correctly. WWE first acknowledged this publicly in 1981, breaking the gentlemen's agreement that previously existed among promoters.^[11]
Vince McMahon is the majority owner, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the company. Together with his wife Linda McMahon, and their children Shane McMahon and Stephanie McMahon, the McMahons hold approximately 70% of WWE's equity and 96% of the voting power in the company. The company's headquarters are located in Stamford, Connecticut and also has offices in New York City, Los Angeles, London, Shanghai, Tokyo, Singapore, and Mumbai.^[12][13]
The promotion was previously called the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC), the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Since 2011, the company has officially branded itself solely as "WWE", which is no longer an acronym, though the company's legal name was not changed.^[9][14]