World Wrestling Federation / Titan Sports Inc. (1979-1999)

The Golden Era (1980-1992)

Main article: 1980s professional wrestling boom

In March of 1979, for marketing purposes, the World Wide Wrestling Federation was renamed the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).^[18] That same year, the son of Vincent J. McMahon, Vincent K. McMahon, founded Titan Sports, Inc.^[19] and was incorporated on February 21, 1980. On June 6, 1982, McMahon purchased CWC from his father and associates Arnold Skaaland, Gorilla Monsoon, and Phil Zacko.^[18] The elder McMahon had long since established the northeastern territory as one of the most vibrant members of the NWA. He had long since recognized that professional wrestling was more about entertainment than actual sport. Against his father's wishes, McMahon began an expansion process that fundamentally changed the industry.

McMahon's vision for his promotion was starting to become possible when he hired AWA talent Hulk Hogan, who had achieved popularity outside of wrestling, notably for his appearance in Rocky III as Thunderlips.^[20] McMahon signed Rowdy Roddy Piper as Hogan's rival, and then shortly afterward signed Jesse "The Body" Ventura. Other wrestlers took part of the roster, such as André the Giant, Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, The Magnificent Muraco, Junkyard Dog, "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff, Greg "The Hammer" Valentine,Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, Nikolai Volkoff and the Iron Sheik.

Vince McMahon, the owner of the WWE

With reasonable revenue being made, McMahon was able to secure television deals, and WWF was being shown across the United States. This angered other promoters and disrupted the well-established 'boundaries' of the different wrestling promotions. The syndication of WWF programming forced other promotions to come into direct competition. To make matters worse, McMahon used the income generated by advertising, television deals, and tape sales to poach talent from rival promoters.

The WWF would tour nationally in a venture that would required a huge capital investment; one that placed the WWF on the verge of financial collapse. The future of not just McMahon's experiment, but also the WWF, the NWA, and the whole industry came down to the success or failure of McMahon's groundbreaking concept, WrestleMania. WrestleMania was a major pay-per-view success; and was marketed as the Super Bowl of professional wrestling. However, the concept of a wrestling supercard was nothing new in North America; the NWA had been runningStarrcade a few years prior. In McMahon's eyes, however, what separated WrestleMania from other supercards was that he wanted it to be accessible to those who did not watch wrestling. He invited celebrities such as Mr. T, Muhammad Ali, and Cyndi Lauper to participate in the event, as well as securing a deal with MTV to provide coverage. The event and hype surrounding it led to the term Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection, due to the cross-promotion of pop-culture and professional wrestling.

The WWF business expanded significantly on the shoulders of McMahon and his babyfacehero, Hulk Hogan, for the next several years. The introduction of Saturday Night's Main Event on NBC in 1985 marked the first time that professional wrestling had ever been broadcast on network television since the 1950s. The 1980s 'Wrestling Boom' peaked withWrestleMania III at the Pontiac Silverdome in 1987, which set an attendance record of 93,173.^[21] A rematch of the Wrestlemania III main event between WWF champion Hulk Hogan and André the Giant took place on The Main Event soon after and was seen by 33 million people, and is still the record for the most watched wrestling match in North America.^[22]