ULTIMATE RIC FLAIR COLLECTION VCD Philippines Viva Video 5-disc Video CD RARE

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Seller: sidewaysstairsco ✉️ (1,180) 100%, Location: Santa Ana, California, US, Ships to: US & many other countries, Item: 196141889114 ULTIMATE RIC FLAIR COLLECTION VCD Philippines Viva Video 5-disc Video CD RARE. Check out our store for more great vintage, used, and new items! FOR SALE: An extremely rare, Philippines exclusive Video CD set 2003 THE ULTIMATE RIC FLAIR COLLECTION VCD BOX SET DETAILS: A must-have WWE collector's item - WOOOOO! Brace yourself for the stylin', profilin', limousine ridin', jet flyin' legend himself – The Nature Boy Ric Flair. Are you a kiss-stealing, wheelin' 'n' dealin' son of a gun, die-hard Ric Flair fan? Because we have a true gem for you! Up for grabs is the highly limited and out-of-print Philippine version of The Ultimate Ric Flair Collection . This 2003 WWE home video was manufactured by the exclusive distributor of video products for major local & international studios in the Philippines, Viva Video Inc. The Philippine 5-disc box set contains the same content (listed below) as the United States 3-disc DVD set. This ain't just wrestling, it's a peek into the world of the ultimate showbiz grappler! Matches that made wrestling history: Ric Flair throwin' down with legends like Harley Race, Dusty Rhodes, and Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat in epic clashes that'll leave you pumpin' your kamayan in the air! The chops you crave: Remember that signature "Woooooo!" and that Figure-Four Leglock that could make a carabao tap out? Yeah, it's all here on glorious VCD! Promos that'll have you roarin' with laughter: Flair's mic skills were sharper than a Tagalog poet's tongue. He'll spin yarns, insult his opponents, and leave you convinced he could sell ice to an Eskimo. Bonus features that'll keep the good times rollin': Interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, and maybe even a glimpse of that pink Cadillac. Packed in double jewel case and single disc jewel case with slip cover! Vintage, retired, and rare! Now, onto its rarity and retirement status. The fact that this particular Philippines version of The Ultimate Ric Flair Collection is out-of-print and hails from the year 2003 makes it an incredibly coveted item among collectors. Its limited availability and discontinued production only add to its allure, making it a true gem that is increasingly challenging to find in such great condition. Whether you're a dedicated Ric Flair aficionado or a collector seeking to expand your treasure trove of rare WWF/WWE memorabilia, this 2003 VCD release from the Philippines is an absolute must-have. Its uniqueness and collectible status make it a valuable addition to any collection, and it can serve as a badass centerpiece in Nature Boy shrine. Opportunities to acquire such a rare Ric Flair media product are fleeting. Don't miss your chance to own this piece of The Nature Boy's media history and relish in the pure joy it will bring to your collection ! CONDITION: In very good, pre-owned condition. The discs and jewel cases are in very good condition overall. Disc 2 has an imperfection on the clear section (non data area) of the outer edge. Disc 3 has a couple scuffs. Disc 1, 4, and 5 look excellent. The slip cover has a fair amount of wear from storage and use. Please see photos. To ensure safe delivery all items are carefully packaged before shipping out. THANK YOU FOR LOOKING. QUESTIONS? JUST ASK. *ALL PHOTOS AND TEXT ARE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OF SIDEWAYS STAIRS CO. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.* THE ULTIMATE RIC FLAIR COLLECTION CONTENT: NWA World Heavyweight Championship: Ric Flair vs. Harley Race (Starrcade '83, November 23, 1983) NWA World Heavyweight Championship: Ric Flair vs. Dusty Rhodes (Starrcade '85, November 28, 1985) NWA World Heavyweight Championship: Ric Flair vs. Barry Windham (January 20, 1987)     Harley Race puts a $25,000 bounty on Flair's head.     Bob Orton, Jr. and Dick Slater collect the bounty.     Flair announces his retirement following the injuries.     Flair attacks Orton and Slater with a baseball bat.     An NWA press conference to determine the site of the rematch between Race and Flair.     Pre-match interviews from Harley Race, Ric Flair, Race with Bob Orton Jr. and Dick Slater and Ric Flair with Wahoo McDaniel.     Post-match interviews with Ric Flair, Harley Race and Ric Flair with Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood.     Flair and the Andersons break Dusty's ankle.     Flair comments on Dusty's injuries.     Dusty's first interview following the injury.     An explanation behind how Flair retained the title after a controversial ruling between the two.     Ric Flair gets riled up in an interview.     Dusty comments on the disappointing decision from the match.     Windham and Ron Garvin are attacked by the Horsemen.     Flair tells Windham to "quit talking and do it!"     "Nature Boy" Ric Flair vs. Barry Windham (January 13, 1987)     Dusty Rhodes' analyzis of the title match.     Flair and the Horsemen celebrate in the locker room. NWA World Heavyweight Championship: Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat (Clash of the Champions VI, April 2, 1989) Flair comments on what he believed to be his best match with Steamboat. For the NWA World Heavyweight Championship: Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat (Wrestle War '89, May 7, 1989) "I Quit" match: Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk (Clash of the Champions IX, November 15, 1989)     Flair and Windham vs. Steamboat and Gilbert (January 21, 1989)     Flair interrupts a Ricky Steamboast training session.     Flair and Steamboast go at it again at Clash of the Champions V (February 15, 1989)     Flair, Flair's lawyer and Steamboat recap on the controversy that took place.     Flair's Wrestle War pre-match interview.     Flair announces he will return to wrestling (June 22, 1989)     Terry Funk puts a garbage bag of Flair's head (September 12, 1989)     Ric Flair interview one week before the "I Quit" match.     Flair and Funk interviews before the "I Quit" match. Ric Flair also goes into depth about the plane crash he was involved in, the history of the Four Horsemen, and a day in the life of the Horsemen. The 1992 Royal Rumble (Royal Rumble, January 19, 1992) Title unification match for the WCW World and WCW International championships: Ric Flair (World champion) vs. Sting (International champion) (Clash of the Champions XXVII, July 23, 1994)     Bobby Heenan prepares for a visit by Ric Flair.     Ric Flair debuts in the World Wrestlnig Federation. (September 9, 1991)     Paul Bearer interviews Ric Flair and Bobby Heenan.     Flair attacks Roddy Piper at ringside.     Flair tells everyone what he really thinks of Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper.     Royal Rumble post-match interview with Ric Flair.     The Four Horsemen kick Sting out of the group.     Flair cuts another funny promo on Sting.     Clash of the Champions pre-match interview with Gene Okerlund.     Flairs World Wide Wrestling Federation debut: Ric Flair vs. Pete Sanchez (January 3, 1976)     Flair and Piper do some amateur wrestling. (January 24, 1982)     Flair is named "Wrestler of the Decade" by Pro Wrestling Illustrated.     Flair addresses the fans on the final WCW Monday Nitro.     Ric Flair vs. Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship on RAW (May 19, 2003) plus never-before-seen post-show tribute. What sets this collectible apart is its exceptional craftsmanship. The plush is adorned with meticulously embroidered facial features, capturing SpongeBob's iconic expression flawlessly. And let's not forget about the 3D nose, adding an extra touch of realism to this beloved character. Partially handmade with love, this plush toy showcases the dedication and passion that went into its creation. Each stitch has been carefully placed, ensuring durability and longevity. The plush is filled with polystyrene beads, giving it a delightful squishiness that makes it perfect for cuddling or displaying. "Richard Morgan Fliehr[6][a] (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Regarded by multiple peers[7] and journalists[8] as the greatest professional wrestler of all time, Flair has had a career spanning over 50 years. He is noted for his tenures with Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, later WWE) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). Much of his career was spent in JCP and WCW, in which he won numerous titles. Since the mid-1970s, he has used the moniker "the Nature Boy". A major pay-per-view attraction throughout his career, Flair headlined the premier annual NWA/WCW event, Starrcade, on ten occasions, while also co-headlining its WWF counterpart, WrestleMania, in 1992, after winning that year's Royal Rumble.[9] Pro Wrestling Illustrated awarded him their Wrestler of the Year award a record six times, while Wrestling Observer Newsletter named him the Wrestler of the Year (an award named after him and Lou Thesz) a record eight times. The first two-time WWE Hall of Fame inductee, first inducted with the class of 2008 for his individual career and again with the class of 2012 as a member of The Four Horsemen, he is also a member of the NWA Hall of Fame, the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame. Flair is officially recognized by WWE as a 16-time world champion (8-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, 6-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, and two-time WWF Champion),[10] although the number of his world championship reigns varies by source, ranging from 16 or 17 to 25.[11] He has claimed to be a 21-time champion.[12] He was the first holder of the WCW World Heavyweight Championship and the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship (which he also held last). As the inaugural WCW World Heavyweight Champion, he became the first person to complete WCW's Triple Crown, having already held the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship and WCW World Tag Team Championship. He then completed WWE's version of the Triple Crown when he won the WWE Intercontinental Championship, after already holding the WWF Championship and the World Tag Team Championship. Early life Fliehr was born on February 25, 1949, in Memphis, Tennessee.[6] His original parents were Luther and Olive Phillips, the latter of whom was also credited with the Demaree and Stewart surnames; nevertheless, his birth name is commonly considered to be Fred Phillips, even if he is also credited on various records as Fred Demaree or Fred Stewart.[13] He was adopted by Kathleen Kinsmiller Fliehr (1918–2003) and Richard Reid Fliehr (1918–2000). The Fliehrs decided to adopt due to Kathleen being unable to become pregnant after giving birth to a daughter who died shortly after.[14] At the time of his adoption (arranged by the Tennessee Children's Home Society as part of Georgia Tann's baby-kidnapping operation),[15] his adoptive father was completing a residency in obstetrics and gynecology in Detroit, Michigan.[16] His adoptive mother worked for the Star Tribune.[citation needed] Shortly afterward, the family settled in Edina, Minnesota, where the young Fliehr lived throughout his childhood. After ninth grade, he attended Wayland Academy in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin for four years, during which time he participated in interscholastic wrestling, football, and track.[17] After high school, Fliehr briefly attended the University of Minnesota.[18] Professional wrestling career American Wrestling Association (1972–1974) A successful amateur wrestler in his teens, Flair trained as a professional wrestler with Verne Gagne.[4] He attended Gagne's first wrestling camp with Greg Gagne, "Jumpin'" Jim Brunzell, The Iron Sheik and Ken Patera at Gagne's barn outside Minneapolis in the winter of 1971. On December 10, 1972, he made his debut in Rice Lake, Wisconsin, battling George "Scrap Iron" Gadaski to a 10-minute draw while adopting the ring name Ric Flair.[4][5] During his time in the American Wrestling Association (AWA), Flair had matches with Dusty Rhodes, Chris Taylor, André the Giant, Larry Hennig and Wahoo McDaniel.[19][20] International Wrestling Enterprise (1973) Flair made his first appearances in Japan in 1973 with International Wrestling Enterprise (IWE) as part of a working agreement between the IWE and AWA promoter Verne Gagne. He competed in IWE's "Big Summer Series" throughout June and July, facing opponents such as Animal Hamaguchi, Great Kusatsu, Katsuzo Matsumoto, Mighty Inoue, and Rusher Kimura.[21] Jim Crockett Promotions / World Championship Wrestling (1974–1991) Becoming the Nature Boy (1974–1981) Flair in a 1981 match against Ernie Ladd In 1974, Flair left the AWA for Jim Crockett's Mid-Atlantic region in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), debuting on May 13, 1974, by defeating Abe Jacobs. Shortly after his debut, Flair won his first championship in the promotion, by teaming with Rip Hawk to defeat Bob Bruggers and Paul Jones to win the Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship. After a lengthy title reign, Flair and Hawk lost the titles to Paul Jones and Tiger Conway Jr. on December 6. Brute Bernard substituted for an inactive Hawk during the title defense. Flair would then capture his first singles title on February 9, 1975, by beating Paul Jones for the Mid-Atlantic Television Championship. After holding the title for six months, Flair lost the title back to Jones on August 8. During the same time, Flair began feuding with Wahoo McDaniel over the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship. After coming up short in several title opportunities, Flair finally defeated McDaniel for the title in a title vs. hair match on September 20. On October 4, 1975, however, Flair's career nearly ended when he was in a serious plane crash in Wilmington, North Carolina that took the life of the pilot and paralyzed Johnny Valentine (also on board were Mr. Wrestling, Bob Bruggers, and promoter David Crockett).[22][1] Flair broke his back in three places and, at age 26, was told by doctors that he would never wrestle again.[22] Flair conducted a rigorous physical therapy schedule, however, and he returned to the ring just three months later, where he resumed his feud with Wahoo McDaniel over the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship in January 1976.[22] The crash did force Flair to alter his wrestling technique away from the power brawling style he had used early on to one more focused on grappling, which led him to adopt the "Nature Boy" gimmick he would use throughout his career. Flair would ultimately lose the title back to McDaniel on May 3, 1976. However, three weeks later, Flair regained the title by defeating McDaniel in a rematch on May 24. The title exchange with McDaniel continued as Flair lost the title to McDaniel in a steel cage match on September 11. On October 16, Flair defeated McDaniel in a title versus hair match to regain the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship. During this time, Flair teamed with Greg Valentine to defeat The Andersons (Gene Anderson and Ole Anderson) in a no disqualification match to win the Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship on December 26. The following day, Flair lost the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship to Wahoo McDaniel in a no disqualification match. In the midst of his tag team championship reign, Flair defeated Rufus R. Jones to win his second Mid-Atlantic Television Championship on April 4, 1977. On May 8, Flair and Valentine lost the World Tag Team Championship back to Andersons in a steel cage match. A few days later, on May 15, Flair received his very first opportunity for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against Harley Race. Race retained the title after the match ended in a double count-out. Flair would lose the Mid-Atlantic Television Championship to Ricky Steamboat on June 15, beginning a lengthy and historic rivalry between the two. On June 30, Flair and Valentine defeated Dino Bravo and Tiger Conway Jr. to win the Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship. On July 29, Flair defeated Bobo Brazil to win his first NWA United States Heavyweight Championship in Richmond, Virginia.[23] Flair and Valentine lost the Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship to Paul Jones and Ricky Steamboat on August 22. Flair would defend the United States Heavyweight Championship against numerous challengers, including Steamboat, whom he wrestled in several matches, such as title versus title match for Flair's title and Steamboat's Mid-Atlantic Television Championship. On October 30, Flair and Valentine defeated The Andersons to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship. On October 20, Flair lost the United States Heavyweight Championship to Ricky Steamboat. On March 30, 1978, Flair and Valentine were stripped off the World Tag Team Championship by NWA management due to continuously ending their matches via disqualification. On April 9, Flair defeated Mr. Wrestling in a title versus hair match to capture his second United States Heavyweight Championship. On October 30, Flair and John Studd defeated Paul Jones and Ricky Steamboat to win the Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship, but lost the titles back to Jones and Steamboat, five days later on November 5. After retaining the title against several challengers including Blackjack Mulligan and Jimmy Snuka, Flair lost the United States Heavyweight Championship to Steamboat on December 17. Flair would then come up short against Steamboat in several title challenges, before defeating him in a steel cage match to win his third United States Heavyweight Championship on April 1, 1979. During this time, Flair began feuding with the original "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers, due to Flair referring to himself as "The Nature Boy". The rivalry concluded in a match between the two at Battle of the Nature Boys on July 8, in which Flair defended the United States Heavyweight Championship against Rogers. Rogers put Flair over in the match, leading to Flair retaining the title and cementing his place as the new "Nature Boy" of professional wrestling.[24] A month later, on August 12, Flair teamed with Blackjack Mulligan to defeat Baron von Raschke and Paul Jones to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship. Flair and Mulligan lost the titles back to Raschke and Jones on August 22. Flair would then begin feuding with Jimmy Snuka over the United States Heavyweight Championship, defeating him to win the title for a fourth time on April 20, 1980. Flair lost the title to his former tag team partner Greg Valentine on July 26. Flair defeated Valentine in a lumberjack match to win his fifth United States Heavyweight Championship on November 24. On January 27, 1981, Flair lost the title to Roddy Piper in a title versus title match, where Flair's United States Heavyweight Championship and Piper's Television Championship were on the line. The United States Heavyweight Championship's current owner WWE does not recognize the title exchange with Greg Valentine and recognizes Flair's reign uninterrupted from April 20 to January 27. Flair would face Piper in various rematches for the title throughout the year but failed to regain the title. NWA World Heavyweight Champion (1981–1991) See also: The Four Horsemen On September 17, 1981, Flair beat Dusty Rhodes for his first NWA World Heavyweight Championship.[1] In the following years, Flair established himself as the promotion's main franchise in the midst of emerging competition from Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation (WWF). An unsanctioned title loss took place on January 6, 1983, to Carlos Colón Sr. in Puerto Rico.[11] Flair recovered the championship belt in a phantom change seventeen days later not officially recognized by the NWA. Harley Race won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship from Flair in 1983, but Flair regained the title at Starrcade in a steel cage match.[1] Officially, Flair won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship eight more times. Flair lost the title to Race and won it back in the span of three days in New Zealand and Singapore in March 1984. At the 1st David Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions at Texas Stadium, Flair was pinned by Kerry Von Erich, but he regained the title eighteen days later in Japan[25] and reigned for two years, two months and two days, losing the title to Dusty Rhodes on July 26, 1986, at The Great American Bash in a Steel Cage Match.[26] However, Flair regained the title at a house show on August 9, when Rhodes passed out in the Figure Four leglock.[27] In late 1985, the tag team of Arn Anderson and Ole Anderson began aiding Flair (whom they claimed as a "cousin") in attacks against Dusty Rhodes, Magnum T.A. and Sam Houston. A few weeks later, the Andersons interrupted Houston's match against Tully Blanchard and the three villains combined to rough up the youngster. Shortly thereafter, Flair, Blanchard and the Andersons formalized their alliance, calling themselves The Four Horsemen, with Blanchard's manager J. J. Dillon also coming on board. Upon the group's inception, it was clear that The Four Horsemen were unlike any villainous alliance that had ever existed, as the four rule breakers immediately used their strength in numbers to decimate the NWA's top fan favorites (most famously a vicious beatdown to Rhodes with a baseball bat in a parking lot) while controlling the majority of the championship titles.[28] By 1986, wrestling promoter Jim Crockett had consolidated the various NWA member promotions he owned into a single entity, running under the banner of the National Wrestling Alliance. Controlling much of the traditional NWA territories in the southeast and Midwestern United States, Crockett looked to expand nationally and built his promotion around Flair as champion. During this time, Flair's bookings as champion were tightly controlled by Crockett, and a custom championship belt was created for Flair. Flair lost the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in Detroit to Ron Garvin on September 25, 1987. Garvin held the title for two months before losing to Flair on November 26, 1987, at WCW's first pay-per-view event, Starrcade, in Chicago.[29] In early 1988, Sting and Flair fought to a 45-minute time-limit draw at the first ever Clash of the Champions. On February 20, 1989, at Chi-Town Rumble in Chicago, Ricky Steamboat pinned Flair to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. This prompted a series of rematches, where Steamboat was presented as a "family man" (often accompanied by his wife and young son), while Flair opposed him as an immoral, fast-living "ladies man". Following a best-of-three falls match with Steamboat that lasted just short of the 60-minute time limit (and ended with a disputed finish where Steamboat retained the title) at Clash of the Champions VI: Ragin' Cajun on April 2, Flair regained the title from Steamboat on May 7, 1989, at WrestleWar in a match that was voted 1989's "Match of the Year" by Pro Wrestling Illustrated.[30] On July 23, 1989, Flair defeated Terry Funk at The Great American Bash, but the two continued to feud through the summer and eventually Flair reformed The Four Horsemen, with the surprise addition of longtime rival Sting, to combat Funk's J-Tex Corporation. This led to an "I Quit" match at Clash of the Champions IX: New York Knockout which Flair won.[31] Flair then kicked Sting out of The Four Horsemen upon his challenge for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, resulting in a revived feud between the two. On July 7, 1990, Flair dropped the title to Sting at The Great American Bash.[1] After being unmasked as The Black Scorpion at Starrcade in 1990, Flair regained the title from Sting on January 11, 1991.[32] Subsequent to this title win, Flair was recognized by WCW as the first WCW World Heavyweight Champion, though he was still also recognized as NWA World Heavyweight Champion. On March 21, 1991, Tatsumi Fujinami defeated Flair in a match in Tokyo at the WCW/New Japan Supershow. While the NWA recognized Fujinami as their new champion, WCW did not because Fujinami had backdropped Flair over the top rope in a violation of WCW rules. On May 19, 1991, Flair defeated Fujinami at SuperBrawl I in St. Petersburg, Florida to reclaim the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and retain the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.[33] In the spring of 1991, Flair had a contract dispute with WCW president Jim Herd, who wanted him to take a substantial pay cut. Flair had resigned as head booker in February 1990 and Herd wanted to reduce Flair's role in the promotion even further, despite the fact that Flair was still a top draw. According to Flair, Herd also proposed changes in his appearance and ring name (i.e. by shaving his hair, wearing a diamond earring and going by the name Spartacus) in order to "change with the times".[34] Flair disagreed with the proposals and two weeks before The Great American Bash, Herd fired him and vacated the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. While Flair had left for the WWF, he was still recognized as the NWA World Heavyweight Champion until September 8, when the title was officially vacated. All Japan Pro Wrestling (1978–1987) While working for Jim Crockett Jr.'s Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling (MACW), Flair began working tours for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). On April 27, 1978, Flair challenged for the NWA United National Championship in a losing effort. Throughout the 1980s, Flair defended the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in All Japan against the likes of Genichiro Tenryu, Riki Choshu, Jumbo Tsuruta, Harley Race, and Kerry Von Erich. On October 21, 1985, Flair wrestled Rick Martel in a double title match where he defended the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and challenged for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship, but the match ended in a double countout. As All Japan withdrew from the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) in the late 1980s, World Championship Wrestling (WCW) began a working agreement with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). New Japan Pro-Wrestling (1989–1991, 1995–1996) In 1989, the working agreement led to a feud between Flair and Keiji Mutoh, who was wrestling under The Great Muta gimmick, in the United States for WCW. On March 21, 1991, Flair defended the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and challenged Tatsumi Fujinami for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in a double title match on the WCW/New Japan Supershow at the Tokyo Dome. Fujinami beat Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, but later lost the title at WCW's SuperBrawl I on May 19, 1991, in the United States.[36] In August 1995, while under WCW contract, Flair participated in the G1 Climax tournament in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he beat Shiro Koshinaka, drew Masahiro Chono, and lost to Keiji Mutoh. On July 17, 1996, Flair challenged Shinya Hashimoto for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in a losing effort in NJPW.[36] World Wrestling Federation (1991–1993) Flair signed with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in August 1991. His arrival was hyped by Bobby Heenan, beginning with the August 11 episode of Wrestling Challenge. On the September 21 episode of Superstars, Flair debuted in WWF with the Big Gold Belt, calling himself "The Real World's Champion".[1] Led by his "financial adviser" Bobby Heenan and his "executive consultant" Mr. Perfect, Flair repeatedly issued challenges to WWF wrestlers like "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and Hulk Hogan. His first match with the promotion saw him wrestle Mark Thomas to a no contest on the September 28 episode of Superstars by provoking Piper to attack him, and Flair then attacked Piper with the Big Gold Belt and a chair. His first televised win in WWF occurred on the September 29 episode of Wrestling Challenge by squashing Jim Powers. Flair wrestled a team led by Piper at Survivor Series in November and helped The Undertaker defeat Hogan for the WWF Championship that same night.[37] WCW sued Flair in an attempt to reclaim the championship belt,[38] but Flair claimed otherwise due to a loophole in NWA policy; at the time he first became champion, the NWA required all of the wrestlers that it selected to be world champion to put down a security deposit of $25,000, which, in effect, resulted in the belt being leased to any wrestler who held it. The NWA, in usual cases, would return the deposit and any interest that may have accumulated upon the conclusion of the wrestler's championship reign. They did not do this for Flair before he was terminated by WCW, and since the money was still owed to him by the NWA upon his signing with the WWF, Flair believed that the title belt had become his personal property to do with as he pleased.[39] At the 1992 Royal Rumble, Flair won the namesake match to claim the vacant WWF Championship. Flair entered as number three in the Rumble match and lasted 60 minutes, last eliminating Sid Justice with help from Hulk Hogan, who had been eliminated by Justice seconds earlier.[37] In February 1992, Flair faced the Intercontinental Champion Roddy Piper in a series of inconclusive title-versus-title matches. Randy Savage then challenged Flair for the WWF Championship as part of the double main event at WrestleMania VIII. In the storyline, Flair taunted Savage by claiming that he had a prior relationship with Savage's wife, Miss Elizabeth. Savage defeated Flair for the title at WrestleMania.[37] In July 1992, as Savage prepared to defend the title against The Ultimate Warrior at SummerSlam,[37] Flair and Mr. Perfect sowed distrust between the two by suggesting that they would back one or the other during their match. They actually attacked both Savage and Warrior, resulting in the latter winning by countout, and injured Savage's knee, an injury that Flair exploited to regain the title in a match with Savage three days later on September 1 in Hershey, Pennsylvania, which aired on the September 14 episode of Prime Time Wrestling.[40] On September 15, 1992, Flair defended the WWF Championship against Genichiro Tenryu at a Wrestle Association R event in Yokohama, Japan; the match ended in a draw.[41] Flair's second reign ended when he lost the title to Bret Hart on October 12 at a house show.[42] Flair teamed with Razor Ramon to take on Savage and Perfect at the Survivor Series in November 1992.[37] Flair appeared in the Royal Rumble in January 1993, then lost a Loser Leaves the WWF match to Mr. Perfect on the January 25 episode of Monday Night Raw.[43] Flair had a verbal agreement with Vince McMahon with the condition that if he wasn't going to be used in a main event position and had an offer to go elsewhere, he would be released from his contract. He opted to leave WWF when he was going to be moved to a mid-card position and Bill Watts offered to come back to WCW.[44] Flair then fulfilled his remaining house show commitments and took part in the WWF's "Winter Tour '93" of Europe. He made his last appearance with the WWF on February 11, 1993, before returning to WCW.[45] Super World of Sports (1992) In April 1992, Flair toured Japan with the Super World of Sports (SWS) promotion as part of an agreement between the WWF and SWS. In his first bout, he teamed with The Natural Disasters to defeat Ashura Hara, Genichiro Tenryu, and Takashi Ishikawa in a six-man tag team match. He went on to defeat Tenryu in a singles match, then lost to Tenryu in a two-out-of-three falls match.[46] World Championship Wrestling (1993–2001) WCW World Heavyweight Champion (1993–1996) See also: The Four Horsemen Flair triumphantly returned to WCW as a hero in February 1993. As a result of a "no-compete" clause he was initially unable to wrestle, so he hosted a short-lived talk show in WCW called A Flair for the Gold. Arn Anderson usually appeared at the bar on the show's set, and Flair's maid Fifi cleaned or bore gifts. Once he returned to action, Flair briefly held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship for a tenth time after defeating Barry Windham at Beach Blast before WCW finally left the NWA in September 1993. At Fall Brawl, Flair lost the title, now rebranded the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship, to "Ravishing Rick" Rude. At Starrcade in 1993, Flair defeated Vader to win the WCW World Heavyweight title for the second time. In the spring of 1994, Flair began a tweener turn and started another feud with longtime rival Ricky Steamboat and challenged Steamboat to a match at Spring Stampede which ended in a no contest from a double pin, causing the title to be held up. Flair then defeated Steamboat in a rematch to reclaim the held-up title on an episode of WCW Saturday Night. The WWE does not count this victory as a new title win.[47] Flair then challenged Col. Robert Parker to wrestle one of his men at Slamboree, which turned out to be Barry Windham, whom Flair defeated, afterwards he quietly turned heel and took Sherri Martel as his manager.[48] He would also wrestle Lord Steven Regal in a five-match series under Marquess of Queensberry Rules, which aired on WCW Worldwide between April 30 and May 28, in which Flair won the series, with 2 wins, 1 loss, and 2 draws.[49] In June 1994 at Clash of the Champions XXVII, Flair defeated Sting in a unification match, merging the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship with the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, and solidifying his heel turn after his alliance with Sherri was brought into the open after she helped him win the match while pretending that she had sided with Sting. After becoming the unified and undisputed WCW champion, Flair feuded with Hulk Hogan upon Hogan's arrival in WCW in June 1994, losing the WCW World Heavyweight Championship to him in July at Bash at the Beach. Flair continued to feud with Hogan and finally lost to Hogan in a steel cage retirement match at Halloween Havoc. Flair took a few months off afterwards before returning to WCW television in January 1995 for an interview at Clash of the Champions XXX. After attacking Hogan at Superbrawl V, Flair also began appearing as a part-time manager for Vader, who was engaged in feud with Hogan, and developed a short-lived angle where he was "possessed", even attacking his old WWF opponent Randy Savage at the first Uncensored. He soon afterwards returned to wrestling (explained on-air by having Flair nag Hogan for months until Hogan and Savage both petitioned WCW management to let Flair come back).[50] Upon returning to wrestling, Flair quickly revived his 1992 feud with Savage, but this time also got Savage's father Angelo Poffo involved after he put him in a figure four leglock at Slamboree 1995. On April 29, 1995, Flair wrestled Antonio Inoki in front of 190,000 spectators in Pyongyang, North Korea at the May Day Stadium in a losing effort under a joint show between New Japan Pro-Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling. The event was broadcast on August 4, 1995, on pay-per-view under the title of Collision in Korea.[51] In the fall of 1995, Flair began a short feud with Arn Anderson, which culminated in a tag match that saw Flair turning on Sting to reform the new Four Horsemen with Flair as the leader, Arn Anderson, Brian Pillman, and Chris Benoit as the members. With the new Four Horsemen, Flair won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship two more times before the nWo invasion storyline began in WCW, with the first one being in December 1995 at Starrcade, where Flair defeated Lex Luger and Sting by countout and then defeated Savage after all three Four Horsemen members ran to the ring and Arn Anderson knocked out Savage with brass knuckles, thus allowing Flair to pin Savage to win the match and the title. Afterwards Savage won the title back on Nitro after Starcade, but Flair won the next match at SuperBrawl VI to regain the championship. During the feud, Savage's manager Miss Elizabeth turned against him and became Flair's valet. Together with Woman and Debra McMichael they would escort Flair to his matches until Miss Elizabeth was taken by the nWo in the fall and eventually returned as Savage's valet when he joined the nWo in 1997. Flair lost the WCW World Heavyweight Championship eventually three months later to The Giant. The feud with Savage continued with The New Four Horseman joining the Dungeon of Doom to create an Alliance to end Hulkamania. Together the factions wrestled Hogan and Savage in a triple steel cage, End of Hulkamania match; losing to the reunited Mega Powers. Afterwards, Flair went on to win the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship and there were also changes in the Four Horseman in 1996, as Brian Pillman left WCW and Steve "Mongo" McMichael became the fourth member.[52] Feud with the New World Order (1996–1999) See also: The Four Horsemen Flair in 1996. Once again as a top fan favorite, Flair played a major role in the New World Order (nWo) invasion storyline in late 1996 and throughout 1997. He and the other Horsemen often took the lead in the war against Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and Hollywood Hulk Hogan, whom Flair immediately challenged for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship at the Clash of the Champions XXXIII, but won only by disqualification. In September 1996, Flair and Anderson teamed with their bitter rivals, Sting and Lex Luger, to lose to the nWo (Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and an impostor Sting) in the WarGames match at Fall Brawl when Luger submitted to the impostor Sting's Scorpion Deathlock.[53] In October 1996, two developments occurred that affected the Four Horsemen when Jeff Jarrett came over to WCW from the WWF, and expressed his desire to join the Horsemen as he immediately gained a fan in Ric Flair, much to the chagrin of the other Horsemen. Flair finally let Jarrett join the group in February 1997, but the others did not want him, and in July 1997 was ultimately kicked out of the group by Flair himself, who had enough of the instability Jarrett's presence caused the Horsemen. Flair also feuded with Roddy Piper, Syxx, and his old nemesis Curt Hennig in 1997, after Hennig was offered a spot in The Four Horsemen only to turn on Flair and The Four Horsemen at Fall Brawl in September 1997, in which Hennig punctuated the act by slamming the cage door onto Flair's head.[54] In April 1998, Flair disappeared from WCW television, due to a lawsuit filed by Eric Bischoff for no-showing a live episode of Thunder on April 9, 1998, in Tallahassee, Florida. After the case was settled, Flair made a surprise return on September 14, 1998, to ceremoniously reform the Four Horsemen (along with Steve McMichael, Dean Malenko, and Chris Benoit). Flair feuded with Bischoff for several months afterward. Flair repeatedly raked Eric Bischoff's eyes during this feud. This culminated in a match at Starrcade between Bischoff and Flair in December 1998, which Bischoff won after interference from Curt Hennig, a former member of the Four Horsemen. The following night in Baltimore on Nitro, Flair returned and threatened to leave WCW, demanding a match against Bischoff for the presidency of the company. The match was made, and despite the nWo interfering on Bischoff's behalf Flair won and was granted the position of president of WCW. This resulted in a match at SuperBrawl IX between Flair and Hollywood Hogan for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, which Flair lost after being betrayed by his own son David Flair.[55] Final world championship reigns (1999–2001) See also: The Magnificent Seven In spite of his son's betrayal, Flair signed a rematch at Uncensored which was billed as a First Blood barbed wire steel cage Match against Hogan where Flair's presidency and Hogan's WCW World Heavyweight Championship were on the line. Despite being the first to bleed, Flair won the match by pinfall thanks to the bias of the referee Charles Robinson, who counted Hogan out.[56] As on-air WCW President, Flair began abusing his power much like Bischoff had, favoring villains over fan favorites and even awarding the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (which was vacated by Scott Steiner due to injury) to his son David and resorting to whatever means necessary to keep him as United States Heavyweight Champion. Flair eventually formed a stable of followers which included Roddy Piper, Arn Anderson and the Jersey Triad to keep things in order. Flair's reign as president came to an end on the July 19 episode of Nitro, when he faced and lost to Sting for the position. During the course of the match, Sting had Flair in his Scorpion Death Lock, but with the referee knocked unconscious, no decision could be reached. A returning Eric Bischoff came to the ring and began ordering the timekeeper to ring the bell, which he eventually did, awarding the match and the presidency to Sting (who promptly gave it up upon receiving it).[57] Flair won his last world titles in his career by winning the WCW World Heavyweight Championship twice during 2000, the company's last full year of operation. When WCW was purchased by the WWF in March 2001, Flair was the leader of the villainous group called the Magnificent Seven.[58] Flair lost the final match of Nitro to Sting, recreating the second match of Nitro in 1995. Nevertheless, Flair has repeatedly stated in various interviews how happy he was when WCW finally closed down, although at the same time the fact that many people would lose their jobs saddened him.[59] World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment (2001–2009) WWF co-owner (2001–2002) After an eight-month hiatus from wrestling, Flair made a return to the WWF[60] on November 19, 2001.[61] Flair reappeared on Raw following the end of the "WCW/ECW Invasion" that culminated in a "Winner Take All" match at Survivor Series won by the WWF.[62] Flair's new on-screen role was that of the co-owner of the WWF, with the explanation that Shane and Stephanie McMahon had sold their stock in the company to a consortium (namely Flair) prior to purchasing World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling.[63] Flair's feud with Vince McMahon led them to a match at the Royal Rumble in January 2002 in a Street Fight, where Flair defeated McMahon.[62] Flair also wrestled The Undertaker at WrestleMania X8 in March 2002 where Flair lost.[64] The "co-owner" angle culminated in early 2002, when Flair controlled Raw and McMahon controlled SmackDown![65] On the May 13 episode of Raw, Flair challenged Hollywood Hulk Hogan to a no disqualification match for the Undisputed WWE Championship. Flair would later lose the contest before moving onto a rivalry with Stone Cold Steve Austin. At Judgment Day, Flair teamed with Big Show and lost to Austin in a two-on-one handicap tag team match. On the June 3 episode of Raw, the feud between Flair and Austin would escalate after Austin defeated Flair in a singles contest. After Austin abruptly left the WWE in June while in a program with Flair, a match was hotshotted between Flair and McMahon for sole ownership of WWE, which Flair lost after interference from Brock Lesnar on the June 10 edition of Raw.[66] At King of the Ring, Flair defeated Eddie Guerrero in a singles match after Guerrero and Chris Benoit would interrupt Flair's speech regarding losing his position as WWE co-owner; afterwards, Guerrero would lock Flair in his own signature figure four leg lock with help from Benoit. Flair's rivalry with Lesnar would continue into the month of July with Lesnar picking up wins over Flair in a singles match on the July 1 episode of Raw and in a tag team contest on the July 15 episode of Raw. Flair then became involved in a short-lived rivalry with Chris Jericho, leading to Flair defeating Jericho at SummerSlam. Flair was granted a World Heavyweight Championship match against Triple H on the September 2 episode of Raw, which he lost. Later on that same night, Flair would team with Rob Van Dam as the duo were successful in defeating the team of Triple H and Jericho. At Unforgiven, Flair was unsuccessful in capturing the WWE Intercontinental Championship in a singles contest against Jericho.[67] Under the WWE banner, Flair toured Japan periodically between 2002 and 2008. He successfully defended the World Tag Team Championship with Batista against The Dudley Boyz twice in February 2004. On the February 7, 2005 episode of Raw, broadcast from the Saitama Super Arena in Japan, Flair lost to Shawn Michaels in a singles match. In February 2008, Flair wrestled Mr. Kennedy in the Ariake Coliseum and William Regal in the Budokan Hall, both under the stipulation that he would retire if he lost.[68] Evolution (2002–2005) Main article: Evolution In September 2002 at Unforgiven, Triple H defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Rob Van Dam. During the match, Flair came down to the ring and grabbed the sledgehammer from Triple H and teased hitting him before hitting Van Dam, allowing Triple H to get the win, turning him heel in the process and accompanied Triple H to the ring as his manager.[69] Shortly after, Batista moved from SmackDown! to Raw and Flair also began accompanying him to the ring while continuing to second Triple H.[70] In June 2003 at Bad Blood, Flair was able to defeat Shawn Michaels after Orton struck Michaels with a chair.[71][72] At the height of Evolution's power, the group controlled all of the male-based championships of Raw after Armageddon. Batista teamed with Flair to win the World Tag Team Championship from the Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) in a tag team turmoil match and Triple H regained the World Heavyweight Championship from Goldberg (in a triple threat match that also involved Kane), with the help of the other members of Evolution. In January 2004 at the Royal Rumble, Flair and Batista successfully defended the World Tag Team Championship against the Dudley Boyz in a tables match, and World Heavyweight Champion Triple H fought Shawn Michaels to no contest in a Last Man Standing match, thus retaining the championship. Flair and Batista lost the World Tag Team Championship on February 16 edition of Raw to Booker T and Rob Van Dam. At WrestleMania XX, Evolution defeated the Rock 'n' Sock Connection (The Rock and Mick Foley) in a 3-on-2 handicap match. The following week on Raw during the 2004 WWE draft lottery, Flair and Batista defeated Booker T and Rob Van Dam to win their second and final World Tag Team Championship, but they lost the titles to World Heavyweight Champion Chris Benoit and Edge on the April 19 episode of Raw.[73] At SummerSlam, Orton pinned Benoit to become the new World Heavyweight Champion and the youngest World Champion in WWE history to date. On the episode of Raw the night after SummerSlam, Batista hoisted Orton on to his shoulders in what appeared to be a celebration, but following the thumbs down from Triple H, the group proceeded to attack Orton. At Unforgiven, Triple H beat Orton to regain the World Heavyweight Championship, with help from Flair, Batista, and Jonathan Coachman. Orton's feud with Evolution continued until Survivor Series where Triple H, Batista, Gene Snitsky, and Edge were defeated by Orton, Maven, Chris Jericho, and Chris Benoit in a Survivor Series match for control of Raw over the following month.[74] In the Elimination Chamber match at New Year's Revolution, Batista, Orton and Triple H were the last three remaining in the match. Orton eliminated Batista with a RKO and Triple H pinned Orton with Batista's help to win the title. Triple H suggested that Batista not enter the Royal Rumble match, wanting the group to focus on Triple H retaining the title. At the Royal Rumble, Batista declined, entered the Rumble at number 28 and won. Triple H tried to persuade Batista to challenge the WWE Champion John "Bradshaw" Layfield of SmackDown! rather than for his World Heavyweight Championship. This involved Triple H plotting a feud between JBL and Batista, showing JBL badmouthing Batista in an interview and staging an attack on Batista with a limousine designed to look like Layfield's. The scheme was unsuccessful and at the brand contract signing ceremony on the February 21 episode of Raw, Batista chose to remain on Raw, infuriating Triple H and thus quitting the faction. Batista defeated Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 21.[75] Flair and Triple H also starred in an ad for WrestleMania 21 that parodied the film Braveheart.[76] After Vengeance, Triple H took time off and Flair turned face for the first time since 2002 before going on to win the Intercontinental Championship from Carlito at Unforgiven, and the group was dissolved. Triple H returned at the "Homecoming" episode of Raw on October 3 where he was to team with Flair in a tag team match against Carlito and Chris Masters. After winning that match, Triple H betrayed Flair and attacked him with a sledgehammer. Flair retained the Intercontinental Championship against Triple H at Taboo Tuesday in a steel cage match, which was voted as such by the fans. Flair later lost to Triple H in an acclaimed Last Man Standing non-title match at Survivor Series, which ended their feud.[77] Final storylines and first retirement (2005–2008) At the end of 2005, Flair had a feud with Edge that culminated in a WWE Championship Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match on Raw in early 2006, which Flair lost. On the February 20 episode of Raw, Flair lost the Intercontinental Championship to Shelton Benjamin, thus ending his reign at 155 days.[78] Flair took some time off in mid-2006 to rest and marry for the third time and he returned in June to work a program with his real-life rival Mick Foley that played off their legitimate past animosity.[79] Flair defeated Foley at Vengeance in a two out of three falls match, then at SummerSlam in an "I quit" match.[80] Subsequently, he was involved in a rivalry with the Spirit Squad on Raw. On November 5, 2006, at Cyber Sunday, he captured the World Tag Team Championship from the Spirit Squad with Roddy Piper.[80] On the November 13 episode of Raw, Flair and Piper lost the World Tag Team Championship to Rated-RKO,[81] due to a disc problem with Piper and had to be flown immediately back to the United States as soon as Raw was off the air. On November 26, 2006, at Survivor Series, Flair was the sole survivor of a match that featured himself, Ron Simmons (replacing an injured Piper), Dusty Rhodes and Sgt. Slaughter versus the Spirit Squad.[80] Flair then began teaming with Carlito after Flair said that Carlito had no heart.[82] Flair defeated Carlito in a match after which Carlito realized that Flair was right.[83] Flair and Carlito faced off against Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch in a number one contender's match for the World Tag Team Championship but were defeated. The two teamed up on the WrestleMania 23 pre-show, and defeated the team of Chavo Guerrero and Gregory Helms. After weeks of conflict between Flair and Carlito,[84][85] the team split up when Carlito attacked Flair during a match on the April 30 episode of Raw.[86] At Judgment Day, Flair defeated Carlito with the figure four leglock.[87] On the June 11 episode of Raw, Flair was drafted to the SmackDown! brand as part of the 2007 WWE draft.[88] He briefly feuded against Montel Vontavious Porter, unsuccessfully challenging him for the WWE United States Championship at Vengeance: Night of Champions.[89][90] Flair rejoined forces with Batista to feud with The Great Khali; the alliance was short-lived, however, as Flair was "injured" during a match with Khali on the August 3 episode of SmackDown!.[91][92] After a three-month hiatus, Flair returned to WWE programming on the November 26 episode of Raw to announce "I will never retire".[93][94] Vince McMahon retaliated by announcing that the next match Flair lost would result in a forced retirement.[93] Later in the night, Flair defeated Orton after a distraction by Chris Jericho.[93][94] It was revealed on the 15th anniversary of Raw that the win or retire ultimatum only applied in singles matches. Flair won several "career threatening" matches against the opponents such as Triple H, Umaga, William Regal, Mr. Kennedy, and Vince McMahon himself among others.[95][96][97] On March 29, 2008, Flair was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as a part of the class of 2008 by Triple H. The day after, Flair wrestled at WrestleMania XXIV in Orlando, Florida, losing to Shawn Michaels.[98] The match was lauded by fans and critics and was voted the 2008 Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) Match of the Year. Flair's fight to keep his career going garnered him the 2008 PWI "Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year" award. Part-time appearances (2008–2009) On the March 31, 2008 episode of Raw, Flair delivered his farewell address. Afterward, Triple H brought out many current and retired superstars to thank Flair for all he had done, including Shawn Michaels, some of the Four Horsemen, Ricky Steamboat, Harley Race, and Chris Jericho, followed by The Undertaker and then Vince McMahon. Along with the wrestlers, the fans gave Flair a standing ovation. This event represented a rare moment in WWE as both the heels and the faces broke character and came out to the ring together. Flair made his first post retirement appearance on the June 16, 2008 episode of Raw to confront Chris Jericho about his actions during a rivalry with Shawn Michaels. He challenged Jericho to a fight in the parking lot, rather than an official match, but Jericho was stopped by Triple H.[100] The following year on February 9, Flair once again confronted Jericho on Raw. Jericho was attacking Hall of Fame members and Flair demanded he respect them, before punching Jericho.[101] Flair appeared a month later to distract him during a Money in the Bank Qualifying Match. Jericho then challenged Flair to come out of retirement for WrestleMania 25; instead Flair managed Roddy Piper, Jimmy Snuka and Ricky Steamboat in a three-on-one handicap match at WrestleMania in a losing effort.[102][103][104] On May 17, Flair returned during the Judgment Day pay-per-view, coming to the aid of Batista, who was being attacked by The Legacy (Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase). On the June 1 episode of Raw, Flair challenged Orton in a parking lot brawl match, and after interference from the rest of The Legacy, the fight ended with Flair trapped inside a steel cage and punted by Orton.[105] Ring of Honor and the Hulkamania Tour (2009) Flair signed with Ring of Honor (ROH) and appeared at the Stylin' And Profilin' event in March 2009, clearing the ring after an ROH World Championship match ended with a run-in.[106] He soon served as the company's ambassador, in an on-screen authority role, and appeared on the television show Ring of Honor Wrestling in May to cement his role.[107] After a number one contender's match ended in a time-limit draw, and the following week a double count out, Flair announced Ring of Honor Wrestling's first ROH World Title match as a four-way contest.[108] On November 21, 2009, Flair returned to the ring as a villain on the "Hulkamania: Let The Battle Begin" tour of Australia, losing to Hulk Hogan in the main event of the first show by brass knuckles.[109] Hogan defeated Flair again on November 24 in Perth, Australia after both men bled heavily.[109] Flair also lost to Hogan on the two remaining matches on the tour.[109][110] Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2010–2012) Debut and Fortune (2010) Main articles: Fortune and Immortal On the January 4, 2010 episode of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's (TNA) Impact!, Flair made his debut appearance for the company arriving via limo and later observing the main event between A.J. Styles and longtime rival Kurt Angle.[111] It was later reported that Flair had signed a one-year deal with the company.[112] In the past, Flair had openly stated that he was loyal to the McMahons and wanted to end his career in WWE, however he had not had contact from WWE since June 2009 and decided to sign with TNA Wrestling after waiting for the call from WWE for six months.[113] On January 17 at Genesis, Flair helped Styles cheat to pin Angle and retain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.[114] In addition to Styles, Flair began informally managing Beer Money, Inc. (Robert Roode and James Storm) and Desmond Wolfe as a loose alliance. On the March 8 episode of Impact!, Hulk Hogan and Abyss defeated Flair and Styles when Abyss pinned Styles.[115] Afterwards, the returning Jeff Hardy saved Abyss and Hogan from a beatdown at the hands of Flair, Styles and Beer Money, Inc.[115] At Lockdown, Team Flair (Ric Flair, Sting, Desmond Wolfe, Robert Roode and James Storm) was defeated by Team Hogan (Hulk Hogan, Abyss, Jeff Jarrett, Jeff Hardy and Rob Van Dam) in a Lethal Lockdown match.[116] On the April 26 episode of Impact!, Flair was defeated by Abyss in a match where Flair's and Hogan's WWE Hall of Fame rings were at stake, and as a result Flair lost possession of his ring to Hogan.[117] The following week, Hogan gave the ring to Jay Lethal, who returned it to Flair out of respect. This, however, was not enough for Flair, who attacked Lethal along with the members of Team Flair.[118] After Styles dropped the TNA World Heavyweight Championship to Rob Van Dam, then failed to regain it in a rematch and later was pinned by Jay Lethal, Flair adopted Kazarian as his newest protégé, seemingly replacing Styles as his number one wrestler.[119][120] On the June 17 episode of Impact!, Flair announced that he would reform the Four Horsemen under the new name Fourtune, a group consisting of A.J. Styles, Kazarian, Robert Roode, James Storm, and Desmond Wolfe.[121] Flair made a return to the ring on July 11 at Victory Road, losing to Jay Lethal.[122] On the August 5 episode of Impact!, Flair faced Lethal in a rematch, this time contested under Street Fight rules, with the members of Fourtune banned from ringside; Flair managed to win the match after an interference from Douglas Williams. The following week, Williams and Matt Morgan were added to Fourtune.[123] In the weeks leading to Bound for Glory, Flair's stable's name was tweaked to Fortune to represent the expansion in the number of members in the group.[124] On the October 7 episode of Impact!, Flair was defeated by Mick Foley in a Last Man Standing match.[125] Immortal and second retirement (2010–2012) See also: Immortal On the following episode of Impact!, Fortune formed an alliance with Hulk Hogan's and Eric Bischoff's new stable, Immortal.[126] On the November 18 episode of Impact!, Flair returned to the ring, competing in a match where he faced Matt Morgan, who had been kicked out of Fortune the previous month; Morgan won the match after Douglas Williams turned on the rest of Fortune, when they interfered in the match.[127] On January 25, 2011, it was reported that Flair had pulled out of TNA's Maximum Wooo! tour of Europe mid–tour after monetary disputes.[128] After missing a show in Berlin, Germany, Flair returned to the tour on January 27 in Glasgow, Scotland, reportedly apologizing to the locker room prior to the show.[129][130][131] On January 29, Flair wrestled his only match of the tour, defeating Douglas Williams in London, tearing his rotator cuff in the process making it his last singles win.[132][133] During Flair's time away from TNA, Fortune turned on Immortal.[134] Flair returned at the February 14 tapings of the February 17 episode of Impact!, turning on Fortune during a match between A.J. Styles and Matt Hardy and jumping to Immortal.[135][136] On the March 10 episode of Impact!, Flair defeated Styles and Hardy in a three–way street fight, contested as more of a two–on–one handicap match.[137] On April 17 at Lockdown, Immortal, represented by Flair, Abyss, Bully Ray and Matt Hardy, was defeated by Fortune members James Storm, Kazarian and Robert Roode and Christopher Daniels, who replaced an injured A.J. Styles, in a Lethal Lockdown match, when Flair tapped out to Roode.[138] The match was used to write Flair off television, as the following week he was scheduled to undergo surgery for his torn rotator cuff; however, Flair ultimately chose not to have the surgery as it would have required six months of rehab.[139][140] Flair returned to television in a non–wrestling role on the May 12, 2011 episode of Impact Wrestling.[141] Flair did not appear again for three months, until making his return on August 9 at the tapings of the August 18 episode of Impact Wrestling, confronting old rival Sting and challenging him to one more match. In exchange for Sting agreeing to put his career on the line, Flair promised to deliver him his match with Hogan if he was victorious.[142][143] The match, which Flair lost, took place on the September 15 episode of Impact Wrestling. The match with Sting would be the last of his career to date.[144] During the match, Flair tore his left triceps on a superplex spot, sidelining him indefinitely from in-ring action.[145] At Bound for Glory, Flair appeared in Hogan's corner in his match against Sting. Flair continued to make appearances for TNA until April 2012. In April 2012, Flair tried to have his TNA contract terminated, which led to TNA filing a lawsuit against WWE for contract tampering and eventually firing Flair on May 11.[146][147] Having been inactive since his September 2011 injury, Flair announced in a December 3, 2012 interview that he would never wrestle again, owing chiefly to an on-air heart attack suffered by age peer Jerry Lawler following a Raw match three months earlier.[148] Return to WWE (2012–2021) On March 31, 2012, while still contracted to TNA as a part of a deal with WWE which allowed Christian Cage to appear at Slammiversary 10, Flair became the first person to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame twice, the second time as part of the class of 2012 with The Four Horsemen. On December 17, 2012, Flair returned to WWE as a non-wrestling personality on the annual Slammy Awards show to present the Superstar of the Year award to John Cena, who in turn gave the award to Flair. Flair's return was interrupted by CM Punk and Paul Heyman, escalating into a confrontation that ended with him locking Heyman in the figure-four leglock. After clearing the ring, Flair was assaulted by The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins), until Ryback and Team Hell No (Kane and Daniel Bryan) helped Flair fend off the group.[149] Flair appeared on the main roster sporadically throughout 2013, as The Miz's mentor.[150][151] He also occasionally appeared on NXT in 2013 and 2014, accompanying his daughter Charlotte to the ring. Flair appeared on April 28, 2014, episode of Raw, alongside the reunited Evolution (minus Flair) and The Shield; Flair showed his endorsement for The Shield, Evolution's opponents at Extreme Rules, effectively turning his back on his old teammates. At Battleground, John Cena symbolically handed over his World Heavyweight Championship belt to Flair, telling him to "take it" while promoting his match.[153] On the post-SummerSlam Raw in August 2015, Flair interrupted Jon Stewart, who had saved Flair's 16 world title record by preventing Cena's victory the previous night, telling him that the record would be broken eventually and he would rather it be by someone who he respects.[154] Flair began making more frequent appearances with Charlotte after she won the Divas Championship.[155] In January 2016, Flair and Charlotte began displaying villainous traits, with Flair often getting involved in Charlotte's Divas Championship[156][157] and later WWE Women's Championship defenses, thus turning heel for the first time since 2005 in WWE.[158][159] This lasted until the May 23 episode of Raw when Charlotte turned on him.[160] On the November 28 episode of Raw, Flair returned to congratulate the new Raw Women's Champion Sasha Banks, who had defeated Charlotte to win the title, thus turning face once again.[161] Flair made a surprise appearance during the November 14, 2017 episode of SmackDown to congratulate his daughter Charlotte Flair, who won the SmackDown Women's Championship. They shared an emotional moment on the ramp and did his iconic strut. On the February 25, 2019 episode of Raw, WWE celebrated Flair's 70th birthday and during the closing moments, Flair was attacked by Batista. The actual "attack" was never seen, only Flair being dragged by Batista.[162] At WrestleMania 35, Flair assisted Triple H in defeating Batista, to keep his in-ring career going.[163] Flair appeared on the July 22 Raw Reunion episode and raised a toast alongside Triple H, Hulk Hogan, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, and various other fellow wrestlers of his era.[164] In June 2020, Flair came back to WWE programming as a heel again, managing Randy Orton for a few weeks until the August 10 episode of Raw when Orton performed a punt kick on Flair's head.[165][166] On November 22, 2020, he made an appearance at Survivor Series during The Undertaker's retirement ceremony.[167] On the January 4, 2021 episode of Raw, Flair started a storyline with Lacey Evans, when during a match against Women's Tag Team Champions Charlotte Flair and Asuka, Evans flirted with Flair. During the following weeks, Flair managed Evans, usually distracting his daughter Charlotte, including a participation in the Women's Royal Rumble.[168] On the February 15 episode of Raw, Evans' real-life pregnancy was announced and incorporated into a storyline with Flair impregnating Lacey.[169] Evans was scheduled to face Asuka for Raw Women's Championship at Elimination Chamber but the match was cancelled due to her pregnancy and the storyline with Flair was cancelled.[170] On August 2, 2021, it was reported by Wrestling Inc. that Flair had asked for and was granted his release from WWE.[171] WWE confirmed his release the following day and considered it effective as of August 3.[172] Late career (2021–present) "Ric Flair's Last Match" (2021–2023) See also: Ric Flair's Last Match On August 14, 2021, at Triplemanía XXIX, Flair made his Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) debut by accompanying Charlotte's fiancé Andrade "El Ídolo" to ringside during his match against AAA Mega Champion Kenny Omega. Flair would later get involved in the match by chopping Omega and applying the Figure Four leglock to Omega's second Konnan. On August 29, 2021, Flair made his return to the NWA at NWA 73. It was his first NWA appearance since 2008 when he was inducted into the NWA Hall of Fame. At NWA 73, Flair thanked the NWA and WWE for several memorable moments and noted the importance of having several companies in the industry.[173] On May 16, 2022, it was announced that Flair would wrestle his final match on July 31 in Nashville, called Ric Flair's Last Match, finally retiring after nearly five decades in the ring.[174] On July 18, it was announced that Flair would team with his son-in-law Andrade El Ídolo against Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal.[175] As part of the promo setting up the match, Lethal attacked Flair over being left out of the match card. Jarrett initially tried to help Flair, but attacked him after he rebuffed him and used expletives against his family.[176] Flair and Andrade would go on to win the match.[177] Flair later confirmed that he had passed out twice during the Last Match[178] and regretted announcing that it would be his final match.[179] A few days later, he accompanied Andrade during his match against Carlito at the 49th WWC Anniversary show held on August 6, 2022. Flair attempted to interfere before poking Primo Colón when he tried to stop him, causing Carlos Colón to attack him and forcing him to flee. Andrade would go on to lose the match.[180] During the celebrations for the 50th anniversary of his debut in professional wrestling on September 26, 2022, Flair announced that he would never retire.[181] In January 2023 however he stated that he did not want to wrestle again aside from wanting to redo the Last Match.[182] All Elite Wrestling (2023–present) On the October 25, 2023, episode of AEW Dynamite, Flair, in his first appearance on TBS since the March 21, 2001 episode of WCW Thunder, appeared as a "gift" from All Elite Wrestling (AEW) co-founder Tony Khan to Sting for his upcoming retirement.[183] Both men previously wrestled in the final episode of WCW Monday Nitro on March 26, 2001. On November 2, 2023, it was announced Flair signed a multi-year deal with AEW.[184] On November 18, 2023, he made his AEW PPV debut at Full Gear, accompanying Sting, Darby Allin and Adam Copeland to the ring, and performing chops and a low blow to Christian Cage.[185] Legacy Flair was often popular with the crowd due to his in-ring antics, including rulebreaking (earning him the distinction of being "the dirtiest player in the game"), strutting and his shouting of "Woooooooo!" (Flair got the inspiration from Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire").[186] The "Wooo!" yell[b] has since become a tribute to Flair, and is often shouted by the crowd whenever a wrestler performs a knife-edge chop, one of Flair's signature moves.[3] It is also often shouted by the crowd whenever a wrestler utilizes Flair's figure-four leglock finisher. One of Professional Wrestling's biggest draws, Hulk Hogan, has said he himself is "number two" behind Ric Flair, who is the greatest wrestler of all time.[188] From the late 1970s, Flair wore ornate fur-lined robes of many colors with sequins during in-ring appearances,[3] and since the early 1980s, his approach to the ring was usually heralded by the playing of the "Dawn" section of Richard Strauss' "Also sprach Zarathustra" (famous for being used in the 1968 motion picture 2001: A Space Odyssey and for the introduction to Elvis Presley's concerts of the 1970s). Flair also described himself as a "limousine-ridin', jet-flyin', kiss stealin', wheelin' dealin', son-of-a-gun (who kissed all the girls worldwide and made em cry)".[189] On April 29, 1995, Ric Flair fought Antonio Inoki in the main event match of Collision in Korea Day 2. The event registered an attendance of 165,000 people, the largest crowd in professional wrestling history.[190][191][192] On October 19, 1998, it was declared "Ric Flair Day" in Minneapolis, Minnesota by Mayor Sharon Belton[193] and on November 15, 2008, it was declared "Ric Flair Day" in Norfolk, Virginia.[194] On March 24, 2008, Mayor Bob Coble, of Columbia, South Carolina, declared March 24 to be Ric Flair Day in Columbia. Flair also received the key to the city.[195] He received the key to the city of Greensboro, North Carolina on December 5, 2008, to commemorate Flair's victory in a steel cage match against Harley Race at the inaugural Starrcade event.[196] April 18, 2009 was declared "Ric Flair Day" in Charleston, West Virginia and he was presented with the key to the city by the mayor.[197] Also, on June 12, 2009, Flair was presented with the key to the city of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina[198] and, in September, he received the key to the city in Marion County, South Carolina.[199] On July 17, 2010, Flair made a special appearance at Scotland Motors in Laurinburg, North Carolina and received the key to that city, as well.[200] Flair yelling "Wooooo!" On the February 18, 2008 episode of Raw, Shawn Michaels announced Flair as the first inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2008. The induction ceremony took place on March 29, 2008, with Triple H inducting him. This made him the first person to be inducted while still an active competitor.[201] Flair was later inducted into the NWA Hall of Fame in Atlanta, Georgia, but he did not participate in the event. On January 9, 2012, it was announced that the Four Horsemen would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, thus making Flair the first person to have been inducted into the Hall of Fame twice.[202] On April 15, 2008, Flair was honored in Congress by a representative from North Carolina, Republican Sue Myrick, who praised his career and what he means to the state.[203] On September 29, 2008, it was announced that Flair's signature sequin covered robe that he wore at WrestleMania XXIV, in what was to be his last WWE match, would be placed in the pop culture section of the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.[204] In 1999, a large group of professional wrestling experts, analysts and historians named Flair the greatest NWA World Heavyweight Champion of all time.[205] In 2002, Flair was named the greatest professional wrestler of all time in the book The Top 100 Wrestlers of All Time by John Molinaro, edited by Dave Meltzer and Jeff Marek.[206] in July 2016, Luke Winkie of Sports Illustrated also named Flair the greatest professional wrestler of all time.[207] Flair's "Wooo" chant has been used throughout pop culture. Rapper Pusha T paid homage to Flair in numerous songs. For example, on the track "Sweet Serenade", he says, "Triple doubles, two hoes and check please (Wooo!), They love me on my Ric Flair shit (Wooo!), In that Phantom like I'm Blair Witch (Wooo!), Who are you to be compared with? (Wooo!)".[208] Atlanta-based rapper Killer Mike also has a track named "Ric Flair".[209] American trap musicians Offset and Metro Boomin paid tribute to Flair in their hit song "Ric Flair Drip".[210] The Battle of Gettysburg Podcast, hosted by battlefield guides and wrestling fans Jim Hessler and Eric Lindblade, often cites Flair's "Wooo" chant as well as other elements of Flair's mystique.[211] Reaction to later career Some have looked unfavorably upon Flair's career from the late-1990s onward. In 1998, wrestler and former WCW colleague Stone Cold Steve Austin said that Flair had reached the "time to hang it up", having not been great for a "long time".[212] John Molinaro of Slam! Sports penned a 1999 article titled, "Ric Flair is tarnishing his legacy"; Molinaro saw Flair as a wrestler whose prestige was "in jeopardy".[213] In 2006, Pro Wrestling Illustrated writer Frank Ingiosi said that Flair had a "personal vendetta against his legend".[214] He nevertheless continued to wrestle until originally retiring in 2008, at age 59. Despite the unfavorable reviews for continuing to wrestle, many of his later career matches were praised. The match between Flair and Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 24 in 2008 was named as the "match of the decade" by popular professional wrestling magazine Pro Wrestling Illustrated.[215] Flair would ultimately return to the ring in 2009 and signed to wrestle for TNA the following year, breaking a vow to never again lace up his boots.[216] Wrestler Axl Rotten,[217] NFL writer Adam Rank,[218] and many fans[216] felt that he sullied his legend by continuing to wrestle in TNA.[219] Asked in 2011 if Flair was tainting his prestige, former opponent Shane Douglas was harsher, stating that he had "been tarnishing his legacy since 1990".[220] Also that year, Kevin Eck of The Baltimore Sun criticized the aging Flair for being unable to separate himself from his ostentatious gimmick when not wrestling, and said: "I don't know what's sadder, Ric Flair tarnishing his legacy in the ring or embarrassing himself away from the ring".[221] Asked about Flair in 2015, wrestler The Honky Tonk Man felt that viewers would "remember only the last years of his career", which consist of "bad memories".[222] Conversely, professional wrestling announcer Jim Ross in 2012 felt that Flair had not tarnished his legacy, observing only "passion and need to earn a living".[223] In 2016, Flair said continuing to wrestle in TNA was the "number one" regret of his career. Other media Flair at a Comic Con event in 2016 Flair has made numerous appearances in television shows. In 1996, Flair, along with other WCW wrestlers, appeared in an episode of Baywatch as themselves. In 2013, Flair made an appearance in Stuff You Should Know, in the episode, "Bacteriopolis", as Dr. Roland Grayson. In 2014, Flair voiced himself in the animated series, Uncle Grandpa, in the episode, "History of Wrestling".[225] In 2011, Flair voiced himself in the animated series, The Cleveland Show, in the episode, "BFFs".[226] Flair released his autobiography, To Be the Man, on July 6, 2004.[227] The title is taken from one of his catchphrases, "To be the man, you gotta beat the man!".[228] In 2009, Flair voiced Commander Douglas Hill in the video game Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 - Uprising.[229] It was announced on July 8, 2012, that Flair was to appear at Insane Clown Posse's 13th Annual Gathering of the Juggalos weekend as a main stage host who was in charge of announcing the performers.[230] However, his appearance at the event was cut short after his head was barely struck by a water bottle thrown from the crowd before announcing Tech N9ne to enter the main stage. Flair at that point left immediately after announcing Tech N9ne and did not go back out on the main stage to announce the remaining performers. Flair's final comment before he left the main stage was "Have fun".[231] In 2015, Flair made his feature film debut, appearing in Magic Mike XXL.[232] From May 2015-April 2016, Flair was host of a podcast titled "WOOOOO! Nation". The podcast was placed on hiatus after episode 46 which was uploaded on April 1, 2016. Flair returned to podcasting on MLW Radio with a new show called The Ric Flair Show in July 2016.[233] The final episode of The Ric Flair Show was uploaded on December 16, 2016. Flair stated that the reason that he had quit the podcasting business was because he could no longer be objective when it comes to his opinion of what is happening in the WWE.[234] In 2017, ESPN aired Nature Boy, a 30 for 30 documentary about Flair's career directed by Rory Karpf.[235][236] On October 31, 2017, trap artists Offset and Metro Boomin released a single titled "Ric Flair Drip" from their collaborative album with 21 Savage, Without Warning, in which Flair made an appearance in the music video.[237] In December 2017, Latin trap artist Bad Bunny released a music video entitled "Chambea", in which Flair appeared.[238] Flair signed an endorsement deal with online ticket exchange marketplace TickPick in August 2018. Under the agreement he would make guest posts on TickPick's blog, in addition to appearing in advertisements for the brand posted on its and his own social media channels.[239] Flair started appearing in an advertising campaign for CarShield in April 2021 (One of the commercials featured him alongside LA Knight, who played the role of "The Overcharger").[240] The company paused it in September 2021 following allegations of sexual assault made by Heidi Doyle against Flair on an episode of Dark Side of the Ring.[241] It however resumed airing the commercials in December 2021.[242] In November 2021, Flair brought back his podcast "WOOOOO! Nation". It was named "Wooooo Nation Uncensored" and was co-hosted by Mark Madden.[243] Madden quit in March 2022.[244] He was replaced by Flair's son-in-law Conrad Thompson and the podcast was revamped into "To Be the Man" in April 2022.[245] Flair signed an endorsement deal with Nu Image Medical, an online telehealth and medical company, in June 2022 to promote its men's health products.[246] WWE and the streaming service Peacock partnered to release a documentary on Flair titled Woooooo! Becoming Ric Flair on December 26.[247] Business ventures Flair sells his official merchandise through his own website.[248] He partnered with Scout Comics in 2021 to launch a comic book series named Code Name: Ric Flair. Following allegations of sexual assault against him made on Dark Side of the Ring, Scout Comics dropped the comic and Flair started personally selling it on his website. However, later in December 2022, the company agreed to publish it through its label. The series is written by Scout Comics President James Haick III and launched in April 2023.[249][250][251] In July 2022, Flair launched a virtual restaurant chain named "Wooooo! Wings" in Nashville, Tennessee in partnership with Kitchen Data Systems ahead of Ric Flair's Last Match. The name of the chain is based after Flair's signature exclamation. The food items of the outlet are prepared by KitchPartner restaurants, owned by Kitchen Data Systems. The chain expanded to six American cities in August 2022.[252][253] Its launch and expansion was handled by Conrad Thompson.[254] Flair also partnered with Mike Tyson and Verano Holdings Corp. to launch his own cannabis line called the "Ric Flair Drip" under Tyson's cannabis brand "Tyson 2.0".[255] The line launched in October 2022 in Arizona, Nevada and California.[256] In July 2023, Flair partnered with Carma HoldCo and LGNDS to release a mushroom-infused energy drink called Wooooo Energy!.[257] Personal life Family Flair married his first wife, Leslie Goodman, on August 28, 1971. They had two children, daughter Megan and son David, before divorcing in 1983 after twelve years of marriage. On August 27, 1983, he married his second wife, Elizabeth Harrell. Promoter Jim Crockett Jr. served as the best man for the wedding. They had two children, daughter Ashley and son Reid. Beth and their children also made periodic appearances in WCW between 1998 and 2000. Flair and Beth divorced in 2006 after nearly 23 years of marriage.[258][259] On May 27, 2006, Flair married his third wife Tiffany VanDemark, a fitness competitor.[260] In 2008, Tiffany filed for divorce from Flair, which was finalized in 2009.[261] On November 11, 2009, Flair married his fourth wife, Jacqueline "Jackie" Beems, in Charlotte, North Carolina.[262] In 2012, Flair filed for divorce from Beems, which was finalized in 2014.[citation needed] Flair married his fifth wife, Wendy Barlow (known as Fifi, his "maid" in WCW), on September 12, 2018, at a resort in Florida.[263][264] On January 31, 2022, Flair announced that he and Barlow have separated.[265] The two have since reconciled as of May 2022. Flair's elder son David is a retired professional wrestler, who worked for WCW from 1999 to 2001, and made two televised appearances in the WWF in 2002 during the run-up to WrestleMania X8. Flair's younger son Reid, who signed a developmental contract with WWE near the end of 2007,[266] was an accomplished high school wrestler and made several appearances on WCW television along with his sister Ashley and half-sister Megan. In 2004, Flair became a grandfather at the age of 55, when his older daughter, Megan Fliehr Ketzner, gave birth to her first child, a daughter named Morgan Lee Ketzner on May 9.[267][268] On May 17, 2012, it was reported that Flair's daughter Ashley had signed with WWE[269] adopting the ring name, Charlotte (which was later changed to include the Flair surname)....Championships and accomplishments     The Baltimore Sun         Match of the Year (2008) vs. Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XXIV[319]     International Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame         Class of 2021[320]     George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame         Class of 2013[321]     Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling/Jim Crockett Promotions/World Championship Wrestling         WCW World Heavyweight Championship (7 times)[322]         WCW International World Heavyweight Championship (2 times)         NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship (3 times)[323]         NWA (Mid Atlantic)/NWA Television Championship (2 times)[324]         NWA (Mid Atlantic)/WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (6 times)[c][325][326]         NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Rip Hawk (1), Greg Valentine (1), and Big John Studd (1)[327]         NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version) (3 times) – with Greg Valentine (2) and Blackjack Mulligan (1)[328]         First WCW Triple Crown Champion     National Wrestling Alliance         NWA World Heavyweight Championship (9 times)[329]         NWA Hall of Fame (class of 2008)     Pro Wrestling Illustrated         Feud of the Year (1987) The Four Horsemen vs. The Super Powers and The Road Warriors[330]         Feud of the Year (1988, 1990) vs. Lex Luger[330]         Feud of the Year (1989) vs. Terry Funk[330]         Inspirational Wrestler of the Year (2008)[330]         Match of the Year (1983) vs. Harley Race (June 10)[330]         Match of the Year (1984) vs. Kerry Von Erich at Parade of Champions 1[330]         Match of the Year (1986) vs. Dusty Rhodes at The Great American Bash in a steel cage match[330]         Match of the Year (1989) vs. Ricky Steamboat at WrestleWar[330]         Match of the Year (2008) vs. Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XXIV[330]         Match of the Decade (2000–2009) vs. Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XXIV         Most Hated Wrestler of the Year (1978, 1987)[330]         Rookie of the Year (1975)[330]         Stanley Weston Award (2008)[330]         Wrestler of the Year (1981, 1984–1986, 1989, 1992)[330]         PWI Wrestler of the Decade (1980's)[331]         Ranked No. 3 of the top 500 wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1991, 1992, and 1994[332][333][334]         Ranked No. 2 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003[335]     Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum         Class of 2006[1]     St. Louis Wrestling Club         NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[336]     St. Louis Wrestling Hall of Fame         Class of 2007     World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment/WWE         WWF World Heavyweight Championship (2 times)[337]         WWE Intercontinental Championship (1 time)[337]         World Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Batista (2) and Roddy Piper (1)[337]         Royal Rumble (1992)[337]         Thirteenth Triple Crown Champion         Slammy Award for Match of the Year (2008) vs. Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XXIV         WWE Hall of Fame (2 times)             Class of 2008 - individually             Class of 2012 - as a member of The Four Horsemen         WWE Bronze Statue (2017)[338]     Wrestling Observer Newsletter         Best Heel (1990)         Best Interviews (1991, 1992, 1994)         Hardest Worker (1982,1984-1988)         Feud of the Year (1989) vs. Terry Funk         Match of the Year (1983) vs. Harley Race in a steel cage match at Starrcade         Match of the Year (1986) vs. Barry Windham at Battle of the Belts II on February 14         Match of the Year (1988) vs. Sting at Clash of the Champions I         Match of the Year (1989) vs. Ricky Steamboat at Clash of the Champions VI: Ragin' Cajun         Most Charismatic (1980, 1982–1984, 1993)         Most Outstanding (1986, 1987, 1989)         Readers' Favorite Wrestler (1984–1993, 1996)         Worst Feud of the Year (1990) vs. The Junkyard Dog         Worst Worked Match of the Year (1996) with Arn Anderson, Meng, The Barbarian, Lex Luger, Kevin Sullivan, Z-Gangsta, and The Ultimate Solution vs. Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage in a Towers of Doom match at Uncensored         Wrestler of the Year (1982–1986, 1989, 1990, 1992)         Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic (1994) Retirement angle         Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1996)" (wikipedia.org) "Video CD (abbreviated as VCD, and also known as Compact Disc Digital Video) is a home video format and the first format for distributing films on standard 120 mm (4.7 in) optical discs. The format was widely adopted in Southeast Asia, South Asia, East Asia, Central Asia and West Asia, superseding the VHS and Betamax systems in the regions until DVD-Video finally became affordable in the first decade of the 21st century. The format is a standard digital data format for storing video on a compact disc. VCDs are playable in dedicated VCD players and widely playable in most DVD players, personal computers and some video game consoles. However, they are less playable in most Blu-ray Disc players, vehicle audio with DVD/Blu-ray support and video game consoles such as the Sony PlayStation and Xbox due to lack of backward compatibility for the older MPEG-1 format, inability to read MPEG-1 in .dat files alongside MPEG-1 in standard MPEG-1, AVI, and Matroska files, or inability to read CD-ROM XA discs. Some Laserdisc players that were released in the late 90s support VCD as well. The Video CD standard was created in 1993[1][2] by Sony, Philips, Matsushita and JVC; it is referred to as the White Book standard. The MPEG-1 format was also released that same year. Brief history LaserDisc was first available on the market, in Atlanta, Georgia, on December 15, 1978.[3] This 30 cm (12 in) disc could hold an hour of analog audio and video (digital audio was added a few years later) on each side. The LaserDisc provided picture quality nearly double that of VHS tape and analog audio quality far superior to cheap mono VHS recorders (although the difference to the more expensive VHS HiFi stereo recorders was minuscule). Philips later teamed up with Sony to develop a new type of disc, the compact disc or CD. Introduced in 1982 in Japan (1983 in the U.S. and Europe), the CD is about 120 mm (4.7 in) in diameter, and is single-sided. The format was initially designed to store digitized sound and proved to be a success in the music industry. A few years later, Philips decided to give CDs the ability to produce video, utilizing the same technology as its LaserDisc counterpart. This led to the creation of CD Video (CD-V) in 1987. However, the disc's small size significantly impeded the ability to store analog video; thus only 5 minutes of picture information could fit on the disc's surface (despite the fact that the audio was digital). Therefore, CD-V distribution was limited to featuring music videos, and it was soon discontinued by 1991. By the early 1990s engineers were able to digitize and compress video signals, greatly improving storage efficiency. Because this new format could hold 74/80 minutes of audio and video on a 650/700MB disc, releasing movies on compact discs finally became a reality. Extra capacity was obtained by sacrificing the error correction (it was believed that minor errors in the datastream would go unnoticed by the viewer). This format was named Video CD or VCD. VCD enjoyed a brief period of success, with a few major feature films being released in the format (usually as a 2 disc set). However the introduction of the CD-R disc and associated recorders stopped the release of feature films in their tracks because the VCD format had no means of preventing unauthorized (and perfect) copies from being made.[citation needed] However, as of 2013 VCDs are still being released in several countries in Asia, but now with copy-protection.[citation needed] The development of more sophisticated, higher capacity optical disc formats yielded the DVD format, released only a few years later with a copy protection mechanism. DVD players use lasers that are of shorter wavelength than those used on CDs, allowing the recorded pits to be smaller, so that more information can be stored. The DVD was so successful that it eventually pushed VHS out of the video market once suitable recorders became widely available. Nevertheless, VCDs made considerable inroads into developing nations, where they are still in use today due to their cheaper manufacturing and retail costs.[citation needed] Technical specifications Structure Video CDs comply with the CD-i Bridge format, and are authored using tracks in CD-ROM XA mode. The first track of a VCD is in CD-ROM XA Mode 2 Form 1, and stores metadata and menu information inside an ISO 9660 filesystem. This track may also contain other non-essential files, and is shown by operating systems when loading the disc. This track can be absent from a VCD, which would still work but would not allow it to be properly displayed in computers.[4] The rest of the tracks are usually in CD-ROM XA Mode 2 Form 2 and contain video and audio multiplexed in an MPEG program stream (MPEG-PS) container, but CD audio tracks are also allowed.[4] Using Mode 2 Form 2 allows roughly 800 megabytes of VCD data to be stored on one 80 minute CD (versus 700 megabytes when using CD-ROM Mode 1). This is achieved by sacrificing the error correction redundancy present in Mode 1. It was considered that small errors in the video and audio stream pass largely unnoticed. This, combined with the net bitrate of VCD video and audio, means that almost exactly 80 minutes of VCD content can be stored on an 80-minute CD, 74 minutes of VCD content on a 74-minute CD, and so on. This was done in part to ensure compatibility with existing CD drive technology, specifically the earliest "1x" speed CD drives. Video VCD resolution compared to other formats. Video specifications[5]     Compression: MPEG-1     Aspect Ratio: 4:3     Resolution:         analog NTSC compatible: 352×240 (240p)         analog PAL/SECAM compatible: 352×288 (288p)     Framerate:         analog NTSC compatible : 29.97 or 23.976 frames per second         analog PAL/SECAM compatible : 25 frames per second     Bitrate: 1,150 kilobits per second (constant bitrate) Although many DVD video players support playback of VCDs, VCD video is only compatible with the DVD-Video standard if encoded at 29.97 frames per second or 25 frames per second. The 352×240 and 352×288 (or SIF) resolutions, when compared to the CCIR 601 specifications (defining the appropriate parameters for digital encoding of NTSC and PAL/SECAM TV signals), are reduced by half in all aspects: height, width, frame-rate, and chrominance. Audio Audio specifications[5]     Compression: MPEG-1 Audio Layer II     Sample Frequency: 44,100 hertz (44.1 kHz)     Output: Dual channel, stereo, or Dolby Surround     Bitrate: 224 kilobits per second (constant bitrate) As with most CD-based formats, VCD audio is incompatible with the DVD-Video standard due to a difference in sampling frequency; DVDs require 48 kHz, whereas VCDs use 44.1 kHz. Advantages of compression By compressing both the video and audio streams, a VCD is able to hold 74 minutes of picture and sound information, the same duration as a standard 74 minute audio CD. The MPEG-1 compression used records mostly the differences between successive video frames, rather than write out each frame individually. Similarly, the audio frequency range is limited to those sounds most clearly heard by the human ear. Other features The VCD standard also features the option of DVD-quality still images/slide shows with audio, at resolutions of 704×480 (480i, analog NTSC compatible) or 704×576 (576i, analog PAL/SECAM compatible). Version 2.0 also adds the playback control (PBC), featuring a simple menu like DVD-Video. Similar formats CD-i Digital Video Shortly before the advent of White Book VCD, Philips started releasing movies in the Green Book CD-i format, calling the subformat CD-i Digital Video (CD-i DV). While these used a similar format (MPEG-1), due to minor differences between the standards these discs are not compatible with VCD players. Philips' CD-i players with the Full Motion Video MPEG-1 decoder cartridge would play both formats. Approximately 30 CD-i DV titles were released before the company switched to the current VCD format for publishing movies in 1994. XVCD XVCD (eXtended Video CD) is the name generally given to any format that stores MPEG-1 video on a compact disc in CD-ROM XA Mode 2 Form 2, but does not strictly follow the VCD standard in terms of the encoding of the video or audio. A normal VCD is encoded to MPEG-1 at a constant bit rate (CBR), so all scenes are required to use exactly the same data rate, regardless of complexity. However, video on an XVCD is typically encoded at a variable bit rate (VBR), so complex scenes can use a much higher data rate for a short time, while simpler scenes will use lower data rates. Some XVCDs use lower bitrates in order to fit longer videos onto the disc, while others use higher bitrates to improve quality. MPEG-2 may be used instead of MPEG-1. To further reduce the data rate without significantly reducing quality, the size of the GOP can be increased, a different MPEG-1 quantization matrix can be used, the maximum data rate can be exceeded, and the bit rate of the MP2 audio can be reduced or even be swapped out completely for MP3 audio. These changes can be advantageous for those who want to either maximize video quality, or use fewer discs. KVCD KVCD (K Video Compression Dynamics) is an XVCD variant that requires the use of a proprietary quantization matrix, available for non-commercial use. In addition to standard VCD resolutions, KVCD allows for non-standard resolutions like 528×480/576, though hardware support for KVCDs authored with these resolutions is limited.[6] DVCD DVCD or Double VCD is a method to accommodate longer videos on a CD. A non-standard CD is overburned to include up to 100 minutes of video. However, some CD-ROM drives and players have problems reading these CDs, mostly because the groove spacing is outside specifications and the player's laser servo is unable to track it. DVI DVI (Digital Video Interactive) is a compression technique that stored 72 minutes of video on a CD-ROM. In 1998, Intel acquired the technology from RCA's Sarnoff Research Labs. DVI never caught on.[7] SVCD Super Video CD is a format intended to be the successor of VCD, offering better quality of image and sound. The format uses MPEG-2 video at 480x480 or 480x576 and supports multiple bitrate and channel options for encoding audio. Adoption In North America Video CDs were unable to gain acceptance as a mainstream format in North America, chiefly because the established VHS format was less expensive, offered comparable video quality, and could be recorded over.[8] The advent of recordable CDs, inexpensive recorders, and compatible DVD players spurred VCD acceptance in the US in the late 1990s and early 2000s.[9] However, DVD burners and DVD-Video recorders were available by that time, and equipment and media costs for making DVD-Video fell rapidly. DVD-Video, with its longer run time and much higher quality, quickly overshadowed VCD in areas that could afford it. In addition many early DVD players could not read recordable (CD-R) media,[10] and this limited the compatibility of home-made VCDs. Almost every modern stand-alone DVD-Video player can play VCDs burned on recordable media.[citation needed] In Europe VCDs were available in the Netherlands during the 1990s, but are no longer on sale.[citation needed] In Asia As of 2011, VCDs and DVDs are the norm for home media in the Philippines. Blu-ray discs are also available but are only displayed at small separate shelves at the counter. The VCD format was very popular throughout Asia[11] (except Japan and South Korea) in the late 1990s through the 2000s, with 8 million VCD players sold in China in 1997 alone,[12] and more than half of all Chinese households owning at least one VCD player by 2005.[13] However, popularity has declined over the years, as the number of Hong Kong factories that produced VCDs dropped from 98 in 1999 to 26 in 2012.[14] This popularity was due, in part, to most households not already owning VCRs when VCDs were introduced, the low price of the players, their tolerance of high humidity (a notable problem for VCRs), easy storage and maintenance, and the lower-cost media.[9] Western sources have cited unauthorized content as a principal incentive for VCD player ownership.[15][16][17] VCDs are often produced and sold in Asian countries and regions, such as China (including Hong Kong), Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Brunei, Myanmar, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Bangladesh, India, Turkey, Pakistan and Afghanistan.[18] In many Asian countries, major Hollywood studios (and Asian home video distributors) have licensed companies to officially produce and distribute the VCDs, such as Intercontinental Video Ltd. of Hong Kong, Sunny Video in Malaysia, Vision Interprima Pictures in Indonesia, CVD International and Pacific Marketing and Entertainment Group in Thailand, Excel Home Entertainment in India, Berjaya-HVN and InnoForm Media in both Malaysia and Singapore, Scorpio East Entertainment in Singapore, as well as VIVA Video, Magnavision Home Video, and C-Interactive Digital Entertainment in the Philippines. Legal Video CDs can often be found in established video stores and major book outlets in most Asian countries. They are typically packaged in jewel cases like commercial CDs, though higher-profile films may be released in keep cases, differentiated by the VCD logo. In Asia, the use of VCDs as carriers for karaoke music is very common. One channel would feature a mono track with music and singing, another channel a pure instrumental version for karaoke singing. Prior to this, karaoke music was carried on laserdiscs. Worldwide trends VCD's growth had slowed in areas that can afford DVD-Video, which offered most of the same advantages, as well as better picture quality[19] (higher resolution with fewer digital compression artifacts) due to its larger storage capacity. However, VCD had simultaneously seen significant growth in emerging economies like India, Indonesia, South America, and Africa as a low-cost alternative to DVD. As of 2004, the worldwide popularity of VCD was increasing.[20][21] Compared with VHS Overall picture quality is intended to be comparable to VHS video.[22] Poorly compressed VCD video can sometimes be of lower quality than VHS video, for example exhibiting VCD block artifacts[23] (rather than the analog noise seen in VHS sources), but does not deteriorate further with each use. Producing video CDs involves stripping out high- and low-frequency sounds from the video, resulting in lower audio quality than VHS.[23] While both formats need fast-forwarding to find certain scenes, rewinding to the beginning upon reaching the end is not required in VCD. The resolution is just half below that of common VHS resolution.[citation needed] Video CDs did not come with closed captioning (on-screen text to aid viewers with hearing problems). When watching a film that exceeds 74 minutes (nearly 1¼ hours), the maximum video capacity of one disc, a viewer had to change the disc upon reaching halfway (unless the discs were played on a VCD changer that could hold multiple discs and play them automatically in succession), whereas a single VHS tape could hold 3.5 hours of continuous video. Compared with DVD Films released on VCD can come on as many as 3 discs, depending on the length of the film. Cases of VCDs are shaped like those of audio CDs. DVD and Blu-ray cases, however, are taller than wide. When playing a DVD, the viewer is taken to a main menu which gives them options (watch the feature film, view "deleted scenes", play some special applications, etc.). VCDs are usually straightforward; playing them often goes directly to the video with extras (mostly trailers and commercials) taking place before or after it, like on a VHS cassette. Subtitles are found on many Asian VCDs but cannot be removed, unlike on DVDs. The subtitles are embedded on the video during the encoding process ("hardsubbed"). It is not uncommon to find a VCD with subtitles for two languages. Though the VCD technology can support it, most films carried on VCDs do not contain chapters, requiring the viewer to fast-forward to resume the program after playback has been stopped. This is mostly because VCD technology is able to start playback at a chapter point but there is nothing to signal to the player that the chapter has changed during a program. This can be confusing for the user as the player will indicate that it is still playing chapter 1 when it has played through to chapter 2 or later. Pressing the Next button would cause playback from the beginning of chapter 2. However, preview material is sometimes stored in a separate chapter, followed by a single chapter for the film. VCDs are often bilingual. Because they feature stereo audio, disc players have an option to play only the left or right audio channel. On some films, they feature English on the left audio channel and Cantonese on the right; more commonly Hong Kong VCDs will feature Mandarin on one channel and Cantonese on the other. This is similar to selecting a language track on a DVD, except it is limited to 2 languages, due to there being only two audio channels (left and right). The audio track effectively becomes monaural. VCD's most noticeable disadvantage compared to DVD is image quality, due both to the more aggressive compression necessary to fit video into such a small capacity as well as to the compression method used. Additionally, VCD movie surround sound capability is limited to Dolby Surround matrixed within the stereo tracks, while DVDs are capable of six channels of discrete surround sound via Dolby Digital AC-3. Hardware and software support Early devices supporting Video CD playback include the Philips CD-i systems and the Amiga CD-32 (albeit via an optional decoder card).[8] Disc playback is also available both natively and as an option on some CD- and DVD-based video game consoles, including the original PlayStation (only on the SCPH-5903 model). VLC is a free, open-source media player software which supports VCD on Windows, MacOS, Linux and BSD.[24] Windows Media Player prior to version 9 does not support playing VCD directly. Windows Vista added native support of VCD along with DVD-Video and can launch the preferred application upon insertion. The disc format is also supported natively by Media Player Classic, VLC Media Player and MPlayer.[4] QuickTime Player also does not support playing VCD directly, though it can play the .DAT files (stored under \MPEGAV for video and audio data) reliably,[25] and plugins were available. Direct access playback support is available within Windows XP MCE, Windows Vista and newer (including Windows 10), classic Mac OS, BSD, macOS, and Linux among others, either directly or with updates and compatible software. Most DVD players are compatible with VCDs, and VCD-only players are available throughout Asia, and online through many shopping sites. Some older Blu-ray and HD-DVD players also retained support, as do CBHD players as well. However, most Blu-ray players, most vehicle audio with DVD/Blu-ray support, Xbox family, and the Sony PlayStation (2/3/4/5) cannot play VCDs; this is because while they have backwards playback compatibility with the DVD standard, these player can not read VCD data because the player software does not have support for MPEG-1 video and audio, the player software lacks ability to read MPEG-1 stream in DAT files alongside MPEG-1 stream in standard MPEG, AVI, and Matroska files, or the player lacks ability to read CD-ROM XA discs." (wikipedia.org) "Viva Communications, Inc., also known as Viva Entertainment, Inc. and simply Viva,[1] is a Philippine private entertainment and media conglomerate headquartered in Pasig. It was founded on November 11, 1981, by Vic del Rosario and his sister Tess Cruz. Divisions Viva Communications logo from May 2010 to March 2018. Viva Communications Inc. (VCI)     Viva Films         Neo Films (1995–2003, liquidated)         Falcon Films         Kara Films     Viva Television         Vintage Television         Mega Productions (co-owned by Sharon Cuneta, and Vic del Rosarios)     Viva International Pictures (VIP)     Viva Artists Agency (VAA)     Viva Live (formerly Viva Concerts & Events)     Halo Halo Radio (Ultimate Entertainment)         Halo Halo Radio 105.1 Cebu         Halo Halo Radio 97.1 Davao         Halo Halo Radio 103.5 Zamboanga     Viva Interactive     Viva Networks         PBO: Pinoy Box Office         Viva Cinema (formerly Viva TV, from STAR TV package)         TMC: Tagalized Movie Channel (co-owned with MVP Entertainment)         Sari-Sari Channel (joint venture with Cignal TV/TV5 Network Inc.)         K Movies Pinoy (defunct)         Viva TV Plus (formerly Viva TV)         Filipino TV (defunct)         Joint venture with A+E Networks             History             H2 (defunct)             Fyi (defunct)             Crime & Investigation Network             Lifetime         Joint venture with Celestial Tiger Entertainment             Celestial Movies Pinoy         Joint venture with Deutsche Welle             DW (English)         Joint venture with Eclat Media Group             SPOTV             SPOTV 2         Joint venture with Fox Corporation             Fox News         Joint venture with WakuWaku Japan Corporation             WakuWaku Japan (defunct)         Globalgate Entertainment[3]     Digital Network         Oomph TV (multichannel network, social media agency)         Vivamax (over-the-top streaming service)     Viva Video, Inc. (Viva Communications' home video subsidiary)     Video City (liquidated)     Viva Sports (liquidated) Viva Music Group (VMG)     Viva Records     Vicor Music     Prime Music Corporation     Verje Music Publishing (VMP)     Harmony Music Publishing     Amerasian Recording Studios     O/C Records (affiliate; label owned by Kean Cipriano)     Ivory Music and Video (formerly the Philippine licensee of Sony Music Entertainment's catalog from 2011 to 2018) Viva Publishing Group     Viva PSICOM Publishing Corporation (formerly PSICOM Publishing Inc., 50%) - joint venture with the Gabriel family     Viva Starmometer Publishing Corporation (formerly Starmometer Publishing Company, 50%) - joint venture with Edsel Roy     VRJ Books Publishing Viva International Food & Restaurants     Botejyu     Paper Moon Cake Boutique     Pepi Cubano     Yogorino     Wing Zone Notable brands and subsidiaries Viva Cable TV Pinoy Box Office Main article: Pinoy Box Office Viva Cinema Main article: Viva Cinema Viva TV Main article: Viva TV (Philippines) Halo Halo Radio Halo Halo Radio is a brand name for Viva's radio stations. It was launched as Oomph! Radio before the end of 2014 following the acquisition of Ultimate Entertainment and its FM stations (but spun-off its concert/theatrical production arm and became Ultimate Shows, which remained owned by the Manalang family), thus it is Viva's new venture into radio broadcasting. Its format playlist consisted of local and international songs. In May 2016, Viva Live briefly dropped the Oomph! Radio brand and went to an independent branding among stations by adding 70s, 80s and 90s music to its playlist, despite retaining its format and the Ultimate Radio name. In July 2016, however, Viva Live brought back the Oomph! Radio brand and its Top 40/OPM format. In February 2017, the Oomph! Radio brand was dropped permanently due to management decision. In May 2017, Oomph! Radio was relaunched as Halo Halo Radio, an all-OPM station. With this launch, Halo Halo Radio became the de facto provincial counterpart of Manila-based Pinas FM 95.5 (a radio station of Iglesia ni Cristo's for-profit broadcast arm Eagle Broadcasting Corporation), the country's first all OPM radio station. Halo Halo Radio stations Branding     Callsign     Frequency     Power (kW)     Coverage Halo Halo 105.1 Cebu     DYUR     105.1 MHz     10 kW     Cebu City Halo Halo 97.1 Davao     DXUR     97.1 MHz     10 kW     Davao City Halo Halo 103.5 Zamboanga     DXUE     103.5 MHz     10 kW     Zamboanga City Viva Video Inc. Viva Video Inc. (formerly Viva Home Entertainment, doing business as Viva Video) is the exclusive distributor of video products for local and international studios in the Philippines. Viva Video, Inc. is the home video affiliate of Viva Communications, Inc. Viva Video, Inc. is the home video and DVD distribution arm of Viva Communications with the exclusive distributor of video products including films and television series. The company releases titles from the film and television library of Viva Films, as well as programs from other Viva Entertainment companies. Currently, they also serve as the distributor for television and/or movie product licensed by Nickeloedeon, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, 20th Century Studios Home Entertainment, Cartoon Network, Big Idea Productions (makers of VeggieTales DVDs), Turner Entertainment Co., Cookie Jar Entertainment (partnership with DIC Entertainment from 1994 until 2008), Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (since 2014, distribution of Disney material had shifted to Magnavision Home Video), Skyfilms, Nine Network (makers of Hi-5 DVDs), Summit Entertainment, Lionsgate Home Entertainment, Sesame Workshop (makers of Sesame Street), HIT Entertainment, and MGA Entertainment internationally for the Philippine market, and local products from Viva Films, APT Entertainment, OctoArts Films, Regal Entertainment, Solar Entertainment, Studio5, FPJ Productions and Pioneer Films. Viva Video holds licenses for: Local     Viva Films     APT Entertainment     OctoArts Films     Regal Entertainment     Solar Entertainment     Studio5     FPJ Productions     Pioneer Films     KP Entertainment Philippines International     Cookie Jar Entertainment (formerly Cinar, Filmfair and DIC Entertainment)     20th Century Fox Home Entertainment     Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (including Touchstone Home Entertainment)     MGM Home Entertainment, phased out in 2005 as MGM Holdings     ABC     MGA Entertainment     Summit Entertainment     Lionsgate Home Entertainment     Syndicate Films     Emperor Motion Pictures     Lakeshore Entertainment     Mandate Pictures     Icon Entertainment     Bauer Martinez     Inferno Distribution     Cineclick Asia     Cinema Service     Miro Vision     Skyfilms (distribution duties are also shared by Star Home Video)     Nick Jr.     Nickelodeon     Nine Network (makers of Hi-5 DVDs for the Philippine market)     HIT Entertainment     Big Idea Productions (makers of ‘’VeggieTales’’ DVDs for the Philippine market)     Sesame Workshop (makers of Sesame Street DVDs for the Philippine market)     Cartoon Network     Turner Entertainment     Universal Pictures Home Entertainment     Playboy Home Entertainment Viva Video City Viva Video City was the video retail affiliate of Viva Video, the home video unit of Viva Communications, Inc. As of 2015, all of the stores in the country are closed. Viva Sports Viva Sports is a sports division of Viva Communications was launched in 1996 showcases the previous boxing fights of Manny Pacquiao as Blow By Blow aired on IBC 13 & Viva Boxing Greats on RPN 9 & also the throwback episodes of a basketball coverage of PBA and a billiards game of Efren Bata Reyes, Dennis Orcollo, Antonio Gabica and Francisco Bustamante. Viva-Psicom Publishing Viva PSICOM Publishing Corporation (Viva PSICOM) is a publishing company jointly owned by Viva Communications and the Gabriel family. It was founded in 1990 by Arnel Jose Gabriel as a small desktop publisher, which later evolved into publishing the first Filipino wholly owned trade newspaper, the now-defunct Philippine IT Update. The company, then known as PSICOM, rose to fame through the Diary ng Panget tetralogy authored by HaveYouSeenThisGirL. In August 2013, Viva Communications acquired 50% of the company stocks, and it was later renamed as Viva-Psicom. Products Magazines     OtakuZine     Otaku Asia     OtakuZine Anime Recommendation     FH&S     The GOLD Magazine     Bare Horror     True Philippine Ghost Stories (Some stories were later adapted as episodes of GMA Network's Wag Kukurap.)     Haunted Philippines (Some stories were later adapted as episodes of GMA Network's Wag Kukurap.)     Pinoy Tales of Terror Books by well-known authors     Ramon Bautista (later moved to ABS-CBN Publishing)     Tado     Papa Dan of Barangay LS 97.1     Papa Dudut of Barangay LS 97.1 Wattpad     HaveYouSeenThisGirL         Diary ng Panget         Voiceless         She Died         That Girl     Aly Almario         My Prince         He's a Kidnapper         The Other Side         Reaching You     Alesana Marie         Talk Back and You're Dead     Marcelo Santos III         Para sa Hopeless Romantic (republished)         Para sa Broken-Hearted         Mahal mo Siya, Mahal Ka Ba? Japanese manga     Hajime Isayama         Attack on Titan     Mashima Hiro         Fairy Tail Other genres     Viva PSICOM Dark Series     Kilig Republic     GOLD Manga Series" (wikipedia.org) "The Philippines (/ˈfɪlɪpiːnz/ ⓘ; Filipino: Pilipinas),[15] officially the Republic of the Philippines (Filipino: Republika ng Pilipinas),[d] is an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. In the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of 7,641 islands, with a total area of 321,918 square kilometres,[16] which are broadly categorized in three main geographical divisions from north to south: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The Philippines is bounded by the South China Sea to the west, the Philippine Sea to the east, and the Celebes Sea to the south. It shares maritime borders with Taiwan to the north, Japan to the northeast, Palau to the east and southeast, Indonesia to the south, Malaysia to the southwest, Vietnam to the west, and China to the northwest. It is the world's twelfth-most-populous country, with diverse ethnicities and cultures. Manila is the country's capital, and its most populated city is Quezon City; both are within Metro Manila. Negritos, the archipelago's earliest inhabitants, were followed by waves of Austronesian peoples. The adoption of Animism, Hinduism with Buddhist influence, and Islam established island-kingdoms ruled by datus, rajas, and sultans. Overseas trade with neighbors such as the late Tang[17] or Song[18] empire brought Sinitic-speaking merchants to the archipelago, which would gradually settle and intermix as well in later centuries. The arrival of Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer leading a fleet for Spain, marked the beginning of Spanish colonization. In 1543, Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos named the archipelago Las Islas Filipinas in honor of King Philip II of Castile. Spanish settlement via New Spain, beginning in 1565, led to the Philippines becoming ruled by the Crown of Castile, as part of the Spanish Empire, for more than 300 years. Catholic Christianity became the dominant religion, and Manila became the western hub of trans-Pacific trade. Hispanic settlers from Latin America and Iberia would also gradually selectively settle. The Philippine Revolution began in 1896, which became entwined with the 1898 Spanish–American War. Spain ceded the territory to the United States, and Filipino revolutionaries declared the First Philippine Republic. The ensuing Philippine–American War ended with the United States controlling the territory until the Japanese invasion of the islands during World War II. After the United States retook the Philippines from the Japanese, the Philippines became independent in 1946. The country has had a tumultuous experience with democracy, which included the overthrow of a decades-long dictatorship in a nonviolent revolution. The Philippines is an emerging market and a newly industrialized country, whose economy is transitioning from being agricultural to service- and manufacturing-centered. It is a founding member of the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, ASEAN, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, and the East Asia Summit; it is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement and a major non-NATO ally of the United States. Its location as an island country on the Pacific Ring of Fire and close to the equator makes it prone to earthquakes and typhoons. The Philippines has a variety of natural resources and a globally-significant level of biodiversity. Etymology Main article: Names of the Philippines During his 1542 expedition, Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos named the islands of Leyte and Samar "Felipinas" after King Philip II of Castile (then Prince of Asturias). Eventually, the name "Las Islas Filipinas" would be used for the archipelago's Spanish possessions.[19]: 6  Other names, such as "Islas del Poniente" (Western Islands), "Islas del Oriente" (Eastern Islands), Ferdinand Magellan's name, and "San Lázaro" (Islands of St. Lazarus), were used by the Spanish to refer to islands in the region before Spanish rule was established.[20][21][22] During the Philippine Revolution, the Malolos Congress proclaimed the República Filipina (the Philippine Republic).[23] American colonial authorities referred to the country as the Philippine Islands (a translation of the Spanish name).[24] The United States began changing its nomenclature from "the Philippine Islands" to "the Philippines" in the Philippine Autonomy Act and the Jones Law.[25] The official title "Republic of the Philippines" was included in the 1935 constitution as the name of the future independent state,[26] and in all succeeding constitutional revisions....Climate Main article: Climate of the Philippines The Philippines has a tropical maritime climate which is usually hot and humid. There are three seasons: a hot dry season from March to May, a rainy season from June to November, and a cool dry season from December to February.[255] The southwest monsoon (known as the habagat) lasts from May to October, and the northeast monsoon (amihan) lasts from November to April.[256]: 24–25  The coolest month is January, and the warmest is May. Temperatures at sea level across the Philippines tend to be in the same range, regardless of latitude; average annual temperature is around 26.6 °C (79.9 °F) but is 18.3 °C (64.9 °F) in Baguio, 1,500 meters (4,900 ft) above sea level.[257] The country's average humidity is 82 percent.[256]: 24–25  Annual rainfall is as high as 5,000 millimeters (200 in) on the mountainous east coast, but less than 1,000 millimeters (39 in) in some sheltered valleys.[255] The Philippine Area of Responsibility has 19 typhoons in a typical year,[258] usually from July to October;[255] eight or nine of them make landfall.[259][260] The wettest recorded typhoon to hit the Philippines dropped 2,210 millimeters (87 in) in Baguio from July 14 to 18, 1911.[261] The country is among the world's ten most vulnerable to climate change....Ethnicity Main article: Ethnic groups in the Philippines See also: Filipinos and Pinoy Another color-coded map Dominant ethnic groups by province The country has substantial ethnic diversity, due to foreign influence and the archipelago's division by water and topography.[265] According to the 2010 census, the Philippines' largest ethnic groups were Tagalog (24.4 percent), Visayans [excluding the Cebuano, Hiligaynon and Waray] (11.4 percent), Cebuano (9.9 percent), Ilocano (8.8 percent), Hiligaynon (8.4 percent), Bikol (6.8 percent), and Waray (four percent).[10][368] The country's indigenous peoples consisted of 110 enthnolinguistic groups, with a combined population of 14 to 17 million, in 2010;[369] they include the Igorot, Lumad, Mangyan, and the indigenous peoples of Palawan.[370] Negritos are thought to be among the islands' earliest inhabitants.[76]: 35  These minority aboriginal settlers are an Australoid group, a remnant of the first human migration from Africa to Australia who were probably displaced by later waves of migration.[371] Some Philippine Negritos have a Denisovan admixture in their genome.[372][373] Ethnic Filipinos generally belong to several Southeast Asian ethnic groups, classified linguistically as Austronesians speaking Malayo-Polynesian languages.[374] The Austronesian population's origin is uncertain, but relatives of Taiwanese aborigines probably brought their language and mixed with the region's existing population.[375][376] The Lumad and Sama-Bajau ethnic groups have an ancestral affinity with the Austroasiatic- and Mlabri-speaking Htin peoples of mainland Southeast Asia. Westward expansion from Papua New Guinea to eastern Indonesia and Mindanao has been detected in the Blaan people and the Sangir language.[377] Immigrants arrived in the Philippines from elsewhere in the Spanish Empire, especially from the Spanish Americas.[378][379]: Chpt. 6 [380] A 2016 National Geographic project concluded that people living in the Philippine archipelago carried genetic markers in the following percentages: 53 percent Southeast Asia and Oceania, 36 percent Eastern Asia, five percent Southern Europe, three percent Southern Asia, and two percent Native American (from Latin America).[379]: Chpt. 6 [381] Descendants of mixed-race couples are known as Mestizos or tisoy,[382] which during the Spanish colonial times, were mostly composed of Chinese mestizos (Mestizos de Sangley), Spanish mestizos (Mestizos de Español) and the mix thereof (tornatrás).[383][384][385] The modern Chinese Filipinos are well-integrated into Filipino society.[265][386] Primarily the descendants of immigrants from Fujian,[387] the pure ethnic Chinese Filipinos during the American colonial era (early 1900s) purportedly numbered about 1.35 million; while an estimated 22.8 million (around 20 percent) of Filipinos have half or partial Chinese ancestry from precolonial, colonial, and 20th century Chinese migrants.[388][389] Almost 300,000 American citizens live in the country as of 2023,[390] and up to 250,000 Amerasians are scattered across the cities of Angeles, Manila, and Olongapo.[391][392] Other significant non-indigenous minorities include Indians[393] and Arabs.[394] Japanese Filipinos include escaped Christians (Kirishitan) who fled persecutions by Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu.[395] Languages Main article: Languages of the Philippines Another color-coded map Ethnolinguistic map Ethnologue lists 186 languages for the Philippines, 182 of which are living languages; the other four no longer have any known speakers. Most native languages are part of the Philippine branch of the Malayo-Polynesian languages, which is a branch of the Austronesian language family.[374] Spanish-based creole varieties, collectively known as Chavacano, are also spoken.[396] Many Philippine Negrito languages have unique vocabularies which survived Austronesian acculturation.[397] Filipino and English are the country's official languages.[5] Filipino, a standardized version of Tagalog, is spoken primarily in Metro Manila.[398] Filipino and English are used in government, education, print, broadcast media, and business, often with a third local language;[399] code-switching between English and other local languages, notably Tagalog, is common.[400] The Philippine constitution provides for Spanish and Arabic on a voluntary, optional basis.[5] Spanish, a widely used lingua franca during the late nineteenth century, has declined greatly in use,[401][402] although Spanish loanwords are still present in Philippine languages.[403][404][405] Arabic is primarily taught in Mindanao Islamic schools....Tourism Main article: Tourism in the Philippines People on an observation deck overlooking hills Tourists at Chocolate Hills, conical karst hills in Bohol The Philippines is a popular retirement destination for foreigners because of its climate and low cost of living;[494] the country is also a top destination for diving enthusiasts.[495][496] Tourist spots include Boracay, called the best island in the world by Travel + Leisure in 2012;[497] El Nido in Palawan; Cebu; Siargao, and Bohol.[498] Tourism contributed 5.2 percent to the Philippine GDP in 2021 (lower than 12.7 percent in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic),[499] and provided 5.7 million jobs in 2019.[500] The Philippines attracted 8.2 million international visitors in 2019, 15.24 percent higher than the previous year;[501] most tourists came from East Asia (59 percent), North America (15.8 percent), and ASEAN countries (6.4 percent)....Culture Main article: Culture of the Philippines A terraced hillside, seen from above The Banaue Rice Terraces, carved by ancestors of the Ifugao people The Philippines has significant cultural diversity, reinforced by the country's fragmented geography.[41]: 61 [547] Spanish and American cultures profoundly influenced Filipino culture as a result of long colonization.[548][265] The cultures of Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago developed distinctly, since they had limited Spanish influence and more influence from nearby Islamic regions.[48]: 503  Indigenous groups such as the Igorots have preserved their precolonial customs and traditions by resisting the Spanish.[549][550] A national identity emerged during the 19th century, however, with shared national symbols and cultural and historical touchstones.[547] Hispanic legacies include the dominance of Catholicism[56]: 5 [548] and the prevalence of Spanish names and surnames, which resulted from an 1849 edict ordering the systematic distribution of family names and the implementation of Spanish naming customs;[9]: 75 [55]: 237  the names of many locations also have Spanish origins.[551] American influence on modern Filipino culture[265] is evident in the use of English[552]: 12  and Filipino consumption of fast food and American films and music.[548] Public holidays in the Philippines are classified as regular or special.[553] Festivals are primarily religious, and most towns and villages have such a festival (usually to honor a patron saint).[554][555] Better-known festivals include Ati-Atihan,[556] Dinagyang,[557] Moriones,[558] Sinulog,[559] and Flores de Mayo—a month-long devotion to the Virgin Mary held in May.[560] The country's Christmas season begins as early as September 1,[561]: 149  and Holy Week is a solemn religious observance for its Christian population.[562][561]: 149  Values Further information: Filipino values Colored outdoor statue of a child pressing their forehead on the hand of a seated elder Statue in Iriga commemorating mano po Filipino values are rooted primarily in personal alliances based in kinship, obligation, friendship, religion (particularly Christianity), and commerce.[76]: 41  They center around social harmony through pakikisama,[563]: 74  motivated primarily by the desire for acceptance by a group.[564][565][552]: 47  Reciprocity through utang na loob (a debt of gratitude) is a significant Filipino cultural trait, and an internalized debt can never be fully repaid.[563]: 76 [566] The main sanction for divergence from these values are the concepts of hiya (shame)[567] and loss of amor propio (self-esteem).[565] The family is central to Philippine society; norms such as loyalty, maintaining close relationships and care for elderly parents are ingrained in Philippine society.[568][569] Respect for authority and the elderly is valued, and is shown with gestures such as mano and the honorifics po and opo and kuya (older brother) or ate (older sister).[570][571] Other Filipino values are optimism about the future, pessimism about the present, concern about other people, friendship and friendliness, hospitality, religiosity, respect for oneself and others (particularly women), and integrity." (wikipedia.org) "World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings.[8] A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into fields outside of wrestling, including film, football, and various other business ventures. The company is additionally involved in licensing its intellectual property to companies to produce video games and action figures. The promotion was founded in 1953 as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC), a Northeastern territory of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). Following a dispute, CWC left the NWA and became the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) in April 1963. After rejoining the NWA in 1971, the WWWF was renamed to World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1979 before the promotion left the NWA for good in 1983. In 2002, following a legal dispute with the World Wildlife Fund, the WWF was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment. In 2011, the promotion ceased branding itself as World Wrestling Entertainment and began solely branding itself with the initials WWE.[9] Prior to September 2023, the company's majority owner was its executive chairman, third-generation wrestling promoter Vince McMahon, who retained a 38.6% ownership of the company's outstanding stock and 81.1% of the voting power. The current entity, which was originally named Titan Sports, Inc., was incorporated on February 21, 1980, in South Yarmouth, Massachusetts, but reincorporated under Delaware General Corporation Law in 1987. It acquired Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd., the holding company for the WWF, in 1982. Titan was renamed World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. in 1999, and then World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. in 2002. In 2023, its legal name was changed to World Wrestling Entertainment, LLC.[10] WWE is the largest wrestling promotion in the world. Its main roster is divided into two brands, Raw and SmackDown, along with a developmental roster, NXT, based in the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. Overall, WWE is available in more than one billion homes worldwide in 30 languages. The company's global headquarters is located in Stamford, Connecticut,[11] with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore, Dubai, and Munich.[12] As in other professional wrestling promotions, WWE shows are not legitimate contests but entertainment-based performance theater, featuring storyline-driven, scripted, and partially choreographed matches; however, matches often include moves that can put performers at risk of injury, even death, if not performed correctly. The pre-determined aspect of professional wrestling was publicly acknowledged by WWE's owner Vince McMahon in 1989 in order to avoid taxes from athletic commissions. WWE brands its product as sports entertainment, acknowledging professional wrestling's roots in competitive sport and dramatic theater. In 2023, WWE began to explore a potential sale of the company, amidst an employee misconduct scandal involving McMahon that had prompted him to step down as chairman and CEO, although he returned as executive chairman.[13] In April 2023, WWE made a deal with Endeavor Group Holdings, under which it would merge with Zuffa, the parent company of mixed martial arts promotion Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to form TKO Group Holdings, a new public company majority-owned by Endeavor, with McMahon serving as executive chairman of the new entity, and Nick Khan becoming president. The merger was completed on September 12, 2023....Titan Sports, Inc. (1980–1999) Early years (1980–1982) Vincent J. McMahon's son, Vincent K. McMahon, and his wife Linda, established Titan Sports, Inc., in 1980 in South Yarmouth, Massachusetts and applied trademarks for the initials "WWF".[25][26] The company was incorporated on February 21, 1980, in the Cape Cod Coliseum offices, then moved to the building on Holly Hill Lane in Greenwich, Connecticut. Boom period (1982–1992) Main article: 1980s professional wrestling boom Vincent K. McMahon, former majority owner and executive chairman of WWE Hulk Hogan pictured in 1989 was the WWF's top star during the 1980s professional wrestling boom. The younger McMahon bought Capitol from his father in 1982, effectively seizing control of the company. The actual date of sale is still unknown but the generally accepted date is June 6, 1982; however this was likely only the date the deal was struck but not finalized. On WWF television, Capitol Wrestling Corporation maintained copyrights and ownership past the June 1982 date. The World Wrestling Federation was not solely owned by Vincent J. McMahon but also by Gorilla Monsoon, Arnold Skaaland and Phil Zacko. The deal between the two McMahons was a monthly payment basis where if a single payment was missed, ownership would revert to the elder McMahon and his business partners. Looking to seal the deal quickly, McMahon took several loans and deals with other promoters and the business partners (including the promise of a job for life) in order to take full ownership by May or June 1983 for an estimated total of roughly $1 million with the three business partners receiving roughly $815,000 among them and Vincent J. McMahon receiving roughly $185,000.[27] Seeking to make the WWF the premier wrestling promotion in the country, and eventually, the world, he began an expansion process that fundamentally changed the wrestling business.[28] At the annual meeting of the NWA in 1983, the McMahons and former Capitol employee Jim Barnett all withdrew from the organization.[21] McMahon also worked to get WWF programming on syndicated television all across the United States. This angered other promoters and disrupted the well-established boundaries of the different wrestling promotions, eventually ending the territory system, which was in use since the founding of the NWA in the 1940s. In addition, the company used income generated by advertising, television deals, and tape sales to secure talent from rival promoters, to which McMahon discussed in an interview with Sports Illustrated. McMahon was quoted as saying: "In the old days, there were wrestling fiefdoms all over the country, each with its own little lord in charge. Each little lord respected the rights of his neighboring little lord. No takeovers or raids were allowed. There were maybe 30 of these tiny kingdoms in the U.S. and if I hadn't bought out my dad, there would still be 30 of them, fragmented and struggling. I, of course, had no allegiance to those little lords."[28] McMahon gained significant traction when he hired American Wrestling Association (AWA) talent Hulk Hogan, who had achieved popularity outside of wrestling, notably for his appearance in the film Rocky III.[29] McMahon signed Roddy Piper as Hogan's rival, and then shortly afterward Jesse Ventura as an announcer. Other wrestlers joined the roster, such as The Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkoff, Junkyard Dog, Paul Orndorff, Greg Valentine, and Ricky Steamboat, joining existing stars such as Jimmy Snuka, Don Muraco, Sgt. Slaughter and André the Giant. Many of the wrestlers who would later join the WWF were former AWA or NWA talent. The WWF would tour nationally in a venture that would require a huge capital investment, one that placed the WWF on the verge of financial collapse. The future of McMahon's experiment came down to the success or failure of McMahon's groundbreaking concept, WrestleMania. WrestleMania was a major success and was (and still is) marketed as the Super Bowl of professional wrestling. The concept of a wrestling supercard was nothing new in North America; the NWA had begun running Starrcade a few years prior. In McMahon's eyes, however, what separated WrestleMania from other supercards was that it was intended 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 popular culture and professional wrestling. The WWF business expanded significantly on the shoulders of McMahon and his babyface hero Hulk Hogan for the next several years after defeating The Iron Sheik at Madison Square Garden on January 23, 1984.[30] The introduction of Saturday Night's Main Event on NBC in 1985 marked the first time that professional wrestling had been broadcast on network television since the 1950s when the now-defunct DuMont Television Network broadcast matches of Vincent J. McMahon's Capitol Wrestling Corporation. The 1980s "Wrestling Boom" peaked with the WrestleMania III pay-per-view at the Pontiac Silverdome in 1987, which set an attendance record of 93,173 for the WWF for 29 years until 2016.[31] A rematch of the WrestleMania III main event between WWF champion Hulk Hogan and André the Giant took place on The Main Event I in 1988 and was seen by 33 million people, the most-watched wrestling match in North American television history.[32] In 1983, Titan moved its offices to Stamford, Connecticut. Subsequently, a new Titan Sports, Inc. (originally WWF, Inc.) was established in Delaware in 1987 and was consolidated with the Massachusetts entity in February 1988.[33] New Generation (1992–1997) Main article: Monday Night Wars The WWF was hit with allegations of steroid abuse and distribution in 1992. This was followed by allegations of sexual harassment by WWF employees the following year.[34][35] McMahon was eventually exonerated, but the allegations brought bad public relations for the WWF, and an overall bad reputation. The steroid trial cost the company an estimated $5 million at a time of record low revenues. This helped drive many WWF wrestlers over to rival promotion World Championship Wrestling (WCW), including 1980s babyface hero Hulk Hogan. During this period, the WWF promoted wrestlers of a younger age comprising "The New Generation", featuring Shawn Michaels, Diesel, Razor Ramon, Bret Hart, The Undertaker and Sycho Sid among others in an effort to promote new talent into the spotlight. In January 1993, the WWF debuted its flagship cable program Monday Night Raw. WCW countered in September 1995 with its own Monday night program, Monday Nitro, which aired in the same time slot as Raw.[36] The two programs would trade wins in the ensuing ratings competition (known as the "Monday Night Wars") until mid-1996. At that point, Nitro began a nearly two-year ratings domination that was largely fueled by the introduction of the New World Order (nWo), a stable led by former WWF performers Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall (the former Razor Ramon), and Kevin Nash (the former Diesel).[37] Start of the Attitude Era (1997–1999) Main article: Attitude Era See also: Montreal Screwjob As the Monday Night Wars continued between Raw Is War and WCW's 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 WWF VP Shane McMahon (son of owner Vince McMahon) and head writer Vince Russo. 1997 ended with McMahon facing real-life controversy following Bret Hart's controversial departure from the company, dubbed as the Montreal Screwjob.[38] 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". Before 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. Austin was slowly brought in as the new face of the company despite being promoted as an antihero, 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.[39] On April 29, 1999, the WWF made its return to terrestrial television, airing a special program known as SmackDown! on the fledgling UPN network. The Thursday night show became a weekly series on August 26, 1999 – competing directly with WCW's Thursday night program titled Thunder on TBS. World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. (1999–2002) Initial public offering (1999) In the summer of 1999, Titan Sports, Inc. was renamed World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. On October 19, 1999, World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. launched an initial public offering as a publicly traded company, trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) with the issuance of stock then valued at $172.5 million.[40] The company is traded on the NYSE under ticker symbol WWE.[41] End of the Attitude Era (1999–2002) Main article: The Invasion (professional wrestling) By the fall of 1999, the Attitude Era had turned the tide of the Monday Night Wars into WWF's favor. After Time Warner merged with America Online (AOL), Ted Turner's control over WCW was considerably reduced. The newly merged company lacked interest in professional wrestling as a whole and decided to sell WCW in its entirety. Although Eric Bischoff, whom Time Warner fired as WCW president in October 1999, was nearing a deal to purchase the company, in March 2001 McMahon acquired the rights to WCW's trademarks, tape library, contracts, and other properties from AOL Time Warner for a number reported to be around $7 million.[42] Shortly after WrestleMania X-Seven, the WWF launched the Invasion storyline, integrating the incoming talent roster from WCW and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). With this purchase, WWF now became by far the sole largest wrestling promotion in North America and in the world. The assets of ECW, which had folded after filing for bankruptcy protection in April 2001, were purchased by WWE in 2003.[43] In 2000, the WWF, in collaboration with television network NBC, launched the XFL, a new professional football league that debuted in 2001.[44] The league had high ratings for the first few weeks, but initial interest waned and its ratings plunged to dismally low levels (one of its games was the lowest-rated prime-time show in the history of American television). NBC walked out on the venture after only one season, but McMahon intended to continue alone. However, after being unable to reach a deal with UPN, McMahon shut down the XFL.[45] WWE maintained control of the XFL trademark[46][47] before McMahon reclaimed the XFL brand, this time under a separate shell company from WWE, in 2017[48] with intent to relaunch the XFL in 2020.[49] On June 24, 2002, episode of Raw, Vince McMahon officially referred to the start of the next era, called the "Ruthless Aggression" era.[50][51] World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (2002–2023) Lawsuit and renaming (2002) Former WWE Chairwoman and CEO Stephanie McMahon (right) with her husband WWE CCO and Head of Creative Triple H (left) On May 6, 2002, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) changed both its company name and the name of its wrestling promotion to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) after the company lost a lawsuit initiated by the World Wildlife Fund over the WWF trademark.[52][53] Although mainly caused by an unfavorable ruling in its dispute with the World Wildlife Fund regarding the "WWF" initialism, the company noted it provided an opportunity to emphasize its focus on entertainment.[54] First brand split (2002–2011) Main articles: WWE brand extension and WWE Draft In March 2002, WWE decided to create two separate rosters, with each group of wrestlers appearing on one of their main programs, Raw and SmackDown!, due to the overabundance of talent left over from the Invasion storyline. This was dubbed as the "brand extension". Beginning in 2002 a draft lottery was held nearly every year to set the rosters, with the first draft to determine the inaugural split rosters, and subsequent drafts designed to refresh the rosters of each show. WWE expanded the brand split by relaunching ECW as a third brand on May 26, 2006.[55] Two years later, WWE adapted a more family-friendly format and their programming received a TV-PG rating.[56] The final ECW program aired on February 16, 2010, after which it was replaced with NXT.[57] On April 7, 2011, WWE, via the WWE Corporate website, the company ceased using the full name World Wrestling Entertainment and henceforth referred to itself solely as WWE, making the latter an orphan initialism. This was said to reflect WWE's global entertainment expansion away from the ring with the ultimate goal of acquiring entertainment companies and putting a focus on television, live events, and film production. WWE noted that their new company model was put into effect with the relaunch of Tough Enough, being a non-scripted program (contrary to the scripted nature of professional wrestling) and with the launch of the WWE Network (at the time scheduled to launch in 2012; later pushed back to 2014). However, the legal name of the company still remains as World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.[9] Brand reunification (2011–2016) Beginning with the August 29, 2011, episode, Raw - referred to as Raw Supershow - featured talent from both Raw and SmackDown (the "Supershow" epithet would be dropped on July 23, 2012).[58] Championships previously exclusive to one show or the other were available for wrestlers from any show to compete for; the "Supershow" format would mark the end of the brand split, as all programming and live events (until July 2016) featured the full WWE roster.[59] In 2013, the company built the sports medicine and training facility WWE Performance Center in the east Orange County, Florida in partnership with Full Sail University from Winter Park, Florida. The training facility is targeted at career and athletic development for the company's wrestlers.[60] Full Sail is also home base to WWE's NXT brand,[61] which served as a developmental territory for WWE.[62] On February 24, 2014, WWE launched WWE Network, an over-the-top streaming service that would feature archive content from WWE and its predecessors, all pay-per-views, (which would continue to be sold through television providers as well), and original programming.[63][64][65] Beginning in 2015 WWE started to push Roman Reigns as their face of the company since having him win the 2015 Royal rumble match, amidst mixed reception. By 2017 Roman Reigns became their highest merchandise seller.[66] Launch of second brand split (2016–2020) Raw and SmackDown have been WWE's two main brands since the brand split was first initiated in 2002. On May 25, 2016, WWE relaunched the brand split, billed as the "New Era". Subsequently, Raw and SmackDown have each featured their unique rosters, announcers, championships and ring sets/ropes. A draft took place to determine which wrestlers would appear on what show. SmackDown also moved from Thursdays to Tuesday nights, which began on July 19 (the night of the aforementioned draft), and airs live instead of the previous pre-recorded format.[67] On November 29, 2016, WWE introduced a new program specifically for their cruiserweight division (wrestlers 205 lbs. and under) called WWE 205 Live.[68] The program focuses exclusively on those wrestlers who qualify for the division.[69][70] The cruiserweights – who first became a fixture in WWE with the Cruiserweight Classic tournament – were originally exclusive to the Raw brand before landing their own brand.[71] On December 15, 2016, WWE established a new WWE United Kingdom Championship, with the inaugural champion being decided by a 16-man tournament to air on WWE Network featuring wrestlers from the UK and Ireland during January 2017. WWE executive Paul "Triple H" Levesque said the eventual plan with the new title and tournament was to establish a UK-based brand with its own weekly television show.[72][73] WWE subsequently launched its UK-based brand as an offshoot of NXT, NXT UK, in June 2018, with Johnny Saint serving as inaugural general manager.[74] Starting in September 2019, NXT had a weekly, live, two-hour show Wednesday nights on the USA Network and WWE began promoting NXT as their "third brand".[75][76] However, in 2021 NXT was moved to Tuesday nights, having conceded the Wednesday Night Wars to rival promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW), and in September of that year was reinstated to its original function as the developmental brand for the main roster (Raw and SmackDown), under the name "NXT 2.0"....Change in leadership (2022–2023) On June 17, 2022, amidst an investigation by WWE's Board of Directors into reported "hush money" paid to a former employee by Vince McMahon following an affair, Mr. McMahon stepped down as chairman and CEO of WWE and was replaced by his daughter, Stephanie McMahon, as the interim chairwoman of WWE.[107][108] Despite the change Vince McMahon came out on WWE SmackDown, that night opening the show with a brief speech, the highlights of which "then, now, forever and most importantly together" was quoted by various news media as Vince letting people know that he was still in creative control from behind the scenes.[109][110] On July 22, 2022, Vince McMahon officially retired, stating on Twitter, "At 77, time for me to retire. Thank you, WWE Universe. Then. Now. Forever. Together."[111] Following Vince's retirement, Stephanie McMahon was officially named chairwoman while she and Nick Khan were named co-CEOs of WWE.[112] Triple H would take over as head of creative, while resuming his position as Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and later being promoted to Chief Content Officer.[113][114] Commentators have highlighted the significance of McMahon's retirement, saying that it marked the historic start of a new period in WWE's history.[115][116][117][118][119][120][121] The 2022 SummerSlam event held on July 30, 2022, was the first WWE pay-per-view event to be held under the leadership of Stephanie McMahon and Triple H.[122][123] On August 18, 2022, WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels was promoted to WWE Vice President of Talent Development Creative.[124] On September 6, 2022, WWE announced Paul 'Triple H' Levesque's promotion to Chief Content Officer.[125] World Wrestling Entertainment, LLC (2023–present) Merger with UFC and the formation of TKO Group Holdings (2023) In January 2023, Vince McMahon stated his intention to return to the company ahead of media rights negotiations. WWE's media rights with Fox and USA Network are set to expire in 2024.[126] That same month, JPMorgan were hired to handle a possible sale of the company, with rumored suitors having included its media partners Comcast and Fox Corporation, The Walt Disney Company (owners of ESPN), Warner Bros. Discovery (media partners of rival All Elite Wrestling), Netflix, Amazon, Endeavor Group Holdings (owners of mixed martial arts promotion UFC, and Endeavor Streaming—which replaced MLB Advanced Media[127] as the streaming service provider for WWE Network in 2019), Liberty Media, Creative Artists Agency (CAA), and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (WWE had partnered with the Ministry of Sport to promote events in the country).[13][128] On January 10, 2023, Stephanie McMahon resigned as Chairwoman and co-CEO, also on the same day Vince McMahon assumed the role of executive Chairman of WWE while Nick Khan became the sole CEO.[129] On April 3, 2023, WWE and Endeavor reached a deal under which WWE would merge with UFC parent company Zuffa to form, TKO Group Holdings, which will go public on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol "TKO". Endeavor will hold a 51% stake in "TKO", with WWE's shareholders having a 49% stake,[5] valuing WWE at $9.1 billion.[130][131] This will mark the first time that WWE has not been majority-controlled by the McMahon family.[132] McMahon will serve as executive chairman of the new entity, Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel becoming CEO, with Mark Shapiro as president and chief operating officer. Emanuel will not take on any creative roles with WWE's head of creative Paul Levesque expected to remain in his role,[133] and with Nick Khan becoming president of WWE post-merger (not unlike Dana White's role as president of UFC).[131][130][134][133] The deal additionally grants McMahon life tenure as executive chairman, the right to nominate five WWE representatives on the 11 member board, as well as veto rights over certain actions by the new company.[135] In addition, McMahon will own 34% of the new company, with a 16% voting interest.[136] Shane McMahon had attempted to purchase the UFC multiple times in the 2000s, but Vince talked him out of doing so.[137] Emanuel stated that this merger would "bring together two leading pureplay sports and entertainment companies" and provide "significant operating synergies".[131] McMahon stated that "family businesses have to evolve for all the right reasons",[130] and that "given the incredible work that Ari and Endeavor have done to grow the UFC brand — nearly doubling its revenue over the past seven years — and the immense success we've already had in partnering with their team on a number of ventures, I believe that this is without a doubt the best outcome for our shareholders and other stakeholders." The merger was expected to be completed in September 2023.[138] Despite the merger, the two promotions, WWE and the UFC, will continue to run as separate divisions of the newly merged company.[139][140] The merger was finalized on September 12, 2023.[141] The first television show produced under the TKO banner was the September 12 episode of WWE NXT....Contracts Main article: List of WWE personnel WWE signs most of its talent to exclusive contracts, meaning talent can appear or perform only on WWE programming and events. They are not permitted to appear or perform for another promotion unless special arrangements are made beforehand. WWE keeps all wrestlers' salary, employment length, benefits, and all other contract details strictly private.[157] WWE classifies its professional wrestlers as independent contractors and not as employees. A study by the University of Louisville Law Review found that after applying the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) 20-factor test, 16 factors "clearly indicate that wrestlers are employees". However, as a result of WWE terming them as independent contractors, "the wrestlers are denied countless benefits to which they would otherwise be entitled".[158] In September 2020, WWE reportedly told wrestlers that they could no longer "engage with outside third parties", such as Cameo, and claimed that the WWE "owns the real names of talent, not just their character names".[159] In December 2021, WWE revealed a new recruitment contract for athletes who are currently attending college. The NCAA-approved name, image, and likeness contracts are referred to by WWE as "next in line agreements".[160] Stock and corporate governance On October 19, 1999, WWF, which had been owned previously by parent company Titan Sports, launched an initial public offering as a publicly traded company, trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) with the issuance of stock then valued at $172.5 million.[40] The company has traded on the NYSE since its launch under ticker symbol WWE.[41] The company has actively marketed itself as a publicly traded company through presentations at investor conferences and other investor relations initiatives.[161] In June 2003, the company began paying a dividend on its shares of $0.04 per share.[162] In June 2011, the company cut its dividend from $0.36 to $0.12.[163] In 2014, concerns about the company's viability caused wide fluctuations in its share price....WWE Network and distribution deals Main article: WWE Network On February 24, 2014, WWE launched WWE Network, an over-the-top subscription streaming service [63][64][65] The service, which was initially proposed as a linear pay television service,[259][260] carries all WWE pay-per-view events, original programming (including in-ring programs, as well as documentary and reality programming highlighting the promotion and its history), and access to WWE library content such as classic pay-per-views and television episodes from WWE and other promotions that it had acquired.[261] The service reached 1,000,000 subscribers on January 27, 2015, in less than one year of its launch, with WWE claiming that it was thus "the fastest-growing digital subscription service ever".[262] In May 2014, WWE and NBCUniversal agreed to a new contract that would see both Raw and SmackDown continue on NBC owned networks the USA Network and Syfy.[263] In January 2016, SmackDown would change networks to the USA Network. The contract with NBCUniversal expires in 2019.[264] On November 17, 2016, WWE and Sky Deutschland signed a multi-year agreement to distribute WWE's premier pay-per-view events and broadcast Raw and SmackDown Live on SKY Sports starting in April 2017.[265] On April 10, 2017, WWE and DAZN, made Raw and SmackDown available live in Japan with Japanese commentary.[266] On April 27, 2017, WWE and TV5, reached a new agreement to broadcast one-hour editions of SmackDown.[267] On May 12, 2017, WWE and Saran Media, reached a new multi-year agreement to televise Raw and SmackDown.[268] On July 10, 2017, WWE and AB 1, extended their partnership into its 18th year with a new, multi-year agreement to broadcast WWE programming.[269] On July 20, 2017, WWE and SuperSport, reached a new, multi-year agreement to broadcast WWE programming live for the first time in more than 50 countries.[270] On August 1, 2017, WWE and Foxtel, extend their partnership into its 18th year with a new agreement to broadcast WWE programming.[271] On August 8, 2017, WWE and Canal 1, a new agreement to broadcast One-hour editions of Raw and SmackDown.[272] On August 16, 2017, WWE and Nine Network reached a broadcast agreement to air weekly one-hour versions of Raw and SmackDown.[273] On August 24, 2017, WWE and Flow reached a multi-year agreement to televise WWE's flagship programmes Raw and SmackDown.[274] On September 7, 2017, WWE and TVA Sports reached a multi-year agreement to air a weekly, one-hour only edition of Raw, in French in Canada.[274] On October 24, 2017, WWE and Sport TV reached a multi-year agreement to air Raw and SmackDown.[275] On December 15, 2017, WWE and IB SPORTS, they will extend their partnership with a new agreement to broadcast WWE programming live for the first time in South Korea.[276] On December 18, 2017, WWE and SPS HD, reached an agreement to broadcast Raw and SmackDown on SPS Sports for the first time in Mongolia.[277] On December 13, 2017, WWE and Facebook introduced a new Internet in-ring series called WWE Mixed Match Challenge that will stream live in the U.S. exclusively on Facebook Watch. Premiering on January 16, 2018, the 12-episode series will feature wrestlers from both the Raw and SmackDown rosters competing in a single-elimination mixed tag-team tournament to win $100,000 to support the charity of their choice. Each episode will be 20 minutes long and will air at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.[278] Starting on March 18, 2021 (ahead of Fastlane and WrestleMania 37), the WWE Network in the United States became exclusively distributed by Peacock. The merger of the WWE Network and Peacock did not affect the service outside of the United States.[103] On September 9, 2022, WWE reached a new multi-year partnership deal with The Foxtel Group,[279] which allowed Foxtel to be the exclusive distributor of WWE in Australia, starting in early December 2022, allowing all pay-per-view events and original programming to be available on a dedicated WWE channel, Foxtel Now, and on Binge, with no additional cost to Foxtel and Binge users. Expansion beyond wrestling Subsidiaries Active     TSI Realty Co. (1997–present): In 1997, WWE established a real estate brokerage and investment firm called TSI Realty Company.[280]     WWE Books (2002–present): A book series that often publishes biographies of WWE personalities, behind-the-scenes guides to WWE, illustrated books, calendars, young adult books, and other nonfiction books.     WCW Inc. (2000–present): A subsidiary that was originally created as W. Acquisition Company in 2000. It was renamed WCW Inc. in 2001 following the WWF's purchase of the rights to the video library and intellectual property for World Championship Wrestling.     WWE Legacy Department (2001–present): A collection of professional wrestling videos and copyrights.     WWE Studios (2002–present): Formerly known as WWE Films, a subsidiary that creates and develops feature film properties, including scripted, non-scripted, family and animated television and digital content.     WWE Music Group (2006–present): A music group that specializes in compilation albums of WWE wrestlers' entrance themes. The group also releases titles that have been performed by WWE wrestlers.     WWE Jet Services, Inc. (2013–present): A subsidiary formed to manage the financing and operations of the company's fleet of private jets.     WWE Performance Center (2013–present): A subsidiary that serves as the usual training center for future WWE wrestlers.     WWE Shop (2015–present): A website established as the place to buy officially licensed WWE-related apparel, gear, and several other of the merchandise's products.     Alpha Entertainment (2018–present): A limited liability company that was established in 2018 by Vince McMahon for the purpose of being the parent company of the new XFL. While McMahon stated that the XFL would remain as a separate company from WWE, it was revealed through WWE's 2018 10-K that the company holds a minority stake in Alpha Entertainment.[281]     WWE Podcast Network (2019–present): A podcast network that features several WWE wrestlers hosting their own podcasts. WWE partnered with Endeavor Audio to launch the network.[282] Defunct     World Bodybuilding Federation (1990–1992): A subsidiary of Titan Sports which promoted professional bodybuilding through a television show, magazine, and annual pay-per-view events.     Radio WWF (1993) A syndicated radio station hosted by Jim Ross and Johnny Polo. The station featured shows that would cover ongoing WWF storylines and behind the scenes incidents. Radio WWF hosts also provided commentary for two pay-per-views.     Wrestle Vessel (1996–1999): A series of WWF-themed cruise ship experiences.     WWE Home Video (1997–2023): A home video subsidiary that specialized in distributing VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray Disc copies of WWE pay-per-view events, compilations of WWE wrestlers' performances and entrances, and biographies of WWE performers. WWE Home Video releases were discontinued worldwide on December 26, 2023.     XFL (2000–2001): A partially-owned subsidiary of the WWF which comprised eight league-owned professional football teams. The league included television broadcasts on NBC (the other co-owners of the league), UPN, and TNN.     The World Entertainment (1999–2003): A subsidiary of World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment that operated a restaurant, nightclub, and memorabilia shop in New York City. World originally opened as "WWF New York", and was renamed to "The World". Hard Rock Cafe took over the location in 2005.     WWE Niagara Falls (2002–2011): A retail store that was located in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. The store featured autograph signings and appearances by WWE wrestlers, alumni, and Hall of Famers.     WWE Classics on Demand (2004–2014): A subscription video-on-demand television service. Classics had footage from WWE's archive footage, including World Championship Wrestling, Extreme Championship Wrestling, and others. Classics offered around 40 hours of rotating programming per month, arranged into four programming buckets, and often centered on a specific theme.     WWE Kids (2008–2014): A website and comic set, aimed at the children's end of the wrestling market. WWE Kids' comics were produced bi-monthly.     WWE Universe (2008–2011): A social media website which was managed and operated by WWE. Its original name was "WWE Fan Nation" and was renamed as "WWE Universe".     WWE Magazine (1983–2014): WWE's magazine – originally released bi-monthly, it later switching to a monthly schedule, before being discontinued in 2014." (wikipedia.org) "A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling that has little relationship to the rules of the olympic form. "Promotion" also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event. Within the convention of the show, the company is a sports governing body which sanctions wrestling matches and gives authority to the championships and is responsible for maintaining the divisions and their rankings. In truth, the company serves as a touring theatre troupe, as well as event promotion body for its own events. Most promotions are self-contained, organized around one or more championships and do not acknowledge or recognize the legitimacy of other promotions' titles unless they share a working agreement. Governing bodies, such as the CyberFight, United Wrestling Network, WWNLive, Allied Independent Wrestling Federations, Union of European Wrestling Alliances, Pro Wrestling International and, previously, the National Wrestling Alliance, act as an umbrella organization which governs titles that are shared among multiple promotions. During the 1950s, the National Wrestling Alliance oversaw many wrestling territories such as Mid-Atlantic Wrestling and NWA San Francisco, in a business model known as the "territory system"." (wikipedia.org) "Professional wrestling is a form of theater[1] that revolves around mock combat performed in a squared ring, with the premise being that the performers are competitive wrestlers. The storylines are typically based around interpersonal conflicts between good-natured "faces" and villainous "heels". The ring is the main stage; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of the venue, in a format similar to reality television. Professional wrestling as a form of theater evolved out of the commonplace practice of match fixing among American wrestlers dating back to the late 19th century. The public eventually caught on to the deception, but came to accept professional wrestling as a performance art because they found wrestling to be more entertaining when faked. Wrestlers responded by adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stuntwork to their performances to further raise the entertainment. Nevertheless, they kept pretending the matches were real competitions, and the fans played along—this is a tradition known as kayfabe.[2] Context In the United States, authentic sports wrestling is generally practiced in an amateur context. No professional league for competitive wrestling exists in Western countries[3] due to a lack of popularity.[4] A case in point is Real Pro Wrestling, an American professional freestyle wrestling league that dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In other countries, such as Iran and India, wrestling enjoys widespread popularity as a genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has a more literal meaning in those places.[5] A notable example is India's Pro Wrestling League. In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling thusly:     Professional wrestling means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise a bona fide athletic contest or competition. Professional wrestling is not a combative sport. Wrestling constituting bona fide athletic contests and competitions, which may be professional or amateur combative sport, shall not be deemed professional wrestling under this Part. Professional wrestling as used in this Part shall not depend on whether the individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in a professional wrestling exhibition. All engagements of professional wrestling shall be referred to as exhibitions, and not as matches.     — 19 CRR-NY 213.2 In the industry's slang, a fixed match is referred to as a worked match, derived from the slang word for manipulation, such as "working the crowd". A shoot match is a genuine contest where both wrestlers fight to win and are therefore "straight shooters", which comes from a carny term for a shooting gallery gun whose sights were not deliberately misaligned....In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about the industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror, resulting in a huge exposé. Unlike most promoters, Pfefer did not pretend that professional wrestling was real, and he passed on the planned results of the matches, to the Daily Mirror just before they took place.. The exposé neither surprised nor alienated most wrestling fans, though some promoters like Jack Curley were furious and tried to restore the facade of kayfabe as best they could.[21] Newspapers tended to shun professional wrestling. It was a form of theater that pretended to be real sport, which offended journalists whose business was telling the truth.[22] Eventually promoters resorted to publishing their own magazines in order to get press coverage and communicate with fans.[23] The first professional wrestling magazine was Wrestling As You Like It, which printed its first issue in 1946. These magazines were faithful to kayfabe. Before the advent of television, professional wrestling's fanbase largely consisted of children, the elderly, blue-collar workers and minorities. When television arose in the 1940s, professional wrestling got national exposure on prime time television and gained widespread popularity. Professional wrestling was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s.[24][25] In 1989, Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey Athletic Commission that professional wrestling is not a real sport because its matches have predetermined outcomes. He did this to have the World Wrestling Federation (his promotion) exempted from sports licensing fees.[26] Shortly thereafter, New Jersey deregulated professional wrestling.[27][28] The WWF then rebranded itself as a "sports entertainment" company. The style In the early years of the 20th century, the style of wrestling used in professional wrestling matches, whether fake or real, was catch wrestling. Wrestlers strove to make their worked matches look realistic, and for that reason promoters preferred to recruit wrestlers with real grappling skills. In the 1920s, a group of wrestlers and promoters known as the Gold Dust Trio introduced moves which have since become staples of the mock combat of professional wrestling, such as body slams, suplexes, punches, finishing moves, and out-of-ring count-outs.[29] By the early 1930s, most wrestlers had adopted personas to generate public interest. These personas could broadly be characterized as either faces (likeable) or heels (villainous). Native Americans, cowboys, and English aristocrats were staple characters in the 1930s and 1940s.[30] Before the age of television, some wrestlers played different personas depending on the region they were performing in. This eventually came to an end in the age of national television wrestling shows, which forced wrestlers to stick to one persona. Wrestlers also often used some sort of gimmick, such as a finishing move, eccentric mannerisms, or out-of-control behavior (in the case of heels). The matches could also be gimmicky, with some wrestlers fighting in mud and piles of tomatoes. The most successful and enduring gimmick to emerge from the 1930s were tag-team matches. Promoters noticed that matches slowed down as the wrestlers in the ring tired, so they gave them partners to relieve them. It also gave heels another way to misbehave by double-teaming.[31] Towards the end of the 1930s, faced with declining revenues, promoters chose to focus on grooming charismatic wrestlers with no regard for their skill, because it was charisma that drew the crowds, and wrestlers who were both skilled at grappling and charismatic were hard to come by. Since most of the public by this time knew and accepted that professional wrestling was fake, a background in authentic wrestling no longer mattered. After this time, matches became more outlandish and gimmicky, and any semblance professional wrestling had to catch wrestling faded. The personas of the wrestlers likewise grew more outlandish.[32] Gorgeous George, who performed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, was the first wrestler whose entrance into the arena was accompanied by a theme song played over the arena's loudspeakers, his being Pomp and Circumstance. He also wore a costume: a robe and hairnet, which he removed after getting in the ring. He also had a pre-match ritual where his "butler" would spray the ring with perfume. In the 1980s, Vince McMahon made entrance songs, costumes, and rituals standard for his star wrestlers. For instance, McMahon's top star Hulk Hogan would delight the audience by ripping his shirt apart before the match....Professional wrestling has become especially prominent in North America, Japan and Europe (especially the United Kingdom).[53] In Brazil, there was a very popular wrestling television program that aired from the 1960s to the early 1980s called Telecatch.[54][55] High-profile figures in the sport have become celebrities and even cultural icons in their home countries. Although professional wrestling started out as a small sideshow in traveling circuses and carnivals, today it is a multi-billion-dollar industry. Revenue is drawn from ticket sales, network television broadcasts, pay-per-view broadcasts, branded merchandise and home video.[56] Wrestling was instrumental in making pay-per-view a viable method of content delivery. Annual shows such as WrestleMania, All In, Bound for Glory, Wrestle Kingdom and formerly Starrcade are among the highest-selling pay-per-view programming each year. In modern day, internet programming has been utilized by a number of companies to air web shows, internet pay per views (IPPVs) or on-demand content, helping to generate internet-related revenue earnings from the evolving World Wide Web. Home video sales dominate the Billboard charts Recreational Sports DVD sales, with wrestling holding anywhere from 3 to 9 of the top 10 spots every week.[57] AT&T Stadium during WrestleMania 32. WWE claims a record attendance of 101,763 for the event Due to its persistent cultural presence and to its novelty within the performing arts, wrestling constitutes a recurring topic in both academia and the media. Several documentaries have been produced looking at professional wrestling, most notably Beyond the Mat directed by Barry W. Blaustein, and Wrestling with Shadows featuring retired wrestler Bret Hart and directed by Paul Jay. There have also been many fictional depictions of wrestling; the 2008 film The Wrestler received several Oscar nominations and began a career revival for its star Mickey Rourke. Currently, the largest professional wrestling company worldwide is the United States-based WWE, which bought out many smaller regional companies in the late 20th century, as well as primary competitors World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in early 2001. Other major companies worldwide include All Elite Wrestling (AEW) in the United States, Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), and Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) in Mexico; and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), and Pro Wrestling Noah in Japan....Kayfabe     This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Main articles: Kayfabe and Shoot (professional wrestling) Kayfabe is the practice of pretending that professional wrestling is a true sport. Wrestlers would at all times flatly deny allegations that they fixed their matches, and they often remained in-character in public even when not performing. When in public, wrestlers would sometimes say the word kayfabe to each other as a coded signal that there were fans present and they needed to be in character. Professional wrestlers in the past strongly believed that if they admitted the truth, their audiences would desert them.     Today's performers don't "protect" the industry like we did, but that's primarily because they've already exposed it by relying on silly or downright ludicrous characters and gimmicks to gain popularity with the fans.  It was different in my day, when our product was presented as an authentic, competitive sport.  We protected it because we believed it would collapse if we ever so much as implied publicly that it was something other than what it appeared to be.  I'm not sure now the fear was ever justified given the fact that the industry is still in existence today, but the point is no one questioned the need then.  "Protecting the business" in the face of criticism and skepticism was the first and most important rule a pro wrestler learned.  No matter how aggressive or informed the questioner, you never admitted the industry was anything but a competitive sport.     — Lou Thesz, Hooker The first wrestling promoter to publicly admit to routinely fixing matches was Jack Pfefer. In 1933, he started talking about the industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror, resulting in a huge exposé. The exposé neither surprised nor alienated most wrestling fans, although some promoters like Jack Curley were furious and tried to restore the facade of kayfabe as best as they could. In 1989, Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey government that professional wrestling was not a true sport and therefore should be exempted from sports-related taxes. Many wrestlers and fans resented McMahon for this, but Lou Thesz accepted it as the smart move as it gave the industry more freedom to do as it pleased, and because by that point professional wrestling no longer attempted to appear realistic.[58] The demise of WCW in 2001 provided some evidence that kayfabe still mattered to a degree. Vince Russo, the boss of WCW in 2000, completely disregarded kayfabe by routinely discussing business matters and office politics in public, which alienated fans.[52] Performance aspects     I watch championship wrestling from Florida with wrestling commentator Gordon Solie. Is this all "fake"? If so, they deserve an Oscar.     — S. R. Welborn of High Point, North Carolina, question posed to sports Q&A column written by Murray Olderman, 1975[59] Professional wrestling shows can be considered a form of theater in the round, with the ring, ringside area, and entryway comprising a stage. There is less of a fourth wall than in most theatric performances, similar to pantomime involving audience participation. The audience is recognized and acknowledged by the performers as spectators to the sporting event being portrayed, and are encouraged to interact as such. This leads to a high level of audience participation; in fact, their reactions can dictate how the performance unfolds.[60] Often, individual matches will be part of a longer story line conflict between "babyfaces" (often shortened to just "faces") and "heels". "Faces" (the "good guys") are those whose actions are intended to encourage the audience to cheer, while "heels" (the "bad guys") act to draw the spectators' ire.[61] In pro wrestling matches, performers often execute a series of pre-planned moves and attacks, ranging from grappling and throws found in some traditional forms of wrestling, to more spectacular stunts, sometimes involving props and special effects. The attacks in these matches are designed to appear dramatic whilst reducing the risk of serious injury as much as possible. Overall, the performers aim to minimize the actual injurious impact of their moves while maximizing their entertainment value. Shows produced by the largest professional wrestling promotions like WWE are traditionally performed in indoor venues, flagship events in this profession like WrestleMania are sometimes staged at outdoor venues; these shows are generally video recorded for live or delayed broadcasting for an audience all over the world. Additionally filmed footage known as “segments” or “promos” are usually used to accompany the drama in these shows.[62] Prior experience in legitimate wrestling is not a requirement for aspiring professional wrestlers, but is seen as an advantageous background. Despite its scripted format, there have been quite a number of performers throughout the history of pro wrestling who have had prior experience in legitimate wrestling, before transitioning to its theatrical form. A popular performer, Kurt Angle, is the first Olympic gold medalist in professional wrestling history, having won his gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in freestyle wrestling. Another prominent performer is Brock Lesnar,[63] a former NCAA Wrestler who won the NCAA Division I National Championship in 2000....Professional wrestlers don't so much follow a set of rules as they do a script, but they must appear to follow a set of rules like in a real sport. While each promoter can set his own "rules" for his matches, professional wrestling promoters have long understood that fans would enjoy professional wrestling more if all matches appeared to follow a consistent set of rules as in real sports. The rules described in this section represent common standards but may not precisely align with the ruleset of any specific promotion. General structure Spectators gather in Pyongyang, North Korea for Antonio Inoki's Pro Wrestling Friendship Games. A traditional wrestling ring can be seen in the lower left corner Matches are held between two or more sides ("corners"). Each corner may consist of one wrestler, or a team of two or more. Most team matches are governed by tag team rules (see below). Other matches are free-for-alls, with multiple combatants but no teams. In all variants, there can be only one winning team or wrestler. Matches are held within a wrestling ring, an elevated square canvas mat with posts on each corner. A cloth apron hangs over the edges of the ring. Three horizontal ropes or cables surround the ring, suspended with turnbuckles which are connected to the posts. For safety, the ropes are padded at the turnbuckles and cushioned mats surround the floor outside the ring. Guardrails or a similar barrier enclose this area from the audience. Wrestlers are generally expected to stay within the confines of the ring, though matches sometimes end up outside the ring, and even in the audience, to add excitement. The standard method of scoring is the "fall", which is accomplished by:     Pinning the opponent's shoulders to the mat, typically for three seconds (though other times have been used)     Forcing the opponent to submit     Disqualification of the opponent     The opponent remaining outside the ring for too long (countout)     Knocking out or otherwise incapacitating the opponent These are each explained in greater detail below. Pinfalls and submissions must occur within the ring unless stipulated otherwise. Most wrestling matches last for a set number of falls, with the first side to achieve the majority number of pinfalls, submissions, or countouts being the winner. Historically, matches were wrestled to 3 falls ("best 2 out of 3") or 5 falls ("best 3 out of 5"). The standard for modern matches is one fall. These matches have a time limit; if not enough falls are scored by the end of the time limit, the match is declared a draw. Modern matches are generally given a 10- to 30-minute time limit for standard matches; title matches can go for up to one hour. British wrestling matches held under Admiral-Lord Mountevans rules consist of six three minute rounds, with a thirty-second break between each round and can either be 2-Out-of-3 Falls or the wrestler with the most falls wins at the end of the final round.[66] An alternative is a match set for a prescribed length of time, with a running tally of falls. The entrant with the most falls at the end of the time limit is declared the winner. This is usually for 20, 30 or 60 minutes, and is commonly called an Iron Man match. This type of match can be modified so that fewer types of falls are allowed. In matches with multiple competitors, an elimination system may be used. Any wrestler who has a fall scored against them is forced out of the match, and the match continues until only one remains. It is much more common when more than two wrestlers are involved to simply go one fall, with the one scoring the fall, regardless of who they scored it against, being the winner. In championship matches, this means that, unlike one-on-one matches (where the champion can simply disqualify himself or get himself counted out to retain the title via the Champion's Advantage), the champion does not have to be pinned or involved in the decision to lose the championship. Heel champions often find advantages, not in Champion's Advantage, but in the use of weapons and outside interference, as these poly-sided matches tend to involve no holds barred rules. A WWE Money in the Bank ladder match in 2009 Many modern specialty matches have been devised, with unique winning conditions. The most common of these is the ladder match. In the basic ladder match, the wrestlers or teams of wrestlers must climb a ladder to obtain a prize that is hoisted above the ring. The key to winning this match is that the wrestler or team of wrestlers must try to incapacitate each other long enough for one wrestler to climb the ladder and secure that prize for their team. As a result, the ladder can be used as a weapon. The prizes include, but are not limited to, any given championship belt (the traditional prize), a document granting the winner the right to a future title shot, or any document that matters to the wrestlers involved in the match (such as one granting the winner a cash prize). Another common specialty match is known as the battle royal. In a battle royal, all the wrestlers enter the ring to the point that there are 20–30 wrestlers in the ring at one time. When the match begins, the simple objective is to throw the opponent over the top rope and out of the ring with both feet on the floor to eliminate that opponent. The last wrestler standing is declared the winner. A variant on this type of match is the WWE's Royal Rumble where two wrestlers enter the ring to start the match and other wrestlers follow in 90 second intervals (previously 2 minutes) until 30–40 wrestlers have entered the ring. All other rules stay the same. For more match types, see Professional wrestling match types. Tommy Seigler applies a hold to Nick Kozak while a referee looks on Every match must be assigned a rule keeper known as a referee, who is the final arbitrator. In multi-man lucha libre matches, two referees are used, one inside the ring and one outside. Due to the legitimate role that referees play in wrestling of serving as liaison between the bookers backstage and the wrestlers in the ring (the role of being a final arbitrator is merely kayfabe), the referee is present, even in matches that do not at first glance appear to require a referee (such as a ladder match, as it is no holds barred, and the criteria for victory could theoretically be assessed from afar). Although their actions are also frequently scripted for dramatic effect, referees are subject to certain general rules and requirements to maintain the theatrical appearance of unbiased authority. The most basic rule is that an action must be seen by a referee to be declared for a fall or disqualification. This allows for heel characters to gain a scripted advantage by distracting or disabling the referee to perform some ostensibly illegal maneuver on their opponent. Most referees are unnamed and essentially anonymous, though some wrestling promotions, most notably in the present All Elite Wrestling, have made officials known by their names (and there are some cases where fans have called their name during matches). Special guest referees may be used from time to time; by virtue of their celebrity status, they are often scripted to dispense with the appearance of neutrality and use their influence to unfairly influence the outcome of the match for added dramatic impact. Face special referees will often fight back against hostile heel wrestlers, particularly if the special referee is either a wrestler himself or a famous martial artist (such as Tito Ortiz at the main event at Hard Justice 2005). For heel special referees, common ways of assisting the heel wrestler to obtain victory include, but are not limited to, the following:     Counting fast whenever the face wrestler is being pinned, while counting slow, faking a wrist or eye injury, or even refusing to count at all, when the heel wrestler is being pinned.     Allowing heel wrestlers to use blatantly illegal tactics that most normal referees would instantly disqualify for, while not extending these relaxed rules to face wrestlers.     Disqualifying the face wrestler for unfair reasons, such as an accidental attack on the referee or a maneuver that appears to be an illegal attack.     Feigning unconsciousness far longer than they would normally otherwise be out, or using convenient distractions to look away from the wrestlers for a prolonged period of time. This allows for greater opportunities for run-ins or use of illegal weapons and tactics, or can be used as an excuse to avoid counting a pinfall or calling a submission in the face's favor. The referee often instantly up the moment the heel wrestler seems to have an advantage, usually the moment the heel goes for the pinfall or applies a submission finisher.     Actually assisting in attacking the face wrestler....haracter/gimmick Main article: Gimmick (professional wrestling) In Latin America and English-speaking countries, most wrestlers (and other on-stage performers) portray character roles, sometimes with personalities wildly different from their own. These personalities are a gimmick intended to heighten interest in a wrestler without regard to athletic ability. Some can be unrealistic and cartoon-like (such as Doink the Clown), while others carry more verisimilitude (such as Chris Jericho, The Rock, John Cena, Steve Austin, and CM Punk). In lucha libre, many characters wear masks, adopting a secret identity akin to a superhero or a supervillain, a near-sacred tradition.[69] An individual wrestler may use their real name, or a minor variation of it, for much of their career, such as Bret Hart, John Cena and Randy Orton. Others can keep one ring name for their entire career (Shawn Michaels, CM Punk and Ricky Steamboat), or may change from time to time to better suit the demands of the audience or company. Sometimes a character is owned and trademarked by the company, forcing the wrestler to find a new one when he leaves (although a simple typeset change, such as changing Rhyno to Rhino, can get around this), and sometimes a character is owned by the wrestler. Sometimes, a wrestler may change their legal name to obtain ownership of their ring name (Andrew Martin and Warrior). Many wrestlers (such as The Rock and The Undertaker) are strongly identified with their character, even responding to the name in public or between friends. Proper decorum is for wrestlers to refer to each other by their stage names/characters rather than their birth/legal names, unless otherwise introduced.[70] A character can become so popular that it appears in other media (Hulk Hogan and El Santo) or even gives the performer enough visibility to enter politics (Antonio Inoki and Jesse Ventura). Typically, matches are staged between a protagonist (historically an audience favorite, known as a babyface, or "the good guy") and an antagonist (historically a villain with arrogance, a tendency to break rules, or other unlikable qualities, called a heel, or "the bad guy"). In recent years, antiheroes have also become prominent in professional wrestling. There is also a less common role of a "tweener", who is neither fully face nor fully heel yet able to play either role effectively (case in point, Samoa Joe during his first run in Impact Wrestling from June 2005 to November 2006). At times, a character may "turn", altering their face/heel alignment. This may be an abrupt, surprising event, or it may slowly build over time. It is almost always accomplished with a markable change in behavior. Some turns become defining points in a career, as when Hulk Hogan turned heel after being a top face for over a decade. Others may have no noticeable effect on the character's status. If a character repeatedly switches between face and heel, this lessens the effect of such turns, and may result in apathy from the audience. Big Show is a good example of having more heel and face turns than anyone in WWE history. Sometimes a character's heel turn will become so popular that eventually the audience response will alter the character's heel-face cycle to the point where the heel persona will, in practice, become a face persona, and what was previously the face persona, will turn into the heel persona, such as when Dwayne Johnson first began using "The Rock" persona as a heel character, as opposed to his original "Rocky Maivia" babyface persona. Another legendary example is Stone Cold Steve Austin, who was originally booked as a heel, with such mannerisms as drinking on the job, using profanity, breaking company property, and even breaking into people's private homes. The fans' response to Austin was so positive that he effectively became one of the most popular antiheroes in professional wrestling. Austin, along with the stable of D-Generation X, Bret Hart and his Hart Foundation, is generally credited with ushering the Attitude Era of WWF programming....Story/Angles While real exhibition matches are now not uncommon, most matches tell a story analogous to an episode of a serial drama: the face will from time to time win (triumph) or from time to time lose (tragedy), and longer story arcs can result from a couple of matches. Since most promotions have a championship title, opposition for the championship is a frequent impetus for stories. For added stakes, anything from a character's own hair to their job can be wagered in a match. Some matches are designed to further the story of only one participant. It could be intended to portray an unstoppable force, a lucky underdog, a sore loser, or any other characterization. Sometimes non-wrestling vignettes are shown to enhance a character's image without the need for matches. Other stories result from a natural rivalry. Outside of performance, these are referred to as feuds. A feud can exist between any number of participants and can last from a few days to decades. The feud between Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat lasted from the late 1970s into the early 1990s and allegedly spanned over two thousand matches (although most of those matches were mere dark matches). The career-spanning history between characters Mike Awesome and Masato Tanaka is another example of a long-running feud, as is the case of Steve Austin vs. Vince McMahon, one of the most lucrative feuds in the World Wrestling Federation during 1998 and 1999. In theory, the longer a feud is built up, the more audience interest (aka heat) lasts. The main event of a wrestling show is generally the most heated. Commonly, a heel will hold the upper hand over a face until a final showdown, heightening dramatic tension as the face's fans desire to see them win. Throughout the history of professional wrestling, many other elements of media have been utilized in professional wrestling storytelling: pre- and post-match interviews, "backstage" skits, positions of authority and worked behind-the-scenes feuds, division rankings (typically the #1-contendership spot), contracts, lotteries, news stories on websites, and in recent years social media. Anything that can be used as an element of drama can exist in professional wrestling stories: romantic relationships (including love triangles and marriage), racism, classism, nepotism, favoritism, corporate corruption, family bonds, personal histories, grudges, theft, cheating, assault, betrayal, bribery, seduction, stalking, confidence tricks, extortion, blackmail, substance abuse, self-doubt, self-sacrifice; even kidnapping, sexual fetishism, necrophilia, misogyny, rape and death have been portrayed in wrestling. Some promotions have included supernatural elements such as magic, curses, the undead and Satanic imagery (most notably the Undertaker and his Ministry of Darkness, a stable that regularly performed evil rituals and human sacrifice in Satanic-like worship of a hidden power figure). Commentators have become important in communicating the relevance of the characters' actions to the story at hand, filling in past details and pointing out subtle actions that may otherwise go unnoticed. Promos A main part of storytelling in wrestling is a promo, short for promotional interview. Promos are performed, or "cut" in wrestling jargon, for a variety of reasons, including to heighten interest in a wrestler, or to hype an upcoming match. Since the crowd is often too loud or the venue too large for promos to be heard naturally, wrestlers generally use amplification when speaking in the ring. Unlike most stage acting, large and highly visible handheld microphones are typically used and wrestlers frequently speak directly to the audience....From the first established world championship, the top professional wrestlers have garnered fame within mainstream society. Each successive generation has produced a number of wrestlers who extend their careers into the realms of music, acting, writing, business, politics or public speaking, and are known to those who are unfamiliar with wrestling in general. Conversely, celebrities from other sports or general pop culture also become involved with wrestling for brief periods of time. A prime example of this is The Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection of the 1980s, which combined wrestling with MTV. Professional wrestling is often portrayed within other works using parody, and its general elements have become familiar tropes and memes in American culture. Some terminology originating in professional wrestling has found its way into the common vernacular. Phrases such as "body slam", "sleeper hold" and "tag team" are used by those who do not follow professional wrestling. The term "smackdown", popularized by The Rock and SmackDown! in the 1990s, has been included in Merriam-Webster dictionaries since 2007. Many television shows and films have been produced which portray in-character professional wrestlers as protagonists, such as Ready to Rumble, ¡Mucha Lucha!, Nacho Libre, and the Santo film series. At least two stage plays set in the world of pro wrestling have been produced: The Baron is a comedy that retells the life of an actual performer known as Baron von Raschke. From Parts Unknown... is an award-nominated Canadian drama about the rise and fall of a fictional wrestler. The 2009 South Park episode "W.T.F." played on the soap operatic elements of professional wrestling. One of the lead characters on the Disney Channel series Kim Possible was a huge fan of pro wrestling and actually featured it on an episode (with two former WWE wrestlers voicing the two fictitious wrestlers featured in the episode). The 2008 film The Wrestler, about a washed-up professional wrestler, garnered several Oscar nominations. The 2017 TV series GLOW, based on the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling promotion, gained critical acclaim, including a nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series at the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards. The 1950 film noir Night and the City, directed by Jules Dassin and starring Richard Widmark and Gene Tierney, told the story of a promoter in London trying to make it big, and featured a match involving real professional wrestler Stanislaus Zbyszko. Wrestling has also gained a major following on YouTube, with WWE being the most subscribed wrestling channel and sixth most subscribed channel in the world. Other promotions, such as All Elite Wrestling, Major League Wrestling, Impact Wrestling and the National Wrestling Alliance have distributed their own weekly programming on the platform." (wikipedia.org)
  • Condition: Very Good
  • Condition: In very good, pre-owned condition. Please see photos and description.
  • Format: VCD
  • Region Code: DVD: 0/All (Region Free/Worldwide)
  • Release Year: 2003
  • Producer: Vince McMahon
  • Case Type: Jewel Case: Standard
  • Sub-Genre: Pro Wrestling/WWE, Wrestling
  • Genre: Action, Documentary, Sports
  • Movie/TV Title: The Ultimate Ric Flair Collection
  • Country/Region of Manufacture: Philippines
  • Edition: Box Set

PicClick Insights - ULTIMATE RIC FLAIR COLLECTION VCD Philippines Viva Video 5-disc Video CD RARE PicClick Exclusive

  •  Popularity - 2 watchers, 0.0 new watchers per day, 101 days for sale on eBay. Good amount watching. 0 sold, 1 available.
  •  Best Price -
  •  Seller - 1,180+ items sold. 0% negative feedback. Great seller with very good positive feedback and over 50 ratings.

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