and emphasized professional wrestling as a form of enter-
tainment rather than an authentically competitive sport.
During the early years of professional wrestling, a
variety of regional organizations dominated the in-
dustry, and despite monikers that denoted global
competition, most activities focused on personalities
and events in the northeastern United States. In
1980, however, a young Vincent McMahon founded
Titan Sports, parent company to the World Wrestling
Federation (WWF). McMahon, a third-generation
wrestling entrepreneur, set out to build a national
organization; throughout the 1980’s, he purchased
regional organizations and developed national pro-
motional strategies that ran counter to the indus-
try’s traditional territory system. The WWF’s biggest
rivals during this period were the National Wrestling
Alliance (NWA), a group of northeastern indepen-
dent wrestling promotions, and the American Wres-
tling Alliance (AWA), a Minneapolis-based territo-
rial organization that held to the tenet that wrestling
was to be presented as a traditional sport. The AWA’s
matches were aired weekly on the Entertainment
and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) on cable
television.
WWF Goes Nationwide In the early 1980’s, McMa-
hon infuriated rival promoters by syndicating his
wrestling events to television stations nationwide
and by selling videotapes of matches via his Coli-
seum Video distribution company. He used the reve-
nues generated by televised and videotaped matches,
as well as by advertising, to lure major-name wres-
tlers from other organizations.
The WWF’s most significant talent acquisition
of the 1980’s was wrestling superstar Hulk Hogan
(Terrence Gene Bollea), who had gained national
recognition with his appearance in the filmRocky III
(1982). Hogan was frequently pitted against another
WWF employee poached from a rival promoter,
the Scottish kilt-wearing bodybuilder Roddy Piper
(Roderick George Toombs). This pairing created a
sense of ongoing, bitter rivalry that rapidly beame a
mainstay of professional wrestling.
A host of memorable names and personalities fol-
lowed, including ultrapatriot Sgt. Slaughter (Robert
Remus) and his Iranian nemesis the Iron Sheik
(Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri). Additional WWF ac-
quisitions during the 1980’s included future Minne-
sota governor Jesse “The Body” Ventura, typically
acting as a commentator rather than competitor be-
cause of health problems; Don Muraco (Don Mor-
row), a huge Hawaiian wrestler with an arrogant and
intimidating persona; and the nearly seven-foot-tall
André the Giant (André René Roussimoff). Rous-
simoff, the product of a rare pituitary disorder, also
appeared both on television series and in film; he
may be best known for his role in the 1987 classicThe
Princess Bride.
Among other significant changes during this peri-
od was the introduction in 1985 of a nationwide pay-
per-view championship event,WrestleMania, billed
by WWF promoter McMahon as the Super Bowl of
professional wrestling. Unlike other national wres-
tling events, which generally attracted only dedi-
cated wrestling fans,WrestleManiatargeted a wider,
more mainstream audience by involving celebrities
outside wrestling, such as Mr. T and Cyndi Lauper.
McMahon later identified the introduction ofWrestle-
Maniaas a major turning point in the identification
of professional wrestling as “sports entertainment.”
MTV also helped promote professional wrestling
during the 1980’s, in what was termed the “Rock ’n’
Wrestling Connection,” by featuring significant WWF
coverage and programming.
Throughout the remainder of the 1980’s, the
WWF’s business continued to boom, thanks to its blos-
soming empire and the popularity of Hulk Hogan,
who remained the federation’s golden boy through
the early 1990’s. However, toward the end of the
1980’s, it appeared that Hogan’s popularity had be-
gun to decline, in part because it seemed that he was
virtually unbeatable.Impact The 1980’s became known in the industry
as the Second Golden Age of Wrestling for revitaliz-
ing the sport by wedding it with showmanship. Wres-
tlers wore their hair long, reminiscent of the biblical
strongman Sampson, and donned elaborate, glitter-
ing costumes. Intricate, soap-opera-like plotlines en-
hanced the wrestling matches, luring viewers from
all over the world by the millions. This focus on en-
tertainment also de-emphasized fair play in favor of
dramatic elements such as cheating, extremely vio-
lent acts both inside and outside the ring, shouting
matches, and sexual, financial, and relational in-
trigue, raising the ire of many social critics. Equally
important, this period marked the establishment of
the WWF as the primary player in the professional
wrestling industry, bringing the sport and its ques-
tionable social effects to a truly global audience.1066 World Wrestling Federation The Eighties in America