Stephanie McMahon Explains Why WWE Dropped ‘Pro Wrestling’ In Favor of ‘Sports Entertainment’

Wrestling Inc reports that during the WWE’s annual Business Partner Summit during Wrestlemania 34 week, Stephanie McMahon spoke about how WWE has grown over the last thirty years. She also revealed why the company dropped using the term “pro wrestling” in favor of “Sports Entertainment.”

McMahon spoke about the company’s reach worldwide through digital and social media and praised her father for taking the company out of a “smoke-filled armory” into a stadium with smoke from pyro like Wrestlemania. She said that eight out of ten adults recognize “Wrestlemania” and nine out of ten recognize “WWE.”

On the topic of WWE rebranding, she said: “Advertisers either had an adverse reaction to the words ‘professional wrestling,’ or they simply didn’t understand what it was. So, how could we create a term or a label that potential partners could understand? How could we describe the WWE was based on larger-than-life characters enthralled in relatable storylines? That was when we coined the term ‘sports entertainment’.”

She added that the WWE’s biggest asset is their “ability to reimagine storytelling… whether it was capturing the all-American fervor of the 80s, the spirit of the antihero in the 90s, or the rise of the underdog in the 2000s.”

Thom Loverro of The Washington Times said WWE’s storytelling birthed the “entire reality television industry – scripted dramatic conflict posing as reality.”

McMahon also commented on the PG era of WWE. She added: “10 years ago, WWE once again reimagined our content and made the strategic decision to become more family-friendly, to grow our multi-generational audience and attract more blue-chip partners. Looking around the room here today, it’s easy to see that this strategy worked.”

She said WWE’s current goal is to put the company in the same status as Fortune 500 companies, be a part of pop culture and continue to grow their partnerships.