What the 'f'?! it's now the wwe

[Guest NoCalMike]

In a steel-cage grudge match pitting giant pandas against Mankind, the WWF has bodyslammed the F out of the WWF.

 

Got it?

 

Thanks to a legal injunction obtained by the animal-loving World Wildlife Fund, which didn't want its "WWF" initals to be confused with the World Wrestling Federation's, the pro-wrestling folks have decided to change their name.

 

Henceforth the Stamford, Connecticut, based company, whose best known wild thing is the Rock (late of The Scorpion King), will be known as World Wrestling Entertainment Inc., or WWE for short.

 

The grappler's official Website has already been changed to www.wwe.com to reflect the new moniker. The site greets surfers with the headline "Get the F out!" and a story quoting company CEO Linda McMahon explaining that the "federation" has been ejected and that "our new name puts the emphasis on the 'E' for entertainment, what our company does best." (Of course, we always knew wrestling was entertainment, not sport.)

 

Last year the WWF (the one that loves lions and tigers and claims more than 5 million members around the globe) won an injunction in London preventing the then WWF (the one which showcases two-legged dangerous creatures and claims to attract millions of viewers in 130 countries) from using the WWF logo, even the letters, except under specified circumstances in a limited way in the United States.

 

The wrestling group, which adopted its WWF logo in 1998, challenged the injunction earlier this year in London's Court of Appeal, but lost to the nature charity, which had been using its WWF trademark since 1968. The critter-friendly group still uses those initials worldwide on its panda logo and its www.wwf.org Website, even though outside the U.S. it has been known as the World Wide Fund for Nature since 1989.

 

On Monday, McMahon stated on her company's Website that dropping the "F" word from the World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Inc. title had been under consideration since the ruling in February. "The 'Fund' has indicated that although the two organizations are very different, there is the likelihood of confusion in the market place," McMahon noted, adding, "The Fund has indicated it does not want to have any association with the World Wrestling Federation."

 

McMahon stressed now was a good time to make the change and capitalize on the company's development of its MTV's reality series Tough Enough, its book deal with Simon and Schuster and the success of The Scorpion King, which it executive produced.

 

The WWE's Raw (which changed its name from Raw Is War following September 11) on TNN Monday night reflected the name change, and the company's entertainment complex in New York City's Times Square will now be know as "The World," which the company already uses as the name of its nightclub in the center.

 

New logo art has already been provided to business partners, licensees and vendors, but the entire transition will not be completed for several months. Meantime, the company will continue to trade as the WWF on the New York Stock Exchange until, as McMahon says, "a suitable replacement symbol is found."

 

Don't expect bulls or bears.

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Errr, ya, I am not sure about the "adopting the wwf logo in 1998" line, maybe it is just a typo.  Oh and the "E for entertainment, because that is what we do best, well that just makes me shudder at what the future may bring.

[Guest cobainwasmurdered]

the current logo was adopted in 1998 is what they mean i believe