Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd. was an American sports promotion company. It was run by Vincent J. McMahon from 1953–1982. Operating as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC), the company was originally a

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of entertainment and performing art, which combines athletics with performance. It comprises of exhibitions, called 'matches', held by touring companies called Professional wrestling promotion, promotions, in ...

and

boxing Boxing is a combat sport A combat sport, or fighting sport, is a competitive contact sport that usually involves one-on-one combat. In many combat sports, a contestant wins by scoring more points than the opponent or by disabling the opponent ...

boxing

promotion and later became the sanctioning body for the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). The Capitol Wrestling Corporation is the precursor to today's

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., commonly shortened to WWE, is an American integrated media and entertainment company that is primarily known for professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of entertainment and performin ...

, run by his son,

Vincent K. McMahon

History

Early history (1953–1963)

Jess McMahon Roderick James "Jess" McMahon Sr. (May 26, 1882 – November 22, 1954) was an Irish American professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a type of athletic exhibition and entertainment involving wrestling matches whose progress and outcom ...

was a successful boxing promoter who began working with

Tex Rickard George Lewis "Tex" Rickard (January 2, 1870 – January 6, 1929) was an American boxing Boxing is a combat sport A combat sport, or fighting sport, is a competitive contact sport that usually involves one-on-one combat. In many combat sport ...

in 1926. With the help of Rickard, he began promoting boxing at the third Madison Square Garden. A few years prior, professional wrestler

Toots Mondt Joseph Raymond "Toots" Mondt (January 18, 1894 – June 11, 1976) was an American professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a type of athletic exhibition and entertainment involving wrestling matches whose progress and outcome are planne ...

had created a new challenge of professional wrestling that he called “Slam Bang Western Style Wrestling”. He convinced wrestler Ed Lewis and his manager

Billy Sandow Wilhelm Baumann (September 4, 1884 – September 15, 1972), better known as Billy Sandow, was an American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the United States ...

to implement this new solution and wrestlers to sign contracts with their

Gold Dust Trio The Gold Dust Trio was a group of promoters who controlled the world of professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a type of athletic exhibition and entertainment involving wrestling matches whose progress and outcome are planned in advanc ...

. After much success, a disagreement over power caused the trio to dissolve and, with it, their promotion. Mondt later formed partnerships with several other promoters, including

Jack Curley Jack Curley (July 4, 1876 - July 12, 1937), born Jacques Armand Schuel, was a sports promoter of the early 1900s. He managed several high-profile boxing Boxing is a combat sport A combat sport, or fighting sport, is a competitive contact ...

New York City New York, often called New York City to distinguish it from New York State New York is a state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of ...

. Mondt eventually took over the New York wrestling scene, due to the fact Curley was dying, with the aid of several bookers, one of whom was Jess McMahon. On January 7, 1953 the first show under the

Capitol Wrestling Corporation Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd. was an American sports promotion company. It was run by Vincent J. McMahon from 1953–1982. Operating as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC), the company was originally a professional wrestling Profession ...

(CWC) was produced. It is not certain who the founder of the CWC was. There are sources who stated it was Jess' son Vincent J. McMahon while other sources however cites Jess himself as founder of CWC. The CWC later joined the

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling promotion A professional wrestling promotion is a company A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity In law, a legal person is any person A person (p ...

(NWA) and famous New York-Promoter

soon joined the CWC. Together they were very successful and soon controlled approximately 70% of the NWA's booking, largely due to their dominance in the heavily populated

Northeastern United States The Northeastern United States (also referred to as the American Northeast, the Northeast, and the East Coast) is a geographical region In geography, regions are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), ...

World Wide Wrestling Federation (1963–1979)

In early 1963, Capitol formed the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), the precursor to current-day

, following a dispute with the NWA over Buddy Rogers being booked to hold the

NWA World Heavyweight Championship The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship is a world heavyweight championshipWorld heavyweight championship may refer to: * List of heavyweight boxing champions, World heavyweight boxing championship (professional) ** World Colored Heavyweight Champ ...

. Both men left the company in protest following the incident and formed the WWWF in the process, awarding Rogers the new

WWWF World Heavyweight Championship The WWE Championship is a world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion A professional wrestling promotion (also federation or fed) is a company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Lega ...

in April of that year. He lost the championship to

Bruno Sammartino Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino (October 6, 1935 – April 18, 2018) was an Italian-American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, best known for his work with the WWE, World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF, now WWE). There, he held ...

a month later on May 17, 1963, after suffering a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow Hemodynamics American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, or haemodynamics are the Fluid dynamics, dynamics of blood flow. The circulatory sy ...

a week before the match. The WWWF operated in a conservative manner compared to other pro wrestling territories; it ran its major arenas monthly rather than weekly or bi-weekly, usually featuring a babyface champion wrestling various heels in programs that consisted of one to three matches. After gaining a television program deal and turning preliminary wrestler

Lou Albano Louis Vincent Albano (July 29, 1933 – October 14, 2009) was an Italian-American professional wrestler, manager and actor, who performed under the ring/stage name, "Capt." Lou Albano. He was active as a professional wrestler from 1953 until 19 ...

into a manager for Sammartino's heel opponents, the WWWF was doing sell out business by 1970. Mondt left the company in the late 1960s and although the WWWF had withdrawn from the NWA, Vince McMahon, Sr. quietly rejoined in 1971. At the annual meeting of the NWA in 1983, the McMahons and WWF employee Jim Barnett all withdrew from the organization.

Rebranding and sale to Titan Sports (1979–1982)

By March 1979, for marketing purposes, the World Wide Wrestling Federation was renamed the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). That same year, Vincent J. McMahon's son,

Vincent K. McMahon

, founded Titan Sports, Inc., incorporated on February 21, 1980, originally in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ...

. In 1982, Titan Sports Inc. acquired Capitol's operations, effectively relocating its headquarters to

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich (, ) is a town A town is a human settlement In geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia'', literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...

. In an attempt to make the WWF the premier wrestling promotion in the world, McMahon began an expansion that fundamentally changed the industry. In the end, the elder McMahon would never live to see his company grow from a territorial promotion to what is now a worldwide organization. He died from

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cells Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life Cell may also refer to: Closed spaces * Monastic cell, a small room, hut, or cave in which a monk or religious recluse live ...

at 69 years old on May 24, 1984. By 1985, Titan moved to

Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in the U.S. state In the , a state is a , of which there are currently 50. Bound together in a , each state holds al jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its with the . Du ...

then establishing a new entity in 1987 in

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes i ...

which later merged with the old company in 1988. Titan later changed its name to the World Wrestling Federation, and later World Wrestling Entertainment in 2002.

Legacy

Almost 38 years later, in October 2020, WWE's NXT brand introduced a new home studio in Orlando within the

WWE Performance Center The WWE Performance Center is the official professional wrestling school Professional wrestling has accrued a considerable amount of jargon throughout its existence. Much of it stems from the industry's origins in the days of carnivals and circu ...

training facility, dubbed the "Capitol Wrestling Center" in homage to CWC.

References