10 shocking moments from WWF (WWE) 2000
By the time 2000 came around, the WWF had managed to cement its dominance over WCW in the Monday Night Wars. Many look back on 2000 as the greatest year of WWF television, with a highly stacked roster and a creative, innovative writing team.
After a couple of years of crazy backstage segments and morally questionable story angles, 2000 was arguably the year the company refocused on the in-ring action, delivering more 5-star matches in the midst of all the chaos.
Also Read: 10 shocking moments from WWF (WWE) 1999
Out went Vince Russo to destroy WCW from the inside and fans were treated to a more balanced product.
That's not to say the year was without its shocking moments. Here are 10 of the best:
#1 The World Wildlife Fund sues WWF
The name change from WWF to WWE in 2002 is seen by many as the symbolic death of the Attitude Era, sending the company on a downward spiral that it still hasn't recovered from. What you might not be aware of, however, is that the name change was a result of a lengthy legal dispute between Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation and the World Wildlife Fund.
Back in 1994, the two companies came to an agreement in which Vince and co. would be allowed to keep the WWF acronym, but try their best to not refer to themselves as 'the WWF' on TV.
This is why, when you look back at footage of mid to late 90s episodes of RAW, the wrestlers constantly say things like "The World Wrestling Federation Champion" or "I am the greatest performer of the World Wrestling Federation". It was a compromise that ran for a good few years before the Wildlife Fund started to notice that Vince was letting the enforcement of the agreement slip.
Other than constant references to 'The WWF' on commentary and in the ring, the company tended to use the WWF logo for most of their merchandise. This led to a further legal challenge until the Wildlife Fund officially sued Vince McMahon in the year 2000.
There were, of course, many other reasons why the fortunes of WWE took a sharp decline around 2002/3, but if you've ever wondered where the name change all started, now you know.