5 non-wrestling business ventures WWE has given a try
In 1986, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon appeared on Larry King Tonight on CNN, and was asked pointedly by the legendary interviewer, "Are you the [legendary boxing promoter] Don King of wrestling?" After clarifying what King had just asked, Vince responded with "No. I am the Walt Disney of wrestling."
Which is a pretty admirable goal, really.
McMahon's vision of the then-WWF wasn't just that of a wrestling promotion, but an entertainment business, much like the House of Mouse he referenced in that interview, that could take its characters and present them in all sorts of forms of media. After all, if Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck could be in books, comics, and video games, why not Hulk Hogan and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper?
Over the decades, some of these ventures worked and others... well, they didn't. We thought we'd take a look at a handful of these different ideas and see how they ended up in the long run. We're not including video games, despite the fact we just mentioned it, and other than one particular entry, are trying to go with areas of entertainment you wouldn't normally expect a wrestling company to get into.
In fact, let's start with that particular entry now.
#5. WWE Studios - movies
In the 1999 documentary, Beyond the Mat, Vince McMahon was quoted as saying he hoped that, throughout everything that led people to take an interest in his company that they would "find out what [they're] really about."
"We make movies"
Now, anyone who understands Vince's entertainment-first philosophy when it comes to the WWE product can see he's being metaphorical. However, there's a division of the company that takes that phrase quite literally.
WWE Studios (originally called WWE Films) came to fruition in 2002 (although the company's first foray into the movie business came as part of the Hulk Hogan vehicle No Holds Barred) The studio's first actual project was "The Condemned," starring Stone Cold Steve Austin. Following that, they released a number of films, both theatrically and direct-to-video starring such WWE wrestlers as Triple H, John Cena, and Edge.
Eventually, WWE Studios began producing films without WWE stars attached. The first of these successes was The Call, starring Abigail Breslin and Oscar winner Halle Berry (which, OK, technically had David Otunga in a minor role but it was really minor).
Ever since, WWE Studios has released a lot of movies that both incorporate WWE talent... and don't. It's still a good example of WWE reaching out of their comfort zone and trying something new.