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A professional wrestling promotion (also federation or fed) is a company or business
Business

A business is a legally recognized organization designed to provide good s and/or Service to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalism economies, most being privately owned and formed to earn profit that will increase the wealth of its owners....
 that performs regular shows involving professional wrestling
Professional wrestling

Professional wrestling, or pro wrestling, is a non-competitive professional sport, where matches are prearranged by the Professional wrestling promotion List of professional wrestling terms#B, and is also considered an athletic performing art, containing strong elements of catch wrestling, mock combat and theatre....
. 'Promotion' also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event (see promoter
Promoter (entertainment)

An entertainment promoter is a person or company in the business of Promotion concerts, festivals, raves, nightclubs or other live events....
).

Currently, the major wrestling organizations in North America are World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is a publicly traded, privately controlled integrated arts and sports entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales....
 (WWE), the National Wrestling Alliance
National Wrestling Alliance

The National Wrestling Alliance is the largest governing body for a group of independent professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotion and sanctions various NWA Championship in the United States....
 (NWA), and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling is an United States professional wrestling promotion founded by Jeff Jarrett and his father Jerry Jarrett in May 2002....
 (TNA) (all based in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
), and the Mexican
Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
 lucha libre
Lucha libre

Lucha libre is a term used in Mexico and other Spanish-speaking areas referring to a form of professional wrestling involving varied techniques and moves....
 promotions Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre

Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre is a Lucha Libre-style professional wrestling promotion based in Mexico City while running cards in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Puebla and elsewhere in central and southern Mexico....
 and Asistencia Asesoría y Administración
Asistencia Asesoría y Administración

Asistencia Asesor?a y Administraci?n is a Lucha Libre Professional wrestling promotion based in Mexico founded in 1992 when Antonio Pe?a broke away from Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre to create a promotion which allowed him more creative freedom....
.






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A professional wrestling promotion (also federation or fed) is a company or business
Business

A business is a legally recognized organization designed to provide good s and/or Service to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalism economies, most being privately owned and formed to earn profit that will increase the wealth of its owners....
 that performs regular shows involving professional wrestling
Professional wrestling

Professional wrestling, or pro wrestling, is a non-competitive professional sport, where matches are prearranged by the Professional wrestling promotion List of professional wrestling terms#B, and is also considered an athletic performing art, containing strong elements of catch wrestling, mock combat and theatre....
. 'Promotion' also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event (see promoter
Promoter (entertainment)

An entertainment promoter is a person or company in the business of Promotion concerts, festivals, raves, nightclubs or other live events....
).

Currently, the major wrestling organizations in North America are World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is a publicly traded, privately controlled integrated arts and sports entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales....
 (WWE), the National Wrestling Alliance
National Wrestling Alliance

The National Wrestling Alliance is the largest governing body for a group of independent professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotion and sanctions various NWA Championship in the United States....
 (NWA), and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling is an United States professional wrestling promotion founded by Jeff Jarrett and his father Jerry Jarrett in May 2002....
 (TNA) (all based in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
), and the Mexican
Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
 lucha libre
Lucha libre

Lucha libre is a term used in Mexico and other Spanish-speaking areas referring to a form of professional wrestling involving varied techniques and moves....
 promotions Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre

Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre is a Lucha Libre-style professional wrestling promotion based in Mexico City while running cards in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Puebla and elsewhere in central and southern Mexico....
 and Asistencia Asesoría y Administración
Asistencia Asesoría y Administración

Asistencia Asesor?a y Administraci?n is a Lucha Libre Professional wrestling promotion based in Mexico founded in 1992 when Antonio Pe?a broke away from Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre to create a promotion which allowed him more creative freedom....
. There are federations throughout Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
 and in Japan
Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
, South America
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is a Autonomy Territories of the United States of the United States located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of the Virgin Islands....
, Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
, New Zealand
New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
 and the rest of the Caribbean
Caribbean

The Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands , and the surrounding coasts. The region is located southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and Northern America, east of Central America, and to the north of South America....
.

There are also a number of small independent wrestling organizations
Independent circuit

In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indy circuit refers to the many independent Professional wrestling promotion which are much smaller than major televised promotions, particularly the current World Wrestling Entertainment and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotions and World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Ch...
 that are upstarts or the creations of former wrestlers from the bigger promotions. Some of the smaller organizations include Ring of Honor
Ring of Honor

Ring of Honor is an American professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, founded in 2002 by Rob Feinstein, and owned by Cary Silkin....
, Jersey All Pro Wrestling
Jersey All Pro Wrestling

Jersey All Pro Wrestling is an independent circuit wrestling promotion based in New Jersey....
, Border City Wrestling
Border City Wrestling

Border City Wrestling is an Independent circuit professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotion based in Windsor, Ontario, Ontario. It is the base promotion for several Total Nonstop Action Wrestling superstars, including all of the former Team Canada , Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley....
, Combat Zone Wrestling
Combat Zone Wrestling

Combat Zone Wrestling is an American based professional wrestling promotion, based around the 'ultraviolent' style of professional wrestling. In 1999, John Zandig and four of his students, Ric Blade, Lobo , Nick Gage and Justice Pain began to run wrestling shows in New Jersey and Delaware, showcasing a brand of hardcore wrestling dubbed as "...
, and Ohio Valley Wrestling
Ohio Valley Wrestling

Ohio Valley Wrestling is an United States Independent circuit professional wrestling promotion based in Louisville, Kentucky. OVW is run by owner Danny Davis and the organization was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance from 1998 until 2000, when OVW became part of the WWE developmental program, which it was a member of until Februa...
.

Structure

Most promotions are self-contained, organized around one or more championship
Championship

Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship....
 titles and do not acknowledge or recognize the legitimacy of other promotions' titles. Others, such as the NWA, act as an umbrella organization
Umbrella organization

An umbrella organization is an association of institutions, who work together formally to coordinate activities or pool resources. In business, political, or other environments, one group, the umbrella organization, provides resources and often an identity to the smaller organizations....
 which governs titles that are shared among multiple promotions.

Major promotions have a permanent roster of talent under exclusive contract to them. Independent promotions may have contracted workers but are just as likely to utilize free agents
Free Agents

Free Agents is a romantic comedy black comedy starring Stephen Mangan, Sharon Horgan and Anthony Head. Originally a pilot for Channel 4, the series began on 13 February 2009....
 who are not under exclusive contract with any promotion. Some wrestlers may work in several independent promotions at the same time.

In the United States and Canada, the typical business cycle consists of "standard" shows held at regular intervals (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, etc.) which build up to a more expensive supercard
SuperCard

SuperCard is a high-level development environment that runs on Apple Macintosh computers, under Mac OS 8 and Mac OS 9, and Mac OS X. It is inspired by HyperCard, but includes a richer language, a full Graphical user interface toolkit, and native color....
 event. This cycle lasts anywhere from four to twelve weeks. For smaller groups, supercards may only be held a few times a year. For larger groups such as WWE, the standard shows are broadcast
Broadcast

Broadcast may refer to:* Broadcasting, the transmission of audio and video signals* Broadcast, an individual television program or radio program...
 on television weekly (semi-weekly in the last boom period) and the supercards on pay-per-view
Pay-per-view

Pay-per-view is the system by which a television audience can purchase events to view on TV and pay for the private telecast of that event to their homes....
 monthly.

TimeLine of major promotions


See also

  • Independent promotion
  • List of professional wrestling promotions
    List of professional wrestling promotions

    This is a list of active, inactive and defunct professional wrestling promotions that are currently featured on Wikipedia....