WWE magazine started in 1984 in June it became a monthly magazine in 1996 a second magazine was called RAW magazine when that came out WWE magazine becoame Smackdown magazine this lasted until 2006 when they bi branded and both and ECW was in the same magazine. It was announced in July 2014 that after thirty years, the magazine would cease production.
History[]
WWE Magazine has gone through many incarnations throughout the years. It was originally known as WWF Victory Magazine from its debut issue through the third issue of publication.
Starting with the third issue (April/May 1984) it became known as World Wrestling Federation Magazine (or WWF Magazine for short), with newly crowned WWF Champion Hulk Hogan on the cover. WWF Magazine would continue to be bi-monthly until June 1987, in which it would become a monthly operation and a staple of the WWF for the next decade. For several years, WWF Magazine operated as a kayfabe magazine; stories included biographies of wrestlers and feuds, as well as previews of upcoming events, editorials, and other features targeted at younger audiences; excerpts from letters to the editor, mainly from fans commenting on the wrestlers and angles, were also published. On very rare occasions, kayfabe would be broken; such instances would be if a wrestler had died or if the topic had such far-reaching interest to WWF fans that it could not be ignored. Notable examples of the magazine breaking kayfabe were the 1990 parasailing accident that injured Brutus "the Barber" Beefcake (at the time, one of the WWF's biggest stars), and the 1992 divorce of Randy "Macho Man" Savage and Miss Elizabeth.
In April 1996, the WWF decided to create a second magazine called Raw Magazine, which became a focus on behind the scenes activity, focusing on wrestlers real life profiles. It debuted with the May/June 1996 issue, and was bi-monthly until the January 1998 issue.
In May 2002 the World Wrestling Federation became known as World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), and therefore the magazine was changed accordingly to WWE Magazine starting with the June 2002 issue.
Shortly before that, the WWF/E had split up into two brands, Raw and SmackDown!. WWE Magazine and Raw Magazine were unaffected, however, until the January 2004 issues, in which the WWE decided to have separate magazines for their respective brands. Raw Magazine retained its name but followed the style of WWE Magazine however, it focused solely on the Raw brand. WWE Magazine became SmackDown! Magazine, and would focus solely on the SmackDown! brand. That lasted until the summer of 2006, in which Raw Magazine and SmackDown Magazine would be discontinued and a new WWE Magazine would debut with the August 2006 issue (Dave Batista cover).
The new WWE Magazine was designed to move away from being solely a wrestling magazine. Instead the majority of the magazine contains lifestyle tips, product reviews and photos of WWE's superstars and divas outside the ring. The new style is similar to current men's magazines, such as Maxim and Stuff.
A WWE Shop catalog appears every few months.
In the May 2012 issue, a new "Jerk of the Month" belt debuted with Daniel Bryan wearing the belt in the issue. It replaced the police mugshots which had been featured since the May 2008 issue. It was later replaced with a trophy.
On July 31, 2014, it was announced that WWE Magazine would cease production due to budget cuts as well as a decline in circulation. The last issue (October 2014) will available on September 16, 2014.
Breaking Kayfabe[]
On very rare occasions, kayfabe would be broken; such instances would be if a wrestler had died or if the topic had such far-reaching interest to WWF fans that it could not be ignored. Notable examples of the magazine breaking kayfabe were the 1990 parasailing accident that injured Brutus "the Barber" Beefcake (at the time, one of the WWF's biggest stars), and the 1992 divorce of Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth.
In the September 1993 issue, the magazine was to introduce a semi-regular feature titled "Now It's Our Turn", which was to present the WWF's official (non-kayfabe) explanations/defenses against accusations from former wrestlers and employees. Although one lengthy column focusing on "Superstar" Billy Graham was published, the feature did not appear again.
Sections[]
- Brawl exclusive match pictures fan art fan mail and polls
- Grapplers Contains wrestler interview's they deal with behind the scenes and personal lives
- Big Night Wrestlers discuss their favorite food and recipes
- Knowledge Wrestlers awnser fan mail
- Reviews contains reviews for video games, music, and DVD's
- Body Shop wrestlers offer workout and diet advice
- Insider contains TV show and Pay Per View results
- Abuse A wrestler preforms a wrestling move on editor Matt Christensen
- Finishers Show a comedic story line of a wrestler
- Features An interview with a veteran Superstar. (Monthly)
- Ringside Recapping the past events in WWE. (Monthly)
WWE Kids Magazine[]
WWE Kids Magazine launched in April 2008 and is a bi-monthly magazine aimed at children aged 6–14.