Changes

In 2000 the WWF, in collaboration with television network [[NBC]], announced the creation of the XFL, a new professional American football league that debuted in 2001. The league had surprisingly high ratings for the first few weeks, but initial interest waned and its ratings plunged to dismally low levels (one of its games was the lowest-rated primetime show in the history of American broadcast network television at the time). NBC walked out on the venture after only one season, but McMahon intended to continue alone.  However, after UPN demanded that ''SmackDown!'' be cut by half an hour, McMahon shut down the XFL.<ref>[http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/news/2001/05/10/xfl_folds_ap/ sportsillustrated.cnn.com]</ref>

In 2000 the WWF, in collaboration with television network [[NBC]], announced the creation of the XFL, a new professional American football league that debuted in 2001. The league had surprisingly high ratings for the first few weeks, but initial interest waned and its ratings plunged to dismally low levels (one of its games was the lowest-rated primetime show in the history of American broadcast network television at the time). NBC walked out on the venture after only one season, but McMahon intended to continue alone.  However, after UPN demanded that ''SmackDown!'' be cut by half an hour, McMahon shut down the XFL.<ref>[http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/news/2001/05/10/xfl_folds_ap/ sportsillustrated.cnn.com]</ref>

In March 2001 McMahon's empire grew when he acquired selected assets of his main competitor WCW (including its trademarks, its video library and selected wrestler contracts, though not the promotion itself), which had been losing money and was sold for about $7 million. The former WCW, which remains under Time Warner ownership, reverted to its previous name of Universal Wrestling Corporation<ref>[http://www.timewarner.com/sites/timewarner.com/files/ckeditor/public/files/Time_Warner_Inc_Entity_List_v7.pdf Time Warner Inc.'s Worldwide Subsidiaries and Affiliated Companies List]</ref> and now exists only to deal with old wrestler contracts and lawsuits.<ref>[https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ga-court-of-appeals/1204668.html Eudy v. Universal Wrestling Corporation Inc.]</ref>

In March 2001 McMahon's empire grew when he acquired selected assets of his main competitor WCW (including its trademarks, its video library and selected wrestler contracts, though not the promotion itself), which had been losing money and was sold for about $7 million. The former WCW, which remained under Time Warner ownership, reverted to its previous name of Universal Wrestling Corporation<ref>[http://www.timewarner.com/sites/timewarner.com/files/ckeditor/public/files/Time_Warner_Inc_Entity_List_v7.pdf Time Warner Inc.'s Worldwide Subsidiaries and Affiliated Companies List]</ref> and continued to exist only to deal with old wrestler contracts and lawsuits<ref>[https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ga-court-of-appeals/1204668.html Eudy v. Universal Wrestling Corporation Inc.]</ref> until it officially ceased operations on December 16, 2017 when it was merged into Turner Broadcasting System.

In May 2002 the name of the company was changed from the WWF to WWE after it was ruled that the World Wildlife Fund owned the rights to the WWF label in the United Kingdom.<ref>http://contracts.corporate.findlaw.com/agreements/wwf/worldwildlife.1997.01.20.html</ref><ref>http://corporate.wwe.com/news/2002/2002_05_06.jsp</ref>

In May 2002 the name of the company was changed from the WWF to WWE after it was ruled that the World Wildlife Fund owned the rights to the WWF label in the United Kingdom.<ref>http://contracts.corporate.findlaw.com/agreements/wwf/worldwildlife.1997.01.20.html</ref><ref>http://corporate.wwe.com/news/2002/2002_05_06.jsp</ref>