If you are a fan of wrestling than you might have already heard that the WWE is launching a new logo that will be rolled out over the next several weeks. For those of you like myself whom stopped watching the WWF in the age of ‘Jake the Snake’ and ‘Hulk Holgan’, the WWE is what was formerly known in the 80s and 90s as the WWF. In 2002, the WWF was forced to change its name to the WWE after a lawsuit with the World Wildlife Fund, which shared the same acronym. The ‘F’ was dropped and the WWF became no more as it was rebranded as World Wrestling Entertainment.
The new WWE logo is the fourth logo that has ever been created to represent this wrestling giant. From 1982-1994, the WWF used a logo that was quite iconic for the era. It was reminiscent of the Star Wars era into which the WWF was born and it was bold, eye-catching and powerful. In 1994, the original WWF logo underwent some small changes as it the metallic design of the letters were replaced by a more simplistic and flat lettering in blue and yellow. Next, in 1997, came a dramatic change to the WWF logo as the old ‘classic’ WWF typeface was left behind and replaced by scratchy, black and red text. Following the lawsuit with the World Wildlife Fund, the ‘F’ was dropped from the WWF name and their logo design.
WWF logo (1982-1994):
WWF logo (1994-1997):
WWF logo (1997-2002):
WWE logo (2002-2014):
So, what prompted this fourth logo design change in 2014? The WWE has been undergoing some major changes in recent times as it struggles to expand, modernize and to keep up with its diverse and global fan base. In February of this year, the WWE launched the WWE Network (a 24/7 streaming network for WWE/WWF events of the past and in the future) with its new logo. Originally just intended for use on the WWE Network, Vince McMahon (WWE’s chairman and CEO) tweeted on Friday, Aug 15th that their new logo will now also be used for all of the WWE events, on its consumer products, websites, apps and even on its championship belts. Vince McMahon commemorated the event by raising a flag with the new logo on it at the company’s main headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut.
“The new logo is a representation of the evolution of the WWE brand,” Stephanie McMahon, WWE’s chief brand officer told Variety. “Everything from the hard edges and the sleek coloring expresses a contemporary feel and demonstrates we’re always looking ahead,” McMahon added. “It was really important to capture the core of the WWE.”
WWE’s in-house design team created this new logo that is sleek, shiny and contemporary. It has sharp edges and it is much more bold and powerful that the scratchy pen marks of the last WWE logo. It is a much more corporate and business-oriented logo design, which is consistent with the image and mission of the WWE today. However, I do not like it at all. I think that it is a total bust. Yes, their old logo was in desperate need of a revamp but to be honest, I expected more. This new logo is still flat and nothing special in the slightest. It is not eye-catching, memorable or poignant. It is much more modern and cleaner when compared to their old logo but it is boring, unimaginative and plain. For such a strongman company, I simply expected more.
