Media Man

WWE Magazine

WWE Magazine is a wrestling magazine, which replaced WWE's previous RAW and SmackDown! publications. This incarnation of the magazine contains lifestyle sections,a monthly calendar, entertainment, work out tips etc. This is an official publication from World Wrestling Entertainment.

History
WWE Magazine has gone through many incarnations throughout the years. Originally known as WWF(World Wrestling Federation) Victory Magazine, its debut issue was in August 1983, as a bi-monthly magazine. Only 2 issues of Victory Magazine were created with Jimmy Snuka on the first cover and Sgt. Slaughter on the second cover.

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 World Wrestling Federation for the next decade. For years, WWF Magazine operated as a kayfabe magazine; stories included fictional biographies of wrestlers and feuds (written to cater to the WWF's mark fanbase), as well as previews of upcoming events, editorials and other features targeted at younger audiences. Rarely, there would be a real life story (particularly if a wrestler had died or the topic had such far-reaching interest to WWF fans that it could not be ignored).

In April 1996, the World Wrestling Federation 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, 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!. However, WWE and RAW Magazines were unaffected until the January 2004 issues, in which the WWE decided to have separate magazines for their respective brands. RAW Magazine kept the name, but changed into being more like the WWE Magazine in which it became a kayfabe 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 the RAW and SmackDown Magazines 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 of just wrestling feuds, 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 Maxim and Stuff Magazines.

Monthly Sections
Brawl- Includes exclusive match photos, polls, fan mail and fan art.
Grapplers- Contains wrestler interviews. These interviews usually go beyond character and storylines and deal with behind the scenes and personal lives.
Big Night- Wrestlers discuss their favorte foods and recipies. This section is meant to be a screening party planning guide.
Knowledge- Wrestlers answer fan mail and offer advice on relationships, cars and more. There are also quizzes with a different theme each month.
Reviews- This section contains reviews for video games, music, DVD's and more. Wrestlers also recommend some of their favorite products.
Body Shop- Wrestlers offer workout and diet advice. Dr. Louis Rios discusses how WWE medical teams treat injuries.
Insider- Contains TV and pay-per-view results as well as a monthly calendar of WWE events and birthdays. There are also photos of numerous wrestler appearences, a list of notable quotes made by wrestlers and announcers, and historical photos. There is also a "Guess the Match" feature where a zoomed-in photo of a match is shown. If you guess correctly, you can win a piece of WWE merchandise.
Abuse- A wrestler performs a wrestling move on editor Matt Christensen.

Hotline
WWE Magazine also has a hotline that fans can call. The line is open from 1pm until 2pm EST seven days a week. Each call is limited to 60 seconds and a person cannot leave a message. According to the advertisement in the magazine, fans can leave a , "...Question, complaint or drunken tale." It also says that some calls are posted on the magazine's website. (Credit: Wikipedia).

Websites

Profiles

Media Man Australia is in talks with WWE Magazine