In the 1980s, WWE became the dominant force on the pro wrestling landscape when a national expansion saw the company breakdown territorial boundaries by touring across the country and around the world, besides leveraging syndication, cable, and pay-per-view TV models to broadcast into the homes of fans all over.
The back half of the 1990s were largely defined by the Monday Night War when WWE found itself in its first and arguably only real dog fight as WCW surged and, in the short-term, actually got bigger than WWE by a number of metrics. By 2000, WWE had taken a decisive advantage and 2001 saw the company achieve its most decisive victory of all: buying the competition.
While roughly two decades to follow saw new talents emerge, new changes to the business model, and new considerations, the truth remained that WWE was on top of the wrestling world and, within the sphere of pro wrestling, there wasn’t really any competition for them.
Between the rise of AEW, Vince McMahon’s fall from grace, and TKO acquiring WWE, recent years have seen the next evolution of WWE as a business and how it’s approaching the larger wrestling landscape. One consistent thread has been progress toward world domination. WWE is not settling for being the top wrestling promotion in the world, but rather seems intent on owning the business from top to bottom. This multi-part series will consider the new opportunities, growing pains, and nuanced factors that fans are watching play out before their eyes.
The ID Program Was Established In 2024
In October 2024, WWE rolled out its ID program, which saw it flag a select number of indie promotions and schools for resources and direct pathways to eventual careers with WWE.
The development of this program is too recent to have amounted to much just yet, but, for better or worse, it clearly positioned WWE as more formally associated with the larger world of professional wrestling. Indeed, while casual or non-fans might altogether equate WWE with pro wrestling, the ID program took a step toward that connection proving literally true, as even some objectively small, local wrestling outfits became affiliated with the largest entity in the business.
The ID Program Looks Like A Win-Win-Win
On paper, the ID Program stood to benefit everyone involved. For many talents, WWE is the ultimate goal. So, constructing a better-defined path to lead from a training program or small-scale promotion benefits talents with a better chance to be seen by WWE.
The program also benefits the affiliated indies themselves. A WWE ID designation is a mark of credibility to distinguish a little-known company. On top of that, a WWE partnership can help local companies attract the best talents available—ones who may not be ready for WWE just yet, but who really do have the potential to grow into that kind of spot.
Finally, the ID program benefits WWE. During the national expansion, the company infamously raided top talents from a range of promotions, with names ranging from Hulk Hogan to Roddy Piper to Junkyard Dog to The Texas Tornado less homegrown than poached after proving their top star potential in regional territories.
The nature of the business in 2025 means that it’s hard for a truly breakout star to emerge in the US outside WWE, AEW, and maybe TNA. Just the same, having a finger on the pulse of top training programs and indies gives WWE a chance to snap up the cream of the crop for their own developmental system, if not the proper main roster, before they think of going abroad or signing with AEW.
The Raja Jackson Issue Sheds Light On Major Issues
Beyond the opportunities outlined above, WWE’s ID Program looks as though it would offer a nice balance of indies maintaining their autonomy while still having some access to WWE resources. On the flip side, WWE wouldn’t necessarily have to expand to manage another promotion, but rather enjoy the benefits of an independent feeder system.
The incident of Raja Jackson brutally injuring Syko Stu at a Knokx Pro event on August 23 complicated things for the WWE ID Program. Knokx Pro had a WWE ID designation, with WWE legend Rikishi at the indie’s helm. The apparent miscommunication between Jackson and Stu—Stu seemingly thinking he was working an angle with Jackson only for Jackson to give him a disproportionate receipt in the ring—led to an ugly scene. The aftermath and fuller explanations for what happened are still unraveling.
Before the incident could reflect poorly on WWE, WWE seemed to quietly sever the relationship, removing KnokX Pro from at least their public records. On one hand, this happening demonstrated a real vulnerability for WWE—to have its name associated with a small promotion that may well play host to objectionable activity, whether it’s real violence like this incident entailed, an offensive angle, or other issues.
On the other hand, it’s also arguably not a great look for WWE that they cut ties the moment things got rough—distancing themselves from a PR problem while also seeming to demonstrate they wouldn’t stand by or support a promotion that found itself in real trouble.
Assuming the WWE ID Program carries forward into the future, there’s little doubt it will continue to evolve perhaps with a wider reach or perhaps reining in oversight of indies they associate with. Regardless, the first year of the program has highlighted both opportunities and pitfalls as just one aspect of WWE’s march toward further domination of the wrestling world.