SMACK DOWN ON THE BOULEVARD!
VINCE MCMAHON TO BE HONORED WITH STAR
ON THE HOLLYWOOD WALK OF FAME

WHO:Vince McMahon
Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, President/CEO Leron Gubler
Guest speakers:Shane McMahon, EVP,Global Communications
& WWE Superstar Triple H
WHAT:2,357th Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
WHERE:6801 Hollywood Boulevard in front of Hollywood & Highland
WHEN:Friday, March 14, at 11:30 a.m.

For his outstanding contribution to the entertainment industry and in celebration of Wrestlemania 24®, Vince McMahon will be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Vince McMahon, Chairman of the Board of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc®. (WWE®), is a third generation entrepreneur who has made WWE into the global phenomenon it is today. As a pioneer in the television syndication and cable business, a recognized television personality throughout the world, a visionary promoter and a fearless marketer, he is a unique leader in the entertainment industry.

In 1972, McMahon joined his father’s company, Capitol Wrestling Corporation. By 1979, the company had syndicated programming to 30 television stations. In 1982, he purchased Capitol Wrestling Corporation from his father with the plan of taking what had been a regional operation and growing it into first a national then a global business.

McMahon’s plan for national distribution of WWE (then World Wrestling Federation) programming was two pronged: continue to expand syndication outside the northeast across the nation and utilize the rapidly expanding vehicle of cable television to deliver a national show on a weekly basis. USA cable network and WWE were a perfect match.

McMahon became a pioneer in the cable television industry by leveraging the new technologies of pay-per-view and closed-circuit television for the first WrestleMania in 1985. He had not only built a brand that the audience would watch on television, but he had created such a demand for the WWE that the audience would pay to watch its PPV spectaculars. WrestleMania III in 1987 attracted 93,173 fans to the Pontiac Silverdome, setting an indoor attendance record that still stands. For the past three years, WWE’s pre-eminent pay-per-view, WrestleMania, has achieved more than one million buys worldwide and on April 1, 2007; WrestleMania 23 achieved nearly 1.2 million buys, making it the highest grossing one-day live event in WWE history.

Today, WWE produces original television programming 52 weeks a year. Programs such as “Monday Night RAW,” "Friday Night Smack Down,” and "ECW: Extreme Championship Wrestling" are ratings successes that can be seen in more than 130 countries and translated in 23 languages.

As the television audience has grown exponentially, so has the live event audience. In 2007, WWE performed 308 live events, including 75 international events, entertaining more than 2.0 million fans.

Vince has developed WWE from primarily a television and live event business to a diverse media company with a robust licensing division for video games, toys, apparel, home video, and books. WWE has a publishing group for its monthly magazines and a music studio in house. WWE Films, located in Los Angeles, produces films for theatrical and direct to video release. Under McMahon’s leadership, the company continues to grow, making inroads into digital media platforms with video-on-demand, broadband, and mobile services. World Wrestling Entertainment is a public company which trades on the NYSE under the symbol WWE.

Vince McMahon is also civic minded. In recognition of WWE’s work to support children over the past 20 years, Vince, in 2005, was appointed to The Make-A-Wish Foundation of America National Advisory Council. Just last month WWE and Make-A-Wish Foundation of America announced expanding their partnership, starting with the largest wish granting event in WWE history at Wrestlemania 24®.

McMahon is a tireless supporter of the U.S. military personally traveling for the past five years with WWE superstars to visit forward operating bases in Afghanistan and Iraq; the WWE was the recipient of the USO of Metropolitan Washington’s first ever “Legacy of Hope” award for WWE’s extensive support of our troops and the USO’s Operation Care Package program. In 2006, Vince received the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service Award for WWE’s support of deployed service members in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Article is from: http://www.hollywoodchamber.net/icons/upcoming_ceremonies.asp