Corporate Social Responsibility


Get R.E.A.L.

Get R.E.A.L. is an in-school program that brings WWE Superstars into schools to deliver positive messages about Respect, Education, Achievement and Leadership, and how these four tenets help students achieve their goals.  The program is now being expanded around the world through the use of PSA messages and the distribution of digital materials.

Get R.E.A.L. Read

This program provides our Superstars and Divas with the opportunity to promote literacy.  More than 400,000 posters featuring WWE Superstars and Divas encouraging reading have been distributed to teachers, libraries and parents across the United States since the program began in 2001. 

WWE and the American Library Association’s Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) sponsor the WrestleMania Reading Challenge to encourage “reluctant readers” to read more often.  In 2008-2009, The Challenge culminated at the national WrestleMania Reading Challenge Final the weekend of the 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania in Houston, Texas. More than more than 1,800 libraries and 50,000 young people participated.  The Challenge was initially open to grades 9-12.  However, due to the request of librarians, the program was expanded in 2007-2008 to include grades 7-8.  In 2008-2009, the Challenge was expanded to include grades 5-6.  The Challenge is also undertaken in the UK in partnership with the National Literacy Trust. 

WWE also has participated with the National Literacy Trust in national reading poster campaigns.  WWE continues to look to find ways to expand the Get R.E.A.L. Read and the WrestleMania Reading Challenge.  WWE introduced a new summer reading program, the SummerSlam Reading Jam, in June.

Smackdown Your Vote!

Smackdown Your Vote! is a non-partisan partnership to encourage more 18-to-30 year-olds to vote.  Among the organizations participating are the League of Women Voters, the National Association of Secretaries of State, the Harvard Institute of Politics, Sacred Heart University, the University of Virginia’s Youth Leadership Initiative, and Rock the Vote.  Smackdown Your Vote! has engaged in various activities and provided resources to reach young adults throughout the U.S. to encourage them to become more active in the democratic process.  Among our recent accomplishments were having 2008 presidential candidates President Barak Obama, Secretary of State Clinton and  Senator McCain provide customized video messages that were incorporated into WWE programming.  They also responded to WWE’s national voter issues paper for 18-to 30-year-olds, which can be found at smackdownyourvote.com.  

Circle of Champions

WWE’s Circle of Champions grants the wishes of children with life-threatening illnesses who desire to meet their favorite WWE Superstars and Divas.  Since 1982, WWE Superstars have conducted more than 5,000 meet-and-greet sessions with sick children in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, Spain, Germany and Australia, to name a few.  WWE grants in excess of 270 wishes a year to children around the world who have requested meets with our WWE Superstars. 

In 2009, WWE celebrated more than 25 years of wish granting at the 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania, granting the wishes of more than 50 children and their families. WWE Superstar John Cena was named Wish Ambassador by the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America, joining Michael Jordan as the only two celebrities to be granted that distinction to date.

In 2004, the Make-A-Wish Foundation awarded WWE its Chris Greicius Award for WWE’s extensive support of its organization.  Other recipients of the award include Jesse Ventura (1991), Hulk Hogan (1994), The Rock (20004), and Sue Aitchison, Director, Community Relations (2006).

WWE Community Champions

This program encourages and celebrates youth volunteerism.  Youth are nominated for outstanding volunteerism in their local communities.  WWE provides recognition and support for the volunteers’ efforts.  The program kicked off July 2007 in Canada, where children are nominated by members of their community for outstanding volunteerism.  Each month a winner is selected by WWE officials and recognized for their volunteer efforts. A variation of the program has been introduced in China and the U.S.

Military Outreach
WWE Superstars and Divas regularly visit military bases and hospitals, including Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Bethesda Naval Hospital, to bolster the morale of our troops.  Since 2002, the WWE has produced WWE’s Holiday “Tribute to the Troops” with WWE Superstars and Divas performing before troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.  WWE also is a proud supporter of the National Guard’s ChalleNGe program, which assists underprivileged youth to obtain their G.E.D. or become educated in technical trades. 

In 2004, the USO of Metropolitan Washington presented WWE with the first ever “Legacy of Hope” award for our extensive support of our troops and the USO’s Operation Care Package program. The following year, The Army Air Force Exchange Service awarded WWE the first-ever Three Commander Coin Award for WWE’s support of its partnership with AAFES to improve the quality of life for our troops by supporting service members and their families worldwide. WWE and Vince McMahon each received the Secretary of Defense Exceptional Public Service Award for exceptional public service in 2006 in support of deployed service members in Iraq and Afghanistan.  In 2008, WWE was awarded the Corporate Patriot Award from the GI Film Festival for its support of military personnel and their families.

Youth Incentive Program

WWE has a philosophy of using its immense popularity to encourage young people to undertake positive activities in the real world that can have a significant benefit to their local community. Some of the programs WWE has assisted in to provide safe environments and alternatives for children include: MAN (Minority Athletes Networking) Inc.; Boys and Girls Clubs; Youth Education Through Sport; Police Athletic Leagues; along with many other community-based charities.