WASHINGTON Oct. 2 — Forget the young voters of America during your campaigns and they may forget you on Election Day. That was the message sent to Presidential candidates George W. Bush and Al Gore by WWE Champion The Rock Youth Vote 2000 and The National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) at a Capitol Hill rally today.

The rally was held by SMACKDOWN YOUR VOTE! a non-partisan voter registration campaign sponsored by the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) Youth Vote 2000 Project Vote Smart MTV’s Choose or Loose and WWE Entertainment Inc (Nasdaq: WWE – news). The rally celebrated the initiative’s success in registering more than 105 000 new voters within two months and provided an opportunity for further voter registrations in the Washington D.C. area.

Speakers at the rally included Julia Cohen Executive Director Youth Vote 2000; Beverly Rivers Secretary of the District of Columbia; Linda McMahon CEO WWE and WWE Champion The Rock. WWE Commissioner Mick Foley and WWE Superstars Al Snow The Hardy Boyz and Lita also attended.

Youth Vote 2000 and WWE have endorsed the concept of the Commission on Presidential Debates making the Presidential debate on October 17 in St. Louis a youth debate. "The candidates and the Commission on Presidential Debates should make young adults more than half of the participants in the October 17 town hall debate in St. Louis. Bush and Gore need to listen to the overwhelming majority of Americans who support making one of the three presidential debates a youth debate " said Julia Cohen Executive Director of Youth Vote 2000.

Beverly Rivers Secretary of the District of Columbia said NASS supported the concept of a youth debate. "The bottom line is the cycle of neglect of our young voters must be broken " said Ms. Rivers. She told those attending the rally: "We will make sure the candidates are paying attention to you. Please smackdown your vote in return."

The Rock said the patience of young voters was wearing thin. "Gov. Bush Vice President Gore it’s time to step up and give us an answer. Let The Rock and his millions and millions of fans know if you are going to turn your back on the youth of America or if you are going to together attend a forum where you both share your ideas and vision for this country as it relates to young people under 30 " said The Rock.

The Rock reiterated the WWE’s invitation to have Gov. Bush and Vice President Gore take the SMACKDOWN CHALLENGE which provides the candidates 5 minutes each to speak directly to the youth of America on the popular UPN program WWE SMACKDOWN! Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura has agreed to moderate the discussion. "Appearing on WWE SMACKDOWN! will tell the millions and millions of young middle class voters of America that you care about them and will keep their interests in mind as President of the United States " The Rock said.

The WWE in late August extended formal invitations to the candidates to appear on WWE SMACKDOWN! the number one rated show in its time slot for Americans ages 18-34. A SMACKDOWN CHALLENGE petition which also calls for a youth debate has garnered over 40 000 signatures within one month.

WWE Commission Mick Foley said why he would get involved in this initiative. "As Commissioner of the WWE I will not rest until all WWE Superstars have signed a letter to the Commission on Presidential Debates and letters to Al Gore and George Bush urging them to hold a youth debate and appear on WWE SMACKDOWN! The Presidential candidates have an obligation to explain to America’s youth how they will handle the issues that affect young voters " said Foley also a number 1 best selling author on the New York Times Best Sellers list. "The candidates shouldn’t avoid this chance to speak to the young people of our country. They should embrace it."

"Our organizations have been working hard over the past two months to reach out to young people and encourage them to register. It’s now up to the candidates to continue this momentum by engaging these potential voters " said Linda McMahon CEO WWE. "We are offering the candidates a chance to speak to young people in a forum that is extremely popular among our nation’s youth. The candidates should embrace not ignore this opportunity to reach out to young voters and speak to them about the issues that concern them."

SMACKDOWN YOUR VOTE was launched on August 2 2000 and has helped to register and bring election information to thousands of new voters over the past two months. The program does this through in-arena voter registration drives at WWE events at the WWE New York entertainment complex in New York City’s Times Square through the Web sites of WWE’s www.wwevote.com MTV’s www.ChooseorLose.com Youth Vote 2000’s www.youthvote2000.org and through NASS’ www.stateofthevote.org.

Information on SMACKDOWN YOUR VOTE! Partners

The National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) (www.stateofthevote.org ) founded in 1904 is the nation’s oldest non- partisan government association representing the 50 states the District of Columbia Puerto Rico and the territories of American Samoa Guam and the Virgin Islands. New Millennium is a national youth voter campaign launched by the NASS designed to encourage political and civic participation in people ages 18-24.

Project Vote Smart provides factual information on more than 13 000 candidates running for president Congress governor and state legislatures. Project Vote Smart was founded by former presidents Ford and Carter and other national leaders as a non-partisan research library. Access to the Project’s data is available through the Vote Smart web site (www.vote-smart.org ) and the toll-free Voter’s Research Hotline (888-VOTE SMART) staffed by student interns and volunteers.

Youth Vote 2000 (www.youthvote2000.org ) is the largest most diverse non-partisan coalition in history to engage young people ages 18-30 in politics. Youth Vote 2000 coalition consists of over 75 national organizations representing hundreds of groups and millions of young people. The Youth Vote 2000 coalition is calling for youth debates at the presidential state and local levels. It is devoting an unprecedented amount of resources to building state and local Youth Vote 2000 coalitions.

MTV has renewed its commitment to informing young people about the political process the presidential election and registering them to vote with Choose or Lose 2000. In 1992 1996 and 2000 Choose or Lose strategically partnered with a diverse group of non-profit government corporate and online organizations including Rock the Vote and the over 75 members of the Youth Vote 2000 Coalition. By teaming up with the WWE Choose or Lose will have an effective new partner to reach out and register the largest new generation of voters since the baby boom.

WWE Entertainment Inc. is an integrated media and entertainment company headquartered in Stamford Connecticut with sale offices in New York City Chicago and Toronto. The company is an equal partner with NBC in the XFL a new professional football league scheduled to kickoff in February 2001. The company can be found online at wwe.com and wweecorpbiz.com