STAMFORD Conn. October 10 2000 – WWE home to Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock is going to the mat with the record industry — forming its own record label SmackDown! Records. Hard rock and rap/hip hop will be the music of choice for the new label a division of WWE Entertainment (NMS:WWE) says newly appointed SmackDown! President Ron McCarrell. McCarrell will report directly to Stuart Snyder President and COO of WWE.

The first release from SmackDown! will be a compilation CD featuring new and established rock bands. The recording will be a joint venture between the new label and Sony Music/Columbia Records. Additional partners will be announced at a later date. Recent WWE compilation releases have sold more than a million copies which shows a definite synergy between music and the WWE brand. The latest release – Aggression – which contained special re-mixes of Superstar theme songs by major names in the rap/hip hop world including Method Man and Snoop Doggy Dogg debuted at #8 on the Billboard Top 100 National Album Chart.

Stuart Snyder WWE President and COO states: "Music has become an integral part of our live event experience and our television broadcasts. With this new venture we plan on capturing the musical experience and using it as an effective way to expand the WWE brand."

"In addition to capitalizing on WWE branded programming as promotional vehicles for new music we also have relationships with music and entertainment powerhouses Viacom and Sony/Columbia that we believe will help make this new venture a success " McCarrell notes. "WWE maintains a very active and high profile website one of the most active in the world. All of this combined provides tremendous exposure and marketing leverage for SmackDown! artists and bands."

McCarrell joins WWE from BMG Entertainment/The Windham Hill Group where he was responsible for all areas of marketing including product management radio promotion publicity and creative services. Prior to this McCarrell was General Manager for the House of Blues Music Company and for seven years served as Senior Vice President of Epic Records. He has created and implemented marketing campaigns for artists as diverse as Michael Jackson Hammer Bonnie Raitt and David Bowie.

WWE Entertainment Inc. is headquartered in Stamford Connecticut with sales offices in New York City Chicago and Toronto. WWE is an integrated media and entertainment company engaged in the development production and marketing of television programming pay-per-view programming and live events and the licensing and sale of branded consumer products featuring the highly successful WWE (WWE) brand. The company currently has more than 600 employees and has exclusive contracts with approximately 125 performers. The Company can be found on NASDAQ under the symbol WWE and online at WWE.com and WWECORPBIZ.com.

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