STAMFORD Conn. March 22 2007 – Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Aretha Franklin will kick off WrestleMania 23 on April 1 at Ford Field in Detroit Mich. by singing “America The Beautiful” in front of a sold out crowd of more than 75 000 fans.  This will be a reunion of sorts for Aretha and WWE® as she also performed the song at WrestleMania III in front of a record crowd of 93 173 enthusiastic fans at the Silverdome in Pontiac Mich. 

Known worldwide as “The Queen of Soul ” Aretha Franklin has received many accolades throughout her illustrious career including being the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  Since her career began in 1956 Franklin has released more than 55 albums won 19 Grammy Awards and is the second most honored female singer in Grammy history.  At WrestleMania 23 in her hometown of Detroit she will be performing with the New Bethel Choir.

Fans will be converging on Detroit from 23 countries all 50 states and 9 Canadian provinces.   WrestleMania 23 in Detroit has already topped $5 million in ticket sales making it the highest grossing one-day live event in World Wresting Entertainment® history.   

Additional information on World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: WWE) can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com.  For information on our global activities go to http://www.wwe.com/worldwide/.

-30-

Media Contact:            Gary Davis 203-353-5066

Investor Contact:         Michael Weitz 203-352-8642

Trademarks:  All World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. programming talent names images likenesses slogans wrestling moves and logos are the exclusive property of World Wrestling Entertainment Inc.  ECW is a trademark of WWE Libraries Inc.  All other trademarks logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.