WWE New York was a themed restaurant the popular professional wrestling empire built back in 1999. Now, this was a time where the best of the best were on the WWE scene, when every fan hung onto every word that The Rock and Stone Cold said in their electrifying promos. While everyone else gasped for what was coming in Y2K, the WWE invested in a new venture, the restaurant business.
From the first look, it might just be one of those themed restaurants that would attract tourists and hardcore fans, but the truth is there's much more to it. Here are ten things we didn't know about the WWE New York until now.
10 The World
New York city's 43rd Street and Broadway has always been known as the Paramount Theater. That famous Paramount arch may have been removed when the New York Times occupied the space in the late sixties, but everybody in New York still called it the Paramount theater. The 3,600-seat theater was there from 1926 until 1966, hosting 40 glorious years of entertainment that included Buddy Holly and Frank Sinatra.
WWE rented the place towards the end of 1999 and they established a restaurant right there in popular Times Square, also bringing back that famous Paramount arch. For a few years, this premium and historic 46,000-foot space at Broadway and 43rd was known as WWF New York and later on The World.
9 WWF To WWE
In the middle of the wrestling-themed restaurant's lifetime, a big change happened to WWE. They had to change the company's name from WWF or World Wrestling Federation. This was an issue that's long been addressed and was not taken care of apparently. The acronym WWF was technically first used by the World Wildlife Fund, that ecological private organization that protects endangered animals and the environment. What supposedly have been settled back in 1994 was only concluded eight years later as Cageside Seats reports a settlement between the two parties. The wrestling organization changed its name to WWE, along with all other properties. This included the New York establishment, but instead of simply changing it to WWE New York, they elected to make it The World.
8 Where Was It In New York?
We might not see the WWE restaurant from older pictures of famous tourist spot Times Square in New York, but it's right there, just a stone's throw away from the most-visited spot in NYC. At the corner of W. 43rd Street and 7th Avenue, about a block and a half away, sits the historic Paramount building and at the base was WWE New York. It stood there for almost four Christmases before ceasing operations in early 2003. Today, the restaurant's replaced by another themed restaurant and is right across from the U.S. Army Recruiting Office.
7 Not Just A Restaurant
The World, formerly WWF New York, was not just a restaurant located in Times Square New York City. It had more in store for the visiting patron, like a merchandise store that sold wrestling memorabilia. If you were lucky you might chance upon a wrestler signing merchandise. The gift shop attracted a lot of tourists and wrestling fanatics, especially WWE fans. Various t-shirts with the logo of the WWF world, sweatshirts, stationery, lunch boxes, action figures, reading material, and everything else were available at the merchandise store. Back then, Dwayne and Steve may have been the top merchandise sellers, but Forbes reports that as of early 2019, Becky Lynch was #1. There was also an underground arcade that attracted children and dads, cool place right?
6 Not Just A Merchandise Store
Since The World New York was a themed restaurant, it was expected that they'd have wrestling shows playing on their TV screens all over the place. But when the big events came, those of pay-per-view caliber, the restaurant catered to customers and served a 3-course gourmet meal with access to the pay-per-view WWE event.
But shows like Smackdown and Raw were all for free. They even showed for free the British WWE pay-per-view shows Insurrextion and Rebellion for dining customers. It was all wrestling all day long in this restaurant.
5 Promotions And More Promotions
It's not for lack of promotions that the WWE New York closed down. Every main event the restaurant would have a matching gimmick to attract customers to dine in the restaurant and enjoy what they had to offer. They even got Sam Jackson to play Shaft and play out scenes that had been shot at the restaurant. One can even recognize the restaurant in the backstage scenes of Playstation 2 games Smackdown Shut Your Mouth and Smackdown Here Comes The Pain. But one outrageous promotion was when Chris Kanyon up and threatened to take over the restaurant in the Invasion story planning to rename it, again, Alliance New York.
4 Unfortunate Closing
We can't say that WWE made a bad move setting up a restaurant in an ultra-competitive market, Times Square in New York of all places. It was fun while it lasted, but it may be better than what the WCW tried to do back then. A Travel Weekly article reminded us that the WCW Nitro Grill, a cheeky attempt to lure wrestling fans into a wrestling-themed restaurant. The menu alone of Nitro Grill was a sight to behold, come and order a Booker T T-bone or Figure Four Fajitas. Although the quality of food in the WWE New York wasn't Michelin-star worthy, Nitro Grill was not so memorable either.
3 The Hard Rock Cafe
If we try and find the exact location of The World in Times Square now, there will still be a restaurant there and it will also be a themed restaurant, but not wrestling. It's the flagship restaurant of The Hard Rock Cafe in New York. Unlike WWE, Hard Rock enjoyed immense success setting up shop in the Paramount Building. The restaurant has been operating there for at least 14 years, a 2004 New York Times article reported the restaurant's relocation from 57th Street to Paramount Theater in Times Square. Next year marks the 15th successful year of The Hard Rock Cafe, we only wished WWE had the same success 20 years ago.
2 The Simple Truth About Why It Closed
The truth about The World restaurant closing is simply how much it takes to stay in the location. Business people always said that setting up shop in the middle of Times Square is one way of brand promotion when the actual business in that location is a success, that's a bonus. But businesses set up there for their brand's exposure. WWE simply couldn’t keep up with the million-dollar annual rent they paid for the space and had to close eventually. But the New York Post recently wrote about rents dropping all around Manhattan and New York City, this might be a good time to revive a WWE-themed restaurant in the heart of The Big Apple.
1 Is WWE Planning Something Similar Today?
With the news of rent dropping in New York City areas, we can't help but wonder if WWE has something in the works. Alas, even The Rock cannot smell if they're cooking something. But if you ask us, the WWE has bigger issues to address today. Chris Jericho's All Elite Wrestling is like a juggernaut of wrestling entertainment coming straight for the WWE. Matching WWE's show by day and timeslot, AEW is a force that cannot be ignored anymore. There are even reports, this one by Forbes, of WWE wrestlers considering leaving WWE and signing with the newly-oiled AEW entertainment machine.