During the summer of 2007, the wrestling business as a whole was in shambles. The recent controversial deaths of the Benoit family and the continued tragedies of ECW Alumni had taken a toll on all involved with wrestling and sports entertainment. Now companies encountered serious scrutiny from the government, trying to crack down on steroids and drugs in the sport. The WWE suffered the worst summer and overall 3 months in its entire history, with stocks plummeting. They were able to rebound during August with strong Pay per Views and media interviews to gain a considerable amount of respect. But also that summer, the winds had also changed for WWE as a brand. Vince McMahon and his wife Linda chose to step down from their executive positions in the company. Their children Shane and Stephanie took over the business and entertainment aspects of the company respectively. Shane McMahon did a wonderful job, bringing in renewed interest in the WWE. But with her husband at her side, Stephanie McMahon chose to bring a new attitude to Raw, Smackdown, and ECW. ECW became known as Velocity, and it truly became a home for undercard nobodies. Young stars such as CM Punk, MVP, Elijah Burke and Shelton Benjamin were released in favor of older veterans to take time up on television. Triple H successfully used himself to become a 12 time champion before the end of summer, and the Nature Boy Ric Flair was forced to watch on the sidelines. Younger superstars like John Cena and Randy Orton watched the King reign supreme over all of their careers.
In the young company TNA, things seemed to be going well. New stars from WWE and WCW were coming in and helping the cause, and TNA had finally made a large profit due to their success. Head booker Vince Russo used the familiar faces in all of his matches and all the title matches, which proved to be a hit with the fans. But the younger members of the roster had nowhere to go, and no way to get noticed. They begged and pleaded with officials to let them work for independent promotions, and the wish was granted. The younger stars now had the option to work for any promotion they wanted, and only if they showed up to Impact tapings on a regular basis.
The independent scene in America had never seen more success. Several promotions were now getting nationwide attention and helped wrestling gain more respect. Legends were made in the stars of the company, and they were soon known as common names. ROH had reached a PPV deal, and the world was buzzing. They proved to be successful, and all promotions thrived from the newfound success of the east coast promotion.
In the winter of 2007, a mysterious, secretive man only known as the Entity appeared on the scene. Unknown to many, he was seen as a mystery. Many thought the mysterious figure was Paul Heyman, Eric Bischoff or even Vincent Kennedy McMahon himself. The Entity sought out several stars of all 3 major American outlets, trying to develop a wrestling product like none other. He traveled all across America and scouted all that he could. He signed several wrestlers to open contracts, assembling a very diverse roster. The Entity sought to create the mix of athleticism and entertainment that all were craving for. By January 2008, all the work was done, and The Entity finally called his new soldiers together. He showed everyone, still under a disguise, the plan and mission of his new promotion. He called his new promotion PRIDE, not being scared of the past and not hiding from the light of the future. In less than a year, wrestling had changed. Though not many had been expecting it, Pro Wrestling PRIDE had come to make an impact.
