World Bodybuilding Federation

World Bodybuilding Federation

Formation	September 15, 1990
Dissolved	July 1992
Purpose	Professional bodybuilding
Parent organization	Titan Sports

The World Bodybuilding Federation (WBF) was a bodybuilding organization founded in 1991 by Vince McMahon. It operated as a subsidiary of his company Titan Sports, the owners of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). Tom Platz announced the WBF during the closing ceremonies of the International Federation of BodyBuilding (IFBB) Mr. Olympia competition in September 1990, which he and McMahon had attended as representatives of an accompanying magazine.

The WBF aimed to bring bigger prize money and more "dramatic" events to the sport of bodybuilding; its events would incorporate presentation elements inspired by professional wrestling, such as competitors being given ring names and kayfabe personas that were showcased in entertainment-based segments and rounds. WWF television programming featured cross-promotion for the WBF, while the organization would later launch its own weekly television program, WBF BodyStars. The organization signed long-term contracts with a number of IFBB regulars to join its roster, with annual salaries as high as $400,000.

The WBF held its inaugural championship on June 15, 1991, as a pay-per-view (PPV) event in Atlantic City, receiving mixed reviews for its attempts to mix bodybuilding with WWF-style sports entertainment gimmicks. The second WBF championship was held in Long Beach on June 13, 1992. Amid a steroid scandal impacting the WWF, the WBF introduced drug testing in March 1992—which resulted in many of the competitors being relatively out-of-shape during the ensuing competition. Attempts to have bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno (who left the organization shortly after the drug testing policy was implemented) and former WCW wrestler Lex Luger (who was injured in a motorcycling accident) participate in the event also did not come to fruition.

The 1992 WBF Championship PPV was a commercial failure, with only around 3,000 buys. A month later on July 15, 1992, McMahon personally phoned Ben and Joe Weider—the co-founders of the IFBB—to inform them that the WBF would be dissolved. The IFBB—which had prohibited those who joined the WBF from participating in its events—agreed to allow WBF members to rejoin the organization after paying a fine.

South African bodybuilder Gary Strydom would be the first and only WBF champion, winning the 1991 event and successfully defending his title in 1992.