Type of site | Infotainment |
---|---|
Available in | English |
Headquarters | WhatCulture Studios, Mulgrave Place, Gateshead |
URL | whatculture |
Commercial | No |
Launched | 2010 |
Current status | Active |
WhatCulture Ltd. is a British online entertainment news website and magazine [1] which was launched in 2010. [2] The site offers news in the field of professional wrestling, television, films, music, video games, and board games.
Originally started by Peter Willis and Matt Holmes as ObsessedWithFilm in 2006, WhatCulture had its headquarters in Newcastle upon Tyne before moving to Baltic Place in 2015. [3] [4] [5] As ObsessedWithFilm, the site was geared towards news and conversation about things going on in Hollywood. [6] On August 17, 2011, WhatCulture's YouTube channel was created [7] but the company did not upload its first video until October 14, 2014. [8]
On December 11, 2014, WhatCulture opened a new channel originally named WhatCulture WWE, now known as WhatCulture Wrestling. [9] On April 29, 2015, this channel introduced its first regular host, Adam Blampied. [10] Content updates to the site became more frequent, other personalities including Adam Pacitti, Kenny McIntosh, Sam Driver, Jack "The Jobber" G. King, "King" Ross Tweddell, Simon Miller, and others were introduced, and their popularity rose. The hosts began to include an on-air kayfabe storyline feud between Blampied and his followers, collectively known as B-X, versus Pacitti and his followers, collectively known as Pacitti Club. WhatCulture expanded its coverage with red carpet events in Leicester Square, WWE Raw and San Diego Comic-Con panels, [11] as well as starting its own wrestling promotion named WhatCulture Pro Wrestling (WCPW). [12] In 2017, the WhatCulture brand was split and diversified, with the WCPW banner being rebranded as Defiant Wrestling, [13] with the web series Loaded, featuring professional wrestlers Bea Priestley and Gabriel Kidd, returning to YouTube in late 2018. [14]
On September 19, 2017, WhatCulture announced on its Twitter page that Blampied, Pacitti, Tweddell, Driver and King were all leaving the company. [15] The departed hosts would go on to create their own wrestling-dedicated site called Cultaholic, [16] which originally included Blampied, [17] but shortly after the channel announcement, Blampied backed out from the channel due to previous sexual misconduct incidents, which he admitted to and sought therapy for. [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23]
2017 also saw Defiant Wrestling suffer financial issues due to YouTube advertisement policy [24] [25] and the promotion closed down in August 2019. [26] [27]
In March 2022, WhatCulture was acquired by Future Publishing. [28]
Cody Garrett Runnels Rhodes is an American professional wrestler. As of April 2022, he is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand and as of April 2024, he is the current Undisputed WWE Champion, recognized as both the WWE Champion and WWE Universal Champion in his first reign with each. He is also known for his time in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) from 2019 to 2022, where he served as an executive vice president and was the inaugural and a record-setting three-time AEW TNT Champion.
Devon Nicholson is a Canadian professional wrestler who has wrestled under the names of Kid Nichols, Hannibal and Blood Hunter. He is also a professional wrestling promoter, running the Great North Wrestling company, and has a YouTube channel, The Hannibal TV.
Austin Watson is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Xavier Woods and is part of The New Day. Watson also makes public appearances outside of wrestling under the name Austin Creed.
Windy City Pro Wrestling is an American regional professional wrestling promotion originally based in Chicago, Illinois. Established as Windy City Wrestling by retired wrestler Sam DeCero in 1988, the promotion was one of several major regional territories in the Midwest, along with Dick the Bruiser's World Wrestling Association, during the late 1980s and among the oldest independent organizations in the United States until its last promoted show in December 2010.
Simon Musk is an English professional wrestler better known under his in-ring persona of masked Mexican luchador, El Ligero. He is most known for his time in the British independent circuit and in WWE, on their NXT UK brand.
Oliver Biney is an English professional wrestler best known for his time in WWE, performing under the ring name Rampage Brown. He is also known for his work throughout the European and British independent wrestling circuit. Biney also briefly worked for WWE's developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling in 2011 and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in September 2014. He is currently a trainer for New Generation Wrestling in their North East School.
James McAhren is a British former professional wrestler best known under the ring name Jimmy Havoc. He is known for his work with Progress Wrestling, Defiant Wrestling, Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW), Major League Wrestling (MLW) and All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Havoc is a former Progress World Champion.
William Peter Charles Ospreay is an English professional wrestler. As of November 2023, he is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a former AEW International Champion. He is also known for his eight year tenure with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he held various championships, including the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.
Thomas McGowan is a Scottish professional wrestler, known by his ring name B. T. Gunn. Gunn is a Wrestling Coach at the GPWA Glasgow Asylum. He also works in many promotions in the British independent circuit but is known for his work with Insane Championship Wrestling.
Damian Mackle is a Northern Irish professional wrestler. He is known for his time in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Killian Dain. Since his departure from WWE, he has reverted back to his ring name on the independent circuit, Big Damo.
Noam Dar is a Scottish-Israeli professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand. He is the leader of The Meta-Four stable and has held the NXT Heritage Cup a record-setting three times. He is also known for his tenure with Scottish promotion Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW).
The Elite is a villainous professional wrestling stable currently appearing in the American professional wrestling promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). The group currently consists of co-leaders The Young Bucks, "Hangman" Adam Page, Kazuchika Okada, Jack Perry, and Brandon Cutler as an associate.
Logan Alexander Paul is an American social media influencer, professional wrestler, YouTuber, entrepreneur, and actor. He has over 23 million subscribers on his YouTube channel, and has ranked on the Forbes list for the highest paid YouTube creators in 2017, 2018, and 2021. He is the co-founder of beverage company Prime. Paul has also run the Impaulsive podcast since November 2018, which has over 4 million YouTube subscribers. As a wrestler, he has been signed to WWE since June 2022, where he performs on the SmackDown brand and is the current WWE United States Champion in his first reign.
Joseph Samuel Hendry is a Scottish professional wrestler and musician. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) since September 2022, and has also made appearances for WWE on the NXT brand since June 2024 via a working partnership between TNA and WWE. In TNA, Hendry is a former one time and the longest-reigning TNA Digital Media Champion.
Joseph Conners is an English professional wrestler. Conners competed in many British wrestling promotions, most notably New Generation Wrestling (NGW) and What Culture Pro Wrestling (WCPW), where he was a one-time WCPW Champion. In 2017 and 2018 he took part in WWE's UK Championship Tournament, and until 2021 competed on WWE's NXT UK brand.
Steffanie Newell is a Welsh professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Tegan Nox. Newell previously wrestled on the British independent circuit under the ring name Nixon Newell, most notably for promotions such as Attack! Pro Wrestling, Progress Wrestling, WhatCulture Pro Wrestling, and Fight Club: Pro.
Charles Max Barsky is an American retired professional wrestler best known by his ring name David Starr. Starr has wrestled for promotions including Combat Zone Wrestling, Evolve, Progress Wrestling, Revolution Pro Wrestling, Westside Xtreme Wrestling, Over the Top Wrestling, Ring of Honor, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. He held championships and won tournaments for companies based in Australia, North America, France, Germany, Ireland and the United Kingdom.
Beatrice St. Claire Priestley is an English-New Zealander professional wrestler best known by the ring name Bea Priestley. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Blair Davenport. She is best known for her tenure in Japan, performing for World Wonder Ring Stardom from 2017 until 2021, and also made appearances in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) serving as Will Ospreay’s valet.
Gabriel Michael U McMenamin is an English professional wrestler. He is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he performs under the ring name Gabe Kidd. In NJPW, he is a member of Bullet Club and the current Strong Openweight Champion in his first reign. He is also a former Strong Openweight Tag Team Champion, alongside former Bullet Club stablemate Alex Coughlin.
Adam Joseph Pacitti is an English YouTuber, best known for his publicity stunts and for founding professional wrestling infotainment company Cultaholic.