WhatCulture Ltd. is an online entertainment news website and magazine which was launched in 2010. The site offers news in the field of
professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...
,
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
,
films
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
,
video games
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...
, and
board games
Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well.
Many board games feature a comp ...
.
History
Originally started by Peter Willis and Matt Holmes as ObsessedWithFilm in 2006, WhatCulture had its headquarters in
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...
before moving to
Baltic Place in 2015. As ObsessedWithFilm, the site was geared towards news and conversation about things going on in
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
. On August 17, 2011, WhatCulture's
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
channel was created but the company did not upload its first video until October 14, 2014.
On December 11, 2014, WhatCulture opened a new channel originally named WhatCulture WWE, now known as WhatCulture Wrestling. On April 29, 2015, this channel introduced its first regular host, Adam Blampied. Content updates to the site became more frequent, other personalities including Adam Pacitti, Kenny McIntosh, Sam Driver, Jack "The Jobber" King, "King" Ross Tweddell, Simon Miller, and others were introduced, and their popularity rose. The hosts began to include an on-air
kayfabe
In professional wrestling, kayfabe, as a noun, is the portrayal of staged events within the industry as "real" or "true", specifically the portrayal of competition, rivalries, and relationships between participants as being genuine and not staged. ...
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
A red carpet is traditionally used to mark the route taken by heads of state on ceremonial and formal occasions, and has in recent decades been extended to use by VIPs and celebrities at formal events.
History
The earliest known reference to ...
events in
Leicester Square
Leicester Square ( ) is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England. It was laid out in 1670 as Leicester Fields, which was named after the recently built Leicester House, itself named after Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester ...
,
WWE Raw
''WWE Raw'', also known as ''Monday Night Raw'' or simply ''Raw'', is an American professional wrestling television show, television program produced by WWE that currently airs live every Monday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time Zone, ET on the USA Networ ...
and
San Diego Comic-Con
San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is co ...
panels, as well as starting its own wrestling company named WhatCulture Pro Wrestling (WCPW). In 2017, the WhatCulture brand was split and diversified, with the WCPW banner being rebranded as Defiant Wrestling, with the
web series
A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single i ...
''Loaded'', featuring
professional wrestler
Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...
s
Bea Priestley
Beatrice St. Clere Priestley (born 22 March 1996) is an English-New Zealand professional wrestler, best known by the ring name Bea Priestley. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Blair Davenpor ...
and Gabriel Kidd, returning to
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
in late 2018.
On September 19, 2017, WhatCulture announced on its
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
page that Blampied, Pacitti, Tweddell, Driver and King were all leaving the company. The departed hosts would go on to create their own wrestling-dedicated site called Cultaholic, which originally included Blampied, but shortly after the channel announcement, Blampied backed out from the channel due to previous
sexual misconduct
Sexual misconduct is misconduct of a sexual nature which exists on a spectrum that may include a broad range of sexual behaviors considered unwelcome. This includes conduct considered inappropriate on an individual or societal basis of morality, se ...
incidents, which he admitted to and seeked therapy for.
2017 also saw Defiant Wrestling suffer financial issues due to YouTube advertisement policy and the promotion closed down in August 2019.
In March 2022, WhatCulture was acquired by Future Publishing.
See also
*
List of professional wrestling websites
This is a list of professional wrestling websites. Online websites who focus mostly or exclusively on professional wrestling.
News websites
Historical websites
Sales websites
Comedy websites
See also
* Dirt sheet
* List of professional wre ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:WhatCulture
Infotainment
Internet properties established in 2006
Internet properties established in 2010
American entertainment news websites
Professional wrestling websites