Originally started by Peter Willis and Matt Holmes as ObsessedWithFilm in 2006, WhatCulture had its headquarters inNewcastle upon Tyne before moving toBaltic Place in 2015.[3][4][5] As ObsessedWithFilm, the site was geared towards news and conversation about things going on inHollywood.[6] On August 17, 2011, WhatCulture'sYouTube 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 includingAdam 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-airkayfabe 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 withred carpet events inLeicester Square,WWE Raw andSan Diego Comic-Con panels,[11] as well as starting its ownwrestling 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 theweb seriesLoaded, featuring professional wrestlersBea Priestley andGabriel Kidd, returning to YouTube in late 2018.[14]
On September 19, 2017, WhatCulture announced on itsTwitter 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 previoussexual 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]
