The Pro Wrestling World Cup was a professional wrestling tournament and livestreaming event produced by WhatCulture Pro Wrestling (WCPW) which took place on August 23, 2017 at Planet Ice Arena Milton Keynes in Milton Keynes, England, August 24, 2017 at the Bowlers Exhibition Centre in Manchester, England, and August 26, 2017 at Sport Central in Newcastle Upon Tyne, England. All three nights of the tournament were streamed live on YouTube.
Production Background On February 13, 2017, WCPW announced the Pro Wrestling World Cup, a 64-man single elimination tournament with various qualifying matches taking place from March 21-July 22, 2017 in Nottingham, England, Motherwell, Scotland, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Berlin, Germany, and Manchester, England. The finals were also announced to take place on August 23, 2017 at Planet Ice Milton Keynes in Milton Keynes, England, August 24, 2017 at the Bowlers Exhibition Centre in Manchester, England, and August 26, 2017 at Sport Central in Newcastle Upon Tyne, England and would feature Rey Mysterio, Jr., Kenny Williams, Kushida, Ricochet, Will Ospreay, Mike Bailey, Angelico, Hiromu Takahashi, Penta El Zero M, and Jay Lethal as competitors in the tournament.
On May 22, 2017, WCPW announced that they would cancel several tapings for Loaded in Manchester, England scheduled for June 16, 2017, June 23, 2017, June 30, 2017, July 14, 2017, July 28, 2017, August 4, 2017, August 11, 2017, and August 18, 2017 and stated in the press release that their content on YouTube was deemed "non-advertiser friendly" after changes to the platform's guidelines were implemented due to a large number of advertisers pulling their ads from the platform after it was reported that ads for major companies were being played next to videos displaying extremist content. In response, WCPW announced Fight Back which addressed and protested against wrestling content on the platform being demonetized. Fight Back was held on June 2, 2017 at the Bowlers Exhibition Centre and aired the following day on YouTube. The show also featured a speech from WhatCulture personality Adam Blampied at the beginning of the event. After the show had aired, WCPW was issued a community guidelines strike which forced the event's broadcast to be taken down briefly by YouTube before being put back up after an appeal by the promotion.
Storylines The Pro Wrestling World Cup featured professional wrestling matches that involves different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Storylines were produced on WhatCulture Pro Wrestling's various events and on their weekly internet show WCPW Loaded. Participants +WrestlerCountryAngelicoMexicoBad BonesGermanyHiromu TakahashiJapanJay LethalUSAJoe CoffeyScotlandJoseph ConnersEnglandKenny WilliamsScotlandKushidaJapanLucky KidGermanyMike BaileyCanadaPenta El Zero MMexicoRey MysterioRicochetUSATravis BanksNew ZealandWill OspreayEngland
Results + Other on-screen personnelRole:Name:CommentatorsDave BradshawJames R. KennedyAlex ShaneRing announcerStevie AaronRyan Devlin
References