Earlier this year, YouTube announced a major change in its programming guidelines that reclassified all pro wrestling content as “non-advertiser friendly”. This decision has drastically affected the potential income of channels that focus on original wrestling related videos, and the latest casualty of that mandate is UK promotion WhatCulture Pro Wrestling.
WCPW released a video early Monday morning (featured below) announcing that their free weekly series, WCPW Loaded, has been cancelled. All nine of their upcoming tapings have been shut down, and anyone who bought tickets is eligible for a full refund. Their pay-per-view events and specials, such as the ongoing Pro Wrestling World Cup, will continue on as planned.
Since its debut, WhatCulture Pro Wrestling has brought together world classic talent from all around the globe, and has released a massive amount of content completely free to the fans. Stars that have appeared on WCPW include Alberto del Rio, Pete Dunne, El Ligero, Noam Dar, Rey Mysterio, Kurt Angle, Matt Riddle, Cody Rhodes, Pentagon Jr., Will Ospreay, Mary Scurll, Drew Galloway, Moose, Trent Seven, Ethan Carter III, Broken Matt Hardy, Johny Mundo…the list goes on, and on. Every single one of these talents listed above has been featured in high quality matches released 100% free on their YouTube channel.
To give you an idea of how badly channels like WCPW have been hit, the promotion revealed that a recent match between Alberto del Rio and Rey Mysterio had only generated about $43, despite being viewed by well over one million people at the time they recorded their announcement. It has now been viewed over two million times. According to a statement made on their official Facebook page, that number represents a “reduction of around 98% in what would have been Loaded’s main source of revenue.”
