The event was established to honor the memory of independent wrestler "All American" Jeff Peterson who died at age 21 after a two-year battle with leukemia.
It was a standard 16-man single-elimination tournament intended to showcase the top junior heavyweight wrestlers from independent promotions throughout the United States[1] and Japan.
The tournament was originally held by NWA Florida[15][16] from 2003 to 2005,[3][17] when it closed, and was continued by Full Impact Pro the following year.
The tenth tournament on December 14 and 15, 2012, was billed as the last ever Jeff Peterson Memorial Cup and was an independent internet pay-per-view not officially held by any promotion.
The 2007 and 2008 editions were hosted by Lenny Leonard and Scott Hudson, former commentators for Ring of Honor and World Championship Wrestling respectively.
[25] Since its beginning in 2003, the Jeff Peterson Memorial Cup has been specifically used to raise money for various charities in the state of Florida.
Instead of his opponent receiving a bye to the semi-finals, a six-way match was held among the already eliminated participants to replace Youth in the tournament which was won by TJ Wilson.
Instead of his opponent receiving a bye to the semi-finals, a six-way match was held among the already eliminated participants to replace Dorado in the tournament, which was won by Jonathan Gresham.