The capacity crowd at the Gold Coast Convention Centre were thrilled with the spills, wrecks and ruins of a blistering two-round, 50 buck out format, that saw team captains - bull riding’s legends and leaders - giving the thumbs up or down, to scores on the board or taking them off in hopes of a better score later.

In the newest competition format to turn bull riding on its horns, the Jupiters Casino PBR World Cup saw five of each country’s best riders under the tutelage of team captains who not only picked their top five riders, but matched the rider to the bull. Then, in the most innovative and exciting twist – exclusive to the PBR World Cup -- only three scores from each team contribute to the total. Team captains had to decide on the spot after a ride was scored whether or not they wanted to keep it or whether they were confident enough that their teams’ upcoming riders could do better.

Brazil’s Robson Palermo began the Brazilians’ blitz on Gary McPhee’s Blue Jeans, scoring 87.25. Australia’s Ben Jones lifted the Aussie’s hopes by scoring 86.5 on George Hemenstall’s Silver City. Jones had a hot night twice over, scoring 88.75 on Matt Adam’s Rodeo Company’s Loco for his second round ride.

The PBR’s history making three-time PBR World Champion Adriano Moraes and Brazilian team captain was the first to turn down a score, the 83 point score for Renato Nunes’s ride on Paul Barron’s Hollywood Boulevard. Mexico’s team captain Rocky McDonald turned down his own 82.75 point score on Hall Rodeo Bucking Bull’s World War 3, which would have helped his team’s overall total.

The first round ended with Team USA in the lead after Mike Lee, Willy Ropp and Cord McCoy posted a total score of 252.75 points. Canada followed in hot pursuit with three of their riders: Justin Volz, Tanner Girletz and Scott Schiffner tallying 247.25 points. Brazil closed out the first round with 174.25 points, followed by Mexico with 168.75 points and Australia 86.5 points.

Australia’s Jared Farley had Aussie fans on their feet in the second round when he posted a heart-pumping 92 points on Mayne’s Bucking Bull’s Haunted, the night’s highest score.

Trevor Dunne’s bulls proved meaner and mightier than reigning Australian PBR Champion Tim Wilson who was out after the first round, suffering a minor back strain, when he was bucked off Dunne’s Bandit. Kevin Connolly stepped up for Wilson in the second round and showed why he was part of the Aussie team, scoring an 88.25 on Paul Barron’s Titanic.

It was another Dunne bull, Big Show that unseated Mexico’s Rocky McDonald in the second round and left him with a laceration to the right eye and a left knee injury.

USA’s Mike Lee suffered the worst injury of the night when Mayne’s Bucking Bull’s Barbaric horned him and Dickie’s DuraBullfighter Shane Mad Dog Simpson. Lee struggled to gain his footing after being slammed to the ground which resulted in a knee injury that puts him in question for the remaining PBR World Cup competition.

Bull riding’s newest, biggest and most bodacious battle, the Jupiters Casino PBR World Cup, held for the first time in Australia, proved on its first intense night of competition that anything can happen at any time, and the leader can shift in an instant. The action resumes tonight at the Gold Coast Convention Centre with rounds three and four. Sunday will see the final rounds, and then it will be determined which country will reign supreme as bull riding’s world leader in 2007. Watch the final two nights of competition on VERSUS on June 9th and 10th at 9:00 p.m. ET. Check your local listing for more details.

About PBR:

More than 100 million viewers tune in each year to the PBR on FOX, NBC, VERSUS and on a host of foreign networks across the globe. With approximately 500 hours of prime time programming annually PBR ranks among the most prolific sports on air, in addition to attracting over one and one half million live event attendees each year with its multi-tiered event structure which includes the marquee Built Ford Tough Series presented by Wrangler, the U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company Challenger Tour, the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Tour, and the Discovery Tour, designed specifically for entry level contestants. The PBR is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colo., and has over 1,200 PBR bull riders compete in more than 300 PBR sanctioned competitions in the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, and Mexico.