Under its fictional premise, WWE has held a variety of different professional wrestling tournaments, competed for by professional wrestlers that are part of their roster.
The Wrestling Classic, also known as Wrestlevision, was a pay-per-view event that took place on November 7, 1985, from the Rosemont Horizon in Rosemont, Illinois. It revolved around a 16-man single-elimination tournament, and also featured a WWF Championship match. Junkyard Dog won the tournament after defeating Randy "Macho Man" Savage.
The Frank Tunney Sr. Memorial Tag Team Tournament was a tournament held at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on March 15, 1987. [1] [2]
Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
The Killer Bees (B. Brian Blair and Jim Brunzell) | Pin | |||||||||||||
Kamala and Sika | 07:32 | |||||||||||||
The Killer Bees | Pin | |||||||||||||
King Kong Bundy and Paul Orndorff | 04:22 | |||||||||||||
King Kong Bundy and Paul Orndorff | Pin | |||||||||||||
Bob Orton and The Magnificent Muraco | 06:20 | |||||||||||||
The Killer Bees | Pin | |||||||||||||
Demolition | 06:16 | |||||||||||||
The Can-Am Connection (Rick Martel and Tom Zenk) | Pin | |||||||||||||
Danny Spivey and Jerry Allen | 10:31 | |||||||||||||
The Can-Am Connection | CO | |||||||||||||
Demolition | 09:21 | |||||||||||||
Demolition (Ax and Smash) | DQ | |||||||||||||
The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith and The Dynamite Kid) | 04:50 |
The main event at WrestleMania IV was a 14-man tournament for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship where "Macho Man" Randy Savage defeated "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase to win the vacant WWF World Heavyweight Championship title. [3]
The WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship Tournament was a tournament to decide a new WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion after previous champion Ultimate Warrior was required to vacate the title after he defeated Hulk Hogan for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania VI. [4] [5] [6]
Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
Tito Santana | CO | |||||||||||||
Akeem | 4/28 | |||||||||||||
Tito Santana | ||||||||||||||
BYE | ||||||||||||||
Brutus Beefcake | DCO | |||||||||||||
Dino Bravo | 5/12 | |||||||||||||
Tito Santana | 5/19 | |||||||||||||
Mr. Perfect | Pin | |||||||||||||
Mr. Perfect | Pin | |||||||||||||
Jimmy Snuka | 5/5 | |||||||||||||
Mr. Perfect | ||||||||||||||
BYE | ||||||||||||||
Roddy Piper | DDQ | |||||||||||||
Rick Martel | 5/13 |
The WWF Women's Championship Tournament was a tournament to decide the new WWF Women's Champion after the title was reinstated after three years of inactivity. [7] [8] [9]
Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||
Alundra Blayze | Pin | |||||||||
Allison Royal | ||||||||||
Alundra Blayze | Pin | |||||||||
Heidi Lee Morgan | Pin | |||||||||
Heidi Lee Morgan | ||||||||||
Black Venus | ||||||||||
Heidi Lee Morgan | Pin | |||||||||
Rusty Thomas | ||||||||||
Rusty Thomas | Pin | |||||||||
Angie Marino | ||||||||||
The WWF Tag Team Championship Tournament was a tournament to decide new WWF Tag Team Champions after former champions Diesel and Shawn Michaels vacated the titles due to the two not being able to function as a tag team, [10] which was won by The 1-2-3 Kid and Bob Holly. [10]
The WWF Tag Team Championship Tournament was a tournament to decide new WWF Tag Team Champions after former champions The Smokin' Gunns had to vacate the titles due to Billy Gunn suffering a neck injury, [11] the tournament was won by The Bodydonnas (Skip and Zip). [11]
The Kuwait International Tournament was a tournament held throughout a five-day house show tour from May 8 to May 12, 1996 in Kuwait. [12]
First Round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||||
Bret Hart | 11:26 | ||||||||||||||
Leif Cassidy | pin | ||||||||||||||
Bret Hart | 15:02 | ||||||||||||||
Owen Hart | Pin | ||||||||||||||
Yokozuna | 10:33 | ||||||||||||||
Owen Hart | CO | ||||||||||||||
Owen Hart | 14:20 | ||||||||||||||
Ahmed Johnson | pin | ||||||||||||||
Marty Jannetty | SUB | ||||||||||||||
Stone Cold Steve Austin | 6:04 | ||||||||||||||
Stone Cold Steve Austin | 12:52 | ||||||||||||||
Ahmed Johnson | pin | ||||||||||||||
Ahmed Johnson | pin | ||||||||||||||
Aldo Montoya | 7:12 | ||||||||||||||
Ahmed Johnson | pin | ||||||||||||||
Hunter Hearst Helmsley | 20:03 | ||||||||||||||
The Undertaker | 10:02 | ||||||||||||||
Isaac Yankem, D.D.S. | pin | ||||||||||||||
The Undertaker | pin | ||||||||||||||
British Bulldog | 8:26 | ||||||||||||||
Duke Droese | 5:16 | ||||||||||||||
The British Bulldog | pin | ||||||||||||||
The Undertaker | DQ | ||||||||||||||
Hunter Hearst Helmsley | 8:30 | ||||||||||||||
Savio Vega | pin | ||||||||||||||
Bob Backlund | 5:17 | ||||||||||||||
Savio Vega | 7:49 | ||||||||||||||
Hunter Hearst Helmsley | pin | ||||||||||||||
Butch | 11:56 | ||||||||||||||
Hunter Hearst Helmsley | pin |
The WWF Intercontinental Championship Tournament was a tournament to decide a new WWF Intercontinental Champion after previous champion Ahmed Johnson forfeited the title. He suffered (kayfabe) injuries to both kidneys when he was attacked by the debuting Faarooq after winning an 11-man battle royal. [5] [13]
Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
Owen Hart | CO | |||||||||||||
The British Bulldog | 8/19 | |||||||||||||
Owen Hart | 9/16 | |||||||||||||
Marc Mero | Pin | |||||||||||||
Marc Mero | DQ | |||||||||||||
Stone Cold Steve Austin | 8/19 | |||||||||||||
Marc Mero | Pin | |||||||||||||
Faarooq | 9/23 | |||||||||||||
Sycho Sid | 8/19 | |||||||||||||
Hunter Hearst Helmsley | Pin | |||||||||||||
Sycho Sid | 9/16 | |||||||||||||
Faarooq | DQ | |||||||||||||
Faarooq | Pin | |||||||||||||
Savio Vega | 8/19 |
The Middle East Cup was a tournament that took place in Dubai on December 2, 1996. [14] [12]
Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
Bret Hart | PIN | |||||||||||||
The British Bulldog | ||||||||||||||
Bret Hart | ||||||||||||||
BYE | ||||||||||||||
Vader | DCO | |||||||||||||
Faarooq | ||||||||||||||
Bret Hart | PIN | |||||||||||||
Stone Cold Steve Austin | ||||||||||||||
Owen Hart | ||||||||||||||
Stone Cold Steve Austin | ||||||||||||||
Stone Cold Steve Austin | DQ | |||||||||||||
The Undertaker | ||||||||||||||
The Undertaker | ||||||||||||||
Mankind |
The WWF European Championship Tournament was a tournament to crown the first-ever WWF European Champion. [5]
The Kuwait International Tournament was a tournament held throughout a 1997 house show tour in Kuwait. [12] During the tour, Vader and The Undertaker appeared on Good Morning Kuwait where Vader attacked the host of the show when he asked about the legitimacy of professional wrestling; Vader was fined $164 by Kuwaiti authorities for the incident as well as being held in custody for several days. [15] [16]
First Round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
Tiger Ali Singh | pin | ||||||||||||||
Leif Cassidy | 6:47 | ||||||||||||||
Tiger Ali Singh | PIN | ||||||||||||||
Billy Gunn | 11:04 | ||||||||||||||
Billy Gunn | pin | ||||||||||||||
Bob Holly | 5:06 | ||||||||||||||
Tiger Ali Singh | PIN | ||||||||||||||
Mankind | 9:08 | ||||||||||||||
Fake Diesel | pin | ||||||||||||||
The British Bulldog | 10:53 | ||||||||||||||
Davey Boy Smith | DQ | ||||||||||||||
Mankind | 12:26 | ||||||||||||||
Phineas I. Godwinn | sub | ||||||||||||||
Mankind | 8:43 | ||||||||||||||
Tiger Ali Singh | PIN | ||||||||||||||
Owen Hart | 13:48 | ||||||||||||||
Vader | pin | ||||||||||||||
Bart Gunn | 4:40 | ||||||||||||||
Vader | PIN | ||||||||||||||
Freddie Joe Floyd | 3:02 | ||||||||||||||
Sycho Sid | forfeit | ||||||||||||||
Freddie Joe Floyd | |||||||||||||||
Vader | Forfeit | ||||||||||||||
Owen Hart | |||||||||||||||
Stone Cold Steve Austin | CO | ||||||||||||||
Bret Hart | 15:58 | ||||||||||||||
Stone Cold Steve Austin | 14:30 | ||||||||||||||
Owen Hart | PIN | ||||||||||||||
Henry O. Godwinn | SUB | ||||||||||||||
Owen Hart | 7:52 |
The WWF Tag Team Championship Tournament was a tournament to decide new WWF Tag Team Champions, which was won by Owen Hart and The British Bulldog, with the winner facing Stone Cold Steve Austin and a partner of his choosing, which was revealed to be Dude Love.
Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
Faarooq and D'Lo Brown | Pin | |||||||||||||
Vader and The Undertaker | ||||||||||||||
Farooq and D'Lo Brown | Pin | |||||||||||||
The Legion of Doom | ||||||||||||||
The Godwinns | ||||||||||||||
The Legion of Doom | Pin | |||||||||||||
Farooq and D'Lo Brown | ||||||||||||||
Owen Hart and the British Bulldog | Pin | |||||||||||||
New Blackjacks | ||||||||||||||
Owen Hart and the British Bulldog | Pin | |||||||||||||
Owen Hart and the British Bulldog | ||||||||||||||
The Headbangers | Pin | |||||||||||||
Jerry Lawler and Rob Van Dam | ||||||||||||||
The Headbangers | Pin |
The tournament to determine the new WWF Intercontinental Champion was held between September 8 and October 5, 1997, with the finals occurring at Badd Blood: In Your House. The title was vacated due to a neck injury that champion Stone Cold Steve Austin suffered when he won the championship.
The WWF Light Heavyweight Championship was first introduced in Mexico for the Universal Wrestling Association. It eventually migrated to Japan as well, though it was not considered to be an official WWF title until after 1997, when a tournament was held in the United States to crown a champion. Before the tournament, the title was a part of the J-Crown. The tournament ended on December 7, 1997, at D-Generation X: In Your House where Taka Michinoku defeated Brian Christopher to become the first Light Heavyweight Champion recognized by the WWF.
The WWF Brawl for All was a shoot fighting tournament held in the World Wrestling Federation that lasted from June 29, 1998, to August 24, 1998.
The WWF Intercontinental Championship Tournament was a tournament to decide a new WWF Intercontinental Champion after previous champion Triple H vacated the title due to injury. [5] [17]
Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
Ken Shamrock | Sub | |||||||||||||
Steve Blackman | ||||||||||||||
Ken Shamrock | Sub | |||||||||||||
Val Venis | ||||||||||||||
Val Venis | Pin | |||||||||||||
Marc Mero | ||||||||||||||
Ken Shamrock | Sub | |||||||||||||
X-Pac | ||||||||||||||
X-Pac | Pin | |||||||||||||
Jeff Jarrett | ||||||||||||||
X-Pac | Pin | |||||||||||||
Mankind | ||||||||||||||
Mankind | Sub | |||||||||||||
Mark Henry |
The Deadly Games WWF Championship Tournament was a tournament to decide a new WWF Champion after the title was vacated at the previous pay-per-view after Kane and The Undertaker pinned then-champion Stone Cold Steve Austin during a Triple Threat title match.
The Undisputed WWF Championship Tournament was a four-man tournament held at Vengeance on December 9, 2001. The tournament was created to unify the WWF and World Championships.
The Undisputed WWF Championship #1 Contendership Tournament was a tournament to face Chris Jericho for the Undisputed WWF Championship at No Way Out. [18]
The WWE Tag Team Championship Tournament was a tournament held to crown the inaugural WWE Tag Team Champions, for the SmackDown brand. The finals concluded at No Mercy (2002) and were won by Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle. [19]
This was a tournament to determine the #1 contender for the WWE Championship. The winner faced champion Brock Lesnar at Backlash. [20]
The WWE United States Championship Tournament was a tournament to crown a new United States Champion after then-Smackdown General Manager Stephanie McMahon revived the title after two years of inactivity. [21]
The tournament was held between June 19 and July 27, 2003, at Vengeance.
The tournament to determine the number one contender for the WWE Championship match at WrestleMania 21 was held between February 1 and February 20, 2005. At WrestleMania 21, John Cena defeated John "Bradshaw" Layfield to become the new champion.
The WWE Championship #1 Contender's Tournament was a tournament where the winner faced champion John Cena at Judgment Day. [22]
The Gold Rush Tournament was a tournament to determine the new #1 contender for World Heavyweight Champion Batista. Edge won the tournament but lost to Batista on the May 23 episode of Raw.
Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
Kane | 5/2 | |||||||||||||
Christian | Pin 4:22 | |||||||||||||
Kane | 5/9 | |||||||||||||
Chris Benoit | Pin 9:18 | |||||||||||||
Chris Benoit | 5/2 | |||||||||||||
Triple H | Sub 13:34 | |||||||||||||
Kane | 5/16 | |||||||||||||
Edge | Pin 12:23 | |||||||||||||
Edge | 5/2 | |||||||||||||
Chris Jericho | Pin 8:10 | |||||||||||||
Edge | 5/9 | |||||||||||||
Shawn Michaels | Pin 9:52 | |||||||||||||
Shawn Michaels | 5/2 | |||||||||||||
Shelton Benjamin | Pin 14:50 |
The Road to WrestleMania Tournament was a tournament to crown a #1 contender for John Cena's WWE Championship at WrestleMania 22.
Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
Triple H | Pin | |||||||||||||
Ric Flair | 2/6 | |||||||||||||
Triple H | DCO | |||||||||||||
Big Show | 2/13 | |||||||||||||
Big Show | Pin | |||||||||||||
Shelton Benjamin | 2/6 | |||||||||||||
Triple H | Pin | |||||||||||||
Big Show Rob Van Dam | 2/20 | |||||||||||||
Rob Van Dam | Pin | |||||||||||||
Carlito | 2/6 | |||||||||||||
Rob Van Dam | Pin | |||||||||||||
Chris Masters | 2/13 | |||||||||||||
Kane | 2/6 | |||||||||||||
Chris Masters |
The WWE Women's Championship Tournament was a tournament to crown a new WWE Women's Champion after champion Trish Stratus retired from her wrestling career. [8] [23] The first round started on September 25, 2006, and ended at Cyber Sunday when Lita, who Stratus defeated in her retirement match, defeated Mickie James.
The ECW World Championship Tournament was a tournament created to determine a new ECW World Champion after Bobby Lashley vacated his championship due to being drafted to Raw on June 11, 2007. The finals took place at Vengeance: Night of Champions. This tournament is notable because one of the semi-final rounds was Chris Benoits final match. The tournament final was supposed to be Benoit vs CM Punk but Benoit no showed the event and was replaced by Johnny Nitro, who would go on to win the title. It was reported the day after the event that Benoit, his wife Nancy and their son Daniel were found dead in their home in suburban Atlanta. The day after police ruled that Benoit himself had killed his wife and son before committing suicide. This event has gone on to be known as the Chris Benoit double murder and suicide. [24]
The Championship Competition Tournament was a tournament held on SmackDown! in 2007 to determine the #1 contender for the World Heavyweight Championship at Unforgiven. [25]
Semifinals | Final | ||||||||
Rey Mysterio | DQ | ||||||||
Batista | 05:57 | ||||||||
Rey Mysterio | Pin | ||||||||
Finlay | 08:33 | ||||||||
Finlay | Pin | ||||||||
Kane | 07:21 |
The Championship Chase Tournament was a tournament held on the May 9, 2008 episode of SmackDown to determine The Undertaker's opponent for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship at Judgment Day. [26]
No. | Results | Stipulations | Times |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Big Show defeated Tommy Dreamer | Qualifying match | 01:35 |
2 | Finlay vs. Montel Vontavious Porter ended in a double-pin | Qualifying match | 14:46 |
3 | Matt Hardy defeated CM Punk | Qualifying match | 04:46 |
4 | Kane defeated Chavo Guerrero | Qualifying match | 05:56 |
5 | Batista defeated John Morrison | Qualifying match | 06:34 |
6 | Edge defeated Big Show, Finlay, Montel Vontavious Porter, Matt Hardy, Kane and Batista | Battle royal to determine the #1 contender for the World Heavyweight Championship | 15:59 |
A tournament was announced to crown a new #1 contender for William Regal's WWE Intercontinental Championship. CM Punk won the tournament by defeating Rey Mysterio in the tournament final at Armageddon. [27]
The Race To The Rumble Tournament was a tournament held in 2008 to determine a #1 contender for the World Heavyweight Championship at the 2009 Royal Rumble. [28]
Qualifiers | Final | |||||||
Shawn Michaels | 12/22 | |||||||
Kane | Pin | |||||||
Randy Orton | 12/22 | Shawn Michaels | 12/29 | |||||
Batista | Forfeit | Randy Orton | ||||||
John "Bradshaw" Layfield | 12/22 | John "Bradshaw" Layfield | Pin | |||||
Rey Mysterio | DQ | Chris Jericho | ||||||
Chris Jericho | 12/22 | |||||||
CM Punk | Pin | |||||||
The ECW Homecoming Tournament was a tournament held in 2009 to crown a #1 contender for the ECW Championship at the 2010 Royal Rumble. [29]
No. | Results | Stipulations | Times |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Kane defeated Zack Ryder | Qualifying match | 03:47 |
2 | Ezekiel Jackson defeated Vladimir Kozlov | Qualifying match | 01:35 |
3 | Yoshi Tatsu defeated Jack Swagger | Qualifying match | 14:46 |
4 | Vance Archer defeated Goldust | Qualifying match | 02:51 |
5 | Matt Hardy defeated Finlay | Qualifying match | 05:14 |
6 | Evan Bourne defeated Mike Knox | Qualifying match | 03:43 |
7 | Shelton Benjamin defeated Chavo Guerrero | Qualifying match | 04:46 |
8 | CM Punk defeated Mark Henry | Qualifying match | 10:37 |
9 | Ezekiel Jackson defeated Kane, Yoshi Tatsu, Vance Archer, Matt Hardy, Evan Bourne, Shelton Benjamin and CM Punk | Final match | 13:53 |
A tournament was announced to crown a new WWE Divas Champion after former champion Melina was stripped of the title due to injury. The first round started on January 4, 2010. [30]
The final tournament was originally scheduled at Elimination Chamber, but when official consultant to the SmackDown General Manager, Vickie Guerrero interrupted, she was changing the match to an interbrand Divas tag team match, facing LayCool (Michelle McCool and Layla) from SmackDown. The final was held at the following night of Raw.
The WWE Intercontinental Championship Tournament was a tournament to crown a new Intercontinental Champion. On May 7, 2010, after failed attempts of getting Intercontinental Champion Drew McIntyre to stop attacking Matt Hardy, Smackdown General Manager Theodore Long fired McIntyre and vacated the title. The following week, Kofi Kingston won a tournament to become the new champion, but Mr. McMahon reverted Long's decision. Due to the decision by Mr. McMahon, the vacancy of the title and Kingston's championship win are not recognized as WWE continued to recognize McIntyre as champion during that period. [31] At Over the Limit, Kingston defeated McIntyre to win his second official Intercontinental Championship.
Semifinals | Final | ||||||||
1 | Kofi Kingston | Pin | |||||||
4 | Dolph Ziggler | 11:15 | |||||||
Kofi Kingston | Pin | ||||||||
Christian | 8:43 | ||||||||
3 | Christian | Pin | |||||||
2 | Cody Rhodes | 12:15 |
On the July 18, 2011, edition of WWE Raw, the WWE Championship was vacated, after champion CM Punk left WWE. The title was put up in a tournament featuring the top eight wrestlers. The finals of the tournament would take place on the July 25 episode of Raw, which was won by Rey Mysterio. [32]
Quarterfinals (TV – July 18, 2011, Raw SuperShow) | Semifinals (TV – July 18, 2011, Raw SuperShow) | Final (TV – July 25, 2011, Raw Supershow) | ||||||||||||
Rey Mysterio | Pin | |||||||||||||
Dolph Ziggler | 08:00 | |||||||||||||
Rey Mysterio | Pin | |||||||||||||
R-Truth | 09:52 | |||||||||||||
Jack Swagger | 05:47 | |||||||||||||
R-Truth | Pin | |||||||||||||
Rey Mysterio | Pin | |||||||||||||
The Miz | 13:10 | |||||||||||||
Kofi Kingston | Pin | |||||||||||||
Alberto Del Rio | 04:24 | |||||||||||||
Kofi Kingston | 12:47 | |||||||||||||
The Miz | Pin | |||||||||||||
Alex Riley | 04:58 | |||||||||||||
The Miz | Pin |
On the August 1, 2012 edition of NXT, NXT Commissioner Dusty Rhodes announced a "Gold Rush" tournament, featuring 4 developmental roster NXT Superstars and 4 main roster WWE Superstars to determine the inaugural NXT Champion in a knockout system format. The first NXT Champion was crowned on July 26, 2012, with Seth Rollins defeating Jinder Mahal in the tournament finals. [33]
The WWE Tag Team Championship Tournament was a #1 contender's tag team tournament, where the winning team faced Team Hell No (Kane and Daniel Bryan) for the WWE Tag Team Championship.
The NXT Tag Team Championship was introduced on the January 23, 2013 edition of NXT where it was announced by special guest Shawn Michaels that there would be a tournament to crown the first new champions. [34]
The Royal Rumble Entry Tournament was a tournament on NXT where the winner entered the 2013 Royal Rumble Match. [35]
Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
Leo Kruger | Pin | |||||||||||||
Xavier Woods | ||||||||||||||
Leo Kruger | Pin | |||||||||||||
Adrian Neville | ||||||||||||||
Adrian Neville | Pin | |||||||||||||
Corey Graves | ||||||||||||||
Leo Kruger | ||||||||||||||
Bo Dallas | Pin | |||||||||||||
Oliver Grey | ||||||||||||||
Conor O'Brian | Pin | |||||||||||||
Conor O'Brian | ||||||||||||||
Bo Dallas | Pin | |||||||||||||
Luke Harper | ||||||||||||||
Bo Dallas | Pin |
The championship was first introduced on April 5, 2013, at WrestleMania Axxess. It was announced at the May 30, 2013 tapings (broadcast on the June 5 episode) of WWE NXT (TV series), by Stephanie McMahon that there would be a tournament, featuring four developmental female talents and four female talents from the main roster competing to be crowned as the inaugural NXT Women's Champion in a knockout system format. The first NXT Women's Champion was crowned on June 20, 2013, with Paige defeating Emma in the tournament finals. [36]
In April 2014, the WWE held the Intercontinental Championship Tournament to determine the #1 contenders to face Big E for the WWE Intercontinental Championship at Extreme Rules 2014. Bad News Barrett defeated Rob Van Dam in the final and defeated Big E to win the title. [37]
On April 24, 2014, Paige was stripped of the NXT Women's Championship, by NXT's commissioner John Bradshaw Layfield, because she could not defend both the NXT Women's and WWE Divas Championship, ending her reign at 308 days. Right after, during the tapings for the May shows, a tournament was announced to take place to determine the next champion. Charlotte defeated Natalya at NXT TakeOver on May 29, 2014, to become the new champion. [38]
The championship tournament started on August 7, 2014, and there would be new #1 contenders for the titles. The tournament final was held on September 4, 2014. The Lucha Dragons (Kalisto and Sin Cara) won the tournament and defeated The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor) at NXT TakeOver: Fatal 4-Way on September 11, 2014, to win the titles. [39]
Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
Lucha Dragons (Kalisto and Sin Cara) | 8/14 | |||||||||||||
Blake and Murphy | Pin 2:45 | |||||||||||||
The Lucha Dragons | 8/21 | |||||||||||||
Sami Zayn and Adam Rose | Pin 8:00 | |||||||||||||
Sami Zayn and Adam Rose | 8/7 | |||||||||||||
Tyson Kidd and Justin Gabriel | Pin 9:15 | |||||||||||||
The Lucha Dragons | 9/4 | |||||||||||||
Vaudevillains | Pin 5:20 | |||||||||||||
Vaudevillains (Aiden English and Simon Gotch) | 8/14 | |||||||||||||
Bull Dempsey and Mojo Rawley | Pin 3:05 | |||||||||||||
Vaudevillains | 8/21 | |||||||||||||
Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady | Pin 1:45 | |||||||||||||
Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady | 8/7 | |||||||||||||
Tye Dillinger and Jason Jordan | Pin 5:15 |
The NXT Championship Tournament started on January 21, 2015, and there would be a new #1 Contender's for the title. The tournament final was held on February 11, 2015, at NXT TakeOver: Rival. Finn Bálor went on to win the tournament defeated Adrian Neville in the final.
The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal Qualifying Tournament was a tournament at WrestleMania Axxess for a spot in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. [40]
Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
Tyler Breeze | Pin | |||||||||||||
Bull Dempsey | ||||||||||||||
Tyler Breeze | Pin | |||||||||||||
Finn Bálor | ||||||||||||||
Finn Bálor | Pin | |||||||||||||
Baron Corbin | ||||||||||||||
Finn Bálor | Pin | |||||||||||||
Hideo Itami | ||||||||||||||
Hideo Itami | Pin | |||||||||||||
Jason Jordan | ||||||||||||||
Hideo Itami | Pin | |||||||||||||
Adrian Neville | ||||||||||||||
Adrian Neville | Pin | |||||||||||||
Kalisto |
On November 5, 2015, the WWE World Heavyweight Championship was vacated, after champion Seth Rollins suffered a knee injury.
Immediately after the final match, Sheamus cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and pinned Reigns. Therefore, Reigns' championship reign lasted only five minutes and fifteen seconds (later used to antagonize Reigns).
This tournament was to determine the new #1 Contenders to The New Day's WWE Tag Team Championships.
The final match ended in a no contest after Enzo Amore suffered a legitimate concussion. Not far into the match, Amore was thrown into the ropes by Simon Gotch. Amore attempted to slide under the ropes, but instead hit his head on the middle rope and the mat, before falling on the floor, appearing to be unconscious. With the ending of the match, the Vaudevillains were given a WWE Tag Team Championship match, but they were defeated by The New Day.
The Cruiserweight Classic [41] saw thirty-two of the world's best cruiserweights battle it out to be crowned WWE's first WWE Cruiserweight Classic winner. The tournament was filmed at Full Sail University, Florida from June 20–24, and was broadcast on the WWE Network from July 13. It ran for ten episodes, with the finale being broadcast on September 14.
Following the reintroduction of the WWE brand extension and subsequent draft on July 19, 2016, WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day were drafted to Raw, leaving SmackDown without a tag team championship. Over the course of the following month, SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan stated that he wanted to build up the tag team division before introducing a championship. Immediately following SummerSlam on the August 23, 2016 episode of SmackDown Live, Bryan and SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon unveiled the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship and announced a tournament, which culminated in a tag team match at Backlash to determine the inaugural champions. [42] [43] [44] The tournament and the titles were won by Heath Slater and Rhyno after they defeated The Usos at Backlash.
The United Kingdom Championship Tournament was a professional wrestling tournament produced by WWE, that aired exclusively on the WWE Network. The first round took place on January 14, 2017, while the finals occurred on January 15, 2017. The tournament was held at the Empress Ballroom in Blackpool, Lancashire, England and crowned the inaugural WWE United Kingdom Champion. [45]
At Clash of Champions 2017, Dolph Ziggler won the United States Championship by defeating defending champion Baron Corbin and Bobby Roode in a triple threat match. [46] On the following episode of SmackDown Live , after recapping all of his previous accolades, Ziggler said that the WWE Universe did not deserve him and he dropped the title in the ring and left. [47] After unsuccessful attempts at contacting Ziggler, SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan declared the title vacant and announced a tournament to crown a new champion. [48] The final was originally scheduled to occur at the 2018 Royal Rumble, but was moved up to the January 23 episode of SmackDown Live. However, on the January 16 episode, after Jinder Mahal and Bobby Roode won their respective semifinals matches, Roode challenged Mahal to have the final that night and Bryan scheduled it for that episode's main event. [49]
First round SmackDown Live (12/26/17, [48] 1/2/18, [50] 1/9/18 [51] ) | Semifinals SmackDown Live (1/16/18 [49] ) | Final SmackDown Live (1/16/18 [49] ) | ||||||||||||
Bobby Roode | Pin | |||||||||||||
Baron Corbin | 10:44 | |||||||||||||
Bobby Roode | Pin | |||||||||||||
Mojo Rawley | 3:05 | |||||||||||||
Zack Ryder | 4:34 | |||||||||||||
Mojo Rawley | Pin | |||||||||||||
Bobby Roode | Pin | |||||||||||||
Jinder Mahal | 5:32 | |||||||||||||
Tye Dillinger | 8:41 | |||||||||||||
Jinder Mahal | Pin | |||||||||||||
Jinder Mahal | Pin | |||||||||||||
Xavier Woods | 3:05 | |||||||||||||
Xavier Woods | Pin | |||||||||||||
Aiden English | 5:25 |
At the 2018 Royal Rumble, Enzo Amore was scheduled to defend the WWE Cruiserweight Championship against Cedric Alexander. [52] However, after Amore was suspended from WWE on January 22 due to allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault, the match was cancelled. The following day, Amore was released and the title was vacated. [53] [54] It was then announced that a general manager would be appointed for 205 Live and would address the championship; 205 Live was previously controlled by the Raw General Manager, as 205 Live is part of the Raw brand. On the January 30 episode of 205 Live, Drake Maverick (formerly known as Rockstar Spud in Impact Wrestling) was appointed as the 205 Live General Manager. Maverick announced that there would be a 16-man single elimination tournament to crown a new WWE Cruiserweight Champion, with the finals to occur during the pre-show for WrestleMania 34. [55]
As part of WrestleMania Axxess, the winner of the WWE United Kingdom Championship Invitational received a championship match against WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne on the morning of April 8, 2018. [56]
First Round April 5/April 6 | Semifinals April 7 | Final April 7 | ||||||||||||
Lio Rush | Win | |||||||||||||
Buddy Murphy | 4/6 | |||||||||||||
Lio Rush | Win | |||||||||||||
Lince Dorado | ||||||||||||||
Lince Dorado | Win | |||||||||||||
Raul Mendoza | 4/7 | |||||||||||||
Lio Rush | Win | |||||||||||||
Drew Gulak | ||||||||||||||
Dan Matha | 4/6 | |||||||||||||
Drew Gulak | Win | |||||||||||||
Drew Gulak | Win | |||||||||||||
Mark Andrews | ||||||||||||||
Mark Andrews | Win | |||||||||||||
Zack Gibson | 4/7 |
As part of WrestleMania Axxess, the winner of the NXT North American Championship Invitational received an NXT North American Championship match on the morning of April 8, 2018. The defending champion, Adam Cole, was determined the night before at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans. [56]
First Round April 5/April 6 | Semifinals April 7 | Final April 7 | ||||||||||||
Fabian Aichner | Win | |||||||||||||
Jason Kincaid | 4/6 | |||||||||||||
Fabian Aichner | ||||||||||||||
Akira Tozawa | Win | |||||||||||||
Akira Tozawa | Win | |||||||||||||
Kona Reeves | 4/6 | |||||||||||||
Akira Tozawa | Win | |||||||||||||
Chris Dijak | ||||||||||||||
Chris Dijak | Win | |||||||||||||
Ariya Daivari | 4/7 | |||||||||||||
Chris Dijak | Win | |||||||||||||
Hideo Itami | ||||||||||||||
Hideo Itami | Win | |||||||||||||
Wolfgang | 4/7 |
As part of WrestleMania Axxess, the winner of the NXT Tag Team Championship Invitational received an NXT Tag Team Championship match on the morning of April 8, 2018. The defending champions, The Undisputed Era, were determined the night before at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans. [56]
First Round April 5/April 6 | Semifinals April 7 | Final April 7 | ||||||||||||
Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven and Tyler Bate) | Win | |||||||||||||
Tino Sabbatelli and Riddick Moss | 4/6 | |||||||||||||
Moustache Mountain | Win | |||||||||||||
The Street Profits | ||||||||||||||
The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) | Win | |||||||||||||
Cezar Bononi and Adrian Jaoude | 4/6 | |||||||||||||
Moustache Mountain | Win | |||||||||||||
TM61 | ||||||||||||||
Sanity (Alexander Wolfe and Eric Young) | 4/7 | |||||||||||||
The Forgotten Sons (Wesley Blake and Steve Cutler) | Win | |||||||||||||
The Forgotten Sons | ||||||||||||||
TM61 | Win | |||||||||||||
TM61 (Nick Miller and Shane Thorne) | Win | |||||||||||||
Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch | 4/7 |
As part of WrestleMania Axxess, the winner of the NXT Women's Championship Invitational received an NXT Women's Championship match on the morning of April 8, 2018. The defending champion, Shayna Baszler, was determined the night before at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans. [56]
First Round April 6/April 7 | Semifinals April 7 | Final April 7 | ||||||||||||
Nikki Cross | Win | |||||||||||||
Aliyah | 4/6 | |||||||||||||
Nikki Cross | ||||||||||||||
Dakota Kai | Win | |||||||||||||
Dakota Kai | Win | |||||||||||||
Lacey Evans | 4/7 | |||||||||||||
Dakota Kai | Win | |||||||||||||
Peyton Royce | ||||||||||||||
Kairi Sane | Win | |||||||||||||
Bianca Belair | 4/6 | |||||||||||||
Kairi Sane | ||||||||||||||
Peyton Royce | Win | |||||||||||||
Peyton Royce | Win | |||||||||||||
Candice LeRae | 4/7 |
At WrestleMania 34, Cesaro and Sheamus defended the Raw Tag Team Championship against Braun Strowman and a partner of his choosing. At the event, Strowman picked 10-year old Nicholas from the live audience, and the two won the titles. The following night on Raw, Strowman and Nicholas relinquished the titles due to Nicholas' schedule as a fourth grader. Cesaro and Sheamus wanted their titles back and Raw General Manager Kurt Angle decided that they could regain them in a match at Greatest Royal Rumble and their opponents would be determined by a four-team tournament, which he called the Tag Team Eliminator. [57]
The WWE World Cup was a tournament that took place on November 2, 2018, at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia. Four participants came from Raw and four participants came from SmackDown. [58] In the tournament finals, Shane McMahon defeated Dolph Ziggler to be crowned "Best In The World". [59]
This tournament is to determine the #1 Contender for Buddy Murphy's WWE Cruiserweight Championship. On the February 19 episode of 205 Live , General Manager Drake Maverick scheduled an eight-man single elimination tournament with the winner facing Buddy Murphy for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship at WrestleMania 35.
A round-robin tournament began on April 15, 2020, to determine the interim NXT Cruiserweight Champion after Jordan Devlin was deemed unable to defend the title due to COVID-19 pandemic-related travel restrictions. Eight wrestlers were split into two groups of four, where each wrestler competed against the other three members of their group. The wrestler with the best record in each group would compete to determine the interim champion. Any ties will be broken by head-to-head results. [60] Group A consists of Kushida, Tony Nese, Jake Atlas, and Drake Maverick, while Group B consists of Isaiah "Swerve" Scott, El Hijo del Fantasma, Akira Tozawa, and Gentleman Jack Gallagher. [61] Although Maverick was released from WWE on April 15, [62] he confirmed via Twitter that he would still be competing in the tournament, which could be his last matches in the company. [63]
On May 12, 2020, the Intercontinental Championship was declared vacant after champion Sami Zayn elected to refrain from competing during the COVID-19 pandemic. A tournament to crown a new champion was then set to begin on the May 15 episode of SmackDown. [64]
First round SmackDown, May 15–22 | Semifinals SmackDown, May 29 | Final SmackDown, June 8 (aired June 12) | ||||||||||||
Daniel Bryan | Sub | |||||||||||||
Drew Gulak | 12:47 [65] | |||||||||||||
Daniel Bryan | Pin | |||||||||||||
Sheamus† | 11:59 [66] | |||||||||||||
Jeff Hardy | Pin | |||||||||||||
Sheamus | 14:05 [67] | |||||||||||||
Daniel Bryan | 38:10 [68] | |||||||||||||
AJ Styles | Pin | |||||||||||||
Elias | Pin | |||||||||||||
King Corbin | 16:07 [65] | |||||||||||||
Bye† | ||||||||||||||
AJ Styles | ||||||||||||||
AJ Styles | Pin | |||||||||||||
Shinsuke Nakamura | 13:15 [67] |
† Neither Jeff Hardy nor Elias were able to compete in the semifinals, as Elias was (kayfabe) injured in a car crash and Hardy was accused of causing it and arrested. AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan were given the option of having a bye in the tournament. Styles opted for the bye to automatically advance to the final on June 12 while Bryan opted to have a new opponent; Sheamus subsequently won a battle royal to qualify for the vacant spot in the semifinals against Bryan that night.
First round NXT UK 12 August 2021 – 9 September 2021 | Semifinals NXT UK 16 September 2021 – 23 September 2021 | Final NXT UK 7 October 2021 | ||||||||||||
Mark Andrews | 1 | |||||||||||||
Noam Dar | 2 | |||||||||||||
Noam Dar | 2 | |||||||||||||
Kenny Williams | 1 | |||||||||||||
Oliver Carter | 1 | |||||||||||||
Kenny Williams | 2 | |||||||||||||
Noam Dar | 2 | |||||||||||||
Wolfgang | 1 | |||||||||||||
Wolfgang | 2 | |||||||||||||
Sam Gradwell | 1 | |||||||||||||
Wolfgang | 2 | |||||||||||||
Teoman | 1 | |||||||||||||
Nathan Frazer | 1 | |||||||||||||
Teoman | 2 |
First round Raw (December 6, 2021) | Final Raw (December 27, 2021) | ||||||||
The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) | Pin [69] | ||||||||
AJ Styles and Omos | 9:45 | ||||||||
The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) | Pin [70] | ||||||||
The Mysterios (Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio) | 12:05 | ||||||||
The Mysterios (Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio) | Pin [69] | ||||||||
Alpha Academy (Chad Gable and Otis) | 3:15 |
The SmackDown World Cup was an eight-man single-elimination tournament composed of eight wrestlers from the SmackDown brand. The inaugural tournament began on the November 11, 2022, episode of SmackDown . The winner earned a Intercontinental Championship match against Gunther. The inaugural winner was Ricochet, who defeated Santos Escobar on the December 2, 2022, episode of SmackDown .
First round SmackDown November 11-18 | Semifinals SmackDown November 25 | Final SmackDown December 2 | ||||||||||||
Santos Escobar | Pin | |||||||||||||
Shinsuke Nakamura | 8:20 [71] | |||||||||||||
Santos Escobar | Pin | |||||||||||||
Butch | 9:55 [72] | |||||||||||||
Sami Zayn | 7:30 [73] | |||||||||||||
Butch | Pin | |||||||||||||
Santos Escobar | 21:34 [74] | |||||||||||||
Ricochet | Pin | |||||||||||||
Braun Strowman | Pin | |||||||||||||
Jinder Mahal | 1:50 [71] | |||||||||||||
Braun Strowman | 3:45 [72] | |||||||||||||
Ricochet | Pin | |||||||||||||
Ricochet | Pin | |||||||||||||
Mustafa Ali | 10:45 [73] |
First round SmackDown January 20 | Semifinals SmackDown January 27 | Final SmackDown February 3 | ||||||||||||
Drew McIntyre and Sheamus | Pin | |||||||||||||
The Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar) | 17:48 [75] | |||||||||||||
Braun Strowman and Ricochet † | Pin | |||||||||||||
Hit Row (Ashante "Thee" Adonis and Top Dolla) | 5:55 [76] | |||||||||||||
Los Lotharios (Angel and Humberto) | 2:52 [75] | |||||||||||||
Hit Row (Ashante "Thee" Adonis and Top Dolla) | Pin | |||||||||||||
Braun Strowman and Ricochet | Pin | |||||||||||||
Imperium (Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci) | 16:16 [77] | |||||||||||||
The Brawling Brutes (Ridge Holland and Butch) | 9:17 [75] | |||||||||||||
Imperium (Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci) | Pin | |||||||||||||
Imperium (Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci) | Pin | |||||||||||||
Legado Del Fantasma (Cruz Del Toro and Joaquin Wilde) | 12:15 [76] | |||||||||||||
Maximum Male Models (Mace and Mansoor) | 2:45 [75] | |||||||||||||
Legado Del Fantasma (Cruz Del Toro and Joaquin Wilde) | Pin |
† Drew McIntyre and Sheamus were attacked by The Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar). Braun Strowman and Ricochet replaced McIntyre and Sheamus in the tournament.
Semifinals ( SmackDown , July 14−21) | Final ( SmackDown , July 28) | |||||
AJ Styles | — | |||||
Santos Escobar | Pin | |||||
Butch | — | |||||
Grayson Waller | 10:41 [78] | |||||
Santos Escobar | Forfeit | |||||
Rey Mysterio | 12:00 [79] | |||||
Rey Mysterio | Pin | |||||
Cameron Grimes | 20:22 [80] | |||||
Sheamus | — | |||||
LA Knight | — | |||||
The tournament was to determine the #1 Contender for Noam Dar's NXT Heritage Cup. At Heatwave, Dar received a letter. The letter stated that next week a global #1 contender’s tournament would start and Dar would defend against the winner at No Mercy. On August 23 during WWE The Bump, the rules for a NXT Global Heritage Invitational were revealed. The tournament was a round-robin style tournament featuring two groups with four wrestlers in each group. The matches had a 12-minute limit, victories would earn a wrestler two points, while in the case of a 12-minute draw, both wrestlers would earn one point each. On the September 26 episode of NXT, Butch, the winner of Group A defeated Joe Coffey, the winner of Group B. At NXT: No Mercy, Noam Dar defeated Butch in a British Rounds Rules match to retain the Heritage Cup.
First round SmackDown December 8–15, 2023 | Semifinals SmackDown December 15, 2023 (aired December 22) | Final SmackDown: New Year's Revolution January 5, 2024 | ||||||||||||
Dragon Lee | 9:09 [81] | |||||||||||||
Santos Escobar | Pin | |||||||||||||
Santos Escobar | Pin | |||||||||||||
Bobby Lashley | 8:44 [82] | |||||||||||||
Bobby Lashley | Pin | |||||||||||||
Karrion Kross | 9:46 [81] | |||||||||||||
Santos Escobar | 16:35 [83] | |||||||||||||
Kevin Owens | Pin | |||||||||||||
Carmelo Hayes | Pin | |||||||||||||
Grayson Waller | 10:23 [84] | |||||||||||||
Carmelo Hayes | 10:04 [82] | |||||||||||||
Kevin Owens | Pin | |||||||||||||
Austin Theory | 13:32 [84] | |||||||||||||
Kevin Owens | Pin |
Semifinals ( SmackDown , February 2) ( Raw , February 5) | Final ( SmackDown , February 9) | |||||
SmackDown | ||||||
Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate | Pin | |||||
Pretty Deadly (Kit Wilson and Elton Prince) | 9:26 [85] | |||||
Latino World Order (Cruz Del Toro and Joaquin Wilde) | — | |||||
Legado Del Fantasma (Angel and Humberto) | — | |||||
Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate | Pin | |||||
Raw | #DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa) | 8:40 [86] | ||||
#DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa) | Pin | |||||
The Creed Brothers (Brutus Creed and Julius Creed) | — | |||||
Imperium (Giovanni Vinci and Ludwig Kaiser) | 17:30 [87] | |||||
The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) | — | |||||
First Round NXT (March 12 and 19) | Final NXT (April 2) | |||||||
Latino World Order (Joaquin Wilde and Cruz Del Toro) | Pin | |||||||
OTM (Bronco Nima and Lucien Price) | 10:46 [88] | |||||||
Latino World Order (Joaquin Wilde and Cruz Del Toro) | 10:48 [89] | |||||||
Axiom and Nathan Frazer | Pin | |||||||
Axiom and Nathan Frazer | Pin | |||||||
No Quarter Catch Crew (Charlie Dempsey and Myles Borne) | 9:32 [90] | |||||||
The O.C. (Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson) | – | |||||||
Hank Walker and Tank Ledger | 7:52 [90] | |||||||
The O.C. (Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson) | Pin | |||||||
First round SmackDown (March 15) | Final SmackDown (March 29) | ||||||
Latino World Order (Joaquin Wilde and Cruz Del Toro) | 9:12 [91] | ||||||
Legado Del Fantasma (Angel and Berto) | Pin | ||||||
Legado Del Fantasma (Angel and Berto) | 7:19 [92] | ||||||
Bracket #1 | |||||||
New Catch Republic (Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate) | Pin | ||||||
New Catch Republic (Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate) | Pin | ||||||
Pretty Deadly (Elton Prince and Kit Wilson) | 11:14 [91] |
First round SmackDown (March 22) | Final SmackDown (March 29) | ||||||
A-Town Down Under (Austin Theory and Grayson Waller) | Pin | ||||||
The O.C. (Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson) | 7:19 [93] | ||||||
A-Town Down Under (Austin Theory and Grayson Waller) | Pin | ||||||
Bracket #2 | |||||||
The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) | 6:20 [92] | ||||||
The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) | Pin | ||||||
The Authors of Pain (Akam and Rezar) | 8:37 [93] |
Semifinals ( SmackDown , April 12) | Final ( SmackDown , April 19) | |||||
AJ Styles | Pin | |||||
Kevin Owens | — | |||||
Rey Mysterio | 9:13 [94] | |||||
AJ Styles | Pin | |||||
LA Knight | 10:58 [95] | |||||
Bobby Lashley | — | |||||
LA Knight | Pin | |||||
Santos Escobar | 9:27 [94] | |||||
First round ( SmackDown , August 9, 2024) | Final ( SmackDown , August 16, 2024) | ||||||||
The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) | Pin [96] | ||||||||
A-Town Down Under (Austin Theory and Grayson Waller) | 8:05 | ||||||||
The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) | Pin [97] | ||||||||
#DIY (Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano) | 15:28 | ||||||||
#DIY (Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano) | Pin [96] | ||||||||
Pretty Deadly (Kit Wilson and Elton Prince) | 7:10 |
Semifinals ( Raw , August 26–September 2) | Final ( Raw , September 9) | |||||
The Miz | 11:00 | |||||
Xavier Woods | — | |||||
Pete Dunne | Pin [98] | |||||
Kofi Kingston | — | |||||
Karrion Kross | 8:45 | |||||
Jey Uso | Pin [98] | Pete Dunne | 19:40 | |||
Jey Uso | Pin [99] | |||||
Sheamus | – | Braun Strowman | — | |||
Braun Strowman | Pin [100] | Ilja Dragunov | — | |||
Ludwig Kaiser | 7:40 | |||||
Ilja Dragunov | Pin [100] | |||||
Dragon Lee | 10:31 | |||||
"Dirty" Dominik Mysterio | — | |||||
First round ( Raw , October 14, 21) | Finals ( Raw , October 28) | |||||||
War Raiders (Erik and Ivar) | Pin | |||||||
Alpha Academy (Otis and Akira Tozawa) | 2:25 [101] | |||||||
War Raiders (Erik and Ivar) | Pin | |||||||
Latino World Order (Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee) | Pin | |||||||
Latino World Order (Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee) | — | |||||||
The Creed Brothers (Brutus Creed and Julius Creed) | 11:00 [102] | |||||||
The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) | 17:50 [103] | |||||||
The Authors of Pain (Akam and Rezar) | 8:30 [102] | |||||||
The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) | Pin | |||||||
Semifinals ( SmackDown , October 18) | Final ( SmackDown , October 25) | |||||
#DIY (Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano) | Pin | |||||
The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) | — | |||||
Pretty Deadly (Elton Prince and Kit Wilson) | 8:10 [104] | |||||
#DIY (Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano) | 11:25 [105] | |||||
Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin) | Pin | |||||
A-Town Down Under (Austin Theory and Grayson Waller) | — | |||||
Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin) | Pin | |||||
Legado Del Fantasma (Angel and Berto) | 8:35 [104] | |||||
King of the Ring is a professional wrestling single-elimination tournament held by WWE. It was held annually from 1985 to 2002 (excluding 1990 and 1992) and from 1993 to 2002 the tournament was produced as a pay-per-view event.
Tournaments have since been held periodically - in 2006, 2008, 2010, 2015, 2019, 2021, and 2024
‡ | SmackDown-branded tournament |
In 2021, WWE debuted the Queen's Crown tournament for female wrestlers considered to be the counterpart to King of the Ring. Zelina Vega was the inaugural winner, defeating Doudrop at Crown Jewel 2021, which took place on October 21 at Mohammed Abdu Arena on the Boulevard in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
In 2024, the second edition of the tournament will be held, this time under the name Queen of the Ring.
# | Year | Winner | Times won | Finals date | Runner-up | Finals location | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2021 | Zelina Vega | 1 | October 21, 2021 | Doudrop | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | [106] |
2 | 2024 | Nia Jax | 1 | May 25, 2024 | Lyra Valkyria | Jeddah, Saudi Arabia | [107] |
The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic is an annual tag team tournament featured on the NXT brand and is named after WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes, who died in 2015.
Exclusively for male wrestlers from 2015 to 2020, a female version of the tournament debuted in 2021, running simultaneously with the men's version.
The Mae Young Classic is an all-women's tournament produced by WWE. The event is named for WWE Hall of Famer Mae Young.
Event | Date | City | Venue | Tournament finale |
---|---|---|---|---|
Mae Young Classic (2017) | July 13, 2017 | Winter Park, Florida | Full Sail University | Kairi Sane defeated Shayna Baszler [108] |
July 14, 2017 | ||||
September 27, 2017 | Paradise, Nevada | Thomas & Mack Center | ||
Mae Young Classic (2018) | August 8, 2018 | Winter Park, Florida | Full Sail University | Toni Storm defeated Io Shirai |
August 9, 2018 | ||||
October 28, 2018 | Uniondale, New York | Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum |
The Mixed Match Challenge is a seasonal mixed tag team tournament produced by WWE that was streamed on Facebook Watch.
Season | Date won | Winner | Runner up |
---|---|---|---|
Season 1 | April 3, 2018 | The Miz and Asuka | Bobby Roode and Charlotte Flair |
Season 2 | December 16, 2018 | R-Truth and Carmella | Jinder Mahal and Alicia Fox |
The NXT Breakout Tournament is a tournament featured on the NXT brand, consisting of eight wrestlers who are new to NXT (usually WWE Performance Center recruits making their NXT television debuts). The winner of the tournament receives a championship match of their choice which they can cash in anytime.
Originally introduced in 2019 for male wrestlers, a female version was created in 2022.
Year | Event | Date | City | Venue | Winner |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | NXT | August 10, 2019 | Toronto, Ontario, Canada | Scotiabank Arena | Jordan Myles |
2021 | NXT | August 23, 2021 | Orlando, Florida | WWE Performance Center | Carmelo Hayes |
2022 | NXT | June 7, 2022 | Orlando, Florida | WWE Performance Center | Roxanne Perez |
2023 | Halloween Havoc | October 31, 2023 | Orlando, Florida | WWE Performance Center | Lola Vice |
2024 | New Year's Evil | January 2, 2024 | Orlando, Florida | WWE Performance Center | Oba Femi |
WWE Speed is a streaming television program produced by WWE that airs on X. It follows a bracket-style format featuring wrestlers from the Raw, SmackDown, and NXT brands, with matches contested under a three-minute time limit. However, matches contested for the WWE Speed Championship, which usually air the day before a WWE premium live event, are held under a five-minute time limit.
The WWE Speed Championship Tournament was a tournament to crown the first-ever WWE Speed Champion, the flagship championship of WWE Speed. It concluded on April 26, 2024, with Ricochet defeating Johnny Gargano. [109]
All matches took place on Speed and the #1 contenders have been determined in #1 contender's tournaments.
No. | #1 Contender | Date | Outcome |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Tyler Bate | May 24, 2024 | Defeated by Ricochet |
2 | Andrade | June 14, 2024 | Defeated Ricochet |
3 | Xavier Woods | July 5, 2024 | Defeated by Andrade |
4 | Baron Corbin | July 24, 2024 | Defeated by Andrade |
5 | Pete Dunne | August 30, 2024 | Defeated by Andrade |
6 | Dragon Lee | November 20, 2024 | Defeated Andrade |
First round Speed (aired May 8–15, 2024) | Final Speed (aired May 22, 2024) | Championship match Speed (aired May 24, 2024) | ||||||||
Apollo Crews | 1:56 [110] | |||||||||
Ricochet (c) | Pin | |||||||||
Ivar | Pin | |||||||||
Apollo Crews † | 2:05 [111] | Tyler Bate | 3:09 | |||||||
Tyler Bate | Pin | |||||||||
Tyler Bate | Pin | |||||||||
Berto | 2:55 [112] | |||||||||
† Ivar defeated Apollo Crews in the first round but sustained an injury, so Crews advanced to the finals.
First round Speed (aired May 29–June 5, 2024) | Final Speed (aired June 12, 2024) | Championship match Speed (aired June 14, 2024) | ||||||||
Tommaso Ciampa | Pin [113] | |||||||||
Ricochet (c) | 4:02 | |||||||||
Ludwig Kaiser | 2:54 | |||||||||
Tommaso Ciampa | 1:53 | Andrade | Pin | |||||||
Andrade | Pin | |||||||||
Andrade | Pin [114] | |||||||||
Karl Anderson | 0:47 | |||||||||
First round Speed (aired June 19–26, 2024) | Final Speed (aired July 3, 2024) | Championship match Speed (aired July 5, 2024) | ||||||||
Xavier Woods | Pin [115] | |||||||||
Andrade (c) | Pin | |||||||||
Dijak | 2:50 | |||||||||
Xavier Woods | Pin | Xavier Woods | 4:25 | |||||||
Nathan Frazer | 2:48 | |||||||||
Nathan Frazer | Pin | |||||||||
Akira Tozawa | 2:20 | |||||||||
First round Speed (aired July 10–17, 2024) | Final | Championship match Speed (aired July 24, 2024) | ||||||||
Baron Corbin | Pin | |||||||||
Andrade (c) | Pin | |||||||||
Angelo Dawkins | 2:49 | |||||||||
Baron Corbin | Baron Corbin | 4:12 | ||||||||
Bye | ||||||||||
Ilja Dragunov | Draw | |||||||||
Carmelo Hayes | 3:00 | |||||||||
Quarterfinals Speed (aired July 31–August 14, 2024) | Semifinals Speed (aired August 21, 2024) | Final Speed (aired August 28, 2024) | |||||||||
Joaquin Wilde | Pin | ||||||||||
Axiom | 2:57 | ||||||||||
Joaquin Wilde | 2:37 | ||||||||||
Pete Dunne | Pin | ||||||||||
Pete Dunne | Pin | ||||||||||
Julius Creed | 2:36 | ||||||||||
Pete Dunne | Pin | ||||||||||
Je'Von Evans | 2:23 | ||||||||||
Austin Theory | Draw | ||||||||||
Montez Ford | 3:00 | ||||||||||
Bye | Championship match Speed (aired August 30, 2024) | ||||||||||
Je'Von Evans | |||||||||||
Je'Von Evans | Pin | Andrade (c) | Pin | ||||||||
Ashante "Thee" Adonis | 2:34 | Pete Dunne | 4:12 |
The WWE Women's Speed Championship Tournament was a tournament to crown the first-ever WWE Women's Speed Championship. It concluded on October 4, 2024, with Candice LeRae defeating Iyo Sky. [116]
Quarterfinals Speed (aired October 16–November 1, 2024) | Semifinals Speed (aired November 6–13, 2024) | Final Speed | |||||||||
Sheamus | Pin | ||||||||||
Giovanni Vinci | 2:27 | ||||||||||
Sheamus | Draw | ||||||||||
Bron Breakker | 3:00 | ||||||||||
Bron Breakker | Pin | ||||||||||
Cruz Del Toro | 1:04 | ||||||||||
Bye | |||||||||||
Dragon Lee | |||||||||||
Dragon Lee | Pin | ||||||||||
Tavion Heights | 2:10 | ||||||||||
Dragon Lee | Pin | Championship match Speed (aired November 20, 2024) | |||||||||
Akira Tozawa | 2:39 | ||||||||||
Akira Tozawa | Pin | Andrade (c) | Pin | ||||||||
Riley Osborne | 1:46 | Dragon Lee | 4:26 |
Quarterfinals Speed (aired November 27–December 11, 2024) | Semifinals Speed (airing December 18, 2024–December 25, 2024) | Final Speed (airing January 2, 2025) | |||||||||
Zelina Vega | Pin | ||||||||||
Chelsea Green | 2:05 | ||||||||||
Zelina Vega | |||||||||||
Natalya | Pin | ||||||||||
Natalya | Sub | ||||||||||
B-Fab | 2:59 | ||||||||||
Natalya | |||||||||||
Michin | |||||||||||
Katana Chance | Pin | ||||||||||
Alba Fyre | 2:26 | ||||||||||
Katana Chance | 2:10 | Championship match Speed | |||||||||
Michin | Pin | ||||||||||
Michin | Pin | Candice LeRae (c) | |||||||||
Ivy Nile | 2:39 |
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