WWE Speed

Last updated
WWE Speed
WWE Speed logo.png
Created by Paul "Triple H" Levesque
Starring
Opening themeUnknown song performed by def rebel
(from WWE Music Group)
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes8
Production
Executive producer Paul "Triple H" Levesque
Producer Pete Dunne [1]
Camera setup Multi-camera setup
Running time3–5 minutes
Original release
Network X
ReleaseApril 3, 2024 (2024-04-03) 
present
Related

WWE Speed is an American professional wrestling streaming television program produced by WWE. It airs on the social media platform X and premiered with two episodes on April 3, 2024. Speed features wrestlers from WWE's Raw, SmackDown, and NXT brands. Regular episodes have one match each with a time limit of three minutes, while special episodes for the WWE Speed Championship have a longer duration of five minutes. Matches for Speed are taped on the weekdays prior to WWE's main weekly television programs, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown .

Contents

History

On February 7, 2024, the American professional wrestling promotion WWE filed to trademark the name "WWE Speed" for an in-ring program in which the concept would be that the professional wrestling matches would have a five-minute time limit. The concept was first tested as dark matches before the December 15, 2023, taping of SmackDown . [2] On February 8 during the WrestleMania XL Kickoff press conference, WWE announced a partnership with X to introduce WWE Speed, which would stream weekly on the social media platform. [3] The deal between WWE and X was confirmed for two years. It was also revealed that the matches for each episode would be exclusive to the platform and would not be repurposed from WWE's other programs, and it would feature wrestlers from all three of WWE's brands: Raw, SmackDown, and NXT. [4]

On March 27, WWE commentator Corey Graves announced that Speed would premiere on Wednesday, April 3, but matches would instead be three minutes in length. Also announced was a tournament to crown the inaugural WWE Speed Champion for men. [5] The debut episode, which was uploaded at 12 p.m. Eastern Time (ET), saw Ricochet defeat Dragon Lee. Roughly 30 minutes later, WWE uploaded a second episode in which Bronson Reed defeated Cedric Alexander. Graves served as the sole commentator for the episodes. [6] While the first few episodes only featured matches with male wrestlers, during a conversation on X Spaces on May 1, 2024, WWE Chief Content Officer Paul "Triple H" Levesque confirmed that the program would also feature women's matches. [7]

While the program typically airs on Wednesdays, a special Friday airing occurred on May 3, 2024. This episode, which was the seventh episode overall, saw the crowning of the inaugural Speed Champion. This episode also confirmed that championship matches would have a five-minute time limit instead of the regular three. During the special airing, Ricochet defeated Johnny Gargano to become the show's inaugural champion. [8] [9]

On-air personalities

Commentators

CommentatorsTenure
Corey Graves April 3, 2024 – present

Ring announcers

Ring announcers Date started
Mike Rome and Samantha Irvin April 3, 2024May 8, 2024

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alpha Academy</span> Professional wrestling stable

Alpha Academy is a professional wrestling stable currently performing in WWE on the Raw brand composed of leader Chad Gable, Otis, Maxxine Dupri, and Akira Tozawa. Gable and Otis are former one-time Raw Tag Team Champions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ricochet (wrestler)</span> American professional wrestler (born 1988)

Trevor Dean Mann is an American professional wrestler. As of January 2018, he is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Ricochet and is the current and inaugural WWE Speed Champion. Other WWE accolades include being a former WWE Intercontinental Champion, WWE United States Champion, and NXT North American Champion, as well as winning the 2019 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic alongside Aleister Black.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NXT Championship</span> Mens professional wrestling championship in WWE

The NXT Championship is a men's professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is defended as the top men's championship of NXT, the promotion's developmental brand. The current champion is Trick Williams, who is in his first reign. He won the title by defeating Ilja Dragunov on Night 1 of NXT: Spring Breakin' on April 23, 2024; had Williams lost, he would have had to leave NXT.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Tag Team Championship (WWE)</span> Mens professional wrestling championship

The World Tag Team Championship is a men's professional wrestling world tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, defended on the Raw brand division. It is one of two male tag team championships for WWE's main roster, along with the WWE Tag Team Championship on SmackDown. The current champions are Awesome Truth, who are in their first reign as a team; individually, it is the second for Truth and fifth for Miz. They won the title from previous champions The Judgment Day in a Six-Pack Tag Team Ladder match on Night 1 of WrestleMania XL on April 6, 2024; they won the title as the Raw Tag Team Championship and it was renamed as World Tag Team Championship on April 15, 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chad Gable</span> American professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler

Charles Edward Betts is an American professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Chad Gable and is the leader of Alpha Academy. He is a four-time tag team champion in WWE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Akam (wrestler)</span> Canadian professional and amateur wrestler

Sunny Dhinsa is a Canadian professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler currently signed to the WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Akam as a member of Authors of Pain, as a subgroup of The Final Testament stable.

WWE Roadblock, known as NXT Roadblock since 2022, is a professional wrestling event series produced by WWE, a Connecticut-based professional wrestling promotion. The event was established in March 2016, and this inaugural event was simply titled Roadblock and aired exclusively on the WWE Network streaming service. The second event was then held in December 2016 under the name Roadblock: End of the Line where in addition to the WWE Network, it also aired on traditional pay-per-view (PPV) outlets. To coincide with the brand extension reintroduced in July 2016, this second event was held exclusively for wrestlers from the Raw brand. Roadblock was discontinued after this second event; however, in 2022, WWE revived the event for its developmental brand NXT, and it has since been held annually in March as a television special episode of the NXT program.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women's World Championship (WWE)</span> Championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE

The Women's World Championship is a women's professional wrestling world championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, defended on the Raw brand division. It is one of two women's world titles for WWE's main roster, along with the WWE Women's Championship on SmackDown. The current champion is Becky Lynch, who is in her fifth reign. She won the vacant title by last eliminating Liv Morgan in a 14-woman battle royal on the April 22, 2024, episode of Raw. Previous champion Rhea Ripley had to relinquish the title due to injury.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WWE Tag Team Championship</span> Mens professional wrestling championship

The WWE Tag Team Championship is a men's professional wrestling world tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, defended on the SmackDown brand division. It is one of two male tag team championships for WWE's main roster, along with the World Tag Team Championship on Raw. The current champions are A-Town Down Under, who are in their first reign, both as a team and individually. They won the title from previous champions The Judgment Day in a Six-Pack Tag Team Ladder match on Night 1 of WrestleMania XL on April 6, 2024; they won the title as the SmackDown Tag Team Championship and it was renamed as WWE Tag Team Championship on April 19, 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tag team championships in WWE</span> Listing of professional wrestling tag team championships

The American professional wrestling promotion WWE has maintained several men's and women's tag team championships since Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC) seceded from the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) in 1963 to become the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), which was later subjected to various name changes, including World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)—in April 2011, the company ceased using its full name and has since just been referred to as WWE. The first men's tag team title, the Northeast version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship, preceded the company's creation, as it was established in 1957 for CWC as a version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship, while the first women's tag team title, the WWF Women's Tag Team Championship, was established in 1983. Whenever the WWE brand extension has been implemented, separate tag team championships have been created or allocated for each brand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women's championships in WWE</span> Listing of professional wrestling championships

The American professional wrestling promotion WWE has maintained several women's championships since 1983, when the World Wrestling Federation established the WWF Women's Tag Team Championship. One year later, the WWF bought the NWA Women's Championship and renamed it the WWF Women's Championship, establishing their first women's world championship. Although the title preceded the company's creation, the WWF claimed a lineage that began in 1956. Whenever the WWE brand extension has been implemented, separate women's championships have been created or allocated for each brand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lacey Evans</span> American professional wrestler

Macey Estrella-Kadlec is an American professional wrestler and former U.S. Marine. She is best known for her career in WWE from 2016 to 2023, where she performed under the ring name Lacey Evans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mustafa Ali</span> American professional wrestler

Adeel Alam is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Mustafa Ali. He is working as a freelance performer with both New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), the latter in which he is the current TNA X Division Champion in his first reign. He also makes appearances on the independent circuit. He is best known for his tenure in WWE from 2016 to 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piper Niven</span> Scottish/british professional wrestler

Kimberly Benson is a Scottish professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Piper Niven. Niven is a former one-time WWE Women's Tag Team Champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NXT North American Championship</span> Mens professional wrestling championship in WWE

The NXT North American Championship is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is defended as the secondary men's championship of NXT, the promotion's developmental brand. The current champion is Oba Femi, who is in his first reign. He won the title by defeating SmackDown's Dragon Lee in his NXT Breakout Tournament contract cash-in match on the January 9, 2024, episode of NXT.

Imperium is a European villainous professional wrestling tag team consisting of leader Gunther of Austria and Ludwig Kaiser of Germany. They are currently signed to WWE, where they perform on the Raw brand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2023 WWE Draft</span> Intra-brand draft

The 2023 WWE Draft was the 17th WWE Draft produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE between their Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The two-night event began with the April 28 episode of Friday Night SmackDown and concluded with the May 1 episode of Monday Night Raw, with SmackDown airing on Fox and Raw on the USA Network. This was the first draft held since 2021 and the first under the creative direction of Triple H. In addition, this was the last draft before the TKO Group Holdings acquisition. Draft results went into effect beginning with the May 8 episode of Raw.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WWE Speed Championship</span> Mens professional wrestling championship

The WWE Speed Championship is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, available to male wrestlers from all three of WWE's brand divisions. It was announced on March 27, 2024, and it has a stipulation in which matches have time limits of three to five minutes. The title is named after WWE's online program Speed, which is where the matches exclusively air. The current champion is Ricochet from Raw, who defeated Johnny Gargano to become the inaugural champion during the Speed tapings on April 26, 2024, which aired on May 3, 2024, the date WWE officially recognizes as the beginning of Ricochet's reign.

References

  1. Sapp, Sean Ross (March 31, 2024). "Pete Dunne Produced Recent WWE Speed Matches". Fightful. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  2. Lee, Joseph (February 8, 2024). "WWE Files Trademarks For 'WWE Speed' and 'Je'Von Evans'". 411Mania . Archived from the original on March 28, 2024. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  3. Defelice, Robert (February 8, 2024). "WWE Speed To Air On X (Twitter) Beginning In Spring 2024". Fightful. Archived from the original on March 28, 2024. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  4. Defelice, Robert (February 9, 2024). "Report: WWE Inks 2-Year Deal With X (Twitter) To Bring 'WWE Speed' To Platform". Fightful. Archived from the original on April 4, 2024. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
  5. Rose, Bryan (March 27, 2024). "WWE Speed premiere date revealed, tournament will crown champion". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online . Archived from the original on March 28, 2024. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  6. Defelice, Robert (April 3, 2024). "Ricochet And Bronson Reed Advance In WWE Speed Championship Tournament, JD McDonagh vs. Axiom Set For 4/10 WWE Speed". Fightful. Archived from the original on April 3, 2024. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
  7. Lowson, Thomas (May 1, 2024). "WWE Speed Will Feature Women's Division Matches, Triple H Confirms". SE Scoops. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
  8. Lee, Joseph (May 3, 2024). "Ricochet Becomes First-Ever WWE Speed Champion, Special Friday Episode Airs". 411Mania . Retrieved May 3, 2024.
  9. Lowson, Thomas (May 3, 2024). "Ricochet Celebrates WWE Speed Title Win After Becoming First-Ever Champion". SE Scoops. Retrieved May 3, 2024.