WWE Announces Three First-Round SmackDown Matches In Queen Of The Ring Tournament
The 2024 King & Queen of the Ring tournaments are underway, with some of WWE's top performers looking to make the trip to Saudi Arabia on May 25 for the finals. The competitions kicked off on the May 6 edition of "WWE Raw," with GUNTHER, Ilja Dragunov, and Jey Uso moving one step closer to becoming King, while Zoey Stark, Lyra Valkyria, and IYO Sky all advanced to the Queen's quarter-finals. The tournaments will continue on the May 10 edition of "WWE SmackDown," with AJ Styles set to face Randy Orton in a first-round match, while Tama Tonga makes his WWE singles debut against Angelo Dawkins, who himself is stepping in for the injured Bobby Lashley. On the women's side of things, meanwhile three huge first-round matches have just been announced.
After failing to capture the WWE Women's Championship at Backlash France, Naomi will kick off her tournament campaign against Nia Jax. Additionally, two women who had very successful trips to France last weekend — the new WWE Women's Tag Team Champions, Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair — will both be involved in the competition. Belair will go one-on-one with Candice LeRae, while Cargill will face Piper Niven.
The first round of both tournaments will conclude at two separate WWE Supershow events on May 11 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and on May 12 in Macon, Georgia. In the King of the Ring tournament, Kofi Kingston will go one-on-one with Rey Mysterio, former NXT Champion Baron Corbin will take on Carmelo Hayes, and LA Knight will face off with Santos Escobar. On the Queen side, Shayna Baszler will face Zelina Vega, while two currently unconfirmed women's division stars will go one-on-one in the final first round match. The quarter-finals are set to take place on the May 13 edition of "WWE Raw" and the May 17 edition of "WWE SmackDown," with the semi-finals likely taking place on Monday, May 20 and Friday, May 24. The tournaments will both conclude during the King & Queen of the Ring PLE in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.