List of WWE tournaments

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]

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]

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[67]

Jeff Hardy

Pin

Sheamus

14:05[66]

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[66]

† 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[73]

Sami Zayn

7:30[72]

Butch

Pin

Santos Escobar

21:34[74]

Ricochet

Pin

Braun Strowman

Pin

Jinder Mahal

1:50[71]

Braun Strowman

3:45[73]

Ricochet

Pin

Ricochet

Pin

Mustafa Ali

10:45[72]

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.

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[83]

Bobby Lashley

Pin

Karrion Kross

9:46[81]

Santos Escobar

16:35[84]

Kevin Owens

Pin

Carmelo Hayes

Pin

Grayson Waller

10:23[82]

Carmelo Hayes

10:04[83]

Kevin Owens

Pin

Austin Theory

13:32[82]

Kevin Owens

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]

	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

	First round (SmackDown, January 10)					Final (SmackDown, January 17)
	Los Garza (Angel and Berto)		Pin[106]
	Pretty Deadly (Kit Wilson and Elton Prince)		8:57
						Los Garza (Angel and Berto)		11:57
						Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley)		Pin[107]
	Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley)		Pin[106]
	A-Town Down Under (Austin Theory and Grayson Waller)		12:07

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

	Year	Winner	Runner-up	Finals date	Finals location
1	1985	Don Muraco	The Iron Sheik	July 8, 1985	Foxborough, Massachusetts
2	1986	Harley Race	Pedro Morales	July 14, 1986
3	1987	Randy Savage	King Kong Bundy	September 4, 1987	Providence, Rhode Island
4	1988	Ted DiBiase	Randy Savage	October 16, 1988
5	1989	Tito Santana	Rick Martel	October 14, 1989
6	1991	Bret Hart	Irwin R. Schyster	September 7, 1991
7	1993		Bam Bam Bigelow	June 13, 1993	Dayton, Ohio
8	1994	Owen Hart	Razor Ramon	June 19, 1994	Baltimore, Maryland
9	1995	Mabel	Savio Vega	June 25, 1995	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
10	1996	"Stone Cold" Steve Austin	Jake Roberts	June 23, 1996	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
11	1997	Hunter Hearst Helmsley	Mankind	June 8, 1997	Providence, Rhode Island
12	1998	Ken Shamrock	The Rock	June 28, 1998	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
13	1999	Billy Gunn	X-Pac	June 27, 1999	Greensboro, North Carolina
14	2000	Kurt Angle	Rikishi	June 25, 2000	Boston, Massachusetts
15	2001	Edge	Kurt Angle	June 24, 2001	East Rutherford, New Jersey
16	2002	Brock Lesnar	Rob Van Dam	June 23, 2002	Columbus, Ohio
17‡	2006	Booker T	Bobby Lashley	May 21, 2006	Phoenix, Arizona
18	2008	William Regal	CM Punk	April 21, 2008	Greenville, South Carolina
19	2010	Sheamus	John Morrison	November 29, 2010	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
20	2015	Bad News Barrett	Neville	April 28, 2015	Moline, Illinois
21	2019	Baron Corbin	Chad Gable	September 16, 2019	Knoxville, Tennessee
22	2021	Xavier Woods	Finn Bálor	October 21, 2021	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
23	2024	Gunther	Randy Orton	May 25, 2024	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

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 was 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	[109]
2	2024	Nia Jax	1	May 25, 2024	Lyra Valkyria	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia	[110]

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.

Year	Event	Date	City	Venue	Winner(s)
2015	NXT TakeOver: Respect	October 7, 2015	Winter Park, Florida	Full Sail University	Samoa Joe and Finn Bálor
2016	NXT TakeOver: Toronto	November 19, 2016	Toronto, Canada	Air Canada Centre	The Authors of Pain (Akam and Rezar)
2018	NXT TakeOver: New Orleans	April 7, 2018	New Orleans, Louisiana	Smoothie King Center	The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole and Kyle O'Reilly)
2019	NXT	March 13, 2019	Winter Park, Florida	Full Sail University	Aleister Black and Ricochet
2020	NXT	January 29, 2020	Winter Park, Florida	Full Sail University	Pete Dunne and Matt Riddle
2021	NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day	February 14, 2021	Orlando, Florida	WWE Performance Center	MSK (Nash Carter and Wes Lee)
					Dakota Kai and Raquel González
2022	NXT: Vengeance Day	February 15, 2022	Orlando, Florida	WWE Performance Center	The Creed Brothers (Julius Creed and Brutus Creed)
	NXT	March 22, 2022			Io Shirai and Kay Lee Ray
2024	NXT: Vengeance Day	February 4, 2024	Clarksville, Tennessee	F&M Bank Arena	Baron Corbin and Bron Breaker

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[111]
	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.^[112]

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
7	Chad Gable	February 1, 2025	Defeated by Dragon Lee
8	Ivar	March 19, 2025	Defeated by Dragon Lee

All matches took place on Speed and the #1 contenders have been determined in #1 contender's tournaments.

No.	#1 Contender	Date	Outcome
1	Natalya	January 8, 2025	Drew with Candice LeRae
2	Zoey Stark	February 26, 2025	Drew with Candice LeRae
3	Sol Ruca	April 16, 2025	Defeated Candice LeRae

† Apollo Crews replaced Ivar due to Ivar's injury.

	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.^[119]

	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 (aired December 18, 2024–December 25, 2024)				Final Speed (aired January 1, 2025)
	Zelina Vega	Pin
	Chelsea Green	2:05
					B-Fab †	2:39
					Natalya	Pin
	Natalya	Sub
	B-Fab	2:59
									Natalya	Pin
									Michin	2:14
	Katana Chance	Pin
	Alba Fyre	2:26
					Katana Chance	2:10			Championship match Speed (aired January 8, 2025)
					Michin	Pin
	Michin	Pin							Candice LeRae (c)	Draw
	Ivy Nile	2:39							Natalya	5:00

† B-Fab replaced Zelina Vega due to Vega's injury.

† Alba Fyre was originally supposed to compete, but was replaced by Isla Dawn.

• List of WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming supercards

• WWE Tournament Results: Title Tournaments