Watch: Andrade, Elias Advance in the King of the Ring Tournament, Updated Bracket
One night after this year's return of the WWE King of the Ring tournament began on RAW, two more [...]
One night after this year's return of the WWE King of the Ring tournament began on RAW, two more matches were held this week on SmackDown Live.
The first of the matches saw Andrade (with Zelina Vega) go head to head with Apollo Crews in the first bout of the night. The two put together an excellent television match, with Vega getting involved in the end.
Crews went to lift Andrade, but Vega held him down from outside the ring. When Crews confronted Vega from the ring, he turned around into a hammerlock DDT from Andrade. That was followed by a pinfall with Andrade advancing in the tournament.
.@WWEApollo's SPEED and POWER are on display as he looks to take down @AndradeCienWWE in the first round of the #KingOfTheRing Tournament! #SDLive pic.twitter.com/gKatJl7leW
— WWE (@WWE) August 21, 2019
Innocent bystander @Zelina_VegaWWE is just happy to be at ringside to see @AndradeCienWWE roll into the next round! pic.twitter.com/nj3OSZyf46
— TDE Wrestling (@tde_wrestling) August 21, 2019
.@AndradeCienWWE defeats @WWEApollo to advance in the #KingOfTheRing Tournament! #SDLive @Zelina_VegaWWE pic.twitter.com/NJpKxAmDi1
— WWE (@WWE) August 21, 2019
Later in the night, Kevin Owens went toe to toe with current WWE 24/7 Champion Elias. Earlier in the broadcast, Drake Maverick tried to attack Elias backstage for his 24/7 Championship, but Elias made it known that Shane McMahon had issued a statement blocking all challenges for the title on Tuesday night so that Elias could concentrate on his match with Owens.
Poor @WWEMaverick...
Per @shanemcmahon, the #247Title rules have been SUSPENDED for the night on #SDLive! @IAmEliasWWE pic.twitter.com/tsZUTCU0Fs
— WWE (@WWE) August 21, 2019
Owens match with Elias ended up being decided by some interference by Shane McMahon, who came out mid-way through the match to watch. He eventually pulled off his shirt to reveal a referee's shirt and got in the ring to give a fast count and the victory to Elias.
.@IAmEliasWWE is pushing @FightOwensFight to the limit in this #KingOfTheRing Tournament battle on #SDLive! pic.twitter.com/EOdMaj9JlN
— WWE (@WWE) August 21, 2019
"It was HIM, Kevin! It was HIM all along!"
Special guest referee @ShaneMcMahon guarantees @IAmEliasWWE the victory in the #KingOfRing tournament! #SDLive @FightOwensFIght pic.twitter.com/VuxAc4oQ4a
— WWE (@WWE) August 21, 2019
Andrade will now move on to face the winner of Shelton Benjamin vs. Chad Gable in the quarterfinals, which was built-up this week during a backstage segment. Elias will face the winner of Ali and Buddy Murphy in the quarterfinals.
The updated bracket looks as follows:
The tournament will continue on WWE television throughout the next several weeks, with the winner being crowned at Clash of Champions on Sept. 15. This year marks the first time since 2015 that WWE has held the historic tournament and the fifth time since the King of the Ring pay-per-view was pulled from WWE's annual schedule after 2002.
Previous winners of the tournament include Harley Race, Randy Savage, Ted DiBiase, Bret Hart (twice), Owen Hart, Mabel, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Triple H, Kurt Angle, Edge, Brock Lesnar Booker T, William Regal, Sheamus and Bad News Barrett.
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