Latest Updates on WWE's Queen of the Ring Tournament

News broke last week via Wrestling Inc. that WWE was going to introduce a new version of their classic King of the Ring tournament, an all-women Queen of the Ring tournament, later this year. Andrew Zarian of The Mat Men Podcast followed up that report on Tuesday, stating that the tournament will begin on the Oct. 8 edition of Friday Night SmackDown and the Oct. 11 edition of Monday Night Raw. The date of the finals for the tournament have yet to be confirmed. The initial report had the show listed as a one-night event on the WWE Network and Peacock, so it's possible the final few rounds of the tournament will serve as one show.

The tournament will reportedly take place around the same time as WWE's return to Saudi Arabia and right after the 2021 WWE Draft. From 1993-2002 a single-elimination King of the Ring tournament took place over the span of one night as an annual pay-per-view, but later installments (except for 2015) would take place over the span of several weeks on Raw and SmackDown.

As for the KOTR, there hasn't been a tournament since Baron Corbin won back in 2019. He did, however, recently lose his title as King to Shinsuke Nakamura on SmackDown. Corbin and WWE official Adam Pearce have previously teased a return of the tournament, while Xavier Woods has been openly pushing for it for years.

Last night I beat the @wwe champion. Normally normally that means I’m owed a championship match. I’d like to exchange that for a one night King of The Ring tournament at the companies earliest convince. And I’d like Riddle on the opposite end of the bracket. I owe him one... pic.twitter.com/2Y7S4VxQa4

— Austin #Creed4KOTR - Future King of The Ring (@AustinCreedWins) July 13, 2021

"I think everyone has had their eye on it, just like people do with a Championship title. They want an opportunity, they want a chance, they want to own it and they want to earn it," Corbin said on The Bump recently. "That's what the crown does to people. Then you have people who are cowards like Shinsuke who want to steal it. But at least Xavier Woods wants to earn an opportunity to wear the crown. It's important to him, to his career. I'm happy to make it a disappointment and a regret in his long career that he will have, that he came up short in something he really wanted. A tournament is what's necessary to wear that crown and I won it. If you want a shot, talk to somebody, cry to people, and try to get it another tournament up. Xavier Woods, I would love to face him in the tournament. His dream will be cut short, but I'm happy to do it and defend it in the right circumstances."