Several King & Queen Of The Ring Matches Confirmed For WWE SmackDown

Several big-name WWE stars will kick off their King and Queen of the Ring campaigns on SmackDown.

On the May 6th episode of Raw the King of the Ring tournament finally got underway with big wins for Gunther, Jey Uso, and Ilja Dragunov. Uso was a late addition to the tournament after it was revealed Drew McIntyre hadn’t been medically cleared to compete.

In the Queen of the Ring tournament, Iyo Sky, Lyra Valkyria, and Zoey Stark booked their places in the next round.

On SmackDown it’s been confirmed that AJ Styles will take on Randy Orton, and Angelo Dawkins will meet Tama Tonga. The latter match was changed on May 9th after Nick Aldis announced Bobby Lashley had suffered an injury and would be unable to compete, paving the way for Dawkins to step in.

In the women’s tournament, it’s been announced that Bianca Belair vs. Candice LeRae, Jade Cargill vs. Piper Niven, and Naomi vs. Nia Jax will all take place on SmackDown.

WWE SmackDown Leaving FOX Earlier Than Expected

In other big SmackDown news, it’s been confirmed that the blue brand will move to the USA Network from September 13th. Interestingly, this is earlier than anticipated as back when the new broadcast deal was agreed, the switch was announced for October.

There will also be a “WWE Week” starting on September 9th, where USA will air films from the Fast and Furious franchise starring The Rock, Blockers featuring John Cena, and the Bray Wyatt: Becoming Immortal documentary.