WWE SmackDown To Feature Title Contender Tournament

A title contender tournament has been officially announced for WWE SmackDown with a huge reward for the winner.

There was supposed to be a WWE United States Title match between champion Shinsuke Nakamura and challenger LA Knight on the February 28th edition of SmackDown in Toronto, but those plans have changed.

It has been announced by WWE SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis on social media that there will be a mini-tournament instead.

There will be three singles on SmackDown in Toronto:

* LA Knight vs. Santos Escobar
* Carmelo Hayes vs. Braun Strowman
* Andrade vs. Solo Sikoa

The winners of those matches will face eachother in a triple threat match on SmackDown tonight. Whoever wins that triple threat match will be the number one contender for the US Title.

As for when Nakamura will have to defend the US Title, that was not announced.

People In WWE Have A “Strong Dislike” For Three-Hour SmackDown

In January 2025, WWE SmackDown became a three-hour show live every Friday on USA Network and Netflix around the world. A three-hour show isn’t easy to do because it tends to be long and it’s not always the most exciting way of presenting the WWE product.

There have been frustrations with fans about three-hour SmackDown and a recent report from Wrestle Votes via SportsKeeda’s Backstage Pass Patreon noted that WWE Officials are aware of the issues that three-hour SmackDown has presented the company.

“We are told several within the company strongly dislike the three-hour SmackDown format, as those sources feel like the quality of the show has dipped in the last two months. Prior to the expansion, there was optimism and belief that some underutilized talent would be able to shine, considering the extra hour. However, that has not come to fruition as of yet.

SmackDown is still scheduled to return to two hours come this June.”

TJRWrestling will have a full review of WWE SmackDown from Toronto later this evening.