Leighty’s WWE Speed Championship Tournament Review

-WWE crowned their first ever Speed Champion this past week and I figured since the matches are all under 3 minutes, it would be best to review the entire tournament once it finished. For those unaware, Speed is the new X/Twitter exclusive show that features matches that have a three minute time limit. I have not seen any of the matches yet, but based on the Tournament Bracket, the field looks good and looks like guys who will have fun with the format. Let’s get to it!

-Corey Graves does solo commentary for each match.

-Each match was taped before either SmackDown or RAW from what I remember. As a note I reviewed these matches on May 4th so that is the date I pulled the data for the views and likes.

-Our Tournament Bracket is as follows:

-Ricochet vs. Dragon Lee
-Axiom vs. JD McDonagh

-Cedric Alexander vs. Bronson Reed
-Johnny Gargano vs. Angel

WWE Speed Championship Tournament: 1st Round: Ricochet vs. Dragon Lee
-Air Date: 4.3.24
-Views: 3.2 million; Likes: 20K

-Ricochet charges at the bell and we get a lot of counters early as they each flip out of moves. Roll-up off a leapfrog from Ricochet for two. Dragon Lee with a unique roll-up for two. Ricochet goes to the apron and delivers a shoulder to the gut. Springboard lariat gets two! Standing Moonsault gets two! Graves puts over that this Tournament will be different as the guys will have to hit heavy shots early and often. Dragon Lee lands an elbow and gets a boot to the face. Ricochet lands on his feet to avoid a Snap German Suplex. Superkick from Lee! Suplex blocked, but Lee escapes a brainbuster attempt. Step-up knee from Lee followed by a Poison-rana. Clothesline from Ricochet gets two! We are under a minute to go. Lee with a superkick to the ribs for two! Sit-out powerbomb for two as we are under 30 seconds. Lee looks for Project Dragon, but Ricochet counters into Kick-Back and then Recoil gets the pin at 2:57.

Winner: Ricochet via pin at 2:57
-Well, these were two of the best guys they had on the roster to get this concept over. Just all action with counters, flips, and heavy strikes. I enjoyed the fact that each guy kept checking The Tron to see how much time was remaining. The crowd enjoyed this as well. I can see how this can work for people scrolling through X. ***

WWE Speed Championship Tournament: 1st Round: Bronson Reed vs. Cedric Alexander
-Air Date: 4.3.24
-Views: 696,000; Likes: 9.7K

-Reed doesn’t seem like the type of person for this match, but BIG MEATY MEN can SQUASH quickly. Just think of prime Goldberg being in a match with a 3 minute time limit. Cedric with a dropkick to start and he throws some chops. He ducks a clothesline and elbow, but Reed flattens him. Elbow misses, and Alexander gets a boot up to block a charge. He comes off the middle rope with a knee and a springboard moonsault for two. Reed rolls to the floor so Cedric dives over the top with a flip to the floor. Nice! Reed back in the ring first where he misses another clothesline. Handspring enziguiri from Alexander, but Reed won’t go down. Cedric goes up, but Reed grabs him and plants him with a Death Valley Driver for two. Clothesline followed by a Senton! Reed heads up and the place explodes as he hits TSUNAMI for the pin at 1:50.

Winner: Bronson Reed via pin at 1:50
-Solid big man vs. little man match where Alexander threw all he had, but Reed got hold of him and it was over. This was a nice chance of pace from the first match and also didn’t come down to the wire. **

WWE Speed Championship Tournament: 1st Round: Axiom vs. JD McDonagh
-Air Date: 4.10.24
-Views: 2.1 Million; Likes: 12K

-They trade strikes to start and Axiom wins the early exchange, but JD battles back. Axiom goes for a sleeper, but JD fights out. Sick suplex from Axiom gets two! Axiom gets a moonsault from the top to the floor on JD and fires him back in the ring as he knows he needs to win this ASAP. He comes off the top, but JD catches him with a dropkick on the way down for two. Powerbomb escaped by Axiom, but JD drills him with a discus lariat. The powerbomb is countered into a pin by Axiom for two. They clothesline each other down and start trading strikes from their knees. Small package gets two for Axiom as we have 1 minute to go. Knee to the face, but Golden Ratio misses. Devil Inside is blocked by a knee, but JD hits a headbutt to knock Axiom out and he falls on top for the pin at 2:25.

Winner: JD McDonagh via pin at 2:25
-Didn’t like the finish here though I guess it makes sense as JD was desperate and just fired off a headbutt before falling on top for the win. Still, these guys both knew what to do in this format and it was a solid match. **

WWE Speed Championship Tournament: 1st Round: Angel Garza vs. Johnny Gargano
-Air Date: 4.17.24
-Views: 2 Million; Likes: 10K

-They charge at each other and Gargano gets dropped on his face trying a head scissors. Double under-hook backbreaker for two! Headbutts from Garza. Gargano escapes a powerbomb with a head scissors that sends Garza to the floor. Suicide Dive connects though it nearly went bad as Gargano caught his feet on the ropes a bit. Gargano sling shots through the ropes with a spear for two! Garza escapes a slam and pulls Gargano down. Up kick from Gargano followed by a lariat! Superkick is blocked and Angel gets one of his own. He heads to the middle rope, but misses the moonsault. One Final Beat finishes for Gargano at 2:08.

Winner: Johnny Gargano via pin at 2:08
-I found this the weaker of the four opening round matches but still solid. I also like that the last few weeks they have given the winner a few minutes to cut a promo the camera to hype their next match. **

WWE Speed Championship: Semi-Final: JD McDonagh vs. Ricochet
-Air Date: 4.24.24
-Views: 2.7 Million; Likes: 11K

-Our first semi-final and these two have recent history with each other on RAW. A little bit of a slower start as they don’t run at each other at the bell. They trade strikes and JD hits an elbow. Monkey Flip from Ricochet sends JD flying across the ring with his legs hitting off the ropes. He bails to the floor, but suckers Ricochet in as he gets to the apron and tosses Ricochet down. Springboard moonsault gets a two count! Ricochet handsprings into a head scissors and then hits a dropkick. Superkick sends JD to the floor and this time Ricochet hits the dive to the floor where he twists his body in mid-air. The man is a freak! Shooting Star Press is blocked and JD gets a cradle for a two count. JD runs into a boot and Ricochet comes off the middle ropes to hit a Destroyer for the pin at 1:59.

Winner: Ricochet via pin at 1:59
-Pretty much in the same vein as the rest of the matches in this tournament, but to deliver something entertaining in under two minutes is a credit to both of them. Ricochet making The Finals was a pretty safe bet. **

WWE Speed Championship Tournament: Semi-Final: Bronson Reed vs. Johnny Gargano
-Air Date: 5.1.24
-Views: 1.1 Million; Likes: 6.5K

-The winner gets Ricochet for the Speed Championship! Gargano charges, but gets shoved down. He charges again, so Reed catches him, runs him into the corner and then hits a World’s Strongest Slam. Reed holds Johnny up for a suplex, but Johnny throws some knees. Reed powers through and completes the move. I like the change of pace with Reed as he is not out there flying around and is just looking to heavy something hard and heavy to get the quick win. Gargano avoids a charge and that sends Reed to the floor. Suicide Dive, but Reed stays on his feet. Slingshot spear, but Reed is still on his feet. Superkick drops Reed to a knee. A second one is blocked and Reed rips his head off with a clothesline for two. Reed charges in the corner, but eats a superkick as we near 1 minute remaining. Gargano comes off the top and tries a rana, but Reed gets a Buckle Bomb and then sit-out powerbomb for two! Senton misses and Gargano gets a crucifix for the upset pin at 2:22.

Winner: Johnny Gargano via pin at 2:22
-I like this one a bit more than the previous run of matches we had. I think I just liked that Reed was something a little different for this format. Gargano went through nearly the same offense as his last match, but go with what works. **1/4

WWE Speed Championship Tournament: Finals: Johnny Gargano vs. Ricochet
-Air Date: 5.3.24
-View: 2 Million; Likes: 14K

-Since this is the Finals, they are given 5 minutes. Cool! I would like to see them keep that stip with any title match being five minutes and all the other matches having the normal three minute limit. Gargano gets a quick crucifix for two, which is how he beat Reed in the last match. Arm-drag from Gargano and they start trading chops and strikes. Ricochet avoids a roll-up and gets a Standing Shooting Star Press for two. Gargano lands a kick from the apron, but eats a kick as he tries to spring. Ricochet side steps the slingshot spear, but gets kicked to the floor. Ricochet flips off the post in a cool spot, but Gargano is out of the way. Ricochet lands on his feet, but Gargano flies back into the picture with a suicide dive. Sweet! Gargano gets a two count as he rolls Ricochet back into the ring. Dropkick to the knee, but Ricochet hits the enziguiri. Handspring is blocked by Johnny and countered into The Gargano Escape. Ricochet powers out and breaks by tossing Johnny into the buckles in the corner. Ricochet heads up, but Gargano is out of the way and hits Ricochet with a superkick as he rolls to his feet. POISON-RANA, but Ricochet rolls with it and gets a Bridging Suplex for two! Nice! The crowd shows their appreciation! Head kick from Ricochet as they fight up top. Gargano drops Ricochet face first on the buckle and hits another superkick for two. Kick-Back from Ricochet followed by Recoil for two! Some frustration from Ricochet as we hit 60 seconds left. Handspring into a cutter gets the win and Championship for Ricochet at 4:20.

Winner and First Ever WWE Speed Champion: Ricochet via pin at 4:20
-Fun match and Ricochet winning the Tournament is not surprising as he is the guy that can carry this show with his style. I am sure he is already thinking of other ways to make this format work and no matter what happens, history will show Ricochet is the first ever WWE Speed Champion. ***

-The next batch of shows will determine the first challenger for Ricochet as we get a mini-tournament with Apollo Crews vs. Ivar and Tyler Bate vs. Berto!

-Thanks for reading!

7.5

The final score: review Good

The 411

This was a fun concept and I enjoyed watching the Tournament. It is obviously a breeze to watch, and I would say each match is worth the 2-3 minutes to watch. Each man seemed to get the concept and rolled with it. Rating these matches is kind of hard as some people don't rate matches this short, but I felt compelled to through some kind of rating out there. Most of the matches will likely stay in the ** to **1/2 range just due to the format, but I think we will get occasional SPEED BANGER once they get a better handle of how to work this type of match. Ricochet as the first Champion is pretty much perfect. I don't know if I will review more of these, but I wanted to at least get the first ever Speed Tournament Done.