Leighty’s WWE Speed Women’s Championship Tournament Review

-Almost 5 months ago to the day I posted a review of the Men’s Speed Championship Tournament. They women just had their tournament finals broadcasted on X today, so it’s time to cover the 8 Woman Tournament. Let’s get to it!

-Corey Graves does solo announcing work for the Tournament.

-Each match has a 3 Minute Time Limit; Championship Matches have 5 Minutes!

-Each match was taped before SmackDown or RAW and then broadcast on X. I reviewed these matches on Oct 9th so all the data for views and likes is from that date as of 6 PM Eastern to 7 PM Eastern.

-Our Tournament Bracket is as follows:

-Iyo Sky vs. Lyra Valkyria
-Naomi vs. Blair Davenport

-Kairi Sane vs. Elektra Lopez
-Candice LeRae vs. Piper Nevin

WWE Speed Women’s Championship 1st Round: Iyo Sky vs. Lyra Valkyria
-Air Date: Sept 4, 2024
-Views: 1.9 Million; Likes 7.9K

-Lockup and Lyra shoves Iyo off who does a cartwheel. They flip around some more and Lyra gets a dropkick. Iyo hits the floor, so Lyra hits a dropkick through the ropes. Back in the ring she hits a spin kick for a two count. Iyo fights off Lyra’s shoulders and ducks a kick. She lands a right hand from the apron and gets a springboard missile dropkick. The crowd really likes Iyo! Meteora in the corner gets two! Iyo walks over Lyra before heading up you, but misses the moonsault, though she lands on her feet. Iyo gets a sunset flip for two. They trade reversals and Lyra gets a two count with 1 minute to go. Iyo kicks off and sends Lyra into the ropes and catches her on the way back with a roll-up for the win at 2:17.

Winner: Iyo Sky via pin at 2:17
-You will notice I rate these matches on what is basically a 3 star scale because they don’t have time to work here and it’s not far to compare these matches to anything else really. This was fine as it was energetic, fast paced and both women went for pins as quickly as possible. Iyo advances which isn’t shocking. **

WWE Speed Women’s Championship 1st Round: Naomi vs. Blair Davenport
-Air Date: Sept 11, 2024
-Views: 1.7 Million; Likes 4.6K

-Davenport starts strong with a dropkick and then a belly to back suplex. Falcon Arrow gets two! Davenport springs up to the top, but Naomi lands a kick and gets a rope assisted piledriver variant for two. Davenport back with a super kick and a Northern Lights Suplex for two. Naomi lands a right hand and then a Bubba Bomb into a pin attempt for two. They trade forearms and Naomi looks for Rear View, but Davenport holds the ropes and hits a bridging German Suplex for two. Another super kick from Davenport, but she runs into Rear View. Naomi hits a sit-out powerbomb and gets a submission for the win at 2:35.

Winner: Naomi via submission at 2:35
-Davenport looked good here and I was pulling for her, even though she had no chance. I liked this one better than the first match. Do more with Davenport please. **1/4

WWE Speed Women’s Championship 1st Round: Kairi Sane vs. Elektra Lopez
-Air Date: Sept 18, 2024
-Views: 1.6 Million; Likes 6.1K

-Lopez misses a pump kick to start. She catches Sane trying a crossbody and gets a swinging slam for two. She backs Sane into the corner and delivers some shoulders as she uses her power. They start trading chops and the crowd is into it. Lopez gets a heavy chop that plants Sane on her ass. Nice! Spinebuster for Lopez! Gut-wrench suplex gets two. Sane fights off the shoulders to get a sunset flip. They trade reversals and Sane gets another close pin attempt. Sane with a head scissors and the spinning back fist. SPEAR from Sane! One minute left as Sane hits the Sliding D and then Insane Elbow finishes at 2:33.

Winner: Kairi Sane via pin at 2:33
-I like Lopez and think she can be used more as she has a good look and power game. No upsets so far in this one as the bigger stars have been winning. This was on par with the first match though I liked this one a tad bit more. **

WWE Speed Women’s Championship 1st Round: Candice LeRae vs. Piper Niven
-Air Date: Sept 25, 2024
-Views: 1.6 Million; Likes 4.3K

-This is our final match of the first round! They charge and Candice hits a slap and then runs away as Piper is angry. Indi is at ringside to support Candice! Where’s Chelsea as I want to see her in one of these matches. Nevin lands a right hand from the apron and then drops an elbow back in the ring for two. LeRae goes to the eyes to block a slam and gets a chop-block, Step-up enziguiri gets two! Piper blocks a Lung Blower, but misses a Senton. Candice hits a series of step-up Sentons and then hits a Code Breaker. Piper gets a STO in the corner and then hits the Senton for two as Indi put Candice’s foot on the bottom rope. The crowd booed Indi like crazy for that. Piper heads up to the middle rope and Indi gets involved again. Candice brings Piper down form the middle ropes with a German Suplex! SWEET! She springs off the middle ropes to hit a moonsault for the pin at 2:37.

Winner: Candice LeRae via pin at 2:37
-This match was a little different than the others because of Piper’s power game and Candice fighting from underneath. Candice and Indi cheating to win was not appreciated by the fans. This was in the same vein as the rest of the matches, but I will give it a little bump thanks to the finish. Where was Chelsea though? **1/4

WWE Speed Women’s Championship Semi-Final: Iyo Sky vs. Naomi
-Air Date: Oct 2, 2024
-Views: 1.0 Million; Likes 5.8K

-Iyo gets a running shoulder and does some backflips as the crowd chants her name. Naomi gets a back heel kick and then an ax kick for two. She runs Iyo face first into the buckle and then heads up top. She hits a cross-body for two. Basement dropkick in the corner kind of connects. Iyo ends up on the apron, but she shoves Naomi off. She blocks a kick and drapes Naomi’s knee over the ropes. Springboard dropkick and again, Iyo is loved by the crowd. Meteora in the corner gets two! Naomi knocks Iyo off the ropes and hits the rope assisted pedigree/piledriver. Naomi misses a split-legged moonsault. Backbreaker from Iyo and then she steps over Naomi to head up top and the Over The Moonsault finishes at 2:37.

Winner: Iyo Sky via pin at 2:37
-Little sloppy in spots, but pretty much the same as the other matches during this tournament. Probably by least favorite match of the tournament so far, but splitting hairs. The favorites keep on rolling as well. **

WWE Speed Women’s Championship Semi-Final: Kairi Sane vs. Candice LeRae
-Air Date: Oct 5, 2024
-Views: 793.8K ; Likes 3.6K

-The winner meets Iyo Sky in the Finals! Sane gets a kick in early, but gets put on the apron trying a charge in the corner. They each end up with a pin attempt. Sliding D countered into a crucifix for two. Sane with a pinning combination doe two. Sane comes off the apron with a flying forearm. She hits a Alabama Slam into the ring apron and gets two back in the ring. Sane heads up top, but Candice rolls to the apron. Sane tries a running boot but Candice blocks and drops Sane face first on the apron. That gets two back in the ring. Step-up Senton misses and that lets Sane hit a Spear at the 1 minute mark. Sliding D connects this time and Sane heads up top. Candice knocks her off balance and slams her down. Lion-sault gets the pin at 2:27. 



Winner: Candice LeRae via pin at 2:27
-Again about the same as every other match in this tournament which is fine as they are making the most of the time and format. You could say this as the first upset, but there was no chance Damage CTRL was going to explode in the finals. It’s weird but the finish seemed out of nowhere in a sub 3 minute match. I was expecting another kick-out before the actual finish. **

WWE Speed Women’s Championship Final: Iyo Sky vs. Candice LeRae
-Air Date: Oct 9, 2024
-Views: 388K; Likes 3K

-Since this is for the Championship, the time limit increase to five minutes. Candice misses a clothesline to start and ends up on the floor. Iyo with a suicide dive that nearly went bad. Ouch! Indi is at ringside again for this match. Iyo warns Indi before getting back in the ring and getting a two count. Candice hits a jawbreaker and then a kick. Step-up Senton gets two! Tornado DDT is blocked by Iyo, but Candice blocks a kick. They start trading blows and Sky wins the exchange. She hits a bridging German Suplex for two! The crowd is subdued for this one compared to the two other Iyo matches. They fight up top and Candice hits a swinging neckbreaker from up there for two. Sweet! Candice heads up top and Iyo is up to meet her. SPANISH FLY from Iyo gets two! That woke the crowd up a little bit. Iyo up top, but Indi is on the apron. This is how Candice beat Piper, but Iyo must have studied that match as she lands on her feet off the German Suplex attempt. Iyo hits a Meteora in the corner and then knocks Indi off the apron. Over The Moonsault is blocked as Candice gets the knees up. She hits The Lion-sault for the pin and Championship at 3:49.

Winner and New WWE Women’s Speed Champion: Candice LeRae via pin at 3:49
-Good moment for Candice! This was an upset, but I think this works better for Candice anyway. Match was solid, but slower paced since they had a little more time to work. Honestly, other than the result, this is something you could have seen on RAW. Even with a little more time, this was about the same as the rest of the Tournament. **1/4

-Candice celebrates with Indo as pyro goes off to celebrate the crowning of our new Champion!

-Thanks for reading!

6.5

The final score: review Average

The 411

Just an easy to watch and consistent Tournament. That is the point as I guess as they want your eyes to stop scrolling on X for a few minutes to watch some wrestling. They never hit the highs of a few of the men's matches, but that wasn't fair as the men had Ricochet and this type of format was made for him. I have found with both tournament that it is hard to have a bad match, but it's just as hard to have a great one. I am curious to see how else they can bring in for these matches and I really want to see Chelsea in this thing. Overall everything was solid and I was happy to see Candice get her moment.