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WWE announced the King and Queen of the Ring first round matches during the Backlash event. The tournament final will take place at the King and Queen of the Ring PLE on May 25 in Saudi Arabia. Four first-round matches were announced for both the Raw and SmackDown brands. However, three matches took place on both brands, and the remaining one happened at a live event. Now, the reason behind its strategy to run the matches at house shows has been revealed.
According to the report from Fightful Select, the rationale behind proceeding with that plan was simply to balance things out. WWE didn’t want the matches to feel rushed, as there were already enough things happening on both shows. More importantly, they also wanted to attract a larger audience to attend the live events.
LA Knight defeated Santos Escobar in the first round of the tournament at a live event. Furthermore, matches like Kofi Kingston vs. Rey Mysterio and Shayna Baszler vs. Maxinne Dupri also took place at house shows. Kingston and Baszler progressed to the next round, unfortunately losing to Gunther and Iyo Sky, respectively, on the latest episode of Raw.
WWE opted to run several of the #WWEKingAndQueen of the Ring matches at live events so it wasn't overkill on TV, and to help draw for the live events shows.
— PW Chronicle (@_PWChronicle) May 14, 2024
– per @FightfulSelect pic.twitter.com/HOkJYOoJSO
In other matches, Jey Uso triumphed over Ilja Dragunov and will now face The Ring General in the semi-finals. Meanwhile, Lyra Valkyria continued to impress the WWE Universe by defeating Zoey Stark and will now go one-on-one against Sky in the semi-finals. It will be interesting to see how the picture clears up when the quarterfinal matches take place on the upcoming episode of SmackDown.
LA Knight spoke about his King and Queen of the Ring tournament matches taking place at live events
The Megastar has been one of the company’s biggest stars for some time, and fans love watching him perform on the bigger stage. However, they expressed extreme disappointment when they found out his match against Escobar wasn’t on live TV. As a result, LA Knight shared his honest opinion on social media about his match taking place at a live event.
The 41-year-old veteran took to X to give a piece of his mind to a fan complaining about his match not being on live TV. Although Knight appreciated the immense support he was getting, he stated that all WWE superstars, including himself, have most of their fun at live events. The Megastar added that he liked the idea of the matches holding high stakes at the live events.
I appreciate everyone saying this match should've been on TV. But, no need to throw live event crowds under the bus. Live events are where the WWE roster has as much fun as possible. Not only having a great match, but a match with HUGE stakes makes the live events more fun! LA Knight on X
I appreciate everyone saying this match should’ve been on TV. But, no need to throw live event crowds under the bus.
— LA Knight (@RealLAKnight) May 13, 2024
Live events are where the @WWE roster has as much fun as possible.
Not only having a great match, but a match with HUGE stakes makes the live events more fun! https://t.co/VojlY86f8d
After defeating the leader of Legado del Fantasma in the first round of the tournament, he will face an even bigger challenge. On the upcoming episode of SmackDown, he will go one-on-one with The Bloodline’s Tama Tonga in the quarterfinals. That being said, it will be interesting to see whether The Megastar can withstand every shenanigan from Solo Sikoa and company.
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