The tournament brackets have been revealed to determine the next challenger for United States Champion Logan Paul.
On last week’s episode of WWE SmackDown, Paul announced the tournament to determine his first challenger. The Maverick said that while he would love to give Rey Mysterio a rematch but is unable to due to Mysterio’s injury. Paul captured the title from the WWE Hall of Famer at Crown Jewel 2023, giving the YouTuber his first taste of championship gold in WWE.
The U.S. Championship Tournament Brackets
On this week’s SmackDown, WWE gave the first-round tournament brackets for the United States Championship Contenders Tournament. The brackets are as follows:
- Santos Escobar Vs. Dragon Lee
- Bobby Lashley Vs. Karrion Kross
- Austin Theory Vs. Kevin Owens
- Grayson Waller Vs. An NXT Superstar to be announced
Two of the first-round matches took place on this week’s episode of WWE SmackDown. Bobby Lashley defeated Karrion Kross to advance to the semi-finals, while Santos Escobar defeated Dragon Lee. Lashley and Escobar will face off in the next round.
Who is the Eighth Man?
WWE has given no clues as to who will be the NXT Superstar added to this tournament, but some notable names could fill the spot. Following the announcement of the tournament, Carmelo Hayes shared a photo of himself holding the John Cena’s ‘Spinner’ version of the U.S. Championship. It was reported this week that WWE is considering calling up Tyler Bate soon, so it can’t be ruled out that the former NXT UK Champion could be part of the tournament.
Dragon Lee won’t be challenging for the U.S. Title, but could he soon be holding another championship? Click here to find more.