Ricochet’s first WWE title challenger seemingly revealed
Ricochet made WWE history today by becoming the inaugural Speed Champion. The high-flyer and his fans were quick to celebrate, but one of the company's largest superstars has just stepped forward with a bold statement in hopes of becoming the second champion.
The Future of Flight defeated Johnny Gargano in today's tournament finals to become the inaugural WWE Speed Champion. The tournament played out over 7 episodes of Speed, and also featured the following superstars: Dragon Lee, Axiom, JD McDonagh, Cedric Alexander, Bronson Reed, Angel. Ricochet defeated Dragon and JD to make it to the finals, while Gargano defeated Angel and then Reed to advance.
Ivar has now made it clear he wants the Speed Championship, and he will get his chance to earn a title match in the upcoming tournament. The agile 305-pound grappler took to X today to respond to Triple H's trademark backstage photo with the new champion, offering to show re-define what "speed" means.
"Maybe I need to redefine the word 'speed' then," Ivar wrote.
Ricochet has not responded to the aforementioned message, but he did reply to another taunt from the Viking Raider. Ivar simply used the eyes emoji to react to a graphic on Ricochet's championship win, and Ricochet used the same emoji to respond right back. This implies both competitors are seemingly down for a match.
The first-ever WWE Speed tournament aired exclusively on X after the two companies signed a two-year content deal earlier this year. Most episodes aired on Wednesdays, but the championship edition aired on Friday. The rules were also changed a bit for the finals - most matches have a 3-minute time limit, but the final match had a limit of 5 minutes.
When will the second WWE Speed Tournament take place?
World Wrestling Entertainment's second edition of the Speed Tournament has been announced to kick off next Wednesday, May 8.
Triple H recently confirmed that female superstars will eventually be featured on WWE Speed. However, Corey Graves announced during today's Speed Championship finals that a four-man tournament will be held next.
The tournament is to determine the first challenger to the inaugural Speed Champion, Ricochet. The two matches are Apollo Crews vs. Ivar, and Berto vs. Tyler Bate. The winners of these two matches will meet in another singles match, and the winner will earn a future title match from Ricochet.
Pete Dunne is reportedly a producer for the WWE Speed matches, which are usually taped before recent RAW and SmackDown episodes. Triple H is the Executive Producer.