Ready for the Speed Championship tournament?
Fresh off the focus on the women that saw Candace LeRae successfully defend her belt against Natayla on the January 8th episode of Speed.
Dragon Lee gets the opportunity to defend the Speed Championship against the winner of the latest tournament. For those unfamiliar with the Speed matches, these bouts are usually contested for three minutes or less. For title matches, the time is extended to five minutes.
The four man tournament will see NXT’s Charlie Dempsey mix it up against American Made’s Chad Gable. The other match consists of former WWE Tag Team Champions colliding as Chris Sabin will face Grayson Waller in the first round. The winner will go on to face Dragon Lee. This will actually be Lee’s first title defense since beating Andrade for the belt back in November.
Triple H introduced the Speed Championship in early 2024. Though it’s not new to see short matches in wrestling, the concept surrounding the belt is certainly interesting as these matches can’t be laid out like regular television or pay-per-view matches. Ricochet became the inaugural champion back in April, but dropped it to Andrade in July. The Smackdown star currently holds the record for longest reign at 161 days. Triple H explained why he enjoys the Speed matches during an interview with Space sessions:
“If we could take sort of that feeling out process that talent have in the ring with each other and just have them go from go for broke right when the bell rings, because they only have three minutes to get the job done”
So there’s no [time to waste]. [Competitors have to get] to an ending quickly. It makes for an exciting challenge for the guys. It makes for an exciting challenge for eventually what will be for the women as well. And so far, it’s been spectacular. The talent have really embraced this and gotten into it and the challenge of it. So it’s been exciting for them, and it’s been exciting for our fans as well.”
The women’s version of the Speed matches was introduced in October. These should be fun matches for anyone who wants to see quick action. The only drawback is that the Speed matches are simply matches, nothing more than that. If you want your quick fix of wrestling then these speed matches are perfect for you.