WWE Smackdown World Cup 2022 started from this week’s episode of Smackdown which took place at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. As speculated, it was confirmed that eight superstars will be competing for the prestigious world cup trophy that was showcased at the ringside area.
The matches for the WWE Smackdown World Cup 2022 also started this week onwards with two Superstars advancing to the second round of the tourney. The eight superstars announced are as follows – Jinder Mahal, Sami Zayn, Butch, Santos Escobar, Mustafa Ali, Shinsuke Nakamura, Ricochet, and Braun Strowman. The latter and Ricochet will represent the United States while the other names are superstars from different countries.
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First round matches took place for WWE Smackdown World Cup 2022
In the first match of the WWE Smackdown World Cup 2022, Mexico’s Santos Escobar alongside his Legado del Fantasma members defeated Japan’s Shinsuke Nakamura with his pendant Phantom Driver finisher. This also marked Escobar’s first-ever singles match on WWE TV since he was called up to the main roster last month and in this match, he also pulled off the biggest win of his WWE career over a former Intercontinental Champion.
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In the second WWE Smackdown World Cup 2022 matchup, USA’s Braun Strowman literally squashed India’s, Jinder Mahal. After manhandling the former WWE Champion with shoulder tackles, The Monster of all Monsters finished off The Modern Day Maharaja with a Monster Bomb for the pinfall win to advance to the second rounce.
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Next round matches set for WWE Smackdown World Cup 2022
Two more first-round matches for WWE Smackdown World Cup 2022 will take place on next week’s episode of Smackdown where Ricochet (USA) will go up against Mustafa Ali (Pakistan), and Sami Zayn (Canada) will go up against Butch (England). The winners of those two matches will advance to semi-final matches against Strowman and Escobar, respectively. Next week’s episode of the blue brand takes place at the XL Center in Hartford.
It has also been confirmed that the WWE Smackdown World Cup 2022 semi-finals will take place on the November 25 episode of SmackDown in Providence, Rhode Island. Since that show will be the final stop before the Survivor Series premium live event in Boston, it’s likely that the final match should go down at Survivor Series. The winner of the World Cup will receive a future title shot against Intercontinental Champion GUNTHER.
