WWE: Five Matches Announced for Fri’s SmackDown Show, Detroit Sports Commission Denies Rumors of Preparing Bid for WrestleMania 43, Gable Steveson

WWE Announces Five King & Queen of the Ring 2024 Tournament Matches for Friday’s SmackDown Show

WWE recently announced fives matches for the card of Friday’s WWE SmackDown show in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

All of the matches announced were for this year’s on-going King and Queen of the Ring tournaments with the split being two matches for the King of the Ring and three matches for the Queen of the Ring.

In regards to the King of the Ring tournament, the two matches announced were:

• King of the Ring 2024 Tournament First Round match – Randy Orton vs. AJ Styles
• King of the Ring 2024 Tournament First Round match – Tama Tonga vs. Angelo Dawkins

In regards to the Queen of the Ring tournament, the three matches announced were:

• Queen of the Ring 2024 First Round match – Bianca Belair vs. Candice LeRae
• Queen of the Ring 2024 First Round match – Jade Cargill vs. Piper Niven
• Queen of the Ring 2024 First Round match – Naomi vs. Nia Jax

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Detroit Sports Commission Denies Reports of Them Preparing Bid for WrestleMania 43

In an official statement to the Detroit News, the Detroit Sports Commission denied recent reports and rumors of them current preparing a bid to WWE for the city of Detroit to be the potential host of WrestleMania 43 in 2027.

“Contrary to recent speculation, the DSC is not currently in the process of preparing a bid to host WrestleMania in 2027. However, we remain enthusiastic about the prospect of hosting future major WWE events.

The Detroit Sports Commission values its strong relationship with WWE and is proud to have hosted some of their premier events across the Metro Detroit region. The DSC consistently evaluates opportunities and actively pursues bids for potential future events, leveraging our longstanding relationships with national governing bodies, sanctioning bodies, and event owners.

We look forward to continuing our successful partnership with WWE and welcoming more thrilling events to our vibrant city in the years to come.”

Detroit has hosted two WrestleMania events in WrestleMania history, the first being WrestleMania III in 1987 and the other being WrestleMania 23 in 2007.

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Gable Steveson Issues Statement on His Release from WWE

As noted before, Gable Steveson was released from WWE this past Saturday as part of a larger batch of talent releases last week.

A recent episode of The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani show featured Steveson’s manager Dave Martin issuing an official statement on Steveson’s behalf that was read by Helwani.

“Gable Steveson is very grateful for the opportunities he had with WWE and would like to thank everybody in the organization who helped him get there. He would also like to thank the fans who supported him on his professional wrestling journey. Now, Gable is ready to resume competing against elite level competition and looks forward to sharing big news with you all very soon.

Multiple NFL teams have reached out to Gable Steveson. He has also been training at Kill Cliff FC with Henri Hooft and Robbie Lawler. There is no shortage of opportunities to compete.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com