Why WWE Held King & Queen Of The Ring Matches At House Shows

WWE are in the midst of the King & Queen of the Ring tournaments, with the finals set to be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on May 25.

Whilst tournament matches have aired across Raw and SmackDown in recent weeks, several opening round matches have taken place on WWE house shows, with the likes of Kofi Kingston, LA Knight, and Shayna Baszler advancing in the tournament in untelevised matches.

Per a report from Fightful Select, WWE opted to run tournament matches at house shows for several reasons, with WWE hoping the tournament itself would be a pull for live show attendance numbers, whilst also wanting to avoid tournament ‘overkill’ on WWE TV broadcasts.

The first quarter final matches took place on the May 13 edition of Raw, with the remaining quarter final and upcoming semi final bouts set to take place across SmackDown and Raw over the next 10 days.

Randy Orton vs. Carmelo Hayes, and LA Knight vs. Tama Tonga in the King of the Ring, and Nia Jax vs. Jade Cargill, and Tiffany Stratton vs. Bianca Belair in the Queen of the Ring tournament are set for the May 17 SmackDown.