Under its fictional premise, WWE has held a variety of different professional wrestling tournaments , competed for by professional wrestlers that are part of their roster .
51-523: The Wrestling Classic, also known as Wrestlevision, was a pay-per-view event that took place on November 7, 1985, from the Rosemont Horizon in Rosemont, Illinois . It revolved around a 16-man single-elimination tournament, and also featured a WWF Championship match. Junkyard Dog won the tournament after defeating Randy "Macho Man" Savage . The Frank Tunney Sr. Memorial Tag Team Tournament
102-431: A #1 contender for John Cena's WWE Championship at WrestleMania 22 . The WWE Women's Championship Tournament was a tournament to crown a new WWE Women's Champion after champion Trish Stratus retired from her wrestling career. The first round started on September 25, 2006, and ended at Cyber Sunday when Lita , who Stratus defeated in her retirement match, defeated Mickie James . The ECW World Championship Tournament
153-702: A Sunday. The change was attributed to WWE president Nick Khan who felt that "big sports events were better on Saturday nights". WWE also airs a pre-show before most events which includes interviews, match previews, and a panel of experts analyzing the upcoming line-up. They were originally simply called Pre-Show , but beginning with Payback 2013 , they were rebranded as Kickoff (although WrestleMania XXX in 2014 used Pre-Show ) before being rebranded again to Countdown to [event] beginning with NXT Stand & Deliver in 2024. The pre-shows also used to host some matches but these were phased out in early 2022, although some pre-shows still occasionally have matches. WWE also airs
204-1013: A merger of the American WWE Network under Peacock in March that year. The standalone version of the American WWE Network shut down on April 4. Over the next couple of years, other countries would see their own version of the WWE Network merge under other services. In Indonesia , the WWE Network merged under Disney+ Hotstar in January 2022, followed by a merger under Disney+ in the Philippines in November that year, while in Australia, it merged under Binge in January 2023 and then Abema in Japan that September. In January 2025,
255-502: A neck injury, the tournament was won by The Bodydonnas ( Skip and Zip ). The Kuwait International Tournament was a tournament held throughout a five-day house show tour from May 8 to May 12, 1996 in Kuwait. The WWF Intercontinental Championship Tournament was a tournament to decide a new WWF Intercontinental Champion after previous champion Ahmed Johnson forfeited the title. He suffered ( kayfabe ) injuries to both kidneys when he
306-531: A new WWE Divas Champion after former champion Melina was stripped of the title due to injury. The first round started on January 4, 2010. The final tournament was originally scheduled at Elimination Chamber , but when official consultant to the SmackDown General Manager , Vickie Guerrero interrupted, she was changing the match to an interbrand Divas tag team match, facing LayCool ( Michelle McCool and Layla ) from SmackDown. The final
357-519: A new WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion after previous champion Ultimate Warrior was required to vacate the title after he defeated Hulk Hogan for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania VI . The WWF Women's Championship Tournament was a tournament to decide the new WWF Women's Champion after the title was reinstated after three years of inactivity. The WWF Tag Team Championship Tournament
408-406: A partner of his choosing, which was revealed to be Dude Love . The tournament to determine the new WWF Intercontinental Champion was held between September 8 and October 5, 1997, with the finals occurring at Badd Blood: In Your House . The title was vacated due to a neck injury that champion Stone Cold Steve Austin suffered when he won the championship. The WWF Light Heavyweight Championship
459-508: A post-show media press conference following some events, including NXT events. Previously, they would air a post-show for some events, known as Fallout . Each Fallout included interviews and a panel of experts analyzing the event. WWE also previously held post-show editions of Raw Talk for Raw-branded events and Talking Smack for SmackDown-branded events. The WWE Network launched on February 24, 2014. Every pay-per-view event from this point forward aired on both traditional PPV outlets and
510-550: The 1980s, when its classic "Big Four" events ( Royal Rumble , WrestleMania , SummerSlam , and Survivor Series ) were first established—the company's very first PPV was WrestleMania in 1985. The company's PPV lineup expanded to a monthly basis in the mid-1990s following the introduction of the In Your House series of pay-per views before expanding even further in the mid-2000s during the first WWE brand extension . In addition, WWE produced international PPVs not available in
561-506: The 2022 calendar year, WWE ceased broadcasting NXT's major events on PPV with them subsequently only available via livestreaming. The 2021 edition of Fastlane would be the beginning of WWE phasing out the WWE Network, with the company partnering with other platforms to distribute their content. Beginning with that edition of Fastlane in the United States, events began airing on NBCUniversal 's streaming service, Peacock , following
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#1732802358312612-693: The American promotion available on traditional PPV outlets and livestreaming services such as the WWE Network . Since 2022, to emphasize the availability of these events via digital platforms such as WWE Network and other streaming services that hold rights to its content (such as Peacock in the United States), WWE began to refer to all pay-per-view events (PPV) as "Premium Live Events" (PLE). The American professional wrestling promotion WWE has been broadcasting pay-per-view (PPV) events since
663-517: The May 30, 2013 tapings (broadcast on the June 5 episode) of WWE NXT (TV series) , by Stephanie McMahon that there would be a tournament, featuring four developmental female talents and four female talents from the main roster competing to be crowned as the inaugural NXT Women's Champion in a knockout system format. The first NXT Women's Champion was crowned on June 20, 2013, with Paige defeating Emma in
714-481: The NXT Women's and WWE Divas Championship , ending her reign at 308 days. Right after, during the tapings for the May shows, a tournament was announced to take place to determine the next champion. Charlotte defeated Natalya at NXT TakeOver on May 29, 2014, to become the new champion. The championship tournament started on August 7, 2014, and there would be new #1 contenders for the titles. The tournament final
765-650: The United Kingdom and Ireland, all PPVs were shown on Sky Sports Box Office until 2019, when BT Sport took over rights to WWE content. In India and South Asia, a single broadcaster (currently Sony Ten ) generally holds the rights to all WWE programming, with PPVs broadcast for no additional charge. Currently, WWE's events for Raw and SmackDown are generally held on Saturdays and are typically 3 hours in length, with some events running longer or shorter. NXT's events are typically on Sundays and last between 2 and 3 hours. Prior to 2022, all events were generally held on
816-502: The United States between 1997 and 2003. In 2022, the company began recognizing Money in the Bank as one of their five biggest events of the year, thus making it a "Big Five" event along with the classic "Big Four"; King of the Ring was considered a "Big Five" event from 1993 until 2002, after which, it was discontinued as a PPV until 2024. Following WWE's original brand extension in 2002,
867-640: The WWE Network worldwide will shut down, with all other countries that still have the Network merging under Netflix . In addition to Peacock's WWE channel, WWE's events are still made available on traditional PPV outlets in the United States. In Canada, WWE's PPVs are available through Vu! , Shaw PPV , or SaskTel PPV , and was formerly shown in select locations of the Cineplex Entertainment chain. In Australia, PPVs are shown on Main Event . In
918-537: The WWE Network. However, beginning with NXT Arrival , several additional events began airing exclusively on the Network. These Network exclusives are noted as "Network exclusive". Beginning in 2021, some countries saw their version of the WWE Network merge under another streaming platform (e.g., in the United States, the WWE Network merged under Peacock on March 18, 2021). The "Network exclusive" note from 2021 forward also covers these other platforms. Overall total — 520 (11 more confirmed) These eleven wrestlers have
969-777: The World Wrestling Federation purchased World Championship Wrestling. Following the conclusion of the Invasion angle at the 2001 Survivor Series pay-per-view, the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship was abandoned in favor of the WCW Cruiserweight Championship (a unification match at Survivor Series was cancelled due to X-Pac's injury). The Light Heavyweight Championship was defended by X-Pac at house shows until March 8, 2002, when WWF finally deactivated
1020-523: The company promoted two touring rosters, Raw and SmackDown , representing its television programs, Raw and SmackDown , with the two United Kingdom PPVs held that year being the first ones to be brand exclusive. Following Judgment Day in 2003, brand-exclusive PPVs where expanded to all WWE PPVs, except the traditional "Big Four", which continued to showcase the entire roster, while the remaining PPVs alternated between Raw and SmackDown. A special Extreme Championship Wrestling reunion PPV in 2005 led to
1071-400: The creation of an ECW brand in 2006, which also received its own dedicated PPV events. In March 2007, WWE announced that all subsequent non "big-four" PPV events following WrestleMania 23 would feature performers from all brands, which ended brand-exclusive PPVs. In 2008, all WWE PPV events began broadcasting in high-definition . The company's PPV business began to drastically change with
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#17328023583121122-404: The final champion. Notes: This match aired on November 17. These matches aired on December 1. Christopher won by forfeit after Kane chokeslammed Taylor before Christopher made his way to the ring, leaving Taylor unable to compete. Per brackets displayed early in the tournament, Jerry Lynn was originally slated to face Eric Shelley. He was replaced by Scott Taylor. In March 2001,
1173-488: The first Light Heavyweight Champion recognized by the WWF. The WWF Brawl for All was a shoot fighting tournament held in the World Wrestling Federation that lasted from June 29, 1998, to August 24, 1998. The WWF Intercontinental Championship Tournament was a tournament to decide a new WWF Intercontinental Champion after previous champion Triple H vacated the title due to injury. The Deadly Games WWF Championship Tournament
1224-656: The first recognized champion. It then migrated to the US West Coast before transitioning to Mexico and then later being defended once again in Japan by way of the Michinoku Pro Wrestling promotion. The title would later become popularized and widely defended within the confines of the World Wrestling Federation in 1997, when a tournament was held in the United States to crown a champion. Before
1275-401: The host of the show when he asked about the legitimacy of professional wrestling; Vader was fined $ 164 by Kuwaiti authorities for the incident as well as being held in custody for several days. The WWF Tag Team Championship Tournament was a tournament to decide new WWF Tag Team Champions , which was won by Owen Hart and The British Bulldog , with the winner facing Stone Cold Steve Austin and
1326-485: The inaugural NXT Champion in a knockout system format. The first NXT Champion was crowned on July 26, 2012, with Seth Rollins defeating Jinder Mahal in the tournament finals. The WWE Tag Team Championship Tournament was a #1 contender's tag team tournament, where the winning team faced Team Hell No ( Kane and Daniel Bryan ) for the WWE Tag Team Championship. The NXT Tag Team Championship
1377-456: The launch of the online streaming service, the WWE Network , on February 24, 2014. WWE's focus shifted away from delivering their events solely on PPV channels, with their main focus on livestreaming all of the events on the WWE Network, including some exclusive events, such as NXT TakeOver . After the second brand extension in July 2016, brand-exclusive events returned with the "Big Four" again as
1428-461: The most matches as of Crown Jewel 2024 . Many WWE events are thematic , centering on particular types of matches, or have an annually recurring main event. Most themed or gimmick events (sans the "Big Five" events) are roughly treated like filler themed events to carry the audience until the next event dating back to the days when the In Your House system was used. WWF Light Heavyweight Championship The WWF Light Heavyweight Championship
1479-534: The new champion, but Mr. McMahon reverted Long's decision. Due to the decision by Mr. McMahon, the vacancy of the title and Kingston's championship win are not recognized as WWE continued to recognize McIntyre as champion during that period. At Over the Limit , Kingston defeated McIntyre to win his second official Intercontinental Championship. On the July 18, 2011, edition of WWE Raw , the WWE Championship
1530-410: The new champion. The WWE Championship #1 Contender's Tournament was a tournament where the winner faced champion John Cena at Judgment Day . The Gold Rush Tournament was a tournament to determine the new #1 contender for World Heavyweight Champion Batista . Edge won the tournament but lost to Batista on the May 23 episode of Raw . The Road to WrestleMania Tournament was a tournament to crown
1581-709: The only ones to feature both the Raw and SmackDown brands. Brand-exclusive events would once again come to an end, this time after WrestleMania 34 in April 2018 with the events again featuring wrestlers from all brands. Beginning with NXT TakeOver 31 in October 2020, the TakeOver events started airing on traditional PPV in addition to livestreaming. In late 2021, WWE discontinued the TakeOver series, but has continued to promote major NXT events periodically; however, beginning with
List of WWE tournaments - Misplaced Pages Continue
1632-521: The title moved to Michinoku Pro Wrestling , but due to WWF's ownership of the title, it was returned to the WWF in 1997, the year which WWE recognizes as the beginning of the championship's lineage . The inaugural champion in UWA was Perro Aguayo , however, the WWE considers the inaugural champion to be Taka Michinoku , with his reign beginning on December 7, 1997 . It was retired on March 8, 2002, with X-Pac as
1683-682: The title. Simultaneously, the WCW Cruiserweight Championship was rebranded as the WWF Cruiserweight Championship. It would become the WWE Cruiserweight Championship in accordance with the company's name change in May 2002, and it would be defended until September 2007. The WWF Light Heavyweight Championship was first introduced in Japan in a tournament which ended with Perro Aguayo defeating Gran Hamada to become
1734-572: The tournament by defeating Rey Mysterio in the tournament final at Armageddon. The Race To The Rumble Tournament was a tournament held in 2008 to determine a #1 contender for the World Heavyweight Championship at the 2009 Royal Rumble . The ECW Homecoming Tournament was a tournament held in 2009 to crown a #1 contender for the ECW Championship at the 2010 Royal Rumble . A tournament was announced to crown
1785-668: The tournament defeated Adrian Neville in the final. The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal Qualifying Tournament was a tournament at WrestleMania Axxess for a spot in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal . List of WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming supercards This is a list of WWE pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming supercards , detailing all professional wrestling cards promoted by
1836-709: The tournament finals. In April 2014, the WWE held the Intercontinental Championship Tournament to determine the #1 contenders to face Big E for the WWE Intercontinental Championship at Extreme Rules 2014 . Bad News Barrett defeated Rob Van Dam in the final and defeated Big E to win the title. On April 24, 2014, Paige was stripped of the NXT Women's Championship , by NXT's commissioner John Bradshaw Layfield , because she could not defend both
1887-566: Was a professional wrestling championship in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) promotion. The title was challenged by light heavyweights at a maximum weight of 215 lbs (before deactivation, the weight limit was changed to 220 Ibs). It was created on March 26, 1981, for the Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) in a partnership between the WWF and UWA. On June 16, 1995,
1938-409: Was a tournament created to determine a new ECW World Champion after Bobby Lashley vacated his championship due to being drafted to Raw on June 11, 2007. The finals took place at Vengeance: Night of Champions . This tournament is notable because one of the semi-final rounds was Chris Benoits final match. The tournament final was supposed to be Benoit vs CM Punk but Benoit no showed the event and
1989-475: Was a tournament held at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on March 15, 1987. The main event at WrestleMania IV was a 14-man tournament for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship where "Macho Man" Randy Savage defeated "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase to win the vacant WWF World Heavyweight Championship title. The WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship Tournament was a tournament to decide
2040-559: Was a tournament held on SmackDown! in 2007 to determine the #1 contender for the World Heavyweight Championship at Unforgiven . The Championship Chase Tournament was a tournament held on the May 9, 2008 episode of SmackDown to determine The Undertaker 's opponent for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship at Judgment Day . A tournament was announced to crown a new #1 contender for William Regal 's WWE Intercontinental Championship . CM Punk won
2091-540: Was a tournament to crown a new United States Champion after then-Smackdown General Manager Stephanie McMahon revived the title after two years of inactivity. The tournament was held between June 19 and July 27, 2003, at Vengeance . The tournament to determine the number one contender for the WWE Championship match at WrestleMania 21 was held between February 1 and February 20, 2005 . At WrestleMania 21 , John Cena defeated John "Bradshaw" Layfield to become
List of WWE tournaments - Misplaced Pages Continue
2142-512: Was a tournament to decide a new WWF Champion after the title was vacated at the previous pay-per-view after Kane and The Undertaker pinned then-champion Stone Cold Steve Austin during a Triple Threat title match. The Undisputed WWF Championship Tournament was a four-man tournament held at Vengeance on December 9, 2001. The tournament was created to unify the WWF and World Championships . The Undisputed WWF Championship #1 Contendership Tournament
2193-431: Was a tournament to decide new WWF Tag Team Champions after former champions Diesel and Shawn Michaels vacated the titles due to the two not being able to function as a tag team, which was won by The 1-2-3 Kid and Bob Holly . The WWF Tag Team Championship Tournament was a tournament to decide new WWF Tag Team Champions after former champions The Smokin' Gunns had to vacate the titles due to Billy Gunn suffering
2244-649: Was a tournament to face Chris Jericho for the Undisputed WWF Championship at No Way Out . The WWE Tag Team Championship Tournament was a tournament held to crown the inaugural WWE Tag Team Champions , for the SmackDown brand. The finals concluded at No Mercy (2002) and were won by Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle . This was a tournament to determine the #1 contender for the WWE Championship. The winner faced champion Brock Lesnar at Backlash . The WWE United States Championship Tournament
2295-585: Was attacked by the debuting Faarooq after winning an 11-man battle royal. The Middle East Cup was a tournament that took place in Dubai on December 2, 1996. The WWF European Championship Tournament was a tournament to crown the first-ever WWF European Champion . The Kuwait International Tournament was a tournament held throughout a 1997 house show tour in Kuwait . During the tour, Vader and The Undertaker appeared on Good Morning Kuwait where Vader attacked
2346-567: Was first introduced in Mexico for the Universal Wrestling Association . It eventually migrated to Japan as well, though it was not considered to be an official WWF title until after 1997, when a tournament was held in the United States to crown a champion. Before the tournament, the title was a part of the J-Crown . The tournament ended on December 7, 1997, at D-Generation X: In Your House where Taka Michinoku defeated Brian Christopher to become
2397-413: Was held at the following night of Raw. The WWE Intercontinental Championship Tournament was a tournament to crown a new Intercontinental Champion. On May 7, 2010, after failed attempts of getting Intercontinental Champion Drew McIntyre to stop attacking Matt Hardy , Smackdown General Manager Theodore Long fired McIntyre and vacated the title. The following week, Kofi Kingston won a tournament to become
2448-497: Was held on September 4, 2014. The Lucha Dragons ( Kalisto and Sin Cara ) won the tournament and defeated The Ascension ( Konnor and Viktor ) at NXT TakeOver: Fatal 4-Way on September 11, 2014, to win the titles. The NXT Championship Tournament started on January 21, 2015, and there would be a new #1 Contender's for the title. The tournament final was held on February 11, 2015, at NXT TakeOver: Rival . Finn Bálor went on to win
2499-399: Was introduced on the January 23, 2013 edition of NXT where it was announced by special guest Shawn Michaels that there would be a tournament to crown the first new champions. The Royal Rumble Entry Tournament was a tournament on NXT where the winner entered the 2013 Royal Rumble Match . The championship was first introduced on April 5, 2013, at WrestleMania Axxess . It was announced at
2550-491: Was replaced by Johnny Nitro, who would go on to win the title. It was reported the day after the event that Benoit, his wife Nancy and their son Daniel were found dead in their home in suburban Atlanta. The day after police ruled that Benoit himself had killed his wife and son before committing suicide. This event has gone on to be known as the Chris Benoit double murder and suicide . The Championship Competition Tournament
2601-486: Was vacated, after champion CM Punk left WWE. The title was put up in a tournament featuring the top eight wrestlers. The finals of the tournament would take place on the July 25 episode of Raw , which was won by Rey Mysterio . On the August 1, 2012 edition of NXT, NXT Commissioner Dusty Rhodes announced a "Gold Rush" tournament, featuring 4 developmental roster NXT Superstars and 4 main roster WWE Superstars to determine
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