WWE Begins 8-Man United States Championship Tournament

Dolph's Departure Triggers Tourney

by Michael Hamflett
Dolph Ziggler
WWE.com

Daniel Bryan opened up 2017's final edition of SmackDown Live! by booking an eight-man United States Championship tournament following Dolph Ziggler's apparent surrender of the title during last week's show.

The tournament began in earnest later that night, with Bobby Roode defeating former Champion Baron Corbin and Jinder Mahal squeezing by Tye Dillinger to advance. No brackets were unveiled but further confirmation on WWE.com following the broadcast suggested that the remaining first round matches would take place in the coming weeks.

With the Royal Rumble still a month away, the company may elect to conduct the entire tournament on television, particularly if it leads to a shocking return for 'The Show Off'. Augmenting Ziggler's walk-off last week, Bryan noted how he'd been unsuccessful in getting hold of him since, leaving him no choice but to address the vacancy.

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Furthering Bryan's own dissension with Shane McMahon later in the show, the tournament became the latest subject of polite disagreement between the SmackDown Live! authority figures after their Clash Of Champions dual refereeing snafu. As the man robbed of a one-on-one rematch by the tournament, Baron Corbin's first round exit is likely to expedite additional conflict between the troubled twosome.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett