Braun Strowman, Santos Escobar advance to WWE SmackDown World Cup semifinals

  • Ian Carey
  • By 

The SmackDown World Cup is underway. 

Two first-round matches in the tournament took place on the November 11 edition of WWE SmackDown. Santos Escobar defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to advance to the semifinals. Later in the show, Braun Strowman defeated Jinder Mahal to also advance in the tournament. 

Two more first-round matches will take place on next week’s show. Mustafa Ali will face Ricochet and Sami Zayn will go one-on-one with Butch of the Brawling Brutes. 

The winner of the tournament will earn a title match against Gunther for the Intercontinental Championship. 

A report earlier today revealed the participants expected to take part in the World Cup. The only change to the announced lineup has Mustafa Ali added to the tournament and Rey Mysterio removed. 

The November 18 edition of WWE SmackDown will take place from the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut. Here is what has been announced for the show:

  • Shotzi vs. Shayna Baszler
  • SmackDown World Cup first-round match: Sami Zayn vs. Butch
  • SmackDown World Cup first-round match: Ricochet vs. Mustafa Ali