El Grande Americano defeats Dragon Lee for WWE Speed title

El Grande Americano — the loosely disguised alter ego of Chad Gable — now holds WWE gold.

Americano is the new WWE Speed Champion after defeating Dragon Lee for the belt. The title change was taped at Raw earlier this week and aired on Speed today. Lee had the advantage until he tried to rip off Americano’s mask. When the referee stopped Lee, that gave Americano an opportunity to load his mask up with a weapon. Lee kicked Americano in the face but hurt his own leg against the loaded mask. Americano then connected with a diving headbutt off the top rope for the victory.

With the victory, Americano becomes the fourth men’s WWE Speed Champion in history. Ricochet, Andrade, and Dragon Lee are the prior champs.

Gable adopted this gimmick as part of his quest to conquer lucha libre following a loss to Penta. The Americano character is a self-proclaimed lucha libre legend who supposedly has a rich history of success in Mexico.

WWE Speed shifts its focus back to the women’s division this Friday as the tournament to crown a new number one contender begins. The tournament winner will get the first shot at new WWE Speed Women’s Champion Sol Ruca.

Here are the first-round matchups:

  • Kelani Jordan vs. Wren Sinclair
  • Maxxine Dupri vs. Ivy Nile