Ricochet, Bronson Reed advance in WWE Speed title tournament on debut episode

Ricochet and Bronson Reed were both victorious on the first-ever broadcasts of WWE Speed on Wednesday, advancing in an eight-man tournament to crown the inaugural Speed champion.

The show introduced a new format of match for the company where bouts are just three minutes long, emulating aspects of Stardom’s High Speed division. WWE aired both matches at separate times with a total combined runtime of around seven minutes.

In the first match, Ricochet picked up the win over Dragon Lee in the X-exclusive broadcast. As expected, it was non-stop offense with both men emptying out their respective tanks.

Ricochet was on a roll early, answering nearly everything Lee had to offer. Lee rallied with a step-up knee strike and poisonrana that was countered by a Ricochet clothesline for a nearfall.

Lee went for Project Dragon, but Ricochet transitioned from a fireman’s carry into a kick to the face followed by the Recoil for the pin with four seconds remaining.

The second match saw Reed take on Cedric Alexander, picking up a victory in just under two minutes. To no surprise, Reed used his power to counter Alexander’s speed. Alexander hit a top rope flip dive to Reed on the floor to briefly get the advantage before Reed hit a DVD for a nearfall.

That led to a clothesline, senton and then the Tsunami off the top rope to get the win to advance.

WWE did not reveal the full field of entrants into the tournament, but Axiom will face JD McDonagh next Wednesday in another tournament bout.