''WWE Speed'' is an American

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

web series A web series (also known as webseries, short-form series, and web show) is a series of short scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet (i.e. World Wide Web), which first emerged in the late 1 ...

produced by

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

. Premiering on April 3, 2024, the series features wrestlers from WWE's Raw,

SmackDown ''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE. It airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on USA Network in the United ...

, and NXT

brands A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

competing in matches with a three-minute time limit. The show premiered as part of a two-year deal with X Corp., with new matches posted exclusively to WWE's

X (formerly Twitter) Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, imag ...

account on Wednesdays. The WWE Speed Championship and WWE Women's Speed Championship are contested in matches that air during special editions of the series, which air on Wednesdays or Fridays and have an extended five-minute time limit. Matches for ''Speed'' are generally taped prior to live broadcasts of '' Raw'' and ''

''.

History

Prior to the December 15, 2023 broadcast of ''

WWE SmackDown ''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE. It airs Live television, live every Friday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on USA Netwo ...

'', the American

promotion

piloted matches with five-minute time limits as

dark match Professional wrestling has accrued a considerable amount of jargon throughout its existence. Much of it stems from the industry's origins in the days of carnival Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that o ...

es. On February 6, 2024, it was reported that WWE had filed

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a form of intellectual property that consists of a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination that identifies a Good (economics and accounting), product or Service (economics), service f ...

applications for the title "WWE Speed"; on February 8 during the

WrestleMania XL WrestleMania XL was a 2024 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming List of WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming supercards, event produced by WWE. It was the 40th annual WrestleMania and took place as a two-night event on Saturd ...

Kickoff press conference, WWE officially announced a partnership with X to introduce ''WWE Speed'', which would stream weekly on the social media platform. The deal was confirmed for two years. It was also revealed that the matches would be filmed specifically for the program and not be repurposed from WWE's other programs, and that it would feature wrestlers from all three of WWE's

: Raw,

, and NXT. On March 27, WWE commentator

Corey Graves Matthew Polinsky (born February 24, 1984) is an American wrestling color commentator and retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs under the ring name Corey Graves as the color commentator on th ...

announced that ''Speed'' would premiere on Wednesday, April 3, but matches would instead be three minutes in length. Also announced was a

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

to crown the inaugural men's WWE Speed Champion. The debut episode, which was uploaded at 12:00 p.m.

Eastern Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, and the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico. * Eastern Standard Time (EST) is five hours behi ...

(ET), saw

Ricochet A ricochet ( ; ) is a rebound, bounce, or skip off a surface, particularly in the case of a projectile. Most ricochets are caused by accident and while the force of the deflection decelerates the projectile, it can still be energetic and almost ...

defeat Dragon Lee. Roughly 30 minutes later, WWE uploaded a second episode in which Bronson Reed defeated

Cedric Alexander Cedric Alexander Johnson (born August 16, 1989) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is performing on the independent circuit. He is best known for his tenures in WWE and Ring of Honor (ROH). Alexander worked for ROH ...

. Graves served as the sole commentator for the episodes. On May 1, 2024, WWE Chief Content Officer

Paul "Triple H" Levesque Paul Michael Levesque (; born July 27, 1969), also known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive and former professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he serves as its chief content officer. Levesque began his wre ...

confirmed that the program would also eventually feature women's matches; this led to the announcement of a tournament for the WWE Women's Speed Championship, which began on September 4. While the program typically airs on Wednesdays, a special Friday airing occurred on May 3, 2024. This episode, which was the seventh episode overall, saw Ricochet defeat

Johnny Gargano John Anthony Nicholas Gargano (born August 14, 1987) is an American professional wrestler. , he is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand and is one-half of #DIY with Tommaso Ciampa. Gargano is known for his time in NXT, where ...

to become the inaugural Speed Champion. This episode also confirmed that championship matches would air on Fridays and would have a five-minute time limit instead of the regular three. During the ''Speed'' tapings on October 4, 2024 (aired October 9),

Candice LeRae Candice LeRae Dawson (born September 29, 1985) is an American professional wrestler. , she is signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Candice LeRae. She was the inaugural WWE Women's Speed Champion and a fo ...

defeated

Iyo Sky is a Japanese professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand under the ring name (stylized in all caps) and is the current Women’s World Champion in her first reign. She is also a former two-time WWE W ...

to become the inaugural Women's Speed Champion.

Champions

The colors and symbols indicate the home brand of the champions.

On-air personalities

Commentators

Ring announcers

References

{{Professional wrestling in the United States Television series by WWE WWE Raw WWE SmackDown WWE NXT 2024 American television series debuts 2024 web series debuts 2020s American sports television series American non-fiction web series Twitter