WWE Announces 12 Participants In World Heavyweight Title Tournament
The finals takes place on May 27
May 7, 2023
WWE announced on Sunday the 12 individuals that will complete in the tournament to crown the first WWE World Heavyweight Champion.
The tournament includes six talents from Raw and six from SmackDown vying for the new belt. They include:
Raw
* Seth Rollins
* Finn Balor
* Damian Priest
* The Miz
* Shinsuke Nakamura
* Cody Rhodes
SmackDown
* Austin Theory
* AJ Styles
* Bobby Lashley
* Rey Mysterio
* Edge
* Sheamus
The tournament format will feature Triple Threat matches on both Raw and SmackDown this week. On Monday's Raw in Jacksonville, the six Raw talents will battle in two triple threats, with the winners of both matches facing off one on one later in the night.
Friday's SmackDown in Knoxville has the same format involving their six entrants. The winners of the two singles "finals" will face off at Night of Champions on May 27 to determine the first champion.
The new World Heavyweight Title was revealed by Triple H on the April 24 episode of Monday Night Raw. The belt later became exclusive to the Raw brand, after Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns was selected to SmackDown in the draft earlier this month.
