Sheamus advances in major WWE tournament despite missing RAW

Sheamus is close to becoming WWE's 35th Triple Crown Champion. Despite a successful 17 years with the company, the WWE Intercontinental Championship has remained elusive for the Irish Superstar. The veteran is now chasing another title while officials confirm an upcoming big match in anticipation of a much bigger in-ring showdown.

WWE began its eighth men's Speed tournament today, one week after the inaugural Women's Speed Champion was crowned. Sheamus defeated Giovanni Vinci with 34 seconds left in the three-minute opener. The end saw The Celtic Warrior catch The Next Level in mid-air with a jumping knee, then drop his knee pad for the running knee finisher for the win.

The bout was taped last Friday at SmackDown in Greenville, SC. Sheamus defeated Pete Dunne in the Good Ol’ Fashioned Donnybrook match on October 7, but was not live on this week's RAW.

Bron Breakker will wrestle Cruz Del Toro for the first time on next Wednesday's edition of WWE Speed. The winner will advance to the quarterfinals to face Sheamus in November. Breakker lost to Sheamus by DQ on RAW this past June, but Del Toro and The Irish Curse have never locked up.

Dragon Lee vs. Tavion Heights will open the bottom of the bracket on October 30, then Akira Tozawa vs. Riley Osborne will wrap the opening round on November 6. Sheamus vs. Breakker or Del Toro on November 13, and Lee or Heights vs. Tozawa or Osborne on November 20 will determine who battles in the semi-finals on Thanksgiving Eve.

The semi-finals winner will challenge WWE Speed Champion Andrade in early December. El Idolo dethroned inaugural Speed Champion Ricochet in June and has retained against Pete Dunne, Baron Corbin, and Xavier Woods since then.

Andrade set for big WWE SmackDown match

Andrade and Carmelo Hayes have excelled in the SmackDown ring during their recent rivalry. The first match led to a Best of Five Series, and now they are preparing for the Best of Seven finale.

The former AEW star known as El Idolo won the first two SmackDown matches against The Kid, but then Hayes won two straight to tie it at 2-2, with a future United States Championship match up for grabs. Andrade won that match on September 13 but failed to dethrone champion LA Knight the following week.

Hayes tied the series at 3-3 on September 27, thanks to Knight, and now the tiebreaker will take place this Friday on SmackDown in Columbia, SC. The episode will also feature Los Garza vs. a new debuting tag team—believed to be The Motor City Machine Guns after a major backstage report leaked—plus appearances by Roman Reigns and Randy Orton.