Predicting the winners of the first round matches of WWE King of the Ring

Chad Gable vs Shelton Benjamin

Chad Gable

Once tag team partners, Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin now find each other battling each other in the first round of the WWE King of the Ring tournament.

Over the past few weeks on SmackDown Live, WWE has been running odd vignettes promoting the return of Benjamin - however, he does not speak in any of the vignettes.

That all changed (sort of) this week, when Chad Gable interrupted one of Benjamin's videos, to which Benjamin called Gable "shorty." It has been rumored that Gable might be getting a name change in WWE to "Shorty G", and if so, he might be in line for a decent push on the blue brand. However, with WWE spending so much time on Benjamin in recent weeks with promo videos, it's hard to think he would be eliminated from the KOTR tournament in the first round.

Match winner prediction: Shelton Benjamin

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Apollo Crews vs Andrade

Andrade

On paper, this first round match seems to be the most lopsided in the tournament, with Andrade recently picking up key victories over Rey Mysterio, and Apollo Crews floundering on the main roster with no clear direction.

Given the above, this year's King of the Ring tournament looks like an excellent vehicle for Andrade to showcase his skills, and while I do not predict the Zelina Vega-flanked WWE star will win the tournament, he should advance beyond the first round.

Match winner prediction: Andrade