WWE might have already made a mistake in the King of the Ring Tournament for SmackDown this week 

This week's episode of WWE SmackDown will see the King of the Ring tournament continue. Eight superstars from the blue brand are in contention to win the tournament, although Bobby Lashley has been pulled from the tournament. The All Mighty was set to face The Bloodline's Tama Tonga but was pulled as he wasn't medically cleared to compete.

Angelo Dawkins has taken his place and been handed a rare opportunity to enter a singles competition. The 33-year-old has predominantly been a tag team wrestler with Montez Ford as part of The Street Profits.

Montez Ford is perhaps the more worthy member of that tag team to replace Bobby Lashley. He's viewed as a future megastar in the Stamford-based company due to his incredible in-ring ability. This was highlighted by the Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer two years ago:

"I know that there's people who want to push Ford as a single. It's possible...I can see them really trying to do something with Ford as a single. He's got a lot of charisma, a super athlete. There's people who are very high on him." [H/T WrestlingNews.co]

Fans appear to share those sentiments, judging by the reaction on X/Twitter to Angelo Dawkins replacing Lashley. One fan was bemused by SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis' decision:

"Angelo Dawkins?? Sad for Bobby Lashley getting hurt but Montez Ford was RIGHT THERE."

Angelo Dawkins has shown vast improvement in the ring but doesn't have the moves that thrill fans like Montez Ford. It seems an odd decision, but WWE could be protecting his partner as Tama Tonga will likely get the win to continue his push on SmackDown.

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Angelo Dawkins has a chance to prove his critics wrong in the King of the Ring tournament on WWE SmackDown

It seems highly unlikely that Angelo Dawkins will win the King of the Ring tournament, which concludes later this month. The playing field is stacked with talent, and Gunther, Ilja Dragunov, and Jey Uso have already advanced on WWE RAW.

However, Dawkins has the opportunity to silence fans who have been doubting him. He's been criticized in the past, with many leaning towards Montez Ford as The Street Profits' fan favorite.

The former two-time RAW and SmackDown tag team champion touched on this on Corey Graves' After the Bell in 2022:

"Everybody thinks for some reason, some weird reason, that I'm not good. I'm very unselfish. I do whatever I can to make the match great. Tez is obviously the more out there guy, so I don't mind being in the background. I star in my role. I'll play my role. I'm a role player in a way, but then I had to remind everybody like, hey, dawg, you're gonna have to put some respect on my name like, the talk is starting to piss me off now. Now you're about to see a different me."

Angelo Dawkins faces Tama Tonga in the first round of the King of the Ring tournament on WWE SmackDown tomorrow. If he gets past the new Bloodline member, he'll face either LA Knight or Santos Escobar in the quarterfinals.