WWE Announces King of the Ring First Round Matches For RAW and SmackDown

The 2019 King of the Ring kicks off this Monday on Raw with two first round matches. Two more matches will are also set for the following night on SmackDown LIVE.

Cesaro vs. Samoa Joe and Cedric Alexander vs. Sami Zayn are set for Raw, while Kevin Owens vs. Elias and Apollo Crews vs. Andrade will take place on SmackDown.

WWE revealed the King of the Ring tournament bracket on Friday. Ricochet vs. Drew McIntyre and The Miz vs. Baron Corbin are the other first round matches on the Raw side of the bracket. The winner of Cesaro vs. Joe will face the winner of Ricochet vs. McIntyre in the second round. The winner of Alexander vs. Zayn will face the winner of Miz vs. Corbin.

Ali vs. Buddy Murphy and Chad Gable vs. Shelton Benjamin are the other first round matches on the SmackDown side. The winner of Owens vs. Elias will take on the winner of Ali vs. Murphy in the second round. The winner of Crews vs. Andrade will face the winner of Gable vs. Benjamin.

King of the Ring is a multi-week tournament that will culminate at WWE Clash of Champions on Sunday, September 15.

Raw takes place at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. The Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota is hosting SmackDown.