Andrade is one step closer to becoming king.
The SmackDown side of the 2019 King of the Ring tournament kicked off on Tuesday with Apollo Crews versus Andrade. With Zelina Vega by his side, Andrade had to be considered one of the favorites in the 16 man field.
The former NXT Champion raced out to an early lead over Crews and never really gave it back.
.@WWEApollo's SPEED and POWER are on display as he looks to take down @AndradeCienWWE in the first round of the #KingOfTheRing Tournament! #SDLive pic.twitter.com/gKatJl7leW
— WWE (@WWE) August 21, 2019
Despite being down, Crews almost pulled off the upset until Vega got involved. After a standing shooting star press netted the closest of two counts, Crews got distracted and walked into a Hammerlock DDT from Andrade.
Andrade advances to take on the winner of Chad Gable versus Shelton Benjamin.
Barring an upset, does Andrade now have a clear path to at least making it into the King of the Ring final four?
Get complete SmackDown results and coverage here.