After some minor hype drumming up the event, the SmackDown World Cup tournament has officially kicked off in the WWE Universe. Now, the field of eight performers, some of them representing international markets, some of them representing the good ole United States of America, will descend into a SmackDown ring to decide on who is the best performer in the field, and who, as a result, deserves to hold up the trophy as a result.

While the tournament isn't solely a matter of respect, as the winner will earn a match against GUNTHER for the Intercontinental Championship and a championship trophy, Paul “Triple H” Levesque has found a perfect way to take an idea likely presented by Fox, who are hosting the actual World Cup later this year, and turn it into a fun in-ring opportunity that gets eight of his performers a little extra exposure – and in-ring work – while presents a little extra intrigue for the fans watching at home.

And yet, there's nothing worse than a stale tournament arc that goes on for a bit too long, especially when the fans aren't invested in it; if the SmackDown World Cup is going to succeed, The Fed needs to provide a steady stream of compelling matches that push storylines along and keep the action coming.

Fortunately, in the first half of the inaugural round, Levesque did not disappoint, as he turned in not one but two impressive bouts that provided intrigue and excitement. First came Jinder Mahal versus Braun Strowman, aka Wrestling Twitter's least favorite member. The match was quick, the fight was fun, and the fans in attendance witnessed a Powerslam that wasn't quite worthy of the “Powerbomb Symphony” nametag but certainly earned “One Slam Wonder” honors.

If that was how this tournament was going to go, a series of quick bouts designed to build towards a series of big hoss bouts, fans likely wouldn't have minded, but the other match on the card, Santos Escobar versus Shinsuke Nakamura, provided a different flavor of in-ring action, with the big man spectacle replaced with a hard-hitting affair between two incredibly well-rounded wrestlers. Working more or less an even match, Escobar ultimately pulled out the win with a little help from Cruz Del Toro and Joaquin Wilde on the outside and was able to advance to the second round without much issue. But what was the Emperor of Lucha Libre thinking about the prospects of the tournament moving forward? Fortunately, WWE sent Cathy Kelley, a microphone, and a camera backstage to find out.

Santos Escobar is ready for whatever challenge WWE puts in his path.

After watching the leader of Legado Del Fantasma secure a big-time win over one of The Great Muta’s final opponents, Nakamura, in the first round of the SmackDown World Cup, Kelley attempted to catch up with Escobar and his valet, Zelina Vega, to see how they felt about the prospects of advancing to the second round ahead and who he would like to face in the second round of the tournament. Unfortunately for Kelley, her welcome was not met warmly.

“Um, hi, welcome back Cathy Kelley news at 11,” Vega said, greeting her former NXT pal. “Are you not going to interview the winner of that match? You were planning on it? Well let me tell you what you’re planning on doing next. First of all, do you know how sacred this (the Fantasma mask) is? You do? Okay, that’s nice; what you’re gonna do is now interview the winner of the match and the future winner of the World Cup, proceed.”

Kelley did, asking Escobar how he was going to prepare for the second round of the tournament when he didn’t know his next opponent. Fortunately, it would appear Escobar doesn’t particularly care who he’s going to wrestle, as long as he has his Legando Del Fantasma buddies by his side, he’s willing to take on any challenge thrown his way.

“Cathy, I’ve gotta tell ya, I don’t care who’s next,” Escobar said. “Shinsuke Nakamura is a tough competitor, I’ll give you that, but he’s no match to the Emperor of Lucha Libre. Now it’s time, es tiempo, for Lucha Libre to reign supreme. So who’s next? I don’t care, because I have Legado Del Fantasma by my side and La Reina Gitana, the Gypsy Queen, plus the Emperor of Lucha Libre equals “The Perfect Enterprise.”

With six men still “alive” in the march toward the WWE SmackDown World Cup, Escobar will have one more match against either Braun Strowman, Ricochet, Mustafa Ali, Sami Zayn, or Butch in the Semi-Finals before landing in the Finale against whoever is able to outlast the rest of the field once and for all. While some of those bouts are easier than others, especially if Zayn has The Bloodline outside of the ring to neutralize Legado Del Fantasma's advantage on the outside, it's hard to argue that Escobar would be an outright underdog in any of those bouts either, which speaks pretty kindly for his chances to make it out of the tournament with the trophy.