WWE CROWN JEWEL

 

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

THE BLOODLINE (JACOB FATU, SOLO SIKOA & TAMA TONGA) vs. ROMAN REIGNS & THE USO'S (16:35): With all the money that Saudi Arabia is spending just to get these shows, you'd think they'd eventually ask for a Wrestlemania or Royal Rumble or something. At least when these shows started they were getting out-of-retirement legends like Shawn Michaels, Goldberg, and The Undertaker to make the shows somewhat special. The hottest program these days in the WWE is still the Bloodline saga, so it was kind of surprising that this match went on first and was only 16 minutes long. Roman Reigns actually got pinned. Sami Zayn came out to save the day before contemplating going heel and joining Solo's team. Are they really going back to the will-Sami-Zayn-turn well again? Match was okay. **

BIANCA BeLAIR & JADE CARGILL vs. CHELSEA GREEN & PIPER NIVEN vs. DAMAGE CTRL (IYO SKY & KAIRI SANE) vs. META GIRLS (JAKARA JACKSON & LASH LEGEND) (12:00): Jade is a really tall woman, so of course the WWE now has a team, Meta Girls, featuring women even bigger than Jade, thus negating the whole point of Jade. There were some sloppy moments in this but the crowd got into some of the high flying by Iyo. Bianca and Jade retained the women's tag team titles. I kind of thought Bianca was a big solo star so I'm baffled why they put her in a tag team. **

SETH ROLLINS vs. BRONSON REED (12:20): This was a good match. Seth is the best wrestler in the WWE and Bronson used to be in New Japan so he can wrestle (he beat Okada! Why did he leave?). The match started with them brawling on the entranceway before the bell rang. It was pretty much a non-stop brawl, which made it entertaining. Seth gave Bronson a stomp on the ring stairs at one point. The crowd seemed into it. The whole night I was wondering who the two white guys in their 60's were sitting in the best seats in the front row. Are they, like, oil executives or something? Maybe they work for TKO. That's how great this show was...I was more interested in random people in the crowd. ***

LIV MORGAN vs. NIA JAX (8:15): They used to do champions vs. champions at Survivor Series for a few years. They'd have the RAW champ vs. the Smackdown champ and the RAW tag team champs vs. the Smackdown tag team champs. I guess that's why they did this here. Liv and Nia are both champs but this was for the Crown Jewel championship. The problem with doing that, though, is that who the fuck cares who wins or loses when their titles aren't at stake? Dominick and Raquel Rodriguez interfered to help Liv win. This wasn't good. 1/2*

RANDY ORTON vs. KEVIN OWENS: The crowd popped big for Randy Orton. Maybe because he's been around long enough for people in Saudi Arabia to remember him? This match never officially started because Kevin Owens started beating Orton with a chair. They both started giving their signature moves to the referees and officials that ran out to stop them. Eventually, Owens jumped off a guardrail in the crowd and gave an elbow drop onto Orton on a table. This was entertaining. I'm not sure why they turned Kevin heel, though. I guess...why not? He hasn't been doing much lately. **1/2

LA KNIGHT vs. ANDRADE vs. CARMELO HAYES (9:10): They were all doing moves off the top rope, so that was exciting. And the crowd seemed to be into LA Knight. They're not that into him, though, considering this time last year he main evented Crown Jewel against Roman Reigns. I said back then that he should've won. He didn't...and now he's just a mid-carder. You reap what you sow. **1/2

CODY RHODES vs. GUNTHER (23:00): I thought this match was boring, actually. It wasn't slow but it was basic and never heated up into anything great. These two are both champions and neither belt was on the line so who cares who wins? I think this was Gunther's first time in the main event on a PPV. The whole match I was thinking: I miss fat Walter. *1/2