Tag: Crown Jewel preview

John Cena looks like a lock in Perth this weekend, but the rest of Saturday’s WWE Crown Jewel (8 AM Eastern start time on ESPN/Netflix) is harder to call.

The men’s and women’s Crown Jewel Championship matches both have close odds.

According to the betting world, Seth Rollins and Stephanie Vaquer are slight favorites, but far from the enormous odds we sometimes see in wrestling.

Meanwhile, John Cena is a heavy favorite to defeat AJ Styles although when the line first came out, oddsmakers were not as confident as they appear to be now. Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY are also heavy favorites to beat The Kabuki Warriors.

The final match added to the card, Bronson Reed vs. Roman Reigns in an Australian street fight, is hard to predict for a few reasons discussed below.

Below are previews and predictions for each match at WWE Crown Jewel 2025.

John Cena vs. AJ Styles

Cena is a -1600 favorite to beat Styles (+600) in Perth this weekend.

Ever since Wrestlepalooza, the grumblings from unhappy fans regarding Cena’s retirement tour have started to grow louder. The whole story with him at Crown Jewel appears to be trying to appease those fans by creating the impression that the match against Styles wouldn’t have happened if fans hadn’t demanded it (even though it would have).

While Cena was a slight favorite heading into Wrestlepalooza against Brock Lesnar, WWE had motivation to keep Lesnar strong that they don’t have with Styles who has said he’ll retire next year as well. There was a good reason to put Lesnar over Cena, but there isn’t that with Styles. Barring a mid-match injury, Cena will pick up the feel-good win.

Prediction: John Cena

Women’s Crown Jewel Championship: Stephanie Vaquer vs. Tiffany Stratton

Vaquer is a -280 favorite to defeat Stratton (+180) in the Women’s Crown Jewel Championship match and she probably will, but this is a tough one.

WWE has booked itself into a corner here. They’ve got two heavily protected babyfaces going against each other. The likelihood that they find some way not to do an actual finish seems very strong. Perhaps Vaquer and Stratton end up uniting to fight off some invading heels.

However, somebody needs to win the Crown Jewel title and I think Vaquer is the stronger candidate. A possible finish here is interference from Nia Jax or perhaps a heel-turning Jade Cargill to cost Stratton the match and set up the next big feud on SmackDown.

Prediction: Stephanie Vaquer

Australian Street Fight: Bronson Reed vs. Roman Reigns

Reigns is a -350 favorite to beat Reed (+225), but there are a few reasons to believe Reed has a shot.

If WWE wants to move Reed up a level, they can do it here, but I’m not sure if they will. Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez discussed Roman vs. Reed on a recent Wrestling Observer Radio and their disagreement, I think, sums up what’s interesting about this match.

Alvarez noted that it’s in Reed’s home country and the street fight rules allow for interference, giving Reed a path to win without hurting Reigns. But Meltzer was hesitant to agree, noting that WWE doesn’t have Reigns lose often. Where you land on this most likely depends on how much you want to see Reed as a top guy.

A big part of me agrees with Meltzer. Reigns is where the money is, not Reed. But Reigns is already up 1-0 in the feud, and a Reed win will set up a rubber match for later. I don’t feel very confident in it, but I’m going to take Reed to get the win after House of Torture-level interference from The Vision.

Prediction: Bronson Reed

Men’s Crown Jewel Championship: Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins

Rollins is a -400 favorite heading into the Men’s Crown Jewel Championship match against Rhodes (+250), but I would give him better odds than that.

Rollins’ interactions with Paul Heyman on Raw this week regarding his need to win in Perth kind of made it so that he has to win in Perth. Since Rhodes won the Crown Jewel Championship last year, the only reason to have him win it again here is to keep the title/ring as something only the top guy in the company ever wins, building it as the ultimate prize to fight over every year. But I don’t know if that’s what they want to do.

Winning the Crown Jewel title gives Rollins something to brag about for a year, whereas with Rhodes, he already won it and barely mentioned it for the next 365 days. Winning it again isn’t going to do much for him.

Either one of or both Rollins and Reed will win their matches via interference from The Vision. The easy answer is that it will be both.

Prediction: Seth Rollins

Rhea Ripley & IYO SKY vs. The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane)

Ripley and SKY are heavy favorites (-1500) to beat the Kabuki Warriors (+600).

Normally, a freshly-turned heel such as Asuka would be the favorite heading into their first big match with an updated character. In this case, however, with it being Ripley wrestling in Australia, and fans expecting a very hesitant-to-go-along-with-things Sane to stand up for herself eventually, the babyfaces are the heavy favorites.

Over the past few weeks, Sane has possibly been the most conflicted character in the entire history of pro wrestling. When Asuka tells her to attack SKY, Sane looks so torn that it sometimes seems like her left arm is trying to physically stop her right from striking her old teammate. This poor woman wants to hold onto her family so deeply that it might literally tear her into two pieces. Sad.

I think she needs to let go and join Ripley and SKY on the good guy team and will help Ripley and SKY win if she does so at Crown Jewel.

Prediction: Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY

Follow along with our live coverage all day long Saturday.

The following is an opinion-based preview and reflects the author’s opinion — not that of the website.

Image: WWE

For the first time ever, WWE will present the ceremonial Crown Jewel championships today in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

For years, WWE presented similar champion vs. champion matches at Survivor Series as part of the Raw vs. SmackDown format, but nobody cared. However, this might go a little better.

If wrestling were a real sport, today would be the year’s most important event; the champions of each show against each other to see who truly is the best. But when they did this at Survivor Series, it didn’t feel important because it wasn’t treated as important. Nobody mentioned who won the champion vs. champion matches afterward, and the company just moved on with all its storylines.

At Crown Jewel, the difference will be two extremely gaudy-looking titles and an official note in the record books. The title belts will stay in Saudi Arabia, but the winners will receive a “massive ring” — not unlike what champions in team sports receive. Ultimately, whether or not fans view these championships as important will depend on how often they are talked about once this show is over.

We also have the continuation of the Original Bloodline vs. Bloodline 2.0 angle as that story builds to Survivor Series: WarGames later this month in Vancouver.

Below are previews and predictions for each match at WWE Crown Jewel (1 PM Eastern on Peacock/WWE Network):

Crown Jewel Championship: Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes vs. WWE World Heavyweight Champion Gunther

Gunther’s odds of becoming the first-ever men’s Crown Jewel Champion are listed at -400, and I would argue he’s probably a bigger favorite than that.

It doesn’t feel as though Gunther will lose for a while. He hasn’t been defeated in a singles match since WrestleMania, and Triple H has been presenting him as an unstoppable heel for years now throughout NXT UK, NXT, and now the main roster.

The beautiful part about Rhodes not winning the Crown Jewel title is that it gives him another goal to shoot for down the line. In a few years, we’ll get passionate promos from him as he says he just wants to finally win the Crown Jewel title just one time before he retires. That is unless WWE treats the Crown Jewel titles as meaningless throughout the rest of the year.

Prediction: Gunther

Crown Jewel Championship: WWE Women’s Champion Nia Jax vs. WWE Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan

This match has pick ’em-level odds with Morgan’s odds of winning at -110 and Jax’s odds at -130. The house always wins, no matter what.

But I have no idea why Morgan’s odds of winning are so high as she’s not going to win.

Morgan is far more over than Jax is right now, but that doesn’t matter here. These titles will go to whoever WWE wants to present as the more unstoppable force or immovable object.

The story of this match will revolve around Tiffany Stratton and her potentially cashing in the Money in the Bank briefcase. I don’t believe that is likely going to happen here, but we’ll get teases of it. I don’t know if it will factor into the finish, however, as they might just decide to give Jax a clean win.

Morgan’s over right now because her angle with Dominik is entertaining, not because she’s being booked as unbeatable; she can lose matches, and it won’t impact her. But, WWE wants Jax coming off as a dominant heel.

Prediction: Jax

WWE United States Champion LA Knight defends against Andrade & Carmelo Hayes in a triple threat

Knight is listed as a -300 favorite to retain and he probably will. Andrade’s odds are at -200 and nobody is giving Hayes much of a chance at -900 currently.

This doesn’t feel as important as a conclusive game seven between Carmelo and Andrade would have, but okay. Knight’s officiating in that match really was suspect. Knight will win and the finish will lead to Carmelo vs. Andrade in a rare Game 8 clash.

Prediction: Knight retains

WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill defend against Lash Legend & Jakara Jackson, IYO SKY & Kairi Sane, and Chelsea Green & Piper Niven in a four-way

Cargill and Belair are tied with Kevin Owens as the biggest favorites of the night at -1500. Damage CTRL’s odds are at +850, Meta Four at +900, and Vegas is giving Green and Niven a little bit of a chance at +510.

I don’t see any reason for Belair and Cargill to drop the titles here. There are no hints that they are going to break up anytime soon, although I would imagine that one of them turning heel on the other has to be the long-term plan.

Prediction: Cargill & Belair retain

Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens

I’m pretty surprised by just how much of a favorite Owens is at -1500. I honestly don’t know about that. I imagine he’s likely going to win, but I wouldn’t take those odds at all.

On SmackDown last night during a backstage segment, Orton was talking with Cody Rhodes and casually glanced at the title belt in the background. Yes, WWE is building to another Owens vs. Rhodes match, but don’t think for a second we aren’t also getting an Orton vs. Rhodes match down the line as well.

If there were no odds attached and you asked me who I think will win, I’d probably say Owens. If you asked me what bet I would take considering the odds, I would say I don’t recommend gambling, but I’ll take Orton. I’m going to pick him here just so I can claim to have predicted a huge upset if it occurs, but anyone who reads this paragraph will know the truth.

Prediction: Orton

Seth Rollins vs. Bronson Reed

This match has very close odds, the second closest of the night. Reed is listed as a -175 favorite with Rollins as a +135 underdog.

I feel pretty confident that Reed will win though I understand why the odds are so close. Rollins is the bigger star and is just returning from injury, but he doesn’t need wins to move up the card. Reed does. The angle with the multiple tsunamis got over big as did Reed’s feud with Braun Strowman after. Having Reed lose to Rollins here would cut off his momentum while only benefitting Rollins a little.

It feels like there is far more upside to having Reed win, so that’s who I predict will do so.

Prediction: Reed

Roman Reigns, Jey Uso & Jimmy Uso vs. The Bloodline (three of Solo Sikoa, Jacob Fatu, Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa)

The oddsmakers are very confident in a Bloodline 2.0 victory here, listed as -900 favorites.

I imagine the idea is that the finish of this match has to lead to WarGames in Vancouver. It also has to lead to Reigns and the Usos deciding they need to bring in additional help, possibly from Cody Rhodes or Sami Zayn as well.

Speaking of Zayn, it’s too bad he’s not scheduled for this show in Saudi Arabia since he is so popular there. Who knows? Maybe he’ll show up during this match.

What happens at Crown Jewel will depend on what the exact match planned for WarGames is. If they are going with a five-on-five WarGames match, The Bloodline will also need another member. That could be Hikuleo who could debut here. Or, we could get a four-on-four WarGames match and Hikuleo will just pop up in NXT in a few months.

The new Bloodline should get the win in such a way that it leads to Zayn, and possibly Rhodes, joining up with Reigns and the Usos for Survivor Series.

Prediction: The new Bloodline