Tag: crown jewel

John Cena apologized for ‘going into business for himself’ at WWE Crown Jewel

Posted on by Joseph Currier

John Cena created a special moment at WWE Crown Jewel: Perth — but it was something he felt the need to apologize for afterwards.

Before his match against AJ Styles at the October PLE, Cena handed ring announcer Alicia Taylor an introduction that he personally wrote for Styles. It paid tribute to Styles’ past, referencing his career in TNA and being part of the Bullet Club in NJPW. According to Cena, the introduction was a surprise to everyone.

“Dude, I just wanted to do something nice for my guy,” Cena said on Insight with Chris Van Vliet. “I didn’t even show Alicia until I handed her the paper.”

Cena was trying to create something special with the introduction, but he regrets not informing people about it in advance. Even if he kept it secret from Styles and Taylor, Cena feels like he should have been a team player by telling those in WWE creative. He apologized to a few people in creative for surprising them with what he did.

“I went about it the wrong way. I went into business for myself. I should have gotten permission to do that. And I would have gotten permission to do that, but I told no one about it because I wanted to do something special,” Cena said. “And in doing so, the people running the show felt surprised. And that’s not a position I ever want to put them in because they award me such creative liberty.

“Wonderful moment, but like, we’re all trying to make these moments special and we’re all on the same team. And it shouldn’t be me doing something outside of that realm. If I tell my teammates, ‘Hey, let’s do it.’ I can keep it from AJ, I can keep it from Alicia, but if I tell my teammates who are crafting this show, maybe they make it look better. And the first thing I did was thank AJ. The second thing I did was pull a few creative individuals aside and say, ‘I’m sorry, that will never happen again. I know where I f*cked up. I’m so sorry. And I went into business for myself. That’s not me. I hope you look at my body of work and all the times I’ve asked for permission. And this is the one time I asked for forgiveness.’ It got the best of me, but I wanted to do something nice for AJ.”

Crown Jewel: Perth was the last-ever match in the Cena vs. Styles rivalry. Cena is retiring from the ring this weekend at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event. Styles’ retirement is not quite as imminent, but he plans to end his in-ring career at some point in 2026.

John Cena Sr. praises son’s WWE Crown Jewel match against AJ Styles

Posted on by Joseph Currier

John Cena Sr. was a huge fan of the match his son had against AJ Styles at Crown Jewel: Perth.

While speaking with Sportskeeda WrestleBinge, Cena Sr. heaped praise on the October 11 bout, calling it something that all up-and-coming wrestlers should watch. He did not think much of the build WWE had for Cena vs. Styles, but that did not have any affect on the match quality.

“It wasn’t much,” Cena Sr. said about the build. “It was a very poor buildup to what I consider to be a phenomenal match. Forget about [it being] John Cena Jr. That was an outstanding match. And any of the young people coming up ought to take a good look at that match, because that’s the way it ought to be in pro wrestling. That was phenomenal.”

The build to Cena vs. Styles was done on social media with Cena calling for WWE to give the fans what they want. Cena’s WWE schedule did not have any appearances between Wrestlepalooza and Crown Jewel, which is why the build happened that way.

Cena Sr. told Sportskeeda WrestleBinge that his son and Styles showed a high level of ring psychology in how they performed. Renewing the Cena-Styles rivalry one last time, the match went nearly 30 minutes with Cena getting the victory.

“The one that they learned, and that young people need to learn in this business, is ring psychology,” Cena Sr. said. “They read their crowd and they performed to what the crowd wanted. You notice, they didn’t stop — they listened. And when they did, they just went ‘bang, bang, bang.’ They worked so well together. So well together. And I think that’s so important in this business.”

After the bell rang, Cena Sr. sent his son a text telling him how much he loved it. The younger Cena replied that he was breathing hard following the match but had a lot of fun.

“I said, ‘John, it was phenomenal.’ He said, ‘I’m glad you enjoyed it, dad. It was a lot of fun.'”

Both Cena and Styles are nearing the end of their in-ring careers. Cena’s last match will take place at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event on December 13 against a yet-to-be-announced opponent, with Gunther believed to be the most likely option. Styles will have his last match at some point in 2026 but has not set an exact date.

Cena Sr. said it’s sad that the industry is losing two great competitors, but he believes both are making the right choice by making room for younger talent to take the spotlight and stepping away before their bodies break down.

AJ Styles reflects on ‘special’ WWE Crown Jewel match against John Cena

Posted on by Joseph Currier

AJ Styles believes he and John Cena delivered something special in their final time ever facing each other.

Styles and Cena — who are both approaching the end of their in-ring careers — renewed their rivalry on October 11 at WWE Crown Jewel: Perth. It was their first one-on-one match against each other since 2018, and Styles was happy to get one more opportunity to share the ring with an opponent he trusts so much.

“I’m not sure there is anyone in the ring I trust more than John Cena,” Styles told the Boston Herald. “He’s incredible at understanding what the fans need when they need it. He’s even more incredible with the way he treats people.

“During our match at Crown Jewel, which is the last time we’ll ever wrestle each other, I was in the moment. I embraced and enjoyed it — I mean, it’s hard not to love what you do when you’re having so much fun doing it. People might be surprised to hear this, but for John and myself, it was another match until it was over. Afterward, we were able to reflect on its significance. In the moment, we were doing what we do to entertain people.”

Cena picked up the win at Crown Jewel in what was his final time ever wrestling in Australia. Before the bell rang, there was a special moment where Styles was surprised with a special ring introduction that Cena wrote for him. It included references to Styles’ time in TNA Wrestling and NJPW.

“It definitely caught me off guard,” Styles said about the introduction. “When I heard ‘The definition of Total Nonstop Action,’ I thought to myself, ‘Wait a minute.’ He took this from just being about John to making it about John and AJ Styles. It’s something he didn’t have to do, but that’s John. That’s just who he is.”

Cena only has four more dates on his WWE retirement tour, which will conclude on December 13 at Saturday Night’s Main Event. As for Styles, he plans to retire in 2026 but has not put an exact date on it yet.

“We’ve been doing this for decades, this is what we do,” Styles told the Boston Herald while reflecting on the Cena match. “The greatest part is it meant a lot to a lot of people. We wanted to give wrestling fans something special, and I think we accomplished that.”

Styles won gold on WWE Raw last night, teaming with Dragon Lee to win the World Tag Team titles from Finn Balor & JD McDonagh.

WOL: Huge RAW angle, Rollins, TNA and Crown Jewel, Ibushi!

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Filthy Tom Lawlor is back with tons to talk about including the big angle on RAW, possible injury to Seth Rollins and how it likely happened, Crown Jewel and Bound for Glory recaps, Kota Ibushi update, tons of weekend news and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!

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WOL: WWE Crown Jewel recap, previews & weekend news

Posted on by Andrew Zarian

Image: WWE

On the Sunday Wrestling Observer Live, Andrew Zarian recaps all the news and results from WWE Crown Jewel from Perth, Australia.

He explains whether he thought it was a good or bad show and his personal highlight: John Cena vs. AJ Styles.

He then talks Friday’s WWE SmackDown and all the returns like Tama Tonga and Shinsuke Nakamura. Plus, Zelina Vega aligned herself with her real-life husband, Aleister Black, which led to a fireball on WWE TV for the first time in years.

He also recaps AEW Collision and the devastating injury to Kota Ibushi that looks to be pretty serious.

He also preview next Saturday’s AEW WrestleDream and tonight’s TNA Bound for Glory, the latest WWE releases/departures, and more.

Click here to listen or watch below on YouTube

WOR: Crown Jewel, WWE cuts, Survivor Series, Rousey training

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including the WWE Crown Jewel PPV and fallout, Survivor Series teams, Bound for Glory, WWE releases, New Japan Sunday night line-up, Smashing Machine flopped, Ronda is in training, Collision notes, and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!

Timestamps:
Start: WWE Crown Jewel recap
29:22: Wes Lee among WWE NXT & ID releases
34:58: TNA Bound for Glory lineup, Tessa Blanchard returns to CMLL, NJPW King of Pro Wrestling lineup
43:07: Go Shiozaki returns to AJPW, Mercedes Mone wins 10th belt, more Arena Mexico thoughts
50:55: Dave’s thoughts on ‘The Smashing Machine,’ UFC notes from Saturday’s show, Ronda Rousey is training in MMA again
1:00:08: AEW Collision notes

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WOL: Weekend preview, Syko Stu and Raja, ratings changes

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Lance Storm is back with a full preview of all the big shows this weekend, a look at Raja Jackson’s not guilty plea and Stu’s future in wrestling, a primer on these ratings changes, your questions, and tons more! A fun show as always so check it out~!

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Update on John Cena vs. AJ Styles WWE Crown Jewel: Perth match

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE booking John Cena vs. AJ Styles for Crown Jewel: Perth wasn’t a decision that was made late in the game.

It was announced this week that Cena and Styles will face off at the Saturday, October 11 PLE in Perth, Western Australia. With Cena’s schedule not having any WWE appearances before Crown Jewel, the build for the match was done on social media. Cena called for the matchup and asked Paul “Triple H” Levesque to give the fans what they want — and Levesque responded by making Cena vs. Styles official.

Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that Cena vs. Styles was always the plan for Crown Jewel. When Cena did an homage to Styles because they allegedly weren’t going to wrestle each other, that was actually part of the build to this eventual match.

“This match was always scheduled for Australia — always,” Meltzer said. “So the whole deal about Cena and AJ, you know, the idea that Cena was doing the tribute to him because he wasn’t going to get to wrestle him. That was actually to build to this match, that was not actually ever the case.”

Meltzer said that Styles’ worked-shoot promo that he cut during a Raw commercial break earlier this month was also part of the build to this match.

Some of the best matches of Cena’s career were against Styles during their rivalry. The two are now wrestling each other one-on-one for the first time since 2018.

Crown Jewel has a start time of 8 a.m. Eastern on October 11. After the PLE, Cena only has four dates left on his retirement tour.

WWE confirms John Cena vs. AJ Styles match

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Fans will get to see John Cena vs. AJ Styles one more time before Cena retires.

WWE has confirmed that Cena vs. Styles will take place at Crown Jewel: Perth on October 11. It’s the last time Cena will ever compete in Australia, with him only having a handful of dates left before his retirement tour concludes in December.

The match was announced by Paul “Triple H” Levesque on X/Twitter today after being set up by Cena. With Cena not having any TV appearances before Crown Jewel, the build for the match was done on social media with Cena lobbying for Levesque to give fans what they want. After Styles accepted his challenge, it was made official for Crown Jewel.

“@JohnCena vs. @AJStylesOrg is a match we all want to see,” Levesque wrote. “And at #WWECrownJewel…we will.”

Styles has been the opponent for some of Cena’s best-ever matches, including their meetings at SummerSlam 2016 and Royal Rumble 2018. They have not had a one-on-one match since 2018.

Cena is coming off a loss to Brock Lesnar at Wrestlepalooza where Lesnar won in dominant fashion.

Crown Jewel: Perth has a special start time of 8 a.m. Eastern time on October 11. It will stream live on the ESPN app in the United States and on Netflix internationally.

WWE Crown Jewel: Perth (Saturday, October 11) —

  • WWE Champion Cody Rhodes vs. World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins to determine the 2025 men’s Crown Jewel Champion
  • WWE Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton vs. Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer to determine the 2025 women’s Crown Jewel Champion
  • John Cena vs. AJ Styles

Note: If Jade Cargill or Nia Jax win the WWE Women’s Championship from Stratton on SmackDown this Friday, they will replace her in the women’s Crown Jewel Championship match.

Shawn Michaels views WWE Crown Jewel 2018 match as ‘a special, separate one-off’

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Though he came out of retirement eight years later, Shawn Michaels still views WrestleMania 26 as his actual final match.

Michaels ended his career in grand fashion when he lost to The Undertaker in the main event of WrestleMania 26 in 2010. He stayed away from the ring for several years after that but ended up coming back in 2018, returning in Saudi Arabia at WWE Crown Jewel 2018. He was part of a very poorly received tag match where DX (Michaels & Triple H) faced Undertaker & Kane.

On Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Michaels said the Crown Jewel match doesn’t have an effect on him one way or the other. He views it as a “special, separate one-off” rather than his actual retirement match.

“I don’t know, it was a tag match, it was DX,” Michaels said. “That just felt like a special, separate one-off. HBK and Mr. WrestleMania, the Showstopper, whatever that was ended with ‘Taker at WrestleMania. Because I still came back and refereed the match between Hunter and ‘Taker [at WrestleMania 28]. And again, will always play a role in the WWE.”

Michaels further explained that, in his mind, Crown Jewel 2018 was just him hanging out with his friends.

“A single performance by me, by HBK, by that guy — that’s not who that was,” Michaels said. “That was a dude hanging out with his buddies and having a match. That’s, I don’t know. One was the artist. The other one was a dude, like I said, hanging out with his buddies.”

Michaels, 60, now oversees WWE NXT with the job title of “Senior Vice President of Talent Development, Creative.” He made an appearance on TV this week to celebrate NXT’s special Homecoming episode at Full Sail University.

WWE ‘Crown Jewel: Perth’ PLE set for October

Posted on by Joseph Currier

We now have some more information about the PLE that WWE is holding in Perth, Australia this fall.

The company announced today that the PLE — named “Crown Jewel: Perth” — will take place on Saturday, October 11. It’s being held at RAC Arena, which will host three WWE events within a four-day span. SmackDown (Friday, October 10) and Raw (Monday, October 13) are also set for the venue.

Australian WWE stars Rhea Ripley and Grayson Waller were in Perth today to promote the announcement. WWE has opened a mailing list for fans interested in receiving ticket pre-sale information.

These three WWE events are part of a deal TKO Group has signed with the government of Western Australia. Crown Jewel will feature John Cena’s last-ever match in Australia ahead of his retirement in December 2025.

Crown Jewel is typically the name of WWE’s fall PLE in Saudi Arabia. The expectation for this year is that WWE will hold Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia this June and then return for the Royal Rumble in January 2026. The Night of Champions event has not been announced yet, but Saudi Arabia hosting Royal Rumble 2026 is already confirmed.

This will be the third-ever WWE PLE to take place in Australia, following Elimination Chamber 2024 in Perth and Super Show-Down 2018 in Melbourne.

Wrestling Observer Live: WWE Crown Jewel & NJPW Power Struggle recaps, Kenny Omega returns

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including a look at all the major weekend events, including last Saturday’s WWE Crown Jewel and the NJPW Power Struggle show, Kenny Omega making his return for NJPW instead of AEW, NXT and Dynamite head-to-head on Wednesday, plus tons more. A packed show as always so check it out~!

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WWE Crown Jewel Champions to receive ‘massive ring,’ title belts will stay in Saudi

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE’s inaugural Crown Jewel Champions won’t be bringing their new title belts home with them.

At WWE’s pre-Crown Jewel kickoff event in Riyadh today, Paul “Triple H” Levesque revealed that the Crown Jewel Championship winners will receive a “massive ring” akin to a Super Bowl ring that “shows to the world that they are the one true champion in WWE.” The Crown Jewel title belts themselves will stay in Saudi Arabia on display at the WWE Experience fan attraction.

Crown Jewel 2024 is taking place this Saturday with Cody Rhodes vs. Gunther and Nia Jax vs. Liv Morgan determining the first Crown Jewel Champions. Those four wrestlers — who are the top title holders in the men’s and women’s divisions — will not be putting their own belts on the line in Saturday’s matches.

Levesque reiterated that this will be the annual theme for Crown Jewel going forward.

“As this is an annual event, we’ll see how many rings people can collect over the years,” Levesque said.

Aside from 2020 (due to the COVID-19 pandemic), Crown Jewel has taken place every year since 2018 as part of WWE’s long-term business deal with the Saudi government.

It appears that NXT could be coming to Saudi Arabia for the first time in that partnership. Levesque asked the Riyadh crowd today if they would like to see NXT hold an event in Saudi Arabia. He said he would talk to Shawn Michaels and see what they can do.

Wrestling Observer Radio: UFC 308 & TNA Bound for Glory recaps, WWE news

Posted on by Garrett Gonzales

Dave Meltzer and I are back with our second podcast in two nights. Paul Fontaine joined us for the first segment to recap UFC 308.

Then, Dave and I covered the following:

  • Friday’s WWE SmackDown
  • TNA Bound for Glory recap
  • A possible new match for WWE Crown Jewel
  • AEW Collision
  • Samantha Irvin
  • Next Friday’s SmackDown spoilers

Click here to listen (sub needed) or watch on YouTube (video sub needed)

WWE Crown Jewel 2024 poster revealed, top matches advertised

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The top matches for WWE Crown Jewel 2024 are already being advertised.

WWE makes its return to Saudi Arabia with Crown Jewel being held in Riyadh on Saturday, November 2. On social media today, Saudi official Turki Alalshikh shared the PLE poster — which is promoting that Cody Rhodes vs. Gunther and Nia Jax vs. Liv Morgan will take place.

These matches will determine WWE’s first-ever Crown Jewel Champions. At Bad Blood over the weekend, Paul “Triple H” Levesque unveiled the Crown Jewel title belt and announced that, in a new annual tradition, the WWE Champion and World Champion in the men’s and women’s divisions will face off in singles matches at Crown Jewel. Though their belts will not be on the line, the winners will be recognized as the Crown Jewel Champions for that year.

Before Crown Jewel, Gunther has a World Heavyweight Championship defense against Sami Zayn on Raw tonight (October 7).

WWE Women’s Champion Jax and Women’s World Champion Morgan retained their titles at Bad Blood with respective victories over Bayley and Rhea Ripley.

Rhodes did not defend his Undisputed WWE Championship at Bad Blood. Instead, he teamed with Roman Reigns to defeat Solo Sikoa & Jacob Fatu. The Rock then made his return to WWE at the end of the show.