Tag: crown jewel

WWE to crown first Crown Jewel Champions next month

Posted on by Joseph Currier

At Bad Blood on Saturday night, Paul “Triple H” Levesque made an appearance for what WWE said would be a historic announcement.

Levesque revealed that — at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia next month — the first-ever Crown Jewel Champions will be determined. There will be singles matches pitting the WWE Champion against the World Champion in both the men’s and women’s division. While none of their championships will be on the line, the winners will be awarded the Crown Jewel titles for 2024.

Levesque said this will become the annual theme of Crown Jewel with the top champions of the men’s and women’s divisions facing off to determine that year’s Crown Jewel champs.

“50 carats of diamonds that will signify the winner as the best of the best,” Levesque said after unveiling the Crown Jewel title belt.

Crown Jewel 2024 is being held in Riyadh on Saturday, November 2. If there are no title changes before then, these Crown Jewel Championship matches would be Cody Rhodes vs. Gunther and Nia Jax vs. Liv Morgan.

WWE reveals date for Crown Jewel 2024

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE has already confirmed when its next show in Saudi Arabia will be taking place.

On Saturday, WWE King & Queen of the Ring was held in Jeddah. It was announced during the broadcast that Crown Jewel 2024 will take place from Riyadh on Saturday, November 2. The event is set to stream live on Peacock/WWE Network.

Aside from 2020 (due to the COVID-19 pandemic), Crown Jewel has taken place every year since 2018. WWE entered into a long-term deal with the Saudi government that year, receiving an estimated $50 million for every show it holds in the country. WWE currently holds two shows per year in Saudi Arabia.

During an earnings call earlier this month, TKO executive Mark Shapiro said WWE still has a “very, very strong relationship” with Saudi Arabia despite Vince McMahon no longer being involved with the company. Shapiro credited WWE President Nick Khan for maintaining the relationship.

Saudi Arabia is hoping to host either WrestleMania or the Royal Rumble in 2026 or 2027.

Here’s an updated look at WWE’s PLE schedule for the remainder of 2024. The full schedule has not been announced yet.

  • Saturday, June 15: Clash at the Castle (Glasgow, Scotland)
  • Saturday, July 6: Money in the Bank (Toronto, Canada)
  • Saturday, August 3: SummerSlam (Cleveland, Ohio)
  • Saturday, August 31: Bash in Berlin (Berlin, Germany)
  • Saturday, November 2: Crown Jewel (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia)

Logan Paul addresses ‘saving Rey Mysterio’s life’ at WWE Crown Jewel

Posted on by Joseph Currier

On his Impaulsive podcast, Logan Paul addressed a viral spot from his Crown Jewel match against Rey Mysterio.

Fans credited Paul for “saving Mysterio’s life” in the match. There was a spot where Mysterio almost came up short on a springboard moonsault attempt. Though the move almost went wrong, Paul was still able to catch Mysterio and stop him from landing on his head.

Paul said on Impaulsive that, after watching the clip back, he thinks he and Mysterio both made a mistake during the move. Paul was positioned too far back and Mysterio didn’t clear enough ground on the moonsault attempt. 

“Look, I’m going to come clean because I’ve seen all these positive headlines. ‘Logan saves Rey Mysterio.’ The Mexican community is going crazy. They’re praising me, saying I’m some sort of [hero],” Paul said. “And so I’m like, ‘Dang, I’m being recognized for doing something cool? I’ll take it.’ But then I looked at the clip. And upon assessing my performance, while I think I did save Rey Mysterio — I think I also almost killed Rey Mysterio.

“I think I was too far back for the move, and I think he didn’t clear enough ground for the move. That’s what happened. Like, I was too far back and he didn’t clear enough ground. We both, I think, made a mistake. I had to catch him, I had to catch him. And I wasn’t going to not catch him. So like, truthfully, while I like the headlines and I like being gassed up like this, I was just doing my job. But I’ll take it. I’ll take the praise.”

Paul defeated Mysterio in the match to win the United States Championship. It’s the first title that Paul has held in professional wrestling.

Crown Jewel was Paul’s first match since defeating Ricochet at SummerSlam. Paul vs. Mysterio was set up for Crown Jewel by a callout that Paul issued after his boxing match against Dillon Danis last month.

On last Friday’s SmackDown, there was an angle where Santos Escobar turned against Mysterio. Mysterio revealed today that he’s undergone a successful knee surgery.

Wrestling Observer Radio: Crown Jewel, New Japan, weekend TV and news, UFC lawsuit, more

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including WWE Crown Jewel, notes from the New Japan show this weekend with an incredible main event, Hard to Kill, the Tokyo Dome, notes on the UFC lawsuit and other MMA news, Rampage and Collision notes and more. A fun show as always so check it out~!

Timestamps:

Start: Will Ospreay vs. Shota Umino at Power Struggle

7:04: WWE Crown Jewel recap

31:15: WWE announces Survivor Series WarGames

32:47: Wrestle Kingdom 18 card is shaping up, TNA Hard to Kill lineup, NWA/CW update, more on UFC lawsuit

53:09: Francis Ngannou/Tyson Fury buyrate

57:48: UFC January card, MMA MVP, Dave’s AEW Rampage thoughts

1:04:46: AEW Collision notes

1:22:00: More on Power Struggle

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Kairi Sane makes WWE return at Crown Jewel

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Kairi Sane is officially back in WWE.

Sane made her WWE return by getting involved in the WWE Women’s Championship match at Crown Jewel on Saturday. Sane returned as a heel, aligning with IYO SKY and helping her defeat Bianca Belair.

As Belair was trying to pin SKY during the match, Bayley jumped on the apron to cause a distraction. Belair then attacked Bayley on the floor. SKY tried to stop the attack, but Belair sidestepped her and SKY accidentally ran into Bayley.

Belair went to give Bayley a KOD, but Sane made her surprise return by pulling Bayley to safety. Sane delivered a backfist to Belair, then gave her a knee strike off the barricade. The knee strike sent Belair into the post.

The referee was focused on SKY and didn’t see Sane’s attack. Belair was able to make it back into the ring and avoid getting counted out, but SKY hit a moonsault and pinned Belair to retain the WWE Women’s Championship.

SKY and Sane beat down Belair after the match. The attack included Sane hitting her InSane Elbow on Belair.

Bayley looked confused about Sane being there. On commentary, Michael Cole brought up that an attack by Bayley had sent Sane out of WWE in 2020.

SKY and Bayley are members of Damage CTRL along with Dakota Kai.

It was reported this August that Sane would be returning to WWE after fulfilling her commitments in Japan. Earlier this week, Sane was added to the internal WWE roster.

During her first WWE stint, Sane held the NXT Women’s Championship and WWE Women’s Tag Team titles one time each. Her post-WWE run included a reign as IWGP Women’s Champion.

Logan Paul wins United States title at WWE Crown Jewel

Posted on by Joseph Currier

For the first time in his professional wrestling career, Logan Paul is a champion.

Paul captured his first WWE gold at Saturday’s Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia. Paul defeated Rey Mysterio to win the United States Championship. The finish of the match was Paul pinning Mysterio after using brass knuckles to deliver a knockout punch.

This is two straight matches where Paul has used brass knuckles to win. He also defeated Ricochet at SummerSlam after hitting a brass knux shot.

A member of Paul’s entourage gave him the brass knuckles to use during Saturday’s match. The knux fell to the floor the first time Paul tried to use them. Santos Escobar stopped the member of Paul’s entourage from picking them back up, but Escobar left the knux on the apron as he chased the entourage member away. Paul picked up the knux and used them as Mysterio was going for a springboard move after hitting a 619.

Paul made his WWE in-ring debut at WrestleMania 38 in April 2022. Mysterio was also involved in that match. Paul teamed with The Miz to defeat Rey & Dominik Mysterio.

Paul vs. Mysterio was made for Crown Jewel after Paul called out Mysterio last month. Paul issued the callout following his boxing victory over Dillon Danis.

Solo Sikoa demolishes John Cena at WWE Crown Jewel

Posted on by Joseph Currier

At Crown Jewel, Solo Sikoa picked up a dominant victory over John Cena.

Sikoa wrestled in the biggest singles match of his career so far as he faced Cena at Saturday’s event in Saudi Arabia. Sikoa was in control throughout the majority of the match and won in emphatic fashion, pinning Cena after hitting 11 consecutive Samoan Spikes.

On commentary, Michael Cole called this a “star-making moment” for Sikoa. It was Sikoa’s first-ever singles match on a WWE premium live event.

Sikoa and Cena were also on opposite sides of a tag team match at Fastlane last month. LA Knight & Cena defeated Jimmy Uso & Sikoa.

Cena hasn’t been advertised for any WWE appearances following Crown Jewel. He’s been able to make an extended return to WWE in recent months due to Hollywood being on strike. Cena has been a full-time performer on WWE television since September.

Cena received permission from the Screen Actors Guild to appear for WWE during the strike. Cena has said that he’ll be returning to Hollywood once the actors strike ends.

Part of the story for Cena vs. Sikoa is that Cena was looking for his first televised singles win since 2018.

At Crown Jewel, WWE played up that this could have been Cena’s final match. Cena received a standing ovation from the Saudi crowd after the bout was over.

Sami Zayn steals Damian Priest’s MITB briefcase at WWE Crown Jewel

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Sami Zayn is currently in possession of Damian Priest’s Money in the Bank briefcase.

At Saturday’s Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia, Zayn stopped Priest from cashing in on World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins. Zayn then made off through the crowd with Priest’s briefcase.

Rollins retained his World Heavyweight Championship by defeating Drew McIntyre at Crown Jewel. Immediately after the match, Priest ran down and wanted to cash in his MITB contract. As he handed the briefcase to a referee, a hooded figure attacked Priest and threw him into the ring post. Zayn then took off his hood to reveal his identity.

Zayn took the briefcase from the referee and jumped over the barricade, leaving through the crowd. Priest chased after Zayn.

Zayn is currently on a mission to dismantle The Judgment Day. On the pre-show for Crown Jewel, Zayn defeated Judgment Day associate JD McDonagh.

Priest never officially cashed in his briefcase during the angle. Despite not having possession of the briefcase right now, he remains Mr. Money in the Bank. Priest has held the briefcase since July.

McIntyre was shown backstage sulking after his loss to Rollins. Rhea Ripley, who had been unsuccessfully trying to recruit either McIntyre or Rollins to Judgment Day, walked by McIntyre and shrugged.

Priest is facing Cody Rhodes later at Crown Jewel.

Women’s Championship match official for WWE Crown Jewel

Posted on by Ethan Renner

Bianca Belair will challenge IYO SKY for the WWE Women’s Championship at Crown Jewel. 

As announced during Friday’s SmackDown episode, Belair will face SKY for the Women’s title at the Crown Jewel pay-per-view set for Saturday, November 4. 

SKY cashed in her Money in the Bank contract on Belair at SummerSlam in August to win the title on the same night Belair reclaimed the Championship from Asuka in a triple threat match. 

Belair was the victim of a backstage attack from Damage CTRL later that month on SmackDown, leading to a two-month hiatus from WWE programming. Belair made her return on last week’s SmackDown. 

Seven matches in total, and five title bouts are set for Crown Jewel which airs at 1 p.m. Eastern time on Peacock & WWE Network. 

The updated lineup for Crown Jewel:

  • Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns defends against LA Knight
  • World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins defends against Drew McIntyre
  • Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley defends against Nia Jax, Raquel Rodriguez, Shayna Baszler, and Zoey Stark in a fatal five-way match
  • Women’s Champion IYO SKY defends against Bianca Belair
  • United States Champion Rey Mysterio defends against Logan Paul
  • Cody Rhodes vs. Damian Priest
  • John Cena vs. Solo Sikoa

John Cena to face Solo Sikoa at WWE Crown Jewel

Posted on by Joseph Currier

John Cena’s match for WWE Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia has now been officially confirmed.

WWE has announced that Cena vs. Solo Sikoa will be part of the card for Crown Jewel. The show is taking place from Saudi Arabia on Saturday, November 4. It will air live on Peacock/WWE Network with a start time of 1 p.m. Eastern.

At Fastlane earlier this month, Cena & LA Knight defeated Sikoa & Jimmy Uso in a tag team match. Knight is challenging Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at Crown Jewel.

A brawl between Cena and Sikoa took place on SmackDown last Friday. It ended with Cena laying out Sikoa with an Attitude Adjustment. Jimmy Uso got involved in the brawl at one point, but Jey Uso appeared and provided backup for Cena.

With Hollywood on strike, Cena has made an extended return to WWE this fall.

Cena hasn’t won a televised singles match since defeating Triple H at the Greatest Royal Rumble in 2018.

The updated lineup for Crown Jewel is listed below:

  • Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns defends against LA Knight
  • World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins defends against Drew McIntyre
  • Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley defends against Nia Jax, Raquel Rodriguez, Shayna Baszler, and Zoey Stark in a fatal five-way match
  • United States Champion Rey Mysterio defends against Logan Paul
  • Cody Rhodes vs. Damian Priest
  • John Cena vs. Solo Sikoa

Wrestling Observer Radio: RAW report, Crown Jewel, AEW and NXT previews, Hall of Fame, more

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including AEW and NXT previews for the week, guys added to next year’s Hall of Fame ballot, ratings, the full RAW report, Dave’s Ospreay vs. Bailey thoughts, Johnny Walker, Tyson Fury and Ngannou, and more. A fun show as always so check it out~!

Timestamps:

Start: It’s Dave’s birthday, AEW Dynamite and WWE NXT cards

5:26: Observer Hall of Fame candidates for next year

9:40: Final Battle to be exclusive to Honor Club

14:40: Ratings

19:34: Will Ospreay/Mike Bailey match from Bound for Glory

29:50: Johnny Walker update, Ngannou vs. Tyson Fury

37:44: WWE Raw recap

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Roman Reigns vs. LA Knight official for WWE Crown Jewel

Posted on by Joseph Currier

LA Knight is officially the next challenger for Roman Reigns’ Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.

WWE has confirmed that Reigns will defend the title against Knight at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, November 4. The announcement of the match was made by the Los Angeles Times on Friday.

At Fastlane, Knight teamed with John Cena to defeat The Bloodline’s Jimmy Uso & Solo Sikoa. Knight pinned Jimmy to win the match.

A confrontation between Knight and Reigns then took place when Reigns made his return to SmackDown last Friday. Knight defeated Sikoa in the main event of the episode. Reigns laid out Knight with a spear after the match.

This will be the first title defense Reigns has made since defeating Jey Uso at SummerSlam this August.

Knight has gotten victories at three straight WWE premium live events. Prior to his victory at Fastlane, Knight won the SummerSlam battle royal in August and defeated The Miz at Payback in September.

Crown Jewel will stream live on Peacock/WWE Network starting at 1 p.m. Eastern time on November 4. Here’s what’s been announced for the show so far:

  • Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns defends against LA Knight
  • World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins defends against Drew McIntyre
  • Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley defends against Nia Jax, Raquel Rodriguez, Shayna Baszler, and Zoey Stark in a fatal five-way match

A United States Championship match with Logan Paul challenging Rey Mysterio is also planned for Crown Jewel but has not been officially announced yet.

Roman Reigns vs. John Cena not planned for WWE Crown Jewel

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Though both are scheduled for WWE Crown Jewel, it doesn’t look like Roman Reigns vs. John Cena will be happening at the event.

Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Reigns vs. Cena is not planned for Crown Jewel. The show is taking place in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, November 4.

Meltzer wrote:

Although the promos where the Bloodline and Heyman talk of Cena as ‘the second greatest wrestler of all-time,’ with the idea Reigns is the greatest and a play off Cena’s WWE tag line of being the greatest, and Cena also at this point scheduled for Crown Jewel, it was confirmed to us that Reigns vs. Cena is not the match planned for the show.

Reigns and Cena have already faced each other during Reigns’ historic title reign. Reigns defeated Cena at SummerSlam 2021.

At Fastlane this Saturday, Cena is teaming with LA Knight against The Bloodline’s Jimmy Uso & Solo Sikoa.

Reigns is expected to make his return to WWE television on SmackDown next Friday (October 13). He’s been away from WWE TV since shortly after SummerSlam.

With Hollywood on strike, Cena has made an extended return to WWE this fall. He’s been announced for every SmackDown episode through the end of October. It was announced last month that Cena would also be participating in Crown Jewel.

Cena is set to appear on NXT next Tuesday as well. Cena will be in Carmelo Hayes’ corner for Hayes vs. Bron Breakker. Paul Heyman will be in Breakker’s corner.

John Cena advertised for WWE Crown Jewel

Posted on by Joseph Currier

John Cena is being advertised for WWE’s next event in Saudi Arabia.

The social media accounts for Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Season posted a video on Saturday promoting this year’s state-sponsored festival. In the video, it was said that WWE Crown Jewel will include “the participation of John Cena.”

Crown Jewel is taking place on Saturday, November 4 and will stream live on Peacock/WWE Network.

Cena made his return to WWE at the beginning of this month. He’s set to appear on every SmackDown from now through the end of October.

Cena’s return to WWE coincides with the Hollywood writers and actors strike, which has halted most film and television production.

On Friday night’s episode of SmackDown, Cena was a guest on The Grayson Waller Effect. After Jimmy Uso crashed the segment, the show ended with AJ Styles saving Cena from Uso and Solo Sikoa. Cena and Styles joined together to fight off the attack.

Cena also reunited with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in a backstage segment on Friday’s SmackDown.

There is still one WWE PPV left before Crown Jewel. Indianapolis will host Fastlane on Saturday, October 7.

Roman Reigns’ next match expected to take place at WWE Crown Jewel

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Roman Reigns’ next match is expected to take place in Saudi Arabia.

In the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer confirmed that Reigns’ next match will be at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, November 4. Reigns will be back on WWE television leading into the event.

As expected, the next Reigns match will be 11/4 in Saudi Arabia. He will be back on television in the time leading to that show to promote the match.

It will be three months between Reigns’ matches at SummerSlam and Crown Jewel. Reigns wasn’t on WWE’s Payback pay-per-view this month and also isn’t advertised for October’s Fastlane event.

Reigns retained the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against Jey Uso in a Tribal Combat match in the main event of SummerSlam. Jey was on the verge of winning until his twin brother Jimmy cost him the match.

Since then, Jey “quit” SmackDown and joined the Raw roster. WWE has said that SmackDown will receive “trade compensation” for Jey going to Raw.

Jimmy Uso has been trying to get back into The Bloodline in recent weeks. AJ Styles defeated Jimmy on SmackDown last Friday. Following the match, The Judgment Day attacked Styles and threw him back in the ring so Solo Sikoa could give Styles a Samoan Spike. Judgment Day, who have also been trying to recruit Jey Uso, may have been trying to lure Sikoa away from The Bloodline.