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.
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.
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.
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 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.
WWE returns to Saudi Arabia on Saturday where both of WWE’s World titles are on the line.
Roman Reigns will wrestle for the first time since SummerSlam, taking on LA Knight. Since making his return to SmackDown following a hiatus, Knight has made it clear he wants to be the one that ends Reigns’ historic reign with the championship.
Seth Rollins will defend the World Heavyweight title against Drew McIntyre. Rhea Ripley has attempted to get involved with both Rollins and McIntyre, saying Judgment Day could help either one of them walk out as champion. Both have rebuffed Ripley, but Rollins doesn’t trust McIntyre based on his recent actions.
Other title matches will see Ripley defend her Women’s World Championship in a five-way against Nia Jax, Shayna Baszler, Zoey Stark, and Raquel Rodriguez. Logan Paul will make his WWE return, challenging Rey Mysterio for the United States title. IYO SKY will defend the WWE Women’s Championship against Bianca Belair.
John Cena will also be in action, taking on Solo Sikoa while Cody Rhodes will face Damian Priest. The kickoff pre-show match will have Sami Zayn take on JD McDonagh.
Join us for live coverage starting at noon ET.
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Kickoff pre-show: Sami Zayn defeated JD McDonagh
Simple, effective WWE match. They weren’t given a ton of time for it to be really good or anything, but it was clear this was designed for Zayn to get a nice win.
After some back and forth early, Zayn went for a monkey flip into the ropes. McDonagh didn’t go all the way and landed on the ropes awkwardly. Zayn teased the blue thunder bomb but McDonagh bailed to the apron, where he was able to cut off Zayn.
McDonagh developed a very nasty looking bruise on his abdomen as he was cut off the corner by Zayn. McDonagh came back with a jawbreaker and went for a superplex. Zayn fought him off, but McDonagh connected with a dropkick as Zayn was coming off the ropes, scoring a nearfall. Zayn came back with a big lariat. McDonagh made a brief comeback but Zayn connected with an exploder into the turnbuckle then hit the blue thunder bomb for the win.
Seth Rollins defeated Drew McIntyre to retain the World Heavyweight title
This was an excellent opener, a real classic WWE style main event with some great nearfalls.
McIntyre started off with momentum, taking down Rollins. The two traded chops until McIntyre hit a suplex. Rollins hit a running knee coming off the apron then went for a suicide dive, but McIntyre caught him in midair and connected with a belly to belly suplex.
McIntyre continued to chop Rollins in the ring until Rollins started firing back with some of his own. McIntyre hit a kick for a nearfall. Rollins ended up being on the ropes, cutting off McIntyre, landed back on his feet and connected with a kick to the head. Rollins connected with a knee and launched off with a rolling senton and a lionsault for a nearfall.
Rollins connected with the falcon arrow and went for a superplex, but as Rollins rolled through McIntyre countered with a suplex of his own for a nearfall. McIntyre then with the future shock DDT for a nearfall. Rollins started a comeback, hitting a suicide dive. McIntyre responded by ramming Rollins back first into the steel steps, with announcers putting over his bad back. McIntyre then gave Rollins a side slam into the apron.
Rollins countered McIntyre and hit the pedigree for another nearfall. He went for the stomp, but McIntyre escaped and hit another belly to belly. McIntyre called for the claymore but Rollins countered with a superkick and the stomp, but McIntyre still kicked out. Rollins went for the phoenix splash but McIntyre hit the claymore for a good nearfall. Rollins then came back, hitting another pedigree and the stomp for the win.
After the match, Damian Priest came to the ring and told the referee he wanted to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase. However, a hooded person came out of the crowd and attacked Priest, revealing themselves to be Sami Zayn. The segment ended with Zayn leaving with the briefcase.
A dejected Drew McIntyre was seen sulking backstage following his loss. Rhea Ripley smirked at him as she walked away.
Rhea Ripley defeated Nia Jax, Raquel Rodriguez, Zoey Stark, and Shayna Baszler to retain the Women’s World Championship
Good, but these type of matches all feel pretty patterned at this point, with everyone needing to do one tower of doom spot, everyone going for their finishers toward the end, and so on. Still, this was a good match.
Pinfalls were attempted early. Jax dragged Rodriguez out of the ring. Baszler, with the help of Rodriguez, took out Jax with a suplex. Ripley and Jax went at it, but Jax overpowered her and hit a legdrop for a nearfall.
Baszler got in double heel hooks in Ripley and and Rodriguez and attempted to choke out Jax, but Stark broke it up and scored a nearfall on Baszler. Stark went to the top rope but Ripley cut her off. It soon turned into the superplex of doom spot you see in almost every WWE multi-person match you’ll ever see.
Ripley and Rodriguez covered and were knocked off the apron by Stark, who did a springboard dive to the floor and connected with a missile drop kick on Ripley. She went for the Z360, but Jax broke it up. He laid out Baszler and went for the Banzai drop but Rodriguez caught her and hit the Tejana bomb for a nearfall. Ripley went for the riptide, but Baszler came in with the kirifuda clutch.
Ripley was going for the riptide on Stark off the top rope, but then saw Rodriguez cover Baszler. Ripley planted Stark on top of Rodriguez then covered Baszler for the win.
Solo Sikoa defeated John Cena
This got pretty repetitive toward the end where Cena either went for his finish or Solo went for his finish over and over again. Gotta say though, if you’re going to put someone over strong, this is the way to do it.
Cena and Solo started off with some brawling. Solo gained control with some headbutts. After a few minutes in control, Sikoka went for the spike, but Cena countered with an AA attempt. Sikoa quickly cut him off and hit a running hip attack into the corner.
Sikoa went for the spike again but this time Cena countered into the STFU. Sikoa escaped and regained control, hitting another hip attack in the corner. Cena eventually started to make his signature comeback, hitting the five knuckle shuffle. Sikoa dodged the AA and hit a Samoan drop for a nearfall. Cena came back with a crossbody for another nearfall.
Sikoa went for the spike again but Cena cut him off and hit a chokeslam. Another AA attempt, but Sioka this time hit the spinning Solo. Another spike attempt, this time Cena countered with the STFU again. Solo made it to the ropes and finally hit Cena with the spike, then another, then a third, and a fourth. Solo grabbed Cena on the floor then repeatedly gave him the spike before finally pinning him.
Cena eventually recovered in the ring and got a standing ovation from the crowd as he walked to the back.
The Miz came out for an unannounced edition of Miz TV. He introduced his guest, Ibrahim Al Hajjaj, who Miz said had the highest grossing movie in Saudi Arabia. Micheal Cole called him one of the greatest actors in the Middle East. Hmm.
Grayson Waller quickly interrupted and started to put down Miz and put over the Grayson Waller Experience. Hajjaj said he was here to be on the hottest show on WWE TV, Miz TV. Waller told Hajjaj to get out of his ring. Waller attacked Hajjaj and kicked him out of the ring. Miz attacked Waller. On the apron, Hajjaj connected with a kick and Miz laid out Waller with the skull crushing finale. Hajjaj then hit the people’s elbow. A segment purely for the SA audience.
Logan Paul defeated Rey Mysterio to win the WWE United States title
This took a while to get good, but it did get good eventually until the finish, which was pretty weak. You can at least give the “entourage member” a name. Paul did some good spots during the match at least.
After some back and forth early, Paul took down Mysterio and held him on the ground. Paul connected with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Mysterio dodged a charge in the corner and hit a suicide dive to the floor. Back in the ring, Paul managed to connect with the buckshot lariat for a nearfall.
Paul missed a right hand and walked into a Mysterio crossface. Paul made it to the ropes. Mysterio went for a moonsault but Paul barely managed to catch Mysterio before slamming him. Paul then hit a very cool-looking fallaway slam moonsault for a nearfall.
Mysterio gained the advantage and tried for a 619, but Paul grabbed him. Paul lifted Mysterio on his shoulders but Mysterio counters and hits a sunset flip bomb, then followed with a code red. Suddenly, someone from Logan Paul’s entourage (who was not named) gave Paul some brass knux. Paul got posted by Mysterio as Paul’s entourage member attempted to give Paul the knux back. However, Santos Escobar emerged. Cole referred to the entourage member as “that jerk Jason” as he was chased away by Escobar.
Escobar, however, had left the knux on the apron, allowing Paul to grab them again. As Mysterio was going for the 619, Paul blasted him with the knuckles and pinned him.
IYO SKY defeated Bianca Belair to retain the WWE Women’s Championship
This was good until Bayley came in. Was pretty much a House of Torture match after that where every other spot was a distraction. I feel like I’ve seen this rerun before where Bayley and SKY tease not being on the same page. But it looks like there’s something to the tease this time with Kairi Sane making her WWE return.
Belair started off hot, attacking SKY around the ring and hitting a vertical suplex for a nearfall. SKY cut her off and began working on Belair’s knee, which had been injured in storyline. Belair hit a series of suplexes but SKY cut her off. After putting Belair in a leglock, SKY went for a senton but Belair dodged.
Belair hit multiple bodyslams and hit a knee to the gut. SKY regained control briefly but Belair cut her off with a suplex. Bayley then emerged on the apron as Belair missed a dive and SKY got a nearfall. SKY seemed surprised that Bayley was at ringside. SKY used Belair’s own hair to attack her then hit a big moonsault to the floor. Belair managed to cut off SKY with a glam slam but Bayley kept repeatedly getting involved. At one point, SKY accidently took out Bayley.
The finish had Belair being in control when suddenly Kairi Sane made her WWE return, attacking Belair. The referee teased counting out Belair, but she made it back in after 9 only to be laid out by a moonsault by SKY for the win.
After the match, SKY and Sane repeatedly attacked Belair. Bayley, who was still recovering at ringside, was surprised by Sane’s arrival.
Cody Rhodes defeated Damian Priest
This was fine. Crowd was super into it but for the third match in a row there was tons of interference towards the end and by this point on the show, it started to get exhausting.
Rhodes started off hot, but Priest managed to cut him off at ringside. Rhodes floated over Priest but landed on his injured ankle, allowing Priest to get the advantage. Rhodes came back with the disaster kick. They made their way to the announce table, where Priest managed to lay out Rhodes with the reckoning. Back in the ring, Rhodes fired back with the crossrhodes.
Oh my word, for the upteenth time in a row someone has come out to distract people. This time it’s Finn Balor and JD McDonagh. Balor distracted the referee as JD laid out Rhodes long enough for Priest to hit the South of Heaven chokeslam. Dominik Mysterio came out with a chair. Jey Uso then came out and supericked Mysterio. Rhodes made a comeback, and hit a Cody cutter from the top rope for a nearfall. Rhodes then hit three crossrhodes for the win.
Roman Reigns defeated LA Knight to retain the Undisputed WWE Universal title
This ended up being pretty good, but again there was lots of interference at the end. You expect that in most Roman Reigns matches, though. They pushed hard that LA Knight belonged on Reigns’ level and he was booked strongly despite losing.
Knight started off strong with punches but Reigns immediately cut him down. Knight came back with a shoulder block on the apron and slammed Roman down. As Roman consulted with Heyman, Knight hit a baseball slide to the floor and took down Roman with a clothesline off the apron. Reigns regained control and slowly began his offense, whipping Knight into the turnbuckle hard.
Roman laid down and applied a hold as he started to cut his monologue. Reigns spent a whole lot of the early part of the match doing a move then reacting to the crowd. Knight cut him off and hit a top rope bulldog, but Roman regained control and went for the Superman punch. Knight blocked the first attempt, but was laid out with a second attempt for a nearfall.
Reigns attempted a spear, but Knight leapfrogged over him and went for a superplex. Reigns knocked Knight off, but Knight leaped back on the turnbuckle and connected for a nearfall.
In the fourth interference spot in a row, Solo Sikoa distracted officials as Jimmy Uso dragged Reigns out of the ring. Knight attacked Jimmy but Reigns hit a Superman punch on the outside then hit Knight with a spear for a nearfall.
Reigns applied the guillotine to Knight, but night escaped, cut off Reigns and hit the BFT. Jimmy emerged again and put Reigns’ foot on the rope before the referee counted to three. Knight attacked Jimmy and eventually put him through a table. Reigns speared Knight on the outside through the barricade, took him back into the ring, then speared Knight again to retain his title.
Final Thoughts:This was a pretty good show, with Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre being the standout match. There was just way too many interference spots for my liking.
Maybe it’s because I focus more on posting news than doing reports like this but man did this show open my eyes on the amount of distraction finishes WWE does. AEW has been just as guilty recently too. That isn’t a great trend and can become a real crutch, as evidenced by this show.
A match has been added to WWE Crown Jewel’s kickoff show.
It was announced on Monday’s Raw that JD McDonagh will face Sami Zayn during the kickoff pre-show that will take place one hour prior to the start of Saturday’s Crown Jewel at noon ET.
Monday saw Zayn confront Rhea Ripley and the rest of the Judgment Day at the start of the show, saying he fought people like the Judgment Day his entire life. He promised that he would fight them until they were no more. The end of the show saw Zayn lay out McDonagh with a helluva kick after he and the rest of the Judgment Day got involved in the main event. Cody Rhodes gave McDonagh two crossroads on top of the announce table to end the show.
McDonagh in recent months has been attempting to win the favor of the Judgment Day in order to become a full-fledged member of the group. On Monday’s show, he lost to Seth Rollins despite Damian Priest coming to the ring and teasing that he would cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase. Rollins confronted Priest after the match, daring him to make a move.
Here is the updated lineup for Saturday’s Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia:
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
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
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
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.
Bianca Belair could be returning to WWE in the near future.
An official poster released for WWE Crown Jewel on November 4 features Belair along with John Cena, Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins, Logan Paul, Roman Reigns, and Rhea Ripley.
PWInsider is reporting that Belair could be back on WWE programming as soon as this Friday’s SmackDown in San Antonio.
Belair hasn’t wrestled since the August 18 edition of WWE SmackDown. She lost the WWE Women’s Championship less than two weeks earlier to IYO Sky at SummerSlam when Sky cashed in her Money in the Bank briefcase.
During an interview with Metro last month, Belair addressed her absence from WWE programming, saying she has been working on other projects and also taking time for “self-care.”
“Right now, it was just some self-care,” she said. “We did some things with us personally that I’m so excited about, it has to do with the future.”
A reality TV program starring Belair and Montez Ford titled “The Crawfords” is expected to be released on Hulu by the end of the year. Belair also mentioned wanting to write a children’s book.
The World Heavyweight Championship will be on the line at the WWE Crown Jewel pay-per-view on Saturday, November 4.
It was officially announced during Monday’s Raw show that Seth Rollins will defend his World title against Drew McIntyre in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The match came about following an in-ring promo from Rollins opened Raw. Rollins teased vacating his World Heavyweight title due to injury, but then stated that his reign was just getting started. McIntyre then entered and challenged Rollins to a title match. Rollins thought that McIntyre was issuing the challenge for Raw, but McIntyre said that he wants Rollins as close to 100 percent as possible and proposed the match for Crown Jewel. Rollins accepted the challenge.
Damian Priest hen ran in to attack Rollins while McIntyre looked on from the stage. McIntyre allowed the attack to commence. Dominik Mysterio entered with Priest’s Money in the Bank briefcase as a cash-in seemed imminent, but McIntyre stopped Mysterio while Rollins dealt with Priest in the ring.
Later on Raw in a backstage segment, Rollins said that on-screen authority figure Adam Pearce had made the bout official for Crown Jewel and chided McIntyre for playing mind games with him as a McIntyre heel turn continues to be foreshadowed.
Rollins defending against McIntyre is the first match official for Crown Jewel. Roman Reigns is expected to defend his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at the event as well, with his SmackDown appearance this Friday likely being used to set up a challenger. John Cena is also advertised for the November 4 show.
WWE Crown Jewel, Saturday, November 4, 1 p.m. Eastern time on Peacock & WWE Network —
World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins defends against Drew McIntyre
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.
While not officially announced by the company, the event will likely be the annual Crown Jewel pay-per-view. Last year’s Crown Jewel was held on November 5 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
WWE and Saudi Arabia announced a ten-year agreement in 2018 that called for the country to host two pay-per-view events annually. Only one show was held in Saudi Arabia in both 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
After not holding a pay-per-view event in December 2022, it is possible that WWE has rounded out their pay-per-view calendar for the rest of the year with the news of this second Saudi show.
A look at the WWE pay-per-view calendar for the next several months:
Saturday, August 5: SummerSlam at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan
Saturday, September 2: Payback at PPG Paints Arena In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Saturday, October 7: Fastlane at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana
Saturday, November 4: Pay-per-view in Saudi Arabia
Saturday, November 25: Survivor Series at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois
