Two matches for new ceremonial championships highlight today’s WWE Crown Jewel from Saudi Arabia.
Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Cody Rhodes faces WWE World Heavyweight Champion Gunther, and WWE Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan takes on WWE Women’s Champion Nia Jax for the men’s and women’s Crown Jewel championships.
Now reunited, Roman Reigns will team up with The Usos to take on three members of The Bloodline (Solo Sikoa, Jacob Fatu, Tama Tonga or Tonga Loa).
Seth Rollins will take on Bronson Reed in a grudge match while Randy Orton battles Kevin Owens in a high-profile bout.
WWE United States Champion LA Knight will defend against Carmelo Hayes and Andrade in a three-way while WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Jade Cargill & Bianca Belair defend against Chelsea Green & Piper Niven, Lash Legend & Jakara Jackson, and IYO SKY & Kairi Sane in a four-way.
The main card kicks off at 1 PM Eastern on Peacock/WWE Network.
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Show Recap —
COUNTDOWN SHOW —
Michael Cole, Big E and Corey Graves hosted the 2-hour countdown show outside the arena surrounded by fans.
Gunther sit-down interview
Joe Tessitore did a sit-down interview with Gunther. Gunther saw Randy Orton as a big obstacle heading into their first match. He knew beating Orton would change his career. However, going into his match against Cody Rhodes, he already sees himself ahead of Rhodes. Rhodes came into this match with much support but would get choked out.
Tessitore asked what it would be like to have the large belt in his hands if he won. Gunther called it materialistic but it would be nice and would allow him to call himself the number one champion in WWE and that’s what it was all about.
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Seth Rollins told Cathy Kelley that he was not 100% but that never stopped him before. Today’s match against Bronson Reed was a big test, one of the biggest of his career. It wasn’t just about slaying this monster but finding out what he had left in the tank. He had his eyes on big things and needed to find out if this was the version of Seth Rollins that was ready to take another run at the world title.
(This was a good promo and certainly better than the one on Raw trying to tell us there’s a monster inside of him.)
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There was an extraordinarily long Braun Strowman video package (who is injured and not on today’s show).
Kevin Owens promo
Kelley interviewed Kevin Owens (wearing a Cowboy Bob Orton shirt). Owens was hilarious here. He told a story about how the company sent them on some activities in the middle of the desert. They were told to go enjoy themselves so they took a ride in a dune buggy. That dune buggy flipped three or four times. (Kelley confirmed this happened.)
They were in a car accident and he had no doubt the driver was paid off by Orton or Rhodes. This was all because he attacked their golden boy Cody. Now they were making him do something he didn’t want to do and that was fight his friend Orton. He loved Orton. He apologized to Kelley who was in the dune buggy with him and was collateral damage. He said whatever happened to Orton today was his own fault.
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Triple H spoke to Nathalie Mamo about how great their arrangement has been with Saudi Arabia. She asked if WWE was here to stay and he said, “Yes.”
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Jackie Redmond and Sheamus replaced Cole and Graves for the second hour of the pre-show.
There was a video of Big E trying local cuisine.
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Cody Rhodes interview
Kelley interviewed Rhodes on his bus. She asked how he was feeling. He said if he had any complaints they would be so surface-level that they couldn’t compete with the fact that this was the happiest he’s been professionally. It was a dream come true.
There was an element of leadership involved. That excited him because when he had a leadership role in the past he didn’t do well with it. He failed with his past leadership but at least he knew why. So this was an opportunity to plug back in and perhaps there was a leadership future beyond wrestling with WWE. It’s been something he’s thought about lately.
Kelley asked about the impact this has had on his family. She noted Cody wanted to spend more time with his daughter but his schedule was very demanding. Rhodes was willing to do more work because of his family. He was lucky to have Brandi and she was his rock.
He spoke about teaming up with Roman Reigns. The Rock appearing after that match was a reminder that he could stick his big, bald, shiny head in the mix anytime. He called Gunther the best on paper but he was also overconfident. Gunther couldn’t get under his skin and Rhodes’ Universal title was the north star of their business.
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Kelley interviewed Nia Jax backstage. She planned on squashing Liv Morgan and would squash Raquel Rodriguez and Dominik Mysterio if she had to. She wasn’t worried about Tiffany Stratton because she knew it wasn’t her time to cash in.
Kelley interviewed LA Knight whose birthday was yesterday. He didn’t celebrate his birthday because he was in the gym. He soiled the Cheerios of Nick Aldis who was pretty upset for spoiling his game seven between Andrade El Idiot and Carmelo Hayes. Hayes said he doesn’t miss but he did miss and will miss again. The odds have been stacked against Knight his entire career but nothing was going to change. He was going to walk out as champion.
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One of the final things on the pre-show was a video package for AJ Styles (who is injured and not on today’s show).
Cole and Graves made their entrance for commentary.
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CROWN JEWEL 2024 MAIN SHOW ––
Various wrestlers were shown arriving at the arena. The large belt arrived too.
6-man tag team match: Solo Sikoa, Jacob Fatu & Tama Tonga (w/Tonga Loa) defeated Roman Reigns & The Usos (16:37)
Sikoa pinned Reigns.
The new Bloodline entered first. Roman Reigns and Jimmy Uso entered together to Reigns’ music (as the crowd chanted “OTC”). Jey Uso entered last to his own music through the crowd. The fans Yeeted and sang along to his song.
Everyone wore some combination of black and red except for Jey who wore his new blue, pink and white gear. The show was 20 minutes old by the time the bell rang.
Jey and Tama started. Jimmy tagged in and the Usos worked well together. Jacob Fatu tagged in but the Usos had no trouble with him. They cleared the ring and Reigns seemed pleased.
The crowd loudly chanted, “We want Roman.” Reigns called for a tag but Jey tagged in Jimmy instead. (Graves said Jey wanted Reigns to know he wasn’t in charge and that they were all on the same level.) Jey and Roman argued while Jimmy tried keeping them on the same page but the distraction allowed the Bloodline to get the heat on him.
Tama missed a Stinger splash and Jey tagged in. He hit strikes and a running hip attack for two. Fatu tagged in and gave Jey a pop-up Samoan drop to take over. The Bloodline worked over Jey for a while and Tama knocked Jimmy off the apron. Jey fought him off and made the hot tag to Reigns.
Reigns and Sikoa exchanged blows. Reigns got the better of it and hit a leaping clothesline, uranage and Superman punch. Sikoa blocked a spear and hit a Samoan spike. It actually looked like Sikoa got a three-count but the ref stopped his count at two even though Reigns didn’t kick out. The camera didn’t catch Jimmy breaking up the cover and he was late too.
Jey handed out superkicks but Fatu headbutted him while outside the ring. Reigns gave Sikoa another Superman punch. He yanked Tama into the ring but Tama knocked over the referee in the process. Reigns handed out more Superman punches. Fatu blocked the attempt on him and headbutted Reigns. Fatu tackled Reigns and hit a step-up moonsault. Fatu also wiped out Jey with a suicide dive.
Sikoa took advantage and hit Reigns with consecutive Samoan spikes for the pinfall win. The crowd was stunned.
— The four Bloodline members attacked Roman and Jimmy after the match. They cleared the announce table and Jey tried making the save but they beat him up too. The crowd chanted for Sami Zayn.
They placed a chair around Jey’s neck and were about to kill him but Sami Zayn entered and they stopped what they were doing. Zayn stood tall as he faced off with the Bloodline. The crowd chanted, “Sami Uso.”
Sikoa wanted Zayn to join them and offered an embrace. Zayn went to hug him but gave him an exploder suplex instead. The Bloodline swarmed Zayn but he was saved by Reigns and the Usos.
They cleared the ring leaving Sikoa on his own and it seemed like he was done for. However, Reigns went for a Superman punch while Zayn simultaneously went for a running boot. Sikoa ducked and Zayn knocked out Reigns with the boot. That looked great. Sikoa bailed.
Jimmy got in Zayn’s face until Jey separated them. Zayn left on his own while Jey remained with Jimmy and Roman.
(It was typical Bloodline stuff where the match itself was fine but everything surrounding it was well put together.)
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— The Sportsnet feed in Canada completely died after the opening match and didn’t come back on until the women’s tag match was well underway. They were at the point where everyone was trading high spots by the time the feed returned.
Fatal 4-way tag team match: Jade Cargill & Bianca Belair defeated Chelsea Green & Piper Niven, Kairi Sane & IYO SKY and Lash Legend & Jakara Jackson to retain the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships
Cargill and Belair retained the titles with a Doomsday Device on Piper Niven. The champs didn’t seem all that happy after the match.
The match seemed to go about 11-12 minutes.
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Seth Rollins defeated Bronson Reed (12:21)
Rollins entered first and went after Reed on the entrance ramp as Reed entered. They brawled toward the ring and Rollins hit a suicide dive. However, Reed grabbed Rollins and slammed him over the barricade into some leather chairs.
They got in the ring and the match officially started. Reed immediately hit a Tsunami. He went for another instead of attempting a cover but Rollins moved and hit a curb stomp, barely getting a two count. Rollins went for a sunset flip but Reed sat down on him. Reed worked him over until Rollins countered a powerbomb into a DDT.
Rollins followed with a flying clothesline but Reed remained on his feet. Reed met Rollins on the middle rope but Rollins headbutted him off and followed with a frog splash for just a one count. Rollins hit a rolling forearm but Reed just knocked him over and hit a spinning sit-out powerbomb for two. Reed followed with a DVD for two and a superplex for two.
Rollins smacked Reed in the face so Reed just leveled him with a clothesline. Reed set up for Tsunami but Rollins rolled to the other side of the ring. Reed hit a senton and went back to the top but Rollins rolled out of the ring this time.
Reed grabbed the steel steps and tried to hit Rollins with it but Rollins swept his leg out. Rollins followed with a curb stomp onto the steps. Reed slipped into the ring to avoid a count-out but Rollins immediately hit a curb stomp. Rollins went to the top and hit a super stomp for the pinfall win.
This was really good.
— Rollins gingerly made his way to the ramp as Reed emerged to his feet to Rollins’ surprise. Reed had a stream of blood down his face. Reed wanted more and Rollins told him the result would be the same next time.
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If you’re reading this you know this already but it bears mentioning that all of the women featured today have been covered neck-to-toe in their outfits.
They showed the angle from NXT where Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez laid out Rhea Ripley in the parking lot.
Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan defeated WWE Women’s Champion Nia Jax to win the WWE Women’s Crown Jewel Championship (8:14)
This was overbooked to death.
Jax headbutted Morgan early in the match. (Ripley headbutting Morgan a few weeks ago is seemingly how she got injured. I didn’t see the full women’s tag match earlier because the stream went down, but in all three of the other matches there have been headbutts.)
Morgan hit a tornado DDT for two. Cole said it would be a huge upset if Morgan won and Graves rightly told him that it shouldn’t be considered an upset if one champion beats the other. Jax hit a Samoan drop for two. Jax hit a super Samoan drop off the middle rope for two. Jax went to the middle rope but Morgan brought her down with a powerbomb.
That brought out Tiffany Stratton (to her music). She was about to cash in but Jax told her off. Stratton tried to claim she was going to cash in on Morgan. Jax told her to leave. Morgan hit a crucifix bomb into a cover for two. (Or at least she tried to. Jax initially landed right on top of her and Morgan had to adjust to make the cover.)
Stratton made her way back down to the ring as Morgan went for Oblivion but Jax countered into a slam for two. Stratton hopped on the apron hoping to cash in (on Liv) but she was yanked down by Rodriguez. Jax went after Rodriguez but that allowed Morgan to hit a Codebreaker off the ropes for two.
Morgan and Rodriguez cornered Stratton against the barricade and Jax knocked them all over with a tackle. Jax hit Morgan with a leg drop in the ring. Jax set up for Annihilator while Dominik Mysterio distracted the referee. Rodriguez knocked Jax off the ropes and Morgan hit Oblivion for the pinfall win.
— After the match, Triple H handed the Crown Jewel title belt to Morgan. She held up both belts and the Crown Jewel belt was basically twice the size of the regular belt.
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Kevin Owens vs. Randy Orton
The match didn’t happen.
Owens (wearing a Cowboy Bob Orton shirt) attacked Orton with a chair from behind during his entrance. Owens cleared the announce table but Orton fought him off and gave him a back suplex onto the table. Orton sold his knee, which Owens targeted earlier with the chair.
Owens attacked Orton with the chair again until referee Eddie Orengo yanked it out of his hands. Owens gave Orengo a stunner and he took a great bump. Officials ran down as Orton attacked Owens with the chair. Orton drove Owens onto the other announce table as officials scrambled around.
Cole said the match has been waived off. Shawn Daivari tried to stop Orton so Orton kicked him and chucked him out of the ring.
Adam Pearce tried to stop Orton so Orton gave him an RKO. The brawl continued through the crowd. Owens hit Orton with an equipment box and Orton was laid out over some tables. Owens ran up the stairs and did a crazy flying elbow drop off the railing. Officials checked on both men.
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Triple threat match: LA Knight defeated Carmelo Hayes and Andrade to retain the United States Championship (9:09)
They had a fun, fast-paced match with lots of creative spots. There was a great spot early where Andrade went to the top, seemingly targeting Hayes in the ring, but instead hit a moonsault to the outside on Knight. (Knight checked to make sure Andrade was okay and he was.)
Andrade hit Hayes with an avalanche fallaway slam for two. With both men down, Knight hit them with a diving elbow drop for two. Later on, Knight leaped onto the top rope to hit Andrade with an avalanche German suplex. (Knight slipped initially and actually crotched himself before readjusting to hit the move.) Hayes followed with Nothing But Net on Knight for two.
Hayes went for a facebuster on Andrade but Knight caught him with BFT for the pinfall win.
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On Monday’s Raw, being taped Sunday in Riyadh, there will be a world title number one contender’s match between Seth Rollins, Damian Priest, Dominik Mysterio and Sheamus.
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Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes defeated World Heavyweight Champion Gunther to win the WWE Men’s Crown Jewel Championship (23:00)
The crowd loudly sang along with Rhodes’ song. They started the match with “Olé” chants and sang for Cody Rhodes. Rhodes wore navy blue, gold and white. Gunther wore black and white.
They went back and forth for the first five minutes. Rhodes had the advantage first, followed by Gunther. Gunther went for the sleeper but Rhodes quickly slipped out of it. The crowd was red-hot (it seemed like they were going to be hot no matter what was happening in the ring).
Rhodes hit jabs but Gunther cut him off before he could do the bionic elbow. Gunther taunted the fans before hitting Rhodes with an uppercut. Rhodes hit the Dustin Rhodes uppercut and clotheslines to knock Gunther out of the ring. Rhodes knocked Gunther off the apron with a springboard kick. Gunther tried a sleeper again but Rhodes knocked him out of the ring.
Gunther blocked a suicide dive, drove Rhodes into the side of the ring and body-slammed him outside the ring. Gunther worked over Rhodes and the crowd continued with Olé chants. The announcers figured the fans were trying to get in Gunther’s head knowing he lost to Sami Zayn at WrestleMania. The fans followed by doing the wave.
Rhodes came back with a body slam and delayed reverse vertical suplex but Gunther responded with a body slam of his own. Rhodes followed with a superplex, powerslam, jabs and a bionic elbow. The crowd chanted for Dusty before Cody hit a Cody Cutter for two.
Rhodes tried a Disaster Kick but Gunther blocked it and applied a Boston crab. Rhodes almost escaped so Gunther hit a German suplex and applied the sleeper. Rhodes fought out with jawbreakers. Gunther went for the sleeper again but Rhodes countered into a Cross Rhodes. The crowd chanted, “This is awesome.”
Gunther hit a dropkick and powerbomb for two. Gunther chopped Rhodes and dismissively smacked him in the face. Rhodes shoved Gunther and fired back with forearms. Gunther tried a sleeper but Rhodes countered with a back suplex. Gunther came right back with a clothesline but Rhodes countered another clothesline attempt with Cross Rhodes for a nearfall.
Rhodes went for a super Cody Cutter but Gunther caught him in a sleeper. However, Rhodes immediately rolled through into a cradle for the pinfall win. (As Graves noted, this was shades of Bret Hart.) Gunther slammed the mat in frustration.
This was really good.
— Gunther and Rhodes shook hands post-match. Gunther had some words for Rhodes before he left.
Rhodes was handed the Crown Jewel belt. Cole explained what Triple H informed us of earlier, that both the women’s and men’s belts would remain in Saudi Arabia and the winners, Morgan and Rhodes, would be given rings instead.
Morgan entered and she posed alongside Rhodes and Triple H. Triple H eventually left the ring and the two champions posed together as the show ended.
