WWE Crown Jewel seemed like one Premium Live Event too many, but when you get paid as much as WWE does for the show, you force it in. It was a good show according to most, but it also felt fairly unnecessary.
Paul Fontaine
Grade: B
Very good show. Every match either met expectation or over delivered. Crowd was hot all night. The “non match” with Kevin Owens and Randy Orton was awesome. Best match was the main event but the women’s 4 way tag was excellent as well and the best thing besides that. I might have even gone higher for the grades but the two Crown Jewel Championship matches felt somewhat meaningless even though the men’s was outstanding and one of the better WWE matches of the year.
Jeff Hawkins
Grade: B+
They hit the right notes unless you were thinking Saudi WrestleMania. Got Sami a pop, Solo pinned Roman. Gunther was hoisted by his own petard, and furthered the other stories. The crowd has been conditioned to know things (NXT, Joe Hendry). The four way tag was a highlight for me and it was better than it had a right to be with Damage-CTRL and Chelsea/Piper as steady hands and Meta Four not showing any fear of the moment. If anything Lash and Jakara may have both outshined Jade Cargill.
Jeremy Finestone
Grade: B+
One of the better PLE offerings lately, Crown Jewel benefitted from a WrestleMania like atmosphere in Riyadh. The Bloodline started the show and lead a night full of story and drama, pathos was prioritized over top level in ring action. This show didn’t pay off much but whet the appetite for what’s to come next. Shoutout to the Bronson Reed entrance with the drone to heighten the menace of Reed.
Keila Cash
Grade: B+
This was a very solid PLE by WWE as the card flowed with very little down time. The Bloodline Saga continues as Sami Zayn accidentally super kicked Roman Reigns as he tried to help his former crew against The Bloodline 2.0. It's planting seeds for a full blown family reunion heading into Survivor Series: War Games in Vancouver later this month.
The Fatal Four Way Match for the Women's Tag Team Championship exceeded expectations as all four teams balled out as Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson continue to gain experience as they transition from NXT to the main roster in the coming months.
LA Knight vs. Andrade vs. Carmelo Hayes for the United States Championship was a gem of a Triple Threat Match with a clever finish as Knight continues to do more for the title than Logan Paul ever did during hie lackluster reign as Champion.
Cody Rhodes and Liv Morgan being the first Crown Jewel Champions was expected, but in a good way. Morgan was especially emotionally after beating Nia Jax. The match was overbooked, but seeing pockets of babyface Liv was nice to see.
Cody Rhodes vs. GUNTHER was a very good match involving two ring generals that know to put on a show via high drama and great wrestling between the ropes. GUNTHER lost in a way that still protects him while Rhodes continues to make the case that he is The Wrestler of The Year by delivering another four-plus star banger.
Overall, the show breezed by under three hours which should be the standard for all the B Level PLEs. The Saudi shows are still polarizing with good reason, but WWE has made an effort to put a good show over the past couple of years which makes these shows much easier to watch while still giving a strong side eye to the propaganda of it all.
Scott Young
Grade: B (almost a B+)
It was a very enjoyable show with a crowd excited about everything they saw. A high energy and great story telling first match set the table for the rest of the show and a great champion vs. champion match closed it. Good matches from top to bottom. The only thing this show was missing to push it up a notch was that great show stealing match for people to rave about.
GG
Grade: C+
This show felt a little unnecessary, though, it did feature a few things that made the show feel worthy of being a Premium Live Event, including the Bloodline getting a big win over Roman Reigns. There was a botch in the middle that took away from the moment, but when Solo pinned Roman Reigns, it felt like one of the better heel wins in recent memory. But the rest of the show kind of lulled for me after that until the main event.
The women's Crown Jewel championship match didn't feel like the two best women's wrestlers in WWE. It needed so many smoke and mirrors to be passable that it felt a little cheap. While Randy Orton and Kevin Owens had a great brawl, we were promised a match and we didn't get it. It felt like something that should've been promoted as a non-wrestling segment, or just held off for TV. Cody vs. Gunther was the best wrestling match on the show, but because of a stipulation that no one really cared about, it was a little light in importance.
