Crown Jewel V - 11/5/2023

[Dolfan in NYC]

Live from Riyadh, KSA (hopefully... ) it's the 5th Crown Jewel.  

THE CARD~

FOR THE UNDISPUTED WWE UNIVERSAL CHAMPIONSHIP - Roman Reigns (c) vs. LA Knight

FOR THE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP - Seth F. Rollins (c) vs. Drew McIntyre

FATAL 5 WAY FOR THE WOMEN'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP - Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Nia Jax vs. Shayna Baszler vs. Zoey Stark vs. Raquel Rodriguez

FOR THE WWE WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP - Iyo Sky (c) vs. Bianca Bel Air

FOR THE UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP - Rey Mysterio (c) vs. Logan Paul

Cody Rhodes vs. Damien Priest

John Cena vs. Solo Sikoa

**Sami Zayn vs. JD McDonagh

 

--

** - Pre-show match

Also, while I obliquely referenced the war in the area, please do not even go there unless it becomes really relevant to this show.  That's not going to lead to anything good, I promise. 

[Cobra Commander]

Knock on wood, but I think it should go off without much of a hitch. But 3 weeks is awhile for things like this.

Not sure if I should just call the Crown Jewel cards "SaudiMania" and give a secondary title to the non-CJ Saudi shows (SaudiSlam?)

[dragonzombie]

The Roman Reigns  (c) vs LA Knight for the Undisputed WWE Universal title match is officially set.

Rhea Ripley is defending the Women’s World title against Nia Jax, Shayna Baszler, Zoey Stark and Raquel Rodriguez.

https://www.wwe.com/shows/wwe-crown-jewel/2023

[dragonzombie]

Watching Cena lose is like when Optimus Prime dies.

I'm happy Seth won. Mostly because it makes anti-fans mad.

Kairi Sane!

Roman won. I'm enjoying all the seethe online.

Yum.

 

[Black Angel]

Is it just me or does Saxton kinda sounds like Fink?

Edited November 4, 2023 by Black Angel

[Dog]

Is Zayn/JD worth watching?

[TheVileOne]

Pretty good show for a Saudi Arabia one. 

* Happy to see a Kickoff show match again, and they should go back to making that a regular thing. Sami Zayn and JD McDonagh warmed up the crowd. Nothing too spectacular, and it was a good way to setup Sami Zayn coming back for his angle later.

* Good world title match for Seth and Drew. They did a good job with the Money in the Bank cash-in tease. I really thought that was going to be it, but then Sami Zayn comes in and steals it. I mean, you should think with the briefcase being so valuable more people would attempt this. I recall the last instance of this was Baron Corbin a couple of years ago, but that was a midcard angle, and Big E got his briefcase back at SummerSlam with their kickoff show match. Not sure what the plans are for Sami Zayn, but now that his duo with Owens is broken up, this could be a good way to put him back into the world title mix. The World Heavyweight Title is still a boo-boo belt consolation prize, but WWE has made it clear that Sami is never going to be *THE* guy, and he's never beating Roman Reigns.

* The women's Fatal 5-Way was nothing special. IMHO they should've just booked Rhea Ripley vs. Nia Jax and then let the other women fight it out for a title shot. Rhea Ripley looked good and dominant at least. They do seem to be protecting Raquel Rodriguez a bit, so I think if anyone could potentially unseat Ripley it would be her. Also, nice stuff with Rhea Ripley attempting to lure over Drew McIntyre and Rhea appearing more like the brains and leader of Judgment Day.

* Solo Sikoa vs. John Cena did its job. Gave Solo Sikoa a big and dominant win. I liked how he beat Cena with just a bunch of spikes. If you ever needed proof that Cena is an unselfish worker who puts other guys over this was it. He made Sikoa look like an absolute beast here. Fans seemed genuinely shocked and upset that Cena lost, which was good.

* Iyo Sky vs. Bianca Belair was nothing special. IMHO the women just didn't have that great chemistry. The match was more about Kairi's return. They could've gone a couple more minutes after Belair avoided the count-out loss. Match came to an abrupt end after that. Not sure why Kairi felt it was time to come back now. Maybe Triple H being back in charge and the pandemic changed things, but glad to see her back. She looked great, and it's nice to see her as a heel too.

* Logan Paul winning the US title is a smart play. Is he a part-timer? Yes, which makes this angle that much better. You have an unlikable, part-timer snobby social media influencer as the champion. You have the very model of a guy that the IWC and wrestling fans hate, except he's actually super talented and athletic in the ring, and at only eight matches, he looks more talented and more seasoned than professionals who have been doing this for years. Having Logan Paul hoarding the title and hauling it over the division, taking it on his podcast, and showing it off, all while he seldom defends it will be great for whenever he loses it, whoever beats him. He should ideally hold the belt until WrestleMania at the very least. 

* It looks like they are finally pulling the trigger on Santos heel turn. Note that he left the brass knuckles on the ring apron, which Logan Paul then used to beat Mysterio. They've waited too long on that. Santos should've been pissed when Mysterio stole his title shot he won a tournament over weeks to earn. Arguably, Santos would be justified turning heel on Mysterio. Frankly, Mysterio held the title too long as it is. He doesn't really need extended title reigns anymore. Logan Paul winning was the right decision. The era of Logan Paul as US champion is going to be a great one.

* We'll see where they go from here with LA Knight and keep him as a top star or if this is where he tapers off. If they want to continue pushing him, he should get a prime spot in War Games next month, which won't have Reigns on the card. Just seems like if Roman Reigns loses the belt, it's going to be to Cody at an event like WrestleMania 40 or such. They've kept Cody fairly strong in the WrestleMania off-season and kept him babyface as a potential challenger for Reigns and possibly win at the Rumble again. Other than Cody, no one else has really emerged as a contender besides Knight, and Knight just lost. Gunther could be the next guy, but he'll beat the champion who ends Roman Reigns' title run. He's not going to be the guy who beats Reigns either.

* OK so what's the deal with Jimmy Uso? If Jimmy Uso is still part of the Bloodline after all that earlier this year, it's absolutely ridiculous. 

 

 

[TheVileOne]

4 minutes ago, Dog said:

Is Zayn/JD worth watching?

It's a fun, quick little pre-show match. About ten minutes, Zayn gets a strong and dominant win.

[hammerva]

your argument about Logan Paul winning is valid if it wasn't for the fact you now 2 champions on Smackdown who you will be lucky to see once every 4 months.  Have to think Logan will be full-time at least for a few months 

The fact that Solo kind of dominated Cena today tells you that his lazy performance against Theory at WM might less be on Cena and more of Cena thinking Theory is not worth it

Edited November 4, 2023 by hammerva

[Jamal]

About the only thing I found interesting was Kairi's return. 

[TheVileOne]

37 minutes ago, hammerva said:

your argument about Logan Paul winning is valid if it wasn't for the fact you now 2 champions on Smackdown who you will be lucky to see once every 4 months.  Have to think Logan will be full-time at least for a few months 

The fact that Solo kind of dominated Cena today tells you that his lazy performance against Theory at WM might less be on Cena and more of Cena thinking Theory is not worth it

I'm not sure it's laziness on Cena's part more so that he's 46 years old now, slowing down, and he has to be more careful about what bumps he takes with his movie/tv obligations.

I really don't think the champion thing is that big of an issue. Roman Reigns was the only world champion for over a year, and I don't think it was a problem at all. To me it's just another example that the brand split is irrelevant and doesn't truly exist. You could also have other champions appear on SmackDown as you see fit. It's not like they don't already do that because they do. For example, Logan Paul has that goofy free-agent status, so they can book him on whatever show they want.

Since Logan Paul has embraced the heel role, I think they should make the idea that he's a part-timer and keeping the belt away from worthy challengers part of the act. On paper, he's everything wrestling fans and the IWC don't want as a champion. Lean into that. Embrace the hate.

Edited November 4, 2023 by TheVileOne

[odessasteps]

Did they play up Cena vs Umaga history in this match tonight? 

[TheVileOne]

1 hour ago, odessasteps said:

Did they play up Cena vs Umaga history in this match tonight? 

I forget what was said, but I think they did name-drop Umaga tonight. 

[odessasteps]

I sped thru the show. I was mainly curious how they would costume the women based on the restrictions. 

[Phantom Lord]

I watched most of the show which surprised me. It was all right for the most part. Can't stand that Rollins retained the title. He is so bland as a champion. I almost wanted to see Damien Priest cash in but luckily Sami put a stop to that.

The women's five way was as good as you could expect a five way to be. Everyone got their spots in...Nia didn't win. The world rejoices. 

Solo vs. Cena was a good match. I liked Cena trying to work over the spike so it would be ineffective. This was a huge match for Solo and the ten spikes he gave Cena were incredible. It's amazing to think there was a time Cena could survive anyone's finisher.

Iyo vs. Bianca was all right. Typical match for the two. I obviously marked out for KAIRI's return. Iyo leaving Bayley should be a fun angle when it officially happens.

Rey vs. Logan was what it was. I didn't expect Logan to win, but I can live with it especially in the manner that he did. Not sure if it's going to help having the two top champions of Smackdown being part timers (ooops got ahead of myself there).

Cody vs. Damien was good for what it was. Cody needs to turn the page of his story all ready. Go for Rollins or something all ready. Hell, they could have probably had Priest cash in and win only for this match to be for the World title and he ends up losing to Cody. It wouldn't have been the craziest thing they have done with a world title.

LA Knight vs. Roman was pretty good for your usual Roman match at this point. I had a small glimmer of hope that Knight would shock the world and win, but when Jimmy came out to ringside I knew that wasn't happening. I guess we're getting Roman to WM 40 as champion which shouldn't be too hard considering I read that he might be done for the rest of the year. It's easy to pile on days as a champion if you don't have to defend it anytime soon.

[Ziggy]

I really enjoyed Sami vs JD McDonough and the Opener of Seth vs Drew. I thought Rey should've gotten more offense in the early parts of the match. If was hard to buy into Logan just getting the better of the 30 year vet almost the entire match. I understand they really wanted to put over the size difference but Rey should have shown how much more experienced he was by out wrestling him early in the match especially considering how much Paul was going to dominate. 

The Bloodline interference in Roman's matches are so convoluted but I like how the agents and refs stopped Solo in the main event. I will say that the interference by Jimmy was a way to keep LA Knight strong in defeat since Roman needed help.Its just that its the same formula for all of Roman's title defenses with the Usos involvement and the melodramatic selling, like Roman will never have a nomal match without these tropes .Solo got put over huge between that and Cena. The jury is still in about Solo not being good at all but tonight he held up but it's Cena he was against here and he went out his way to get Solo over. I even enjoyed the 5 way. Mostly everything was solid on the show.  

[The Natural]

Damn.