WWE Crown Jewel preview & predictions: Where $50 million gets you a YouTuber vs. the Tribal Chief
The following is an opinion-based preview and doesn’t reflect the opinions or viewpoints of our website.
Saturday’s WWE Crown Jewel will be the first Saudi Arabia show run by the new WWE regime, but it looks as though they will be taking the same approach as before.
Everything WWE does on a Saudi show is about spectacle, larger-than-life characters, and getting media attention. It’s the kind of environment where Omos is a bigger star than AJ Styles and solid in-ring work means little.
The Roman Reigns vs. Logan Paul headliner is all about mainstream publicity, both for WWE and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Paul brings a lot of eyeballs with him wherever he goes making Riyadh an ideal place to put him against Reigns. The mainstream attention is exactly what Saudi wants out of its deal with WWE.
That is what they are paying $50 million a show for and WWE is going to deliver it at Crown Jewel.
On top of the main event, there are two matches on the show that will continue WWE’s Saudi tradition of pitting big guys up against each other — a super heavyweight division of sorts that is only active on these shows. Brock Lesnar vs. Bobby Lashley and Braun Strowman vs. Omos will be added to a Saudi list that already includes the following:
- Brock Lesnar defeated Roman Reigns (Greatest Royal Rumble 2018)
- Brock Lesnar defeated Braun Strowman (Crown Jewel 2018)
- Braun Strowman defeated Bobby Lashley (Super ShowDown 2019)
- The Undertaker defeated Goldberg (Super ShowDown 2019)
- Brock Lesnar defeated Cain Velasquez (Crown Jewel 2019)
- Tyson Fury defeated Braun Strowman via countout (Crown Jewel 2019)
- Goldberg defeated Bobby Lashley (Crown Jewel 2021)
- Roman Reigns defeated Brock Lesnar (Crown Jewel 2021)
- Roman Reigns defeated Goldberg (Elimination Chamber 2022)
There was also Goldberg defeating the Fiend at Super ShowDown 2020 if you want to put Wyatt in this imagined division.
Other matches at this year’s Crown Jewel have had “spectacle” added to them. Drew McIntyre vs. Karrion Kross isn’t quite a super heavyweight clash, but throwing in a steel cage stipulation adds a layer of pomp and circumstance that wasn’t there before. Bayley vs. Bianca Belair in a Last Woman Standing match will also have lots of bells and whistles attached.
It’s the same story for every Saudi show, for better or for worse. Here’s a look at Crown Jewel 2022.
Braun Strowman vs. Omos
There’s an unacknowledged dynamic to this match that involves Strowman coming to reclaim his title as the giant of WWE. On the week he was released from the company in 2021, our own Dave Meltzer reported that it was in part due to, “the feeling he was two years past his peak and he had become obsolete as the roster giant because of Omos on Raw, Commander Azeez on Smackdown, and perhaps Shanky on Raw, being on the main roster who were so much bigger than he is.”
In other words, WWE felt it had bigger giants so Strowman was no longer needed. His successors didn’t quite rise to the occasion after he left, however. Omos has done very little, Azeez was sent back to NXT and Shanky just doesn’t dance like he used to anymore. When Paul Levesque took over, putting Strowman back in the position of company giant was one of his first moves — a position that will be even more cemented when he beats Omos at Crown Jewel.
Also, this match will almost assuredly be horrendous.
Prediction: Braun Strowman
Karrion Kross vs. Drew McIntyre in a steel cage match
After losing to Reigns at Clash at the Castle and then losing to Kross in a strap match at Extreme Rules, it feels as though McIntyre could really use a win here. It seems likely he will even up this rivalry at Crown Jewel but it’s by no means a foregone conclusion.
Somewhat surprisingly, the odds for this match at Betonline.org as of this writing have McIntyre listed as only a -130 favorite. That he’s not a larger favorite perhaps owes to the fact that Levesque likes to book Kross as an unbeatable monster.
During his first run in WWE, Levesque had Kross win the NXT title in just his seventh match. He didn’t lose at all in NXT under Levesque’s watch until he had been called up to the main roster and they needed to get the belt off of him.
While McIntyre avenging his loss at Extreme Rules seems likely, it’s possible that Levesque wants to build Kross up for a match with Reigns or for another top program. This being a steel cage match does give WWE the option of having McIntyre win via escape, however, and thus keeping Kross strong by not having him get pinned.
Prediction: Drew McIntyre
The O.C. (AJ Styles, Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows) vs. Judgment Day (Finn Balor, Damian Priest & Dominik Mysterio)
For some fans, The O.C. vs. Judgment Day feud is all about the impact Bullet Club has had on the entire industry for almost a decade. It’s also a fairly important match in the history of NJPW’s NEVER Openweight Championship, but that’s another story altogether.
When WWE signed Styles, Anderson and Gallows in 2016, the idea was to capitalize off Bullet Club’s popularity. They saw just how many fans were showing up to their events with Bullet Club t-shirts and naturally decided they would like to have some of that money. They just never went anywhere with it once they had it. Now with Levesque in charge, they are getting a second crack at it.
So, it’s O.C., reunited once again, up against Balor’s new faction. There have been some references to Balor’s history in the club but it’s usually limited to him just mentioning that he was the guy who started it. It feels like they could be doing more to play off of history here, but that’s likely due to most of that history having occurred in another promotion.
Some comments by Gallows made shortly after his WWE release in 2020 on Tama Tonga’s podcast help illustrate how influential some feel Bullet Club has been:
“If there’s no Bullet Club, there’s no AEW. If there’s no Bullet Club, there’s no growth in professional wrestling. If there’s no Bullet Club, there really is no reason to have an NXT because why do you turn developmental into indie heaven and hire everybody in the business? There’s no reason to do it. Professional wrestling advanced because of what the Bullet Club was in Japan.”
So far, WWE has been unable to capture that same magic with The Club or The O.C. Perhaps Levesque will be more invested in it than Vince was, however.
Prediction: The O.C.
Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso) defend against The Brawling Brutes (Ridge Holland & Butch)
When this match takes place, The Usos will have exactly eight days left before they tie New Day’s record as the longest-reigning WWE tag champs of all time. It feels pretty likely that they will at least still hold the belts leading up to the November 11th SmackDown.
In other words, I’m not giving the Brawling Brutes much of a shot in this one.
Just being in this match (and the payday that comes with it) is a milestone achieved for Butch and Ridge Holland, however. The Brawling Brutes have been so good as of late that they basically just turned babyface without any real angle behind it. The fans just started cheering them and then they started getting booked against heels.
This match will continue the rivalry between The Bloodline and The Brawling Brutes, so it should be interesting to see how it all plays out. It’s possible this angle leads to Sheamus getting a shot against Reigns when he returns as well.
Prediction: The Usos
WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Alexa Bliss & Asuka defend against Damage CTRL (IYO Sky & Dakota Kai)
It’s been almost two months since the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships have been back on the show but they still don’t feel important as there’s really no women’s tag team division to go along with them.
The titles have changed hands three times already since they have returned and only Sky & Kai actually feel like a real team. Alexa Bliss & Asuka were basically just thrown together, just like Aliyah & Raquel Gonzalez were.
For these titles to feel important, WWE needs to start adding some true full-time teams into the mix. Granted, Levesque is in the process of hiring back plenty of wrestlers who could help make that a reality.
I imagine the belts are going back on Damage CTRL here. If Bayley wins the title at Crown Jewel as well, then you have all three members of the group wearing gold. Meanwhile, keeping the belts on Asuka & Bliss would serve little purpose at all.
Prediction: Damage CTRL
RAW Women’s Champion Bianca Belair defends against Bayley in a Last Woman Standing match
The ending here should be interesting considering what happened in their ladder match at Extreme Rules. With Bliss and Asuka storyline injured, the dastardly heel faction used the numbers advantage against the champion and it seemed like Bayley would surely win. Then Belair just beat up all three of them, climbed the ladder, and won.
Now at Crown Jewel, Bliss and Asuka are back in case Belair needs backup and the odds aren’t as much in Bayley’s favor. If Bayley is going to win the title here, she’ll need to have some type of heelish plan.
Survivor Series: WarGames is just around the corner and Damage CTRL seems a likely team be entered in the women’s match. This means they are going to need a fourth for their team and that could potentially factor into the end of this match too.
Prediction: Bayley
Brock Lesnar vs. Bobby Lashley
Now that Lesnar is back, it will be interesting to see how WWE uses him. His last run was all about putting over Reigns so the company might feel the need to build him back up a little.
Lesnar is 4-1 in singles matches in Saudi, defeating Reigns, Ricochet, Cain Velasquez, and Braun Strowman. He also won the Elimination Chamber match there earlier this year. Lesnar lost at Crown Jewel last year to Reigns, and is still always a key part of WWE shows in Saudi.
Lashley hasn’t won a match in WWE’s Saudi super heavyweight division yet, losing to Strowman (Super ShowDown 2019) and to Goldberg (Crown Jewel 2021).
Lesnar still needs to avenge his loss to Lashley from the Royal Rumble earlier this year, and Crown Jewel seems like a good time to do that. This could potentially open the door for a rubber match between the two somewhere down the line as well.
Prediction: Brock Lesnar
Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns defends against Logan Paul
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will pay $50 million for this show and what they want in return is the kind of publicity a celebrity like Paul can provide. It’s not about catering to WWE fans; it’s about putting on a show that will put eyeballs on the country.
WWE’s deal with the Kingdom (not Mike Bennett & Matt Taven) is part of Saudi Vision 2030, a program aimed at improving the country’s image in addition to diversifying its economy. The Kingdom is banking on WWE events, golf tournaments, boxing matches, and more to showcase Saudi Arabia on the world stage.
All of this is to say that the goal of WWE’s Saudi shows is far different than for a typical premium live event.
Reigns and Paul don’t need to have a good match from bell to bell. The idea will be to get a few cool-looking spots in there that can be shared on social media and thus make Crown Jewel look like a world-class event.
As for the match itself, the story they are building involves Paul having knockout power due to screws inserted into his knuckles, and the Tribal Chief not taking the match seriously at all. The most likely scenario here is that Reigns doesn’t give his challenger any credit until he is hit with a mighty blow that all of a sudden makes an upset seem possible.
In the end, however, Reigns will pull out the victory but it will be a far closer match than he had anticipated.
Prediction: Roman Reigns