The WWE landed in Australia for Crown Jewel, the company’s second pay-per-view under the ESPN banner, and while an 8 AM start time on the east coast initially might not have been a selling point for fans in North America, the feedback from the event could prompt subscriptions for the replay or potentially for the next premium live event.
As with any subscription model, particularly with a $30 price tag, it almost brings back a potential pitfall from the traditional days of pay-per-view, it’s very possible for fans might cherry-pick, specifically for the remainder of the John Cena retirement tour, certain months to subscribe for particular events and then skip some of the other PPVs on the calendar.
The show opened with Roman Reigns vs. Bronson Reed in an Australian Street Fight, and it went a few minutes too long, but it was a solid match with enough interference to build to a crescendo at the finish. On one hand, starting the show off with a gimmick match could lead to diminishing returns, but the weapons that they used were basic enough that it didn’t really take anything away from the rest of the card. More importantly, this made Bronson Reed look like a contender, and how far up the ladder he can go remains to be seen, but management undoubtedly gave him the credibility of the pin fall victory over Roman Reigns to give him the opportunity to make the most of it. All things considered, I really don’t think a defeat does anything to hinder Roman’s status since he was cemented as a top guy previously and his performance continues to be quality even outside of the gravitas of the main event scene. There was interference to protect the baby face, but it was still presented as a dominate win for Reed. It will be interesting to see how he develops as a character and his overall perception on Raw going forward. It should be noted that when he returned from the leg injury that he suffered at Survivor Series last year, Reed trimmed down somewhat while still maintaining a big man frame, which will probably add at least five years to his career.
The Stephanie Vaquer/Tiffany Stratton bout was a 10-minute sprint, and taking into account the rest of the event, I don’t think that a shorter contest did anything to hinder the presentation itself. If nothing else, something that wasn’t 15 or 20 minutes added some variety and a layer of unpredictability to the show. For example, one of the main criticisms I’ve had about All Elite Wrestling pay-per-views is the copy and paste format that will give more or less every title match either 20 minutes or longer so the viewers basically know that nothing before that time frame could potentially be the finish. In some ways, this was a clash of styles, as Vaquer’s international background puts her in the true work rate category so to speak, which she has tailored to the WWE audience, and Tiffany is more based on the WWE system. That’s not a knock on either of them, but rather to point out some of the dynamic of the segment. There was a few clunky moments, but overall this was a good match that built well to the finish with the moonsault from the top rope to give Vaquer the win. Considering how dynamic of a performer that Vaquer is, it makes sense for her to get the extra spotlight at this pay-per-view.
Since I didn’t get a chance to watch this show when it originally aired live, I was able to avoid spoilers until I could watch the PPV on Saturday, but I heard the rave reviews of the John Cena/AJ Styles match before I watched it. Truth to told, I usually take hype around a match or an entire event with a grain of salt until I get a chance to see it myself. A great match to one person isn’t necessarily a great match to someone else. That being said, I thought that the Cena/Styles bout was a very fun and very entertainment segment without necessarily being the typical barn burner of the modern era, as far as the type of segments that garner buzz today.
It will probably be a memorable match in hindsight, and as mentioned, it was very entertaining, but it was essentially a tribute match where they did a lot of other wrestlers’ moves, which made for a very fun viewing experience, but it’s not something where they built compelling drama organically through back and fourth action. That’s not meant as a jab at either one of them, as they are both all-time legends, but rather to point out the difference in the presentation. It made sense for Cena to get the victory to continue to build to his retirement match.
Iyo Sky and Rhea Ripley beat The Kabuki Warriors in a 20-minute segment. Everything in this match was very well done, and it goes without saying that Ripley was one of the most over performers on the show, especially with this crowd reaction. I think the biggest takeaway from this contest, at least right now since there seems to be a lot more left for this storyline, is that Iyo was given the spotlight for the finish. While the argument could be made that Iyo is the best pure worker in the female division, Ripley is probably the biggest star right now so it’s possible that this angle is designed to help to continue to boost Iyo’s profile to put her star power closer to the level of someone like Ripley or Charlotte. If that’s the case, it’s a wise decision because Iyo checks all the boxes for being a major star for the WWE.
The main event was somewhat of a mixed bag, and I’m not exactly sure how not to sound negative toward it since that’s not my intention with this review. It goes without saying that Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins are top notch performers and two of the best stars anywhere in the business. However, this match went 30 minutes and the scenario behind it just didn’t need that amount of time. As I wrote last week, the downside of the Crown Jewel championship stipulation is that it’s quite literally an exhibition match for a belt that doesn’t have much cache and isn’t defended going forward so is there really anything at stake? Does the fact that Seth eventually won really make a difference in the grand scheme of things? This match could’ve taken place in about half the time, kept most of the tremendous maneuvers that were showcased, and still accomplished the same thing. The top rope Cross Rhodes was a really cool spot, and it was interesting that Seth decided not to use the watch to try to take a cheap victory, before he actually used it to set up the finish almost implying that there might be a shift in his character at some point. I think it’s far to early for that, but the portion of the match gave some context to the current storyline. The amount of big moves in this match was really entertaining stuff, it just dragged up way too long for the segment to have any type of steady pace.
I’m not sure there was anything over-the-top by itself on this show, but the sum total of the entire card garnered a very solid presentation, which is very important if the WWE wants American fans to truly make the switch to the ESPN platform.
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
Email [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
