Breaking Down WWE Crown Jewel 2022

(Photo Credit: WWE)

Another Saudi show is done, and this edition of Crown Jewel was pretty good with some very good matches and an incredible performance by Logan Paul in the main event. A couple of issues with things that happened but overall it was a thumbs up show.

Brock Lesnar vs Bobby Lashley

Based upon their match at the Royal Rumble, this match was better than their first one. Even though it still feels like there’s more for a match between these two guys. Now there is potential for a third match down the line but it would probably depend on plans.

As Lesnar made his way to the ring, Lashley, who was already in the ring, attacked Lesnar from behind as he was walking at ringside before the bell rung. Lashley shoved Lesnar into the steel steps, knee first. Once the bell rung, both men were hitting their big moves, which is obviously a staple of Lesnar matches but it wasn’t all the same. The finish was poor though, with Lesnar getting the pin after rolling from the corner while in the hurt lock. The finish looked iffy but these things happen, plus these guys are huge so with what they were going for seems tough to get. So can’t be too critical. Plus, Lashley attacked Lesnar after the match, standing tall over him by the end.

Lashley will probably end up going after Seth Rollins again, unless Lesnar works Survivor Series, in which case the rubber match could happen but it’ll depend on what happens this week on RAW.

Alexa Bliss & Asuka vs Damage CTRL – Women’s Tag Team Championships

In what was probably the best women’s tag team title match since the titles were reintroduced, things flowed well and worked out in a good way. The only real issue was another title change within the space of a week.

In the match Nikki Cross got involved and cost Alexa and Asuka the titles. During when the referee was distracted with Iyo and Asuka brawling on the outside spilling over in the ring. Based upon what happened on RAW with the titles being switched, what was the point of that if you were just going to switch the titles back? It made no sense for Damage CTRL to have lost the titles. This is partly why they aren’t at the level they should be. But I fully expect these women to be involved in War Games.

Drew McIntyre vs Karrion Kross

A rematch from Extreme Rules and this one was better than their strap match. The pace of the match felt a little more as it should have, which made the match more enjoyable. Drew got the win which made sense as he needed it coming off two big PPV losses. Kross wasn’t pinned so it protects him. The one thing about this match, and just Kross in general, was how the ending played out.

It was essentially Scarlett getting involved again, even with the steel cage stipulation. Even though McIntyre won, it feels like it’s a display of Kross not being able to win without the outside interference. Which obviously takes away from his act. Kross needs to be able to have a match without interference. It can happen, just not every single time. Although in this case Scarlett was the reason Kross lost here so maybe the interference will start becoming less prevelent.

The feud might end up going another three weeks. Based off Kross’s reaction after the match, I feel like this may end up blowing off at Survivor Series. The question would be, in what kind of match? Because should it continue, a single one on one match won’t cut it. We’ll see if there are any ideas going forward.

The OC vs Judgement Day

Very enjoyable match here, which even included a Bullet Club mention on commentary. Once again however, Rhea Ripley makes the big difference. She helped on the outside by dropping AJ Styles on the apron, Balor hit the Coup de Grace for the win. I think Judgement Day winning here was the right thing to do here. Keep them winning until Edge comes back and ends the feud, presumably at Survivor Series.

It was very much alluded to on commentary, but something needs to be done about Rhea Ripley. That will probably entail the return of Beth Phoenix and Edge maybe even this week on RAW. But revenge will be at hand for the hall of famers once Survivor Series is over. The question is, what will the teams look like?

Because it looks like it’ll be a traditional Survivor Series match. Edge and The OC could be one team, against Judgement Day plus another participant. Or you make it five on five with Rhea and Beth on either side. But even then that could be a singles match between the two women. It’s a match I’d like to see. There’s a couple of ways to go here but I do think Survivor Series will be the end of this feud.

The Usos vs The Brawling Brutes – WWE Tag Team Championships

Another fantastic display from The Usos. Who retained their tag titles obviously. The Brawling Brutes were brilliant in this match too, which once again proves as to why they are so good. But even with the outcome being very obvious, there were a couple of false finishes that were very good.

One of them had Ridge Holland hitting a white noise for a very convincing 2 count. The second of these counts happened when Ridge and Butch hit their finishing move on Jey, and Jimmy broke up the pin just in time to maintain The Usos title run.

Now Michael Cole on commentary mentioned that Jey Uso may have suffered a broken wrist on a recent tour. I doubt this is story just because they never focused on it so hopefully it isn’t too serious and he can work at Survivor Series for War Games. Because the assumption is definitely The Bloodline will be inside War Games.

Bianca Belair vs Bayley

Considering how Last Man/Woman Standing matches can sometimes plod along and be slow and disjointed. These ladies went out there and did a great job in what was a physical match at times, which made it a lot of fun. Bianca retains in a great match with a creative finish.

The match started out a little slow but picked up real quick with the introduction of ladders, chairs and a table. They fought up the ramp to the stage. Bayley even stuffed Bianca into a production crate. Then Bayley turned up with a golf cart, both women ended up on top of it, then Bianca left Bayley on top and drove it down to the ring. Belair sent Bayley through the table set up earlier at ringside, with the table breaking at second attempt. The finish was when Belair trapped Bayley between a ladder, shoving it underneath the bottom turnbuckle, in which Bayley could not escape and couldn’t answer a 10 count.

Now that Bianca took another title match win against Bayley, this will mean that Damage CTRL win the War Games match. The way it could go is Damage CTRL pair with two other women, against the babyface team of Bianca Belair, Alexa and Asuka, Candice Lerae, and possibly a returning Becky Lynch. The Women’s War Games match is coming together more so than then men I feel.

Bray Wyatt shows up in the ring

Bray Wyatt was advertised for this show and he delivered with a very good promo. The Saudi crowd was very pleased to see him which was cool. But for the most part is was a similar thing with his previous promos on Smackdown. He was interrupted by Uncle Howdy on the screen again. This time the camera panning back to Bray Wyatt on occasion.

Now I really thought that maybe we’d see Uncle Harper show up or be teased, but for now we continue with the journey of Uncle Howdy. Who is acting as this devil on Bray’s shoulder, making him do these terrible things, and things he doesn’t want to do. So there’s still so many moving pieces right now, and when we see Uncle Harper, we will just have to be along for the ride.

Roman Reigns vs Logan Paul – WWE Undisputed Championship

The fact that Logan Paul who has only had two pro wrestling matches before this show, is this good already, it’s incredible, it really is. He gave Roman one of the best matches of this run. Everything in the match was done so well, from the selling, the expressions. Even when the ending came which was somewhat overbooked, but still a lot of fun, it just worked.

The high point of this match was probably where Roman was on the announce table. Paul was setting up to jump through from the top like he did at Summerslam. This time however, he literally took a video from his phone while performing a frog splash from the top rope through Roman Reigns and the announce table. This was an amazing moment, especially when you consider that he held the phone all the way. The other thing about this match, was, Roman clearly underestimated him, which caused Roman to be surprised. The ending saw Jake Paul come down and take down The Usos, then Solo Sikoa showed up to even the odds back up. Then Logan took out The Usos on the outside, which cost him the match.

In reality, there was no way Roman was losing this match. But man did they give you a great match to really show how incredibly quickly Paul has gotten to the level he is at in terms of picking up pro wrestling. They also tried to sell you on the “one lucky shot” deal, which I think somewhat helped the match itself and the nearfalls. So all in all a very good match which will be remembered as one of the best celebrity appearance matches.

Now that Crow Jewel is done, it feels like we can now move on to what will be a big important show in Survivor Series which will be later this month. With War Games, the build should be very interesting, and now with some of the wrestlers that don’t go to Saudi will be back on the shows now that this Saudi show is in the books.

What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.