WWE Crown Jewel Review - November 5, 2022

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Brock Lesnar def. Bobby Lashley

Their original encounter at the Royal Rumble earlier this year underwhelmed and I thought this was a definite improvement. I wish it had lasted longer, though. We only got six minutes out of them, but they kept the crowd engaged for every single second by brawling and constantly spamming their finishers. There wasn't much more to it than that, which was disappointing, but that's par for the course for Brock Lesnar matches at this point, I suppose. The finish with Lesnar barely pinning Lashley's shoulders to the mat was well done because it protects Lashley in defeat, gives Lesnar a much-needed victory and prolongs their program.

Damage CTRL (Dakota Kai and IYO SKY) def. Alexa Bliss and Asuka to Win the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship

I knew as soon as this match was announced on social media for this show that Damage CTRL were getting the belts back because what would have been the point of booking this rematch so soon otherwise? It's pretty pointless to play hot potato with the tag titles that continue to mean nothing, but I applaud all the women for working well together and putting forth a commendable effort. This was another quality contest from these two teams and I assume Nikki Cross costing the babyfaces the belts will lead to her teaming with Damage CTRL at WarGames (despite Cross also attacking Bayley when she returned on Raw two weeks ago but there was never any follow-up on that).

Drew McIntyre def. Karrion Kross in a Steel Cage Match

This "grudge match" Steel Cage match we've seen in the past, but I don't know that it necessarily needed to be because I enjoyed their outing, regardless. It had more energy than their Strap match at Extreme Rules and the crowd was into the action (though I'm not sure if they would have gotten the same reaction had this happened in the United States). I was fine with McIntyre winning since he's coming off two major pay-per-view losses, but the interference from Scarlett was stupid. Wasn't that the purpose of the cage stipulation to begin with? Nonetheless, I can certainly see this storyline continuing, even though I'm ready for them to work with new people seeing as how this has been going on for three months now.

The Judgment Day (Finn Balor, Damian Priest and Dominik Mysterio) def. The O.C.

Although this started out as a standard six-man tag team affair that could have happened on Raw, they picked up the pace down the stretch and had a very entertaining match with everyone getting their time to shine. The story was once again Rhea Ripley playing a pertinent role at ringside and aiding Judgment Day to victory. The O.C. look like morons for not bringing someone in to counteract Ripley here as we all expected them to, but it's clearly coming. They aren't dead in the water just yet, but they're going to need to get one over Judgment Day eventually in order to save face.

Braun Strowman def. Omos

I didn't have the highest of hopes for this match for obvious reasons, but all things considered, it was exactly what it needed to be. A majority of Omos' matches in the past two years have barely been passable, but they captured the crowd with this one and wisely kept it short and sweet. It was also smart to have Strowman win decisively to eliminate the option for a rematch. Strowman should be on the bigger (figuratively) things while Omos can fade off into obscurity.

Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos def. The Brawling Brutes (Ridge Holland and Butch)

I don't know if anyone actually viewed Brawling Brutes as a legitimate threat to the tag titles, but they did a damn good job of attempting to convince you that they might actually end The Usos' reign before they can break The New Day's record. This probably could have happened on SmackDown (as it did in late September) and it wouldn't have made much of a difference, but I'm not complaining. Now we have The Usos vs. New Day to look forward to next Friday on SmackDown, mere days before The Usos break the record if they retain.

Raw Women's Champion Bianca Belair def. Bayley in a Last Woman Standing Match

The Belair vs. Bayley feud has had its its ups and downs in the last three months, but there's no denying that all of their matches have delivered. In fact, this may have been their best bout to date. They made excellent use of the stipulation, fought all around the arena, and pulled off some awesome, innovative spots. My money was on Bayley becoming champ, so there was suspense surrounding the outcome. Bayley failing to win the title twice makes you wonder what becomes of Damage CTRL, though. How much heat do they really have going into WarGames? And why wouldn't the rest of Damage CTRL have interfered in this match given there weren't any disqualifications?

Uncle Howdy Interrupted Bray Wyatt

If it wasn't already apparent, Wyatt's fingerprints are all over whatever the hell he's doing right now. That would explain why this storyline has been dragged out the way that it has and I don't think that's a bad thing. There will come a point where there has to be a major development, but it's not as if there hasn't been any progression at all. We're learning more and more about where Wyatt's mind is at week by week and this exchange between him and Uncle Howdy gave us another glimpse into what we might be able to expect from Wyatt going forward. Color me intrigued.

Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns def. Logan Paul

Reigns beating Paul was virtually guaranteed, but as we know, anything can happen and that seed of doubt made this match must-see. Not only that, but Paul has been putting in the work with his recent in-ring performances and this was no exception. Say what you want about the guy, but he looked like he belonged in there. Was it a bit unbelievable that Reigns was selling so much of his offense? Of course, and some of the shenanigans in the final few minutes with The Usos and Jake Paul were overbooked, but it only added to the spectacle. This was a terrific piece of business, though I don't expect Paul to suddenly be over as a babyface in the United States coming out of this show. A heel turn is going to have to happen eventually.

Overall Show

This was the third straight Saudi Arabia pay-per-view to earn a thumbs-up from me. It's refreshing to actually be excited for these events for them to not be a total waste of time like those early installments were in 2018, 2019 and 2020. Much like the last two Saudi shows, the crowd was lively throughout and enhanced my enjoyment of the matches. It wasn't an overly newsworthy event, but the wrestling was top-notch on the whole and there were no egregious booking decisions, so I satisfied by the time it was over. Now onto WarGames!

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