Wrestling fans were treated to many pleasant surprises during WWE’s sixth installment of Crown Jewel Saturday November 2nd.
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) has been a part of a lucrative deal with Saudi Arabia for several years now, hosting 2-3 exclusive Premium-Live Events (PLEs) a year. In these PLEs, WWE has put on some of their biggest shows and produced some of their most monumental performances in recent memory, and this year that trend continued.
Crown Jewel got off to a hot start with the original bloodline faction going against its new and hungry off-shoot. This match consisted of an all out war between six real life cousins putting on a clinic in a six man tag match. The most established of the family in the ring that night, Roman Reigns, made a huge impression on the audience and was the driving force behind every major crowd reaction.
The reuniting of twin brothers Jey and Jimmy Uso was also a clear focal point for the audience, with the brothers not sharing the ring together as tag partners for almost two years. Having the duo who were inseparable for a decade of their careers finally have a full circle moment back together their chemistry with each other was on full display. In the end, the Usos and Reigns did come up short against their younger cousins, a backstage decision likely to have been made to help build younger stars’ credibility. Nonetheless, it was a great outing for both bloodline factions, and is sure to continue their storyline further.
Following the Bloodline match, many other performances were executed to perfection, in particular, the champion versus champion matches that took place. The first was a match between female champions Liv Morgan, and Nia Jax. Despite currently playing a heel, or bad guy-type character, Liv Morgan was cheered and given a lot of crowd attention in the match. WWE creative team were on their game in this match as well, with dissension between Nia Jax and friend Tiffany Stratton continuing to worsen. Using this clear distraction to her advantage, as well as some interference from her fellow faction-mates, Liv squeaked out the win against her more established, larger, veteran opponent.
The final match of the night was worthy of its main event status, featuring male champions Gunther and Cody Rhodes. Rhodes’ star power can’t be overstated, and his ability to keep the crowd in the palm of his hand the entire match, even during spots where he was being out-played by his opponent, is nothing short of remarkable. True to his heelish roots and natural ability to garner fan heat, Gunther was the perfect foil to Cody’s America-Sweetheart loveable baby face, or good guy, persona. The two had great chemistry in the ring as well, utilizing every aspect of wrestling’s classic style and mixing it with more new-age move execution like their own modern style. While there were lulls in the match, with several rest periods being evenident and drawn out, it was an action packed performance that sent the fans home happy.
Cody’s triumphant victory to close out the night was the perfect ending, and truly elevated the evening. WWE’s storylines will continue to play out till the next PLE Survivor Series, till then, fans are satisfied with WWE’s latest smash hit.
