The company recently announced that the match will take
place in the Kickoff pre-show of the upcoming event and it will feature stars
such as Erick Rowan, Andrade and more.
The winner of the bout will then go on to face the United
States Champion AJ Styles for his title later in the night. You can check out
the full list of participants and the final match card for the event below:
Updated Crown Jewel Match Card
Kickoff Pre-show 20-Man Battle Royal: WWE 24/7 Champion Sunil Singh, Mojo Rawley, Erick Rowan, R-Truth, Sin Cara, The Brian Kendrick, Titus O’Neil, Tony Nese, Akira Tozawa, Shelton Benjamin, Apollo Crews, Buddy Murphy, Andrade, Drake Maverick, Eric Young, Luke Harper, Cedric Alexander, Heath Slater, Humberto Carrillo, No Way Jose
WWE Championship Match: Cain Velasquez vs. Brock Lesnar (c)
Falls Count Anywhere Match for the WWE Universal Championship: “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt vs. Seth Rollins (c)
World Cup Tag Team Turmoil Match to determine the Greatest Tag Team In The World: RAW Tag Team Champions The Viking Raiders vs. SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Revival vs. The New Day vs. Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode vs. Heavy Machinery vs. Lucha House Party vs. Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins vs. The OC vs. The B Team
Team Hogan vs. Team Flair: Captain Roman Reigns, Rusev, Ricochet, Ali, Shorty Gable vs. Captain Randy Orton, Drew McIntyre, King Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley, WWE Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura
United States Championship Match: AJ Styles (c) vs. Winner of the 20 Men Battle Royal
Braun Strowman vs. Tyson Fury
Cesaro vs. Mansoor Al-Shehail
WWE Crown Jewel will take place on Thursday, October 31, from the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
WWE has confirmed the new captain for Team Hogan after the Universal Champion Seth Rollins was removed from the announced 5 on 5 tag team match at Crown Jewel.
The company revealed during this week’s episode of SmackDown Live that the former World Champion Roman Reigns will now be leading the team of Hulk Hogan at the upcoming event.
Both Ali and “Shorty G” Chad Gable were also
announced for the team led by Reigns. After these announcements, WWE has now
confirmed all members of Team Hogan while there is one spot left open in Team
Flair.
Seth Rollins was removed from the match after it was announced that he will be defending his Universal Championship against ‘The Fiend’ Bray Wyatt in a Falls Count Anywhere match at the upcoming PPV.
Updated Crown Jewel Match Card
After the latest updates, here is how the card for the
upcoming show looks like:
WWE Championship Match: Cain Velasquez vs. Brock Lesnar (c)
Falls Count Anywhere Match for the WWE Universal Championship: “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt vs. Seth Rollins (c)
The Greatest Tag Team World Cup Turmoil Match: The Viking Raiders vs. The Revival vs. The New Day vs. Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode vs. Heavy Machinery vs. Lucha House Party vs. Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins vs. The OC vs. The B Team.
5 On 5 Tag Team Match: Team Hogan -Captain Roman Reigns, Rusev, Ricochet, Ali, Shorty Gable vs. Team Flair – Captain Randy Orton, King Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley, WWE Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura and 1 other TBA
WWE Crown Jewel will take place on Thursday, October 31st at
King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Tyson Fury will be making his wrestling debut at one of the
biggest WWE shows of the year in Crown Jewel, but according to him, he is not
nervous about his first match.
Both Fury and Triple H appeared on ESPN First Take yesterday to promote the Boxing star’s debut in the sports entertainment industry at the upcoming show.
During the talk, Tyson was asked if he feels nervous about his first match and replying to it, the undefeated Boxer said that he thinks he was born for this:
“I’m not nervous, like you said, I’m a showman, and you can expect fireworks. I think I was born to do this. I’m a natural entertainer as you can see with the boxing. Now I’m going to the real entertainment, the best value in entertainment in sports, WWE.”
Triple H also commented on Tyson Fury’s training for his
wrestling debut. The Game praised Fury saying that he has taken it like a fish
in the water.
H went on to say that Tyson was custom made for this and revealed that he has been on WWE’s radar for a long time due to his athleticism.
Tyson Fury will be making his WWE debut in a singles match against Braun Strowman at the upcoming Crown Jewel PPV from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Oct. 31
It appears that the upcoming Crown Jewel event will be the first Saudi Arabian PPV of WWE which will not feature The Undertaker on the show.
Taker is not booked for any match on the show and despite the fact that there are less than 2 weeks remaining for the event, there has been no mention of the Dead Man on WWE Programming.
While he was advertised for the show earlier, Wrestling Observer Newsletter is reporting that the Phenom is currently not scheduled for the upcoming PPV.
There is no word on why the former Champion is not working Crown Jewel. Though it’s possible that with the likes of Tyson Fury and Cain Velasquez being on the show, the company doesn’t feel the need of additional star power for the event.
WWE has so far produced 3 PPV events from Saudi Arabia after
their deal with the General Sports Authority of the country and Taker has been
part of all the shows.
He wrestled Rusev in a casket match at the Greatest Royal Rumble event and teamed up with Kane to compete against DX at the Crown Jewel PPV last year.
The Last Outlaw’s last match in Saudi Arabia was his bout with Goldberg which was the main event of Super Showdown in June this year.
With WWE heading back to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for their next pay-per-view event, Crown Jewel, soon, speculation as to whether there will be a women’s match has increased.
This is something that a fan asked Dave Meltzer on Twitter where he noted that there are no plans for women to wrestle at Crown Jewel:
“Unless something changes, there are no women’s matches scheduled. It came down to the wire last time and they were told no at the end, after bringing Nattie and Alexa to Saudi Arabia.”
In the days leading up to the WWE Super ShowDown event in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia earlier this year, there was talk about WWE having Alexa Bliss and Natalya work a match at the show.
The pitched match was not approved by the Saudi Arabian government despite them indicating to WWE they could have their first women’s match on this show, but then wavered on it.
WWE even had the women fly to the country. At the last show, Renee Young was able to do commentary but there’s no word yet on if she’ll be working as a backstage interviewer on this show.
WWE presents the Crown Jewel pay-per-view event on Thursday, October 31, 2019 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at the King Fahd International Stadium that will air on the WWE Network.
The Saudi General Sports Authority has been shelling out huge money to WWE as part of their 10-year partnership. The shows have featured high-profile matches and brought several legends out of retirement, including Shawn Michaels and Goldberg.
WWE Crown Jewel on October 31st will feature two huge matches featuring big name athletes from the world of professional combat sports. Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez will wrestle his first WWE match against WWE Champion Brock Lesnar. The other bout will see boxing sensation Tyson Fury will make his professional wrestling debut against Braun Strowman.
The Daily Mail, a tabloid newspaper based out of the UK, is reporting that Tyson Fury stands to make a staggering payday for his match later this month. According to the report, the 6-foot-9, 257-pound Gypsy King will earn $15 million to step in the ring.
The following matches are confirmed for WWE Crown Jewel, which airs live on the WWE Network Friday, October 31st:
WWE Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez
Tyson Fury vs. Braun Strowman
Universal Champion Seth Rollins vs. “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt (Falls Count Anywhere)
WWE World Cup Tag Team Turmoil Match: The Viking Raiders vs. The Revival vs. The New Day vs. Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode vs. Heavy Machinery vs. Lucha House Party vs. Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins vs. The OC vs. The B Team
Team Hogan vs. Team Flair: Seth Rollins, Rusev, Ricochet, 2 more TBA vs. Randy Orton, King Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley, Shinsuke Nakamura and 1 more TBA
WWE presents the Crown Jewel pay-per-view event on Thursday, October 31, 2019 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at the King Fahd International Stadium that will air on the WWE Network.
Updated WWE Crown Jewel Card
WWE Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez
Braun Strowman vs. Tyson Fury
WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins vs. Bray Wyatt – Falls Count Anywhere Match
Team Flair (Randy Orton, Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley, TBA) vs. Team Hogan (Seth Rollins, Rusev, Ricochet, TBA)
Cesaro vs. Mansoor
The New Day vs. The Viking Raiders vs. Heavy Machinery vs. Lucha House Party vs. Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins vs. The Revival vs. The O.C. vs. Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode vs. The B-Team – Tag Team Turmoil Match (Winner to crown the Best Tag Team in the World)
What are your thoughts on this match being added to the card? Sound off in the comment section.
Two new matches have been announced for the upcoming WWE Crown Jewel PPV.
First up is Cesaro vs. Mansoor. For those who may have forgotten, Mansoor won the first-ever 50-Man Battle Royal at WWE Super ShowDown in June.
Also on tap is the largest Tag Team Turmoil Match in history to determine World Cup winner and crown the Best Tag Team in the World.
WWE described this match as “The teams pitted against each other in the groundbreaking free-for-all” and will include The New Day, The Viking Raiders, Heavy Machinery, Lucha House Party, Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins, The Revival, The O.C., Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode and The B-Team.
WWE presents the Crown Jewel pay-per-view event on Thursday, October 31, 2019 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at the King Fahd International Stadium that will air on the WWE Network.
Updated WWE Crown Jewel Card
Team Flair (Randy Orton, Baron Corbin, TBA) vs. Team Hogan (Seth Rollins, Rusev, TBA)
Braun Strowman vs. Tyson Fury
WWE Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez
Cesaro vs. Mansoor
The New Day vs. The Viking Raiders vs. Heavy Machinery vs. Lucha House Party vs. Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins vs. The Revival vs. The O.C. vs. Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode vs. The B-Team – Tag Team Turmoil Match (Winner to crown the Best Tag Team in the World)
The match between Cain Velasquez and Brock Lesnar that is set to take place at Crown Jewel has gotten a big update.
The WWE has issued that the match between the two is now going to be a WWE Championship match for Lesnar’s title.
When WWE announced the match at the press conference between Lesnar and Velasquez on Friday in Las Vegas, the WWE Championship was not mentioned. The match was set to be a non-title one.
But now that it’s a title match, the former UFC Champion has a chance to win the WWE Championship in his in-ring debut for the wrestling company.
WWE presents the Crown Jewel pay-per-view event on Thursday, October 31, 2019, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at the King Fahd International Stadium that will air on the WWE Network. WWE will be announcing more matches for this show in the coming weeks. Here is the updated card:
Updated WWE Crown Jewel Card
Team Flair (Randy Orton, Baron Corbin, TBA) vs. Team Hogan (Seth Rollins, Rusev, TBA)
Braun Strowman vs. Tyson Fury
WWE Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez for the WWE Championship
WWE is going to charter a flight from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia after Crown Jewel on Thursday, October 31.
This is according to a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the plan seems to be to get the SmackDown roster and the production crew – which will be on the chartered flight – to Buffalo, New York to hold SmackDown immediately after Crown Jewel is over.
SmackDown will take place on November 1 at the KeyBank Centre. Currently advertised matches are Charlotte Flair vs SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley, Roman Reigns vs. Erick Rowan. Appearances from Daniel Bryan, Finn Balor, Big E, Xavier Woods, Ali, Ember Moon, Heavy Machinery, Shinsuke Nakamura, Kofi Kingston, Randy Orton, and Kevin Owens.
Crown Jewel is set to take place on October 31, 2019, at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for the Raw and SmackDown brands. It will be the second WWE event under the Crown Jewel series and the fourth held under WWE’s 10-year partnership with the Kingdom.
WWE Crown Jewel Card
Team Flair (Randy Orton, Baron Corbin, TBA) vs. Team Hogan (Seth Rollins, Rusev, TBA)
Heavyweight boxer Tyson Fury is set to work a match at the upcoming Crown Jewel pay-per-view event. Fury will take on Braun Strowman in a singles match on October 31 in Saudi Arabia.
Fury recently talked about his upcoming in-ring debut for WWE in an interview and revealed that he is a huge fan of the wrestling company. He, in fact, spoke to the WWE several years ago about having a match with the promotion, but a deal was not reached.
“How honoured I am to be involved in such a massive event in Saudi Arabia. It’s a fantastic opportunity for me,” Fury told Boxing Scene. “This is something I’ve always dreamed of. I am lifelong WWE fan and this is a fantastic opportunity for me.
Fury also stated that he is still going to be undefeated in Saudi and hyped up his match against Strowman. “He’s meeting a guy who has the best hands in boxing. He don’t want none of these hands,” Fury added.
According to reports, Mohammad bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, wanted Fury to compete at the Crown Jewel show.
In a press conference held on Friday afternoon at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, WWE announced the match. The company also announced that WWE Champion Brock Lesnar will take on former UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez.
Updated WWE Crown Jewel Card
Team Flair (Randy Orton, Baron Corbin, TBA) vs. Team Hogan (Seth Rollins, Rusev, TBA)
Two of the biggest matches in recent WWE history have been booked.
WWE held a press conference on Friday afternoon at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada where the company announced these matches for Crown Jewel.
First up is pro heavyweight boxer Tyson Fury taking on Braun Strowman in a singles match. The other match will see WWE Champion Brock Lesnar take on former UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez.
These matches have been reported for over a week now but WWE has officially announced them. Both contests were set up on the premiere episode of Friday Night SmackDown last week.
WWE presents the Crown Jewel pay-per-view event on Thursday, October 31, 2019 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at the King Fahd International Stadium that will air on the WWE Network. WWE will be announcing more matches for this show in the coming weeks. Here is the updated card:
Updated WWE Crown Jewel Card
Team Flair (Randy Orton, Baron Corbin, TBA) vs. Team Hogan (Seth Rollins, Rusev, TBA)
Braun Strowman vs. Tyson Fury
WWE Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez
What are your thoughts on these matches being added to the card? Sound off in the comment section.
The first match has been announced for the upcoming WWE Crown Jewel PPV.
During Monday’s episode of WWE RAW, which marked the season premiere of the show, WWE had Hall of Famers Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan appear on Miz TV.
They cut promos on each other and eventually teased one last showdown. Obviously, another match between the two stars wasn’t going to happen.
Instead, WWE had different plans for the two legendary pro wrestlers. This is where it was announced that Hogan and Flair would have teams that battle it out in a 5-on-5 tag team match at Crown Jewel.
This led to the announcement of WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins serving as the captain of Team Hogan while Randy Orton would serve as the captain of Team Flair.
Once a match was teased between Orton and Rollins, more stars to this upcoming contest were revealed. Baron Corbin came out to attack Rollins only to have Rusev come out to make the save for Rollins.
WWE presents the Crown Jewel pay-per-view event on Thursday, October 31, 2019 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at the King Fahd International Stadium that will air on the WWE Network.
WWE MENA (Middle East and North Africa) announced on Friday that the company will present Crown Jewel 2019 on Thursday, October 31st. Yes, Halloween.
The show will air on WWE’s streaming service, WWE Network, from the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh. Tickets go on sale this Monday, September 30 at 6pm local time via TicketMX.com.
This event marks the fourth show that WWE has aired from Saudi Arabia. The original target date was November 1st.
A promo was released for the show that features WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan and The Undertaker. You can check it out here:
Brock Lesnar, WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins, WWE Champion Kofi Kingston, WWE United States Champion AJ Styles, Roman Reigns, Big E, Xavier Woods, “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt, Braun Strowman, Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio, and Mansoor Al-Shehail are all advertised.
PWInsider reports that WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair will also be going on the trip as well. It was hyped that the event will take part during “Riyadh Season” that runs from October 15 through December 15.
The country is slated to hold 11 festivals during these two months as a way to boost domestic and international tourism in the country.
WWE started their deal with Saudi Arabia last year as the company signed a 10-year partnership with the Saudi General Sports Authority.
We recently reported that “The Beast” Brock Lesnar has two further matches scheduled in the future, with one of them pitting him against SmackDown’s WWE champion, AJ Styles. This is due to Lesnar’s victory over Braun Strowman at WWE’s recent Crown Jewel event, where he became the first ever two time WWE Universal Champion.
Turns out, this wasn’t the plan that the WWE had heading into Crown Jewel, at all.
Apparently, the plans for the event would have seen then Universal Champion, Roman Reigns, retain the belt in the originally scheduled triple threat against both Brock Lesnar and Braun Strowman.
This matchup would have coincided with Brock Lesnar’s last contractual match, leaving him free to train for his rumored UFC return against Daniel Cormier for the UFC Heavyweight Championship.
However, Reigns would reveal on RAW a few weeks earlier that he was sadly once again battling leukaemia. This revelation led him to relinquish the title, turning the triple threat into a one-on-one contest.
It also forced the WWE into a major rewrite that saw Brock reassert his place as the Universal Champion.
“Reigns Was Going To Win That Match”
According to Dave Meltzer, “The deal was, when Roman went down, Vince backed up the Brinks truck and felt with Roman gone they needed Brock. Brock’s last date was gonna be Crown Jewel. Roman Reigns was gonna win that match.”
Brock, if nothing else, is a consummate businessman, as evidenced by his ability to further leverage his personal stock between both the WWE and the UFC.
We now live in a world where the UFC’s ‘Champ-Champ’ Daniel Cormier is telling Lesnar to “bring that belt [to the UFC]” because he feels like “being a WWE Champion, too” in the build-up to their supposed confrontation in the Octagon.
Crazy thing is, depending on how Vince McMahon wants to play it, seeing the WWE Universal Championship appear on a future UFC PPV could become an actual reality.
What do you think? Would you want to see the Universal Championship at UFC? Think it’s possible?
Not known as an organization that backs down from controversy — or the chance to make some extra cash — the nWo could be bound for Saudi Arabia. That is, if nWo founding member Scott Hall gets his way.
Hall, who was a part of last weekend’s 2 Sweet nWo Reunion show in Orlando, Florida, shared his thoughts on the controversy that surrounded the WWE in the lead up to, during, and wake of their Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia.
He believes that the WWE did the right thing in adhering to their agreement and forging ahead with the Crown Jewel show, despite critical worldwide attention being shone on the country and its government.
“Well, Kevin [Nash] and I just did an nWo Reunion last weekend at Hulk’s Beach Shop in Orlando with the WWE’s blessing,” said Hall. “It’s the first time Hulk’s been welcomed back into the fold, and I’m happy he’s back. There’s a lot of backlash [regarding WWE Crown Jewel] but I saw JBL on a show last weekend talking about… by boycotting stuff, that doesn’t solve anything. He used Cuba as a reference. We boycotted Cuba forever, and what did that get us? Nothing. Nothing changed there. The people, their quality of life never improved. So I agree with that.”
He concluded by expressing “staying away is not the answer,” before reflecting that “we’re not a bunch of politicians. We’re entertainers, we’re ‘rasslers’, we’re not involved in all that global…stuff. That’s the way I look at it. I’d be happy to go, Vince. If you want to bring the nWo over there the next time, let me know.”
So it turned out that the ‘Best in The World’ was none other than Shane McMahon. In case you missed it, Shane inserted himself into Crown Jewel’s World Cup Tournament when his SmackDown! LIVE representative, The Miz, suffered a story-line injury during the match and was unable to continue.
Shane McMahon, being the fighting commissioner that he is, took it upon himself at that point to represent the blue brand, defeating Dolph Ziggler in order to claim the trophy for SmackDown.
Turns out, this confusing, controversial decision was a part of a bigger overall picture in order to turn Shane heel. This decision may also feed into the WWE’s November event, Survivor Series.
According to Dave Meltzer, “[…] the idea is that Shane is going heel and this was — Miz wasn’t hurt. This was all booked to be what it is: the beginning of a Shane McMahon heel turn. You know as far as why you want another hell McMahon authority figure on a show? I guess it’s a response to the declining ratings of SmackDown.”
He also shone some light on how The Miz was utilized for the the match up, explaining that, “they [the WWE] didn’t want Rey to look weak and quit, they didn’t want Randy Orton to look weak and quit…obviously they didn’t want Jeff Hardy to look weak and quit — so Miz had to be the one to look weak and quit for Shane to go in there.”
What did you make of their decision to insert Shane into this tournament? Did it make a mockery out of the entire concept? Do we need Shane as another McMahon heel figure on our screens?
Frequently referred to as Mr. Wrestlemania, Shawn Michaels developed a star-studded career filled with top-tier clashes against some of the very best of the business. Then, in 2010, he retired after losing to The Undertaker at Wrestlemania XXVI.
Last night, HBK made his in-ring return at WWE’s Crown Jewel event. However, it may have been more of a one-and-done situation rather than the reigniting of a career that has lain dormant for eight years.
In a post-match video for WWE.com, The Heartbreak Kid reflected on his tag match. He spoke about how “this whole day I’ve been anxious and nerves and everything. Once I got in there though, it was fun, it was comfortable. Y’know, I did a few things, got a little warm and you forget just how tough this is on your body. I’ll be feeling it for the next several days.”
He then hinted that his return to the ring may have been a one time deal, reflecting that “[…] it’ll be a very good reminder of why I didn’t do it for eight years and why I’m not going to do it again if I can possibly help it.”
Looking to the future, Shawn said, “Monday night, Shawn is back at the P.C. We’re going back to our regular life, boys. It was a lot of fun to do, but I’m glad it’s over, too.”
What do you make of this? Was this match worth Shawn coming out of retirement? Does he have one more run in him? Is that something you would want to see?
Brock Lesnar is once again the WWE Universal champion. What was originally expected to be a triple threat match, Lesnar ended up in a one-on-one showdown with Bruan Strowman to determine a new champion after Roman Reigns was forced to surrender the belt following the revelation that his battle with leukemia was happening again after going into remission several years ago.
With Reigns out of the match, the WWE moved forward with a singles contest between Lesnar and Strowman.
All signs seemed to point towards Strowman finally ascending to the top of the WWE Raw roster with Lesnar expected to return to the UFC in early 2019 to compete for the heavyweight championship.
That plan may still very well happen but for now Lesnar is champion again after a very short match with Strowman on Friday.
In a carbon copy to many of Lesnar’s most dominant victories in WWE, he landed several ‘F-5’s on Strowman including one where he tossed the behemoth outside the ring. Finally, Lesnar landed one final F-5 that put Strowman down and out.
Lesnar was crowned WWE Universal champion and then just a few moments later his next match was officially announced.
At WWE Survivor Series on Sunday, Nov. 18, Lesnar will return to the ring to face current WWE heavyweight champion A.J. Styles from Smackdown Live.
Obviously, Lesnar is sticking around WWE longer than anyone expected with his plans to return to the UFC in 2019. There’s still plenty of time for the title to change hands before Lesnar would return to the Octagon.
There are also rumors that Lesnar may make a surprise appearance at UFC 230 in New York on Saturday night where Cormier defends his heavyweight title against Derrick Lewis in the main event but nothing has been confirmed as of yet.
The winner of WWE’s World Cup has been crowned…and it’s Shane McMahon. After a gruelling tournament between some of WWE’s best Superstars and Legends the Commissioner of Smackdown Live has taken the trophy.
Shane entered himself in the finals of the tournament after original Smackdown finalist Miz couldn’t compete. The final was set to be Miz versus Dolph Ziggler, a fairly odd choice to begin with. The Miz seemed to positioned as a heroic babyface, stating that he could compete and had “never been injured.”
Miz and Dolph started the bout after Ziggler’s ‘bodyguard’ Drew McIntyre was ejected from the ring. Miz was quickly taken down outside of the ring with a suspected ankle injury, he protested until he was declared unfit to compete. Shane McMahon opted to interject himself in the match before the referee declared Ziggler the winner.
McMahon took the win after hitting his Coast to Coast dropkick on Ziggler in the corner. WWE referred to Shane as the ‘Best in the World’ following the win and McMahon celebrated with the trophy. It was a very odd end to the World Cup tournament, completely surreal.
The card for Friday’s (November 2nd, 2018) WWE Crown Jewel pay-per-view event has been finalized. The company has yet to officially announce the main event of this event that takes place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at the King Saud University Stadium and will air on the WWE Network, but it will most likely be Brock Lesnar vs. Braun Strowman for the vacant Universal Title. Other featured matches are WWE Champion AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe, Triple H & Shawn Michaels vs. Kane & The Undertaker, and the World Cup Tournament. As a reminder, we will be providing live play-by-play coverage of this special on Friday morning starting at 11 AM EST with the main card. In case you missed it, our staff has released their predictions for this show which you can check out here. Here is the final card for the show:
Final WWE Crown Jewel Card
Brock Lesnar vs. Braun Strowman – Vacant WWE Universal Title Match
WWE Champion AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe
Triple H & Shawn Michaels vs. Kane & The Undertaker
World Cup Tournament – Seth Rollins vs. Bobby Lashley & Kurt Angle vs. Dolph Ziggler
(RAW Side) Jeff Hardy vs. The Miz & Rey Mysterio vs. Randy Orton (SmackDown Side)
WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bar vs. The New Day
What are your thoughts on this card? Do you plan on watching it? If so, which match are you looking forward to the most? Sound off in the comment section.
Daniel Bryan will not be at Crown Jewel tomorrow in Saudi Arabia. His reasons for missing the event aren’t purely to do with Jamal Khashoggi’s murder, however. According to a recent report from the Wrestling Observer, Bryan’s reasons for missing the event are more diverse.
According to the report, Bryan decided at the Greatest Royal Rumble that he would be unable to go back to the country.
“It wasn’t so much that the women weren’t allowed to perform,” Dave Meltzer wrote of Bryan. “But the key was what he learned about the treatment of homosexuals, and also, that they wouldn’t allow Sami Zayn to perform on the show, and he considered that racism.”
Daniel Bryan Crown Jewel
The report continues to say Bryan requested he lose to the Miz in Australia for this reason. According to a report from PW Insider, an empty-arena match was then planned. It would be filmed near the Performance Center and air during Crown Jewel. When that didn’t pan out either, it was eventually decided to just have Styles beat Bryan on Smackdown. Samoa Joe then returned and was named Bryan’s replacement.
The report doesn’t name sources but it reads much like Bryan was speaking directly to the outlet, although that is only speculation. Crown Jewel takes place Friday, November 2nd and will air beginning at 12 PM est on the WWE Network.
While John Cena was written off of Crown Jewel with a brief Bobby Lashley segment on Raw, Daniel Bryan took a clean loss to AJ Styles and he tapped out to the WWE Champion.
This finish and the post-match attack from Samoa Joe led many to wonder if the company is punishing Bryan for his decision, though latest reports reveal that this isn’t the case.
Bryan Alvarez talked about the upcoming show during the latest Wrestling Observer Live and he revealed that Bryan wasn’t punished.
According to him, the tap out finish we saw was the original plan for the Crown Jewel event, which the company moved up to SmackDown.
Though he also noted that the company doesn’t appear to have any big plans for the former Champion for the rest of the year. So after this loss we can expect Daniel to move away from the title picture.
Although the decision to move up the finish was probably made on the fly after Officials failed to convince Bryan to wrestle at the show. So it can’t be considered their reaction to his refusal.
Whether or not the company actually punishes him for this will be revealed in upcoming times and Officials’ reaction to his decision should be reflected on Bryan’s storylines in near future.
We noted before how Hulk Hogan teased an appearance at the Crown Jewel event. WWE then seemingly confirmed him for the show by adding him to the list of featured stars on the event’s page of WWE.com.
At the time it wasn’t known what the Hulkster would be doing at the show. Though a latest report has now revealed Hogan’s role for the event.
Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet reached out to WWE about Hogan’s appearance on the PPV. Replying to him, the Officials revealed that Hogan will be serving as the official host for the event.
This is Hulk Hogan’s first appearance for the company since being banished in 2015 and being reinstated in the WWE Hall Of Fame in July this year.
It’s worth mentioning here that in the interview in which Hulk teased a Crown Jewel appearance, he also talked about working the upcoming WrestleMania event.
With his Crown Jewel appearance being confirmed officially, it will be interesting to see if he makes more appearances for the company in near future and actually works WrestleMania next year as teased.
What do you think about Hulk Hogan returning to WWE at the Crown Jewel event? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
Hardcore wrestling legend, Tommy Dreamer, posted his thoughts regarding Crown Jewel to his Facebook page recently. He compared the show to two other wrestling events which took place under a large public spotlight due to major world news events.
Dreamer was part of the WWE roster in 2001 when the company put on the first large public gathering following 9/11. He talked about that experience and also in regards to WCW’s shows in North Korea in 1995.
Tommy Dreamer Facebook Post
“In 1995 WCW went to North Korea
over 150,000 fans attended
All the political turmoil was put aside
People were united for a moment in time through professional wrestling
I was part of the 1st LIVE gathering after 9/11
I was confused, scared, angry
It was Vince McMahon who told everyone it was our choice if we wanted to perform and he said Its our jobs(the wrestlers) to help put smiles on people faces and help people heal.
I cried when Lillian Garcia sang The National Anthem. I felt patriotism for the first time.
The most horrific event on US soil that changed all of our lives and it was wrestling for me (then baseball Mike Piazza HR) that helped me heal. We will never forget but we did smile & begin to heal as a community. A wrestling community.
I know the world was different in 1995 and before 9/11/2001 social media wasnt as strong as it is. Peoples agendas weren’t pushed,
Just giving my opinion of wrestling and the entire WWE Saudi Arabia show
From my personal perspective
We never stopped something in our country when something horrible happened.
All the wrestlers that I know that went said they had a great time and the kids made it worth it.
Putting smiles on peoples faces is our job
Thank you Vince”
The 2-night event in April of 1995 was attended by over 150,000 each show. Antonio Inoki faced Ric Flair in the main event. Hawk, the Steiner Brothers, Chris Benoit, Yuji Nagata, and several others performed on the shows.
WWE First Show Since 9/11
WWE filmed an episode of Smackdown just two days after September 11th, 2001. The show was filmed in Houston and it was a decision between the mayor of Houston and Vince McMahon which is said to have determined the show would take place.