Pantoja’s WWE Crown Jewel 2022 Review

WWE Crown Jewel

November 5th, 2022 | Mrsool Park in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

The second of two shows to air on 11/5 during a weekend where I had a family gathering one day and a road trip the next. Here’s hoping I can finish it all before the weekend is over. With so little time, I’m skipping the non-match segments.

Bobby Lashley vs. Brock Lesnar

Lashley jumped Brock during his entrance and Brock was in a bad way almost immediately. That set the tone for the format we’ve seen used in so many Brock matches since he returned in 2012. It was just two dudes throwing a bunch of big signature moves at each other. Spears, German suplexes, and F5s. It makes sense as a concept but I’m so tired of it. You can’t do it every single time and have it have the same impact. The Spear through the guardrail spot is so cliché and overdone. Lashley put on the Hurt Lock and Brock started to fade, only to do the Bret WrestleMania 8 and Survivor Series ‘96 spot by kicking off the turnbuckle into a pin for the win after 5:59. Like I said, a fine idea but a tired one. [**½]

Post-match, Lashley put the Hurt Lock back on until Brock was out.

WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship: Alexa Bliss and Asuka [c] vs. Dakota Kai and IYO SKY

Damage CTRL lost the titles on RawBliss and Asuka. In a pre-match interview with the champs, Alexa was distracted by the flashing on the screen of Bray Wyatt’s logo thing. Alexa and Dakota had a good start to this but people seemed more interested in IYO and Asuka gong at it, complete with Michael Cole mentioning their former stable in Japan. Both teams showed off some solid tandem offense throughout. Side note, but I’m glad the women have special Saudi Arabia gear that is tailored to them. Like, Asuka’s had all of her colors and designs on it and it’s not just like when Nattie and Lacey Evans wore shirts. They built the hot tag to Bliss, who did well there. I really like babyface Bliss, especially when she was with Nikki Cross. A tower of doom spot got a holy shit chant which I wasn’t expecting. Kai got her knees up on Twisted Bliss before IYO missed an Asai moonsault. As the official watched their fight, Nikki Cross ran in and hit her twisting suplex on Bliss. That allowed Dakota to steal the victory in 12:49. That was a good match and I will always pop for Dakota winning. [***]

Steel Cage Match: Drew McIntyre vs. Karrion Kross

Hey, it’s overproduced entrance boy. I laughed at Scarlett having to RUSH to the ring way ahead of Kross to do her hilarious FALL AND PREY thing. They have to know that looks stupid, right? Man, I am so tempted to tune out when Kross is out there. Like, these two guys did stuff and it was a VAST improvement on their debacle of a match at the last event but it still didn’t fully grab me. Drew survived a running knee and had this in the bag but as he called for the Claymore, Scarlett got on the cage and distracted him. Kross used that to his advantage and hit the forearm to the head. He attempted to escape over the top but Drew stopped him with a superplex. Scarlett stopped him from going out the door with mace again. WWE cage matches suck because they’re meant to keep interference out et this matches are always filled with shenanigans. Alas, I found it hilarious that Scarlett ruined it for herself by locking the cage door so Drew just climbed over before she could unlock it for Kross. Dweebs. It went 13:01 and was much better than their last match but still nothing much. [**½]

Judgment Day vs. The O.C.

Rhea Ripley’s hair was modeled after Beth Phoenix, who she called the “late, great Beth Phoenix.” Michael Cole actually referenced the Bullet Club. Look, I’m no fan of the O.C. but I do think these matchups worked out well enough. Priest could combat Doc’s size, AJ and Finn are the leaders, and Dom and Karl exist. Dom was a little shit, only wanting to tag in when AJ was down and then running to set up a bait and switch. Karl Anderson played the face in peril for a while but he’s not exactly a sympathetic guy so that wasn’t the best of ideas. They cut off the hot tag to AJ and it ended up going to Gallows, which was a choice. AJ did come in for a better run soon after. All six men ended up down at one point before AJ went for the Phenomenal Forearm. Rhea broke it up and Finn won with the Coup de Grace in 13:56. Another solid match involving these teams but they’re getting repetitive at this point. [***]

Braun Strowman vs. Omos

The Vince McMahon BEEF special. It was worked just like that, with Omos looking for test of strength lockups and overmatching Braun at every turn. It was a rare case of Braun looking utterly dominated, which only used to happen when Brock would shoot kick his ass. Omos talked a bunch of smack as Braun got thrown around. He also spent a lot of time stalling and taunting. Braun fought back and did the express gimmick outside only for that to get cut off. He blocked the chokeslam bomb inside and won with a running powerslam in 7:23. This was exactly what everyone thought it would be and at least they didn’t have it go long. [*½]

WWE Undisputed Tag Team Championship: The Usos [c] vs. The Brawling Brutes

The title reign of the Usos feels stale unlike Roman’s run. The smart money is to have Sami and KO beat them but WWE is milking that Sami angle (and rightfully so). Apparently, Jey is dealing with an injured wrist. The Usos teased walking out to start but the Brutes wouldn’t let it happen. Butch handled the majority of the match early and when Holland got the tag, he ran over everyone. That’s exactly how this team should work. Butch does the heavy lifting and Holland plays the powerhouse. The Usos eventually worked him over a bit with tandem offense. I liked Jimmy’s splash getting caught into a choke and joint manipulation spot by Butch. The Brutes came close a few times but you never really felt like they were going to take this. Especially with the announcement of Usos/New Day next week. Butch fell to an avalanche 1D at the 10:35 mark. Like most of this show, that was high quality wrestling. [***¼]

WWE Raw Women’s Championship Last Woman Standing Match: Bianca Belair [c] vs. Bayley

These are two of the best wrestlers on the planet but I’m wary because this stipulation is one I typically don’t love. This was filled with the big spots you expect from these matches like Bayley doing a clothesline off the guardrail onto a seated Bianca and Bianca hitting a suplex on the ramp. I really liked Bayley feigning an injury, especially as it played into Wade Barrett saying that Bianca was too nice for a match like this. They were creative with the steel steps, used the kendo stick a lot, and would throw in something vicious like a Bayley to Belly on the stage. I didn’t like Bayley using a crossface on the stage and letting go for the count. She should’ve waited until Bianca passed out completely. That would’ve made kayfabe sense. The golf cart spot was a good idea but was just kind of goofy until the big bump Bayley took off of it. As usual, Bianca survived a ton, including a sick bump on a missed 450 splash onto chairs. She managed to trap Bayley in a ladder stuck under the turnbuckle (following a KOD onto a chair) and Bayley couldn’t get out to beat the count, losing in 20:44. I really like Bianca and love her getting the top star treatment but she’s in Roman territory where she has beaten everyone. There’s Rhea and Charlotte (pls, no) left. This was great though. [****]

Bray Wyatt showed up to talk about spooky stuff. I’ll admit that I didn’t have time to sit through this, so apologies if it was important. I’ll check it out at some point.

Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns [c] vs. Logan Paul

People everywhere scoffed at this main event but it felt pretty clear that Paul could put on a good match. Roman didn’t take this seriously from the start, talking trash, laughing things off, and toying with Paul for the most part. Paul would get in some body shots here or there but Roman mostly dominated. Paul’s leap frog looked great and he shocked Roman by sending him packing. Still, Roman remained in control and mocked his opponent. When Logan hit Roman with his own Superman Punch and did a kip-up, you knew something special was happening. He was firing up and commentary wasn’t wrong in saying that Paul looks like the best three-match wrestler in history. The reaction for him avoiding a Superman Punch with a kidney shot and the “lucky” right hand was great. I also popped for him hitting a clean Buckshot Lariat when CM Punk couldn’t. Paul laid Roman on a table, grabbed a phone from his ringside entourage, and did a frog splash through the table. It looked spectacular and the view from the phone after the match was tremendous. The Usos got involved to fight with Paul’s entourage which prompted a run in from Jake Paul. His worked punches looked pretty bad so maybe his fights are actually legit. Solo Sikoa also showed up and officials had to keep him separated from Jake Paul. Logan’s huge dive took out the Usos but wasted too much time celebrating with his brother. Once back inside, he ate a Superman Punch and Spear and Roman retained after 24:45. An outstanding match that was the best of the day. Logan Paul delivered one of the greatest performance I’ve ever seen given his experience level and that he tore his ACL and MCL about halfway through. He has picked up wrestling in an incredible fashion. [****½]

8.0

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

One of, if not the best, Saudi Arabia shows ever. Everything was at least pretty good with only Omos/Braun not working and that was expected. Two banger final matches and Paul/Reigns is one for the ages.