2023 Crown Jewel Review

It’s been little over a month since my last posting and not a lot has happened but quickly bring it all up to speed CM Punk possible return to WWE has grown, Will Ospreay’s free agent campaign has begun, AEW continues to do AEW things to spite itself, Impact wrestling rebrands back to TNA in the start of 2024, and WWE continues to be money machine despite doing very little. This past weekend was WWE’s Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia and here are a couple things to take from the event as we look ahead for the Survivor Series in Chicago this year.

• Let’s start with our new US champion Logan Paul who defeated Rey Mysterio via brass knuckles to win the title, Paul just continues to solidify that he may be meant to be in pro wrestling but him becoming champion maybe bring in some of his rather large following going forward possibly at Survivor Series in some capacity.

• Rhea Ripley is without question the best female wrestler in world right now, her entrance and presentation as the de facto leader of Judgement Day has made Ripley a major player now and the future of women’s wrestling. The 5-way match was with solid outings for Zoey Stark and Shayna Baszler but in the end Mami left crown jewel on top with her Women’s World Championship.

• Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre was the match of the night for the world heavyweight title where Rollins and his injured back came into play again while the possible and hopeful turn for McIntyre added more this match up. McIntyre looking for the chance to win the title in front of a crowd finally may lead to a breaking point that may have an effect on the WarGames match at Survivor Series later this month.

• Crown Jewel was where Solo Sikoa made a big statement by not only defeating John Cena but absolutely destroying Cena at the end to secure the victory. Sikoa is on the rise of something big where in the opposite direction John Cena is still trying to get a win that he hasn’t had since 2018 but also raises the question of retirement being sooner or later for Cena but I don’t expect Cena to vanish anytime soon.

• Iyo Sky retaining her WWE Women’s title with help from an old friend in Kari Sane to defeat the EST Bianca Belair. The match was good there’s a clear fan divide between them in these international shows, but the surprise return of Sane may be a bad sign for Bayley that her time with Damage CTRL is coming to an end considering her past with Kari Sane.

• Our tribal chief Roman Reigns retain the undisputed championship with some bloodline shenanigans keeping the historic reign going, but LA Knight put up an excellent proving his main event/megastar status is legitimate and some kind of championship gold is in his future. We don’t know how long this reign will go or how long Roman Reigns will wrestle even so regardless of your thoughts on this run Reigns is on it’s probably best to appreciate and acknowledge it while you because it may be over soon.

• And lastly Damian Priest aka Senor Money in the Bank had a bad Saturday night where at the end of the Rollins/McIntyre match he attempted to cash in the briefcase for it only to be stolen or taken from by Sami Zayn then later on faced Cody Rhodes and more plans backfire on the Judgement Day possibly creating more friction and doubt in the group at a bad time considering Survivor Games WarGames is now set.