Crown Jewel Preview
I don’t remember the last time a show has had fans this apathetic in a long time. Maybe it’s the ridiculous schedule that the company has gone with lately or the controversy surrounding the event or the card itself or some big combination of everything else, but Crown Jewel comes off like the kind of show that WWE is desperate to finish so they can never talk about it again. Hopefully it comes off a little better than the build has been. Let’s get to it.
Kickoff Show: United States Title: Shinsuke Nakamura(c) vs. Rusev
This was added on Thursday because we just needed one more match before the show in case you thought you could have any extra time on your hands. Nakamura has only defended the title three times on TV because WWE seems to forget that he’s even champion, which likely has something to do with him having the longest reign in two years (in three more weeks it’ll be the longest since John Cena’s Open Challenge reign).
That being said, I can’t imagine the title changes here. While Nakamura has nothing going on at the moment, Rusev isn’t exactly doing anything at the moment either and I can’t picture a new champion when neither has anything going on. It doesn’t matter who has the title as long as the champion isn’t going to be on TV and for some reason, WWE doesn’t like the idea of the US Champion showing up very often.
For the sake of sanity, I’m only going to talk about the first round of the tournament in detail as there’s not much of a point in talking about matches that might not even happen. I’ll give my predictions for the rest of the tournament though.
World Cup Of Wrestling First Round: Seth Rollins vs. Bobby Lashley
We’re starting with a hard one here. I’m not sure where to go on this one with Lashley being the replacement for John Cena, and you could make a case for Cena being the favorite in the whole thing. That being said, do you really want to bring in the Intercontinental Champion for the sake of having him lose a match in the first round?
I’ll take Rollins to advance, though Lashley winning wouldn’t exactly surprise me. The only problem with Lashley advancing is having the Saudi government rip up the agreement because they had to listen to LASH-LEY LASH-LEY LASH-LEY for more than one match. Rollins can win here by a rollup or some other fluke and not really suffer much of a downgrade, as Rollins is just a bigger star right now.
World Cup Of Wrestling First Round: Dolph Ziggler vs. Kurt Angle
I’ll give them some points for matches that are making me think. Angle has been the Monday Night Raw guy getting most of the attention so far and it would make sense to have him move forward, especially over someone as annoying as Ziggler. That being said, is WWE really willing to put Angle out there with the risk of him ripping every ligament in his body and reinjuring his neck during the opening handshake?
I think they might be, at least for one match. Ziggler is going to get pushed no matter what because….well I have no idea actually but that’s been the case for years now. He’s going to be fine with or without the win, and it’s not like losing to Angle is something that is going to hurt him for the most part. Angle can get the win and do the very miniature Cinderella story, even if it’s not the most thrilling thing in the world.
World Cup Of Wrestling First Round: Jeff Hardy vs. The Miz
Things seem a little bit easier on the SmackDown Live side as you can probably pencil in the winner of this set of brackets from here. Hardy has been back (Did he ever really leave?) from his injuries and still hasn’t done much while Miz has already started talking about getting back in the World Title scene. I know Hardy is the more popular pick but this doesn’t seem to be that much of a contest.
I’m going with Miz of course, because just getting to listen to him brag in between the matches is going to be entertaining. Hardy is another bulletproof guy who can take loss after loss and not be in any serious trouble, if nothing else due to his charisma alone. Miz winning here makes sense and does more for him than it does for Hardy, which should make things a little more predictable as we move forward.
World Cup of Wrestling First Round: Randy Orton vs. Rey Mysterio
We’ll wrap up the first round on a pretty easy note. Orton is the kind of guy who has floated around the roster for years now with almost nothing changing no matter what he does. Mysterio is back after a long absence from the company and is someone who could get a heck of a push over the next few months, just for the sake of getting what you can out of his star power while it’s still there.
Of course I’ll be taking Mysterio to win here, if nothing else because there’s no need to have Orton advance in something like this. Some fans might not remember how good Mysterio is so having him pin Orton after defeating Nakamura to qualify for the tournament in the first place. Mysterio wins, as he should for the sake of building him up again.
That’s it for the first round, so we’ll shorten up the rest.
Seth Rollins b. Kurt Angle
The Miz b. Rey Mysterio
The Miz b. Seth Rollins
Miz is going back into the World Title scene and can use the bragging rights from the tournament to get himself a title shot. Rollins can have the match won and Dean Ambrose’s music hits to distract him, allowing Miz to score the win. It also gets you out of the storyline of having Shane McMahon threaten to fire a SmackDown Live wrestler for losing in the finals.
SmackDown Tag Team Titles: The Bar(c) vs. New Day
The eternal feud between these teams continues as the SmackDown Live tag team division (the Usos, Sanity, the Good Brothers, the Colons, whoever else they throw together at any given time) is apparently non-existent other than those two teams. The Bar took the titles from New Day last month with the help of Big Show, who may or may not be there this time around.
I’ll actually go with New Day winning here, just for the sake of the title change to make the show a little more fun. It’s not like it matters all that much as you’re likely to see these two trade the titles over and over again between these teams for months. At least we can get what should be a good match, which should help this show overcome some of its multitude of problems.
SmackDown World Title: AJ Styles(c) vs. Samoa Joe
This was added to the show on Tuesday as Daniel Bryan’s title shot was used on TV instead of waiting for this one because of Bryan not wanting to work in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, they’re brushing off this story again, which is about as good of an idea as they have. They really didn’t have another option aside from Nakamura for a champion vs. champion match and they’re going with the idea that makes more sense.
I’ll take Styles to retain here because there’s no reason to put the title on Joe at this point. They had their full feud and story with Styles winning the whole thing, making this more of a glorified house show match that takes place a few weeks after the pay per view feud has wrapped up. That’s the case a lot of the time and there’s nothing wrong with it. The match should be a lot of fun and Styles can retain, as we continue on towards Styles breaking CM Punk’s record for longest modern title reign (whatever that means).
Universal Title: Braun Strowman vs. Brock Lesnar
People, I’m scared here. Right now there’s no Roman Reigns to be the top guy in the company anymore and there’s a chance that WWE might want to put the title back on Lesnar for the sake of building up someone else to take the title from him in another big moment. Does that really sound all that ridiculous? WWE loves to have Lesnar as champion in absentia most of the time anyway, and it wouldn’t shock me to see it go there.
In something that I really hope to not regret, I’ll go with Strowman to win the title as anyone with a brain (who happens to be a wrestling fan who thinks about these things) likely sees as the logical choice. Strowman is still a popular guy and has a built in title challenger in the form of Drew McIntyre (PLEASE don’t have him interfere to cost Strowman the title.). This should be the easiest match on the card to guess, but that’s never stopped WWE before.
D-Generation X vs. Brothers of Destruction
And then there’s this, which has turned into one of the least interesting matches that should be the second featured match on any given WrestleMania card. The whole SHAWN MICHAELS IS COMING OUT OF RETIREMENT part has barely been mentioned and instead we’re being told about how old everyone in the match is, which makes them better or something like that. This match is going to be a rough one given the age/ring rust of everyone involved, but it’s likely going to headline with a ton of time.
Of course D-Generation X gets the win here, possibly with Michaels pinning Undertaker for the first time in….geez about twenty years? Unfortunately there’s a good chance that it’s going to be used to set up a WrestleMania 35 match between the two of them, because somehow that’s the sequel instead of the match that has been built up for all these years. I’ll go with D-Generation X winning but PLEASE don’t do the big hug after it’s all over. I don’t think I can take it.
Overall Thoughts
If they could have managed to do something worse to set this show up, I can’t imagine what it is. They’re holding a show that doesn’t feel important in a country they won’t specifically say with a host making his return to the company after being taken off for racial statements in a week that has had at least two hours of WWE TV in four of the five days this week (all but one has had three hours plus). I’m not sure what to expect here, but if Greatest Royal Rumble is an example, the show is looking like one of the most bloated messes of the year.
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