Brock Lesnar VS Bobby Lashley
The opening match of the night saw the titanic battle between the Beast Brock Lesnar and the All Mighty Bobby Lashley. This match basically consisted of only signatures and finishers. Lashley speared Brock through the barricade, Lashley speared Brock in the ring, Lesnar hit German suplexes, Lesnar hit the F5 and Bobby Lashley locked in the Hurt Lock. In the end, Lesnar fell onto Lashley whilst in the hurt lock to get the 3 count. This was a bad ending. Lesnar didn’t roll through like he should have and I don’t even think Lashley’s shoulders were down. After the match, Lashley attacked Lesnar and applied the hurt lock on him again before a bunch of referees broke it up. This didn’t make Lashley look great.
Grade: C
WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships: Alexa Bliss and Asuka VS Damage Control
The women’s tag team title match started with Alexa Bliss battling Dakota Kai. They did some decent stuff, but the match picked up a gear when Asuka and Iyo Sky stared off. Both women possess quick offense so neither one could really get an advantage. Overall, all four women got their moment in the spotlight at some point. In the end though, the referee was distracted trying to sort out the brawl that was happening between the two Japanese superstars and that allowed Nikki Cross to come in and hit her finisher onto Alexa Bliss meaning Kai could get the cover to reclaim the Women’s tag team championships for Damage CTRL. I’m glad that Sky and Kai have the belts back and it also sets up a potential storyline between former women’s tag team champions Bliss and Cross. Decent stuff.
Grade: B-
Steel Cage Match: Drew McIntyre VS Karrion Kross
Karrion Kross’ entrance looks even cooler in a big arena. After this, him and Drew McIntyre squared off inside a steel cage. This match was pretty fun, maybe even my match of the night. Both men battled hard and there were some cool spots in this. The best spot came when both men were fighting at the top of the cage. They then hit a superplex onto one another and it looked crazy. As Drew was trying to escape the cage through the door, Scarlett sprayed pepper spray into his eyes again and she even did it to the referee which was really funny. After locking the door, Drew McIntyre climbed over the cage and he managed to beat Kross in a race to the outside. Arguably, Kross would have won if the steel steps weren’t there. Kross losing is a shame but at least he wasn’t pinned. I’m assuming the two will square off one last time at Survivor Series.
Grade: B+
The OC VS The Judgment Day
The Judgement Day also have a really cool entrance. Rhea Ripley had done her hair to respect “the late, great” Beth Phoenix. The match itself was alright, Damian Priest and Karl Anderson are both pretty solid inside the ropes and I liked that Dominik kept trying to avoid big LG. The best stuff happened when AJ Styles and Finn Balor went at each other but that isn’t really a surprise. It looked like AJ Styles was in the position to win the match but as Dominik distracted the referee, Ripley dropped Styles on the ring apron. She then rolled him back into the ring and this allowed Balor to hit his dropkick into the corner before he hit the Coup De Grace to get the win. I’m very happy that the Judgement Day won. I’d be surprised if this storyline is over though.
Grade: B-
Braun Strowman VS Omos
I thought that Braun Strowman VS Omos was better than it should have been. I was particularly impressed with Omos in this match; he picked up Strowman multiple times which is crazy and for the first time ever, it felt like he had a personality. He kept trash talking both Strowman and the crowd which was really good. In the end though, his trash talking couldn’t get him the win as Braun managed to pick up the 416-pound man and hit the running powerslam to get the win. Even though Omos losing isn’t a great look for him, this was overall the best he has looked since his debut at WrestleMania 37. Also, WWE can play into the story that MVP wasn’t there. This was a nice surprise.
Grade: C+
Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships: The Usos VS The Brawling Brutes
Before the start of the tag team title match, Michael Cole said that WWE medical believes that Jey Uso has broken his wrist. I don’t know if this is true or not but if it is, fair play to the right-hand man. The match itself was fine, The Usos are so good at what they do and both Butch and Ridge Holland have clearly been doing this for a while. Ridge Holland hit both the ten beats of the bodhran (only ended up being nine) and the white noise to pay homage to Sheamus whilst Butch showcased his quickness and his desire to break his opponents fingers. In the end, the Usos got the win with an awesome looking 1D from the top rope. This match was really just on the card to give the Usos another win and to hype up their match with the New Day this Friday. However, that’s not a bad thing if the wrestling is good.
Grade: B
Raw Women’s Championship Last Women Standing Match: Bianca Belair VS Bayley
The Raw Women’s Championship was on the line as Bianca Belair defended against Bayley in a Last Women Standing Match. This match had some cool spots but also some worrying moments. Bayley jumped off the barricade and clotheslined Belair whilst she was on a chair and after this, the two battled on the stage and Bayley awkwardly tripped between the gap of the stage and the floor. It ended up being part of the story, but it didn’t look nice. Bayley then showcased her proper evil side by trapping Belair in between both the steel steps and the ring apron before she repeatedly wacked her with the kendo stick. Belair then picked up the steps and threw them at Bayley which also didn’t look great. The two then brawled up the stage before Bayley put Belair into an equipment case. Really, she should have pushed it off the stage but that never ended up happening. Afterwards, Bayley came back round in a golf cart which was ridiculous but her attempt to run over Belair was pretty abysmal. She needs to go back and watch Reigns VS Owens from the 2021 Royal Rumble. The two then battled on top of the buggy which wasn’t stable before Belair drove back down to ringside with Bayley on top. Belair then pulled Bayley onto the table, but it didn’t break so she was forced to powerbomb her through it and this time it broke. After a horrible looking K.O.D which saw Bayley’s knee hit awkwardly on the steel chair, Belair trapped Bayley inside the ladder and the ring corner to get the win. This was a pretty mental match overall. Belair winning was a shame, but I wasn’t surprised at the result. I expect the two to face off in War Games in 3 weeks.
Grade: B
Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns VS Logan Paul
The Main Event of Crown Jewel saw Roman Reigns put his 797-day reign as Champion on the line against Social Media Megastar Logan Paul. You could tell that Reigns had underestimated his opponent as he was getting more and more angry after every bit of offense from Paul. Reigns did his usual great trash talking with the crowd before Logan Paul met Reigns with a superman punch. Reigns was clearly stunned by the offense of the Youtuber and after Paul set up Reigns on the announce table, he borrowed a phone off of his ImPaulsive podcast co-hosts before he hit a mega frog splash onto Reigns to go crashing through the table. The Usos then appeared and beat down Paul’s friends before Jake Paul showed up with his own entrance. Paul then managed to knock out both Usos with not the best-looking strikes before he hyped his brother up. Logan then hit another Splash onto Reigns for a close near fall before Solo Sikoa’s music hit. Sikoa looked badass when he was coming down to the ring. WWE have done such a great job with him. WWE Officials and referees got in the middle of the former North American Champion and the Bizaardvark star before Jake had the Usos standing right behind him. Logan then hit another crazy dive onto the Usos but as he got back into the ring, Reigns met him with a devastating superman punch before he wrecked him with the Spear to retain his Championship. After the match, the Bloodline celebrated on the ramp and Reigns was clearly quite emotional. Overall, this match was mad! So many things happened! Yes, Logan Paul got in too much offense. Yes, Paul doing more damage to the Tribal Chief than some of Reigns’ other opponents isn’t great. However, you can’t deny that Logan Paul is talented. He clearly loves WWE and is really training hard to be as good a professional wrestler as he possibly can be. This was a fun main event, particularly for a show like Crown Jewel.
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