By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WWE Crown Jewel Hits
World Heavyweight Champion Gunther vs. WWE Champion Cody Rhodes for the Crown Jewel Championship: A strong match with a finish that gave Cody the win without damaging Gunther. I’m still not a fan of the gaudy championship belts or the idea of having champion vs. champion matches on an annual basis. Just because it went okay for the men this year doesn’t mean it won’t cause future creative issues with shortened title reigns to avoid key matchups, among other issues.
LA Knight vs. Andrade vs. Carmelo Hayes in a Triple Threat for the U.S. Title: The pleasant surprise of the show. Knight had his usual rope slip, but all three wrestlers delivered a really good three-way match and created more suspense than anticipated. I continue to hope that the creative team will do a make good by booking Andrade vs. Hayes with a clean finish to give a proper close to their best of seven series.
Roman Reigns, Jey Uso, and Jimmy Uso vs. “The Bloodline” Solo Sikoa, Jacob Fatu, and Tama Tonga in a six-man tag: It’s not every day that Reigns takes a pinfall loss, so it packed a punch when he took a pair of Samoan Spikes and was pinned by Sikoa. It would have been easy to have one of the Usos take the loss for their team, but this approach meant so much more. Fatu continues to stand out regardless of who he shares the ring with.
Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill vs. Iyo Sky and Kairi Sane vs. Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson vs. Chelsea Green and Piper Niven in a four-way match for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles: There were a lot of moving parts and a rookie team in Legend and Jackson involved, but they all came together and produced a solid match. That said, I really hope the Belair and Cargill split is coming soon. Belair is a singles star who belongs in the women’s championship picture. I understand the idea of creating this team to help Cargill get acclimated, but I’m ready for both women to be featured as singles act. Of course, the big question is whether Cargill is ready. At some point, the company needs to find out.
The Randy Orton and Kevin Owens brawl: One of the luxuries of WWE premium live events streaming on Peacock is that the company can get away with advertising a match and only delivering a brawl. They would run the risk of really upsetting people if fans were paying $50 per show and the company failed to deliver one of the key advertised matches. The brawl was effective in terms of getting over the intensity of the feud and spotlighting the Owens character as being unhinged. Did they avoid having a match and a real finish because they are working toward these two challenging Cody Rhodes for the WWE Championship in a Triple Threat?
WWE Crown Jewel Misses
Seth Rollins vs. Bronson Reed: The actual match was well worked and entertaining. But the finish with Rollins going over clean was a head scratcher. Winning this match did nothing for Rollins, whereas it would have been huge for Reed to go over. I’ve avoided the Raw spoilers, so perhaps there’s something that happens on the show that airs tonight that will make me feel better about what feels like a lost opportunity.
WWE Women’s Champion Nia Jax vs. Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan for the Women’s Crown Jewel Championship: Tiffany Stratton said she would cash in her Money in the Bank contract on the Smackdown go-home show. Rather than make good on the character’s vow, the company gave us another MITB tease that went nowhere and a whole bunch of outside interference. Morgan’s emotional reaction to winning the match made it clear that the Crown Jewel Championship meant a lot more to her than anyone else.
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