‘WWE Crown Jewel 2024’ PPV Review
Welcome to this review of WWE Crown Jewel 2024, right here on Nerdly… The controversy over this event seems to die down with each and every event passing and I’m not sure how I feel about that. Anyway, let’s see what happened during this year’s show, which was marked by the champ versus champ matches for the newly-minted Crown Jewel belts!
Match #1: The Bloodline def. Roman Reigns and The Usos
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
Solo Sikoa earned the biggest pinfall of his career by earning the three-count over Roman Reigns and anointing himself as the one true Tribal Chief of The Bloodline. The Usos kicked things off by bringing back their signature tandem offense, but it wasn’t long before The Samoan Werewolf brought the fight back to them, leading to a tense standoff. With The OG Bloodline in firm control, Jey rebuffed the crowd’s want of The OTC and tagged in his twin brother, miffing Reigns who stood bewildered on the ring apron. Solo Sikoa finally got in on the action and destroyed his brothers before Reigns finally tagged in, leading to an epic back-and-forth between the two Superstars vying for The Head of the Table. After Sikoa nearly won the match with a Samoan Spike on his former Tribal Chief, the official became caught in the crosshairs thanks to Reigns inadvertently tossing Tama Tonga onto him. During the chaos, Sikoa nailed Reigns with two more Samoan Spikes to win the match and cement himself as the true Tribal Chief.
My Score: 3.5 out of 5
Match #2: WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship Fatal 4-Way Match – Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill def. Damage CTRL, Chelsea Green & Piper Niven, and Jakara Jackson & Lash Legend
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
The WWE Women’s Tag Team Title remains with Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill after a hard-fought victory in a Fatal 4-Way Match. Belair and IYO SKY dazzled in the early goings, and they found common ground in going after Chelsea Green with Cargill and Lash Legend also taking turns thrashing The Hot Mess. SKY and Kairi Sane managed took out Jakara Jackson while Piper Niven single-handedly neutralized Damage CTRL, only for Belair to thump the Scottish Superstar with a huge Blockbuster from the top rope. The match became pure chaos when Sane hit an Insane Elbow, followed by a Moonsault from the Genius of The Sky and a huge diving splash from Jackson after being perched on Legend’s shoulders. The madness continued when Niven accidentally hit a Vader Bomb on her own partner, allowing the champions a window to hit a ring-shaking Doomsday Device to retain their title.
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #3: Seth “Freakin” Rollins def. “Big” Bronson Reed
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
Seth “Freakin” Rollins stormed back up the ramp to attack “Big” Bronson Reed before the match, leading to an all-out brawl before the official could gain control. After Reed used his immense strength to down Rollins, he nailed a massive Tsunami, only for The Visionary to avoid a second one and nearly win the match with a Stomp. A frustrated Rollins continued his assault, but Reed rallied and brutalized the former World Heavyweight Champion and put him in prime position for another Stomp. Rollins rolled out of the ring, and Reed chased him with the steel steps, only for The Architect to knock Reed down and hit him a Stomp onto the steel, followed by another Stomp in the ring and finally a Super Stomp to win the match.
My Score: 3 out of 5
Match #4: Women’s Crown Jewel Championship – Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan def. WWE Women’s Champion Nia Jax
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
Liv Morgan became the first-ever Women’s Crown Jewel Champion by defeating Nia Jax thanks to “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio, Raquel Rodriguez, and, inadvertently, Tiffany Stratton. Jax’s power advantage was stark as she tossed Morgan around the ring with ease, forcing the Women’s World Champion to use her speed and quickness to try and gain any advantage she could. Despite Morgan targeting her legs, Jax powered Morgan onto the top rope and hit her with an Avalanche Samoan Drop, but the Women’s World Champion somehow kicked out. As the two Superstars battled inside the ring, Ms. Money in the Bank Tiffany Stratton hit the scene but was chased off by a furious Jax. Stratton decided that it was Tiffy Time anyway, but Rodriguez neutralized her followed by Jax taking out everyone on the outside. Dirty Dom inserted himself into the match to distract Jax and the official long enough for Morgan to hit Oblivion to become the first-ever Women’s Crown Jewel Champion.
My Score: 2.5 out of 5
Match #5: Kevin Owens vs. Randy Orton (No-contest)
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
The match hadn’t even begun before Kevin Owens absolutely lost his mind. Owens attacked Randy Orton’s knee with a steel chair as The Viper posed on the ropes and delivered a stunner to the official before assaulting more WWE officials at ringside. Orton followed suit and took out several WWE officials, including delivering an RKO to Raw General Manager Adam Pearce. The two Superstars continued their war in the crowd before Owens defied gravity by hitting a huge elbow drop onto Orton through a pair of tables.
My Score: 0 out of 5
Match #6: United States Championship Triple Threat Match – LA Knight def. Carmelo Hayes and Andrade
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
A chaotic sequence spilled action to outside the ring, as Andrade hit a shocking moonsault on the champion, followed by Hayes hitting a diving Senton. Hayes countered Knight’s attempt at a BFT and sent him right into a spinning elbow from Andrade with Hayes then hitting First-48, but it wasn’t enough to secure the championship victory. All three Superstars continued to battle with Knight hitting a double elbow drop from the top rope before he was caught with Nothing But Net, but the subsequent pinfall was broken up by Andrade. Knight capitalized on Hayes and Andrade’s back-and-forth by hitting a BFT on Hayes while Andrade got spiked with a facebuster, allowing the champion to retain his title.
My Score: 3.5 out of 5
Match #7: Men’s Crown Jewel Championship – Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes def. World Heavyweight Champion Gunther
The following is courtesy of wwe.com:
The American Nightmare conquered The Ring General in front of a frenzied Riyadh crowd to become the first-ever Men’s Crown Jewel Champion. Gunther mauled the Undisputed WWE Champion to begin the match, using his weight to exhaust Rhodes and keep him pinned down to the mat. The American Nightmare rallied thanks to a deafening crowd, but Gunther picked Rhodes out of the air with ease. Gunther countered the Disaster Kick into a full Boston crab before transitioning into the Sleeper that he predicted would vanquish Rhodes. Rhodes persevered and managed to hit a pair of Cross Rhodes, but it wasn’t enough to keep Gunther down as the World Heavyweight Champion kept coming for more. The Undisputed WWE Champion went for a Super Cody Cutter but got caught, only for him to flip his hips and pin Gunther’s shoulders to the mat for the three-count, securing his victory as the first-ever Men’s Crown Jewel Champion.
My Score: 4 out of 5
Final Verdict: 3/5
An improvement over last year’s event, 2024s Crown Jewel pay-per-view at least felt tied into the current landscape of WWE, with storylines carrying over from Raw and Smackdown to the premium event. That’s not to say there’s still not an odd feeling watching this PPV but at least they, at least for the most part, stopped patting themselves on the back about what the WWE are doing for the culture of the Middle East – that was left to the post-show presentation which was, frankly, embarrassing for those involved and skippable. It felt like an amateur-hour production compared to the main show… Still, as always, YMMV with any Crown Jewel show.
