00:00Roman Reigns gets pinned by Solo Sakoa, and Riyadh is the third most populous city in
00:05the Middle East.
00:06For real reason, Kevin Owens and Randy Orton is called off.
00:10And Riyadh is derived from the Arabic word Radar, which means gardens, reflecting the
00:14historical presence of natural oases and lush areas within the region.
00:18And Sami Zayn kind of reunites the original Bloodline line-up.
00:22And Riyadh is one of the world's brightest cities, with over 8 hours of sunlight each
00:26day.
00:27So, Oli Davis, book your holiday to the progressive, beautiful city of Riyadh now!
00:32Look at it!
00:33Look at how beautiful and progressive it is!
00:36And this is my review of the Crown Jewel Saudi Arabian Tourist Board special… in about
00:4010 minutes.
00:45Quickly before I get into the show review, though, Indi Hartwell and Tegan Nox were released
00:49from WWE on Friday 1st November.
00:52Baron Corbin also confirmed on social media that he was also leaving the company when
00:56his contract expires.
00:57Fightful Select has now added that staff members and talent backstage felt the release
01:01of the 28-year-old Hartwell was the most unexpected, as she had only just competed on that night's
01:07episode of SmackDown, which had been taped the Friday before due to the trip to Saudi
01:10Arabia, and that she had been improving and coming into her own in social media skits
01:16lately.
01:17Hartwell had first signed with WWE in 2019, making her NXT TV debut in January 2020, where
01:23she would win both the NXT Women's Championship and the Women's Tag Team Championships.
01:28She was called up to the main roster in 2023, but got somewhat lost in the shuffle.
01:33Over to Crown Jewel, the PLE started with Michael Cole telling us exactly where Riyadh
01:37is on Google Maps, book your flights now, and we then got an opening video package that
01:41was part Saudi Arabian tourist commercial, part rejected Black Adam trailer.
01:45Compared to a year's worth of big sellout gates abroad, the reported 13,000 seater capacity
01:50here occasionally looked a bit empty or overproduced visually, as though the entire thing took
01:55place on a soundstage.
01:57The crowd did sound very hot, though, even if it was often just for themselves.
02:01But spare a thought for this one fan with a CM Punk sign in the crowd right after the
02:05opening pyro.
02:06I'm sorry to disappoint you, kid, I don't think he's showing up.
02:10Because CM Punk wasn't on the card, the Bloodline didn't have to steal his main
02:13event.
02:14Meaning the new vs old Blood six-man tag opened the show.
02:17The story was established perfectly from the very start.
02:20While New Blood all came out together, all in matching red and black gear, Roman Reigns
02:24and Jimmy Uso came out together, while their only recently reunited Uso, Jey, got his own
02:29entrance and baby blue attire.
02:32Roman and Jimmy visually had more in common with the black and red of their opponents
02:36than they did with their own teammate.
02:38It was a clear visual reminder that New Blood are all on the same page, but Roman, Jimmy
02:43and Jey aren't there just yet, sowing the seeds of how the OTC could be beaten.
02:48Which I would argue should've also been the case when Roman and Cody should've lost
02:51at last month's Bad Blood tag match.
02:53This initially started quite jovially, though.
02:56Roman let Jey start the match, showing that he's trying to see his cousins as equals
03:00not subordinates now, and that Usos were working together like it was a house show, doing some
03:04body popping slaps on Jacob Fatu while Roman smiled on the ring apron.
03:08It didn't scream vicious blood feud, but that was really all just a sense of false
03:12security.
03:13The crowd were going crazy chanting for a Roman hot tag, but Jey tagged in Jimmy instead.
03:18And that single act, likely driven by Jey's previous resentment, let a totally in-sync
03:24New Blood get on top.
03:26Jimmy got worked over, Jey got worked over, building to the inevitable Roman hot tag,
03:31which finally gave us Reigns vs Solo in the middle of the ring.
03:35But Sokoa, who damn near killed John Cena around this time last year, what will he make
03:40of Roman now that they're… oh, ok, Roman's just going to quite easily beat him up.
03:44WWE has been booking Sokoa so weakly, in fact, even his visible three counts are undermined.
03:49Just by having Tonga Loa's botchy aura nearby, Jimmy was too late to break up Solo's spike
03:54near fall on Roman.
03:55It meant the referee had to awkwardly just not count three, even though there was no
04:00kick out or break up.
04:02The action quickly moved the crowd on from the botch, though, with everyone hitting their
04:06moves, Fatu taking out both Usos, the compulsory bloodline ref bump spot.
04:11Even though I'm not sure why that needed to happen, as everyone in the ring was also
04:15in the match.
04:16Two Solo spikes, and Sokoa got the winning pin on Roman Reigns.
04:22Which I'm actually so happy about, because New Blood desperately need to look credible,
04:26especially if there's going to be a WarGames match at Survivor Series.
04:29And also, didn't like it that much, because I also now owe Luke £10.
04:56It also meant that, briefly, someone had the official Crown Jewel Wikipedia results
05:01listing the winner as the Temu bloodline.
05:04But wait, there's more.
05:06Roman tried to grab the Oolafala from Solo in the post-match, prompting New Blood beating
05:10their older family members up.
05:12Progressing from his tension with Reigns in the actual match, Jey actually sacrificed
05:16himself for Roman being put through a table.
05:19The New Blood were about to pilmanise Jey's neck in a chair when Sami Zayn ran down.
05:25But whose side was he on?
05:27He was seen talking in the parking lot with Solo on Monday's Raw.
05:30He went to hug Solo, and I genuinely yelped out loud, but thankfully it was all a ruse.
05:36He hit an Exploder Suplex on Solo, and the OTC line-up cleared house, leaving Solo stuck
05:41in the middle of all four of them in a great visual.
05:44But then Sami charged with a Helluva Kick at the same time that Roman went for a Spear,
05:49and Zayn ended up laying Reigns out.
05:51This was very good, setting up the next month of WarGames' build of Sami and Jey getting
05:55on the same page as Roman and Jimmy.
05:57But never mind that, Colt wants to tell us some more amazing facts about Riyadh.
06:027.5 million people live there.
06:05Wow.
06:06That's a number.
06:08Considering how bland the division's feuds have been, the Women's Tag Team Championship
06:11match massively exceeded my expectations.
06:14Each of the four teams brought something different to the mix.
06:17Bianca and Jade were the defending champions, Legend and Jaxson were the disrespectful upstarts,
06:22Damage Control were the excellent wrestlers, and Chelsea Green and Piper Niven provided
06:26the comedy.
06:27It meant that the match could shift from the hoss fight tension of Legend and Cargill going
06:30face to face, where I actually felt like Lash came off looking better with some brutal chops,
06:35to Piper accidentally sitting on Green without it feeling clunky.
06:39An even better comedy spot was when Chelsea went to do a dive off the top rope outside,
06:43but kept downgrading how dangerous it would be, eventually just doing a gentle leap into
06:47Niven's arms.
06:48Green was so good in this match, also bumping around for the metaphor gals.
06:52I was rooting for her to get a surprise win, like she gets knocked out in the chaos and
06:57falls on top of an also unconscious Jaxson to accidentally get a three count and win
07:01the belts.
07:02Unfortunately, it was the opposite.
07:04Green and Niven suffered a miscommunication, Niven Vader bombed Chelsea, and then Bianca
07:08and Jade hit a Doomsday Device on Piper to retain.
07:11A very fun match, but a result that means we're right back to the same stale tag title
07:16scene.
07:17I'm saying that because did you know Riyadh is visited by 5 million tourists annually?
07:22Next up was Seth Rollins vs Bronson Reed, a wild blood feud that saw Seth get taken
07:26to a local medical facility on Monday's Raw because of a back injury.
07:31How will that historically fragile body part affect Seth's chances against the unstoppable
07:35force that is Bronson Reed?
07:38It's totally fine, it didn't actually affect him once.
07:42Seth ran up the ramp to start brawling with Bronson during his entrance, stirring up their
07:46finishers so when the bell finally rang, Reed hit a Tsunami, and then Rollins hit a
07:50stomp.
07:51Bronson kept kicking out of Seth's best stuff, but Seth also kept kicking out of Rollins'.
07:56Reed went to use the steel steps outside, but Rollins countered with a stomp onto them,
08:00a second stomp in the ring, and a third super stomp to win the match.
08:06This was really fun, but seeing that Reed lost to Braun Strowman, I felt he needed the
08:09win here against Seth.
08:11They should've used Monday's back injury as a reason for why and to build a rematch.
08:16Instead, Bronson stood up despite all those stomps in the post-match, with blood trickling
08:20down his head, showing he's a badass, presumably setting up a second bout.
08:25Nia Jax vs Liv Morgan was the first of the night's two Crown Jewel Championships, but
08:29technically trophies, matches.
08:31Meaning we got our first look at one of the worst AR graphics I've seen in ages.
08:35The Crown Jewel belt being towed along by a troop of CGI camels.
08:41This match was always going to struggle with a heel vs heel dynamic, so it was booked as
08:45the shortest match on the card with maximum smoke and mirrors.
08:48Barely five minutes in saw Tiffany Stratton run down to cash in her Money in the Bank
08:52briefcase to be told no by Nia.
08:55Then Judgment Day's Raquel and Dom appeared at ringside.
08:58They distracted the referee, letting Liv hit an Oblivion to win the gaudiest of the belts.
09:02But never mind that, because did you know Riyadh is the home to the WWE Experience site,
09:08which-WHOA SHUT THE FRONT DOOR.
09:10Is that the SmackDown fist they've got at the exhibition?
09:14Kevin Owens vs Randy Orton was cancelled on the night because of just too much hate.
09:18Both men made their entrances, but KO, wearing a cowboy Bob Orton shirt who is Randy's
09:22father, attacked Randy with a chair.
09:24This started an uncontrollable brawl that didn't just see Owens stunner the referee,
09:28but also had Orton RKO Adam Pearce when the Raw and SmackDown GMs tried to break it up,
09:34which might be leading to a Team Pearce vs Team Aldis match for Survivor Series.
09:39KO and Orton brawled into the crowd, where Owens hit a flying elbow off a raised area
09:43on Orton through a table, and the PLA moved into its next commercial break thingy without
09:48the match ever having started.
09:50The direction seems to be Owens challenging Cody soon for the WWE title, possibly at Saturday
09:55night's main event in December.
09:57Which should mean KO getting a win here to build him up.
10:00But the Wrestling Observer points out Triple H made the call to do this without beating
10:04Randy Orton.
10:05The speculation, particularly with Randy occasionally eyeing up Cody's belt like it's someone's
10:10cleavage, is that he'll face Rhodes too early next year.
10:13LA Knight was the third wheel in the United States three way with Carmelo Hayes and Andrade.
10:17The second shortest match on the card focused on Hayes and Andrade blood feuding with each
10:21other while Knight would get involved in three way spots.
10:24It was good character driven action, with the threat that Knight doesn't have to get
10:28pinned to lose his belt.
10:29Ultimately, he inserted himself spectacularly into one of their moves, Hayes attempting
10:34a Tilt-A-World on Andrade, hitting a BFT to retain.
10:37This was exciting stuff, but it was really just a filler match to a bigger program at
10:41Survivor Series.
10:43Usually, WWE's bragging rights stories come off too corporate.
10:46They're about representing your brand's honour, even when that doesn't fit with
10:50the character.
10:51But Gunther vs Cody Rhodes has been different.
10:53It's been about one of my favourite kinds of feud you can do in wrestling.
10:57A clash of philosophies.
10:59Cody is the face of the company Sports Entertainer.
11:03Gunther is the heel ring general.
11:05One does it for the fans, the other does it for the brutal respect of the mat.
11:09And they played this styles clash through the match.
11:12Cody's flashier moves, like his dad's bionic elbow or a dive outside, would just
11:16be met with simple but effective chops.
11:19Gunther would smother Cody's fire with sleepers, Boston Crabs, them more sleepers.
11:24Rhodes' comeback came with a mandatory multiple crossroads and kickouts.
11:27Gunther would elevate his offence with powerbombs.
11:30But in the end, it was Cody's intelligence that won on the night.
11:33Gunther has said he was going to make Cody go to sleep during the build.
11:37Rhodes possibly suckered Gunther into countering his super Cody Cutter into a sleeper, which
11:42Rhodes rolled back over on to get a pin winning clean.
11:46This was a really good main event that felt like just a tease of what could be to come
11:50in a sequel, with Gunther only just being bested on this night.
11:55Gunther shook Cody's hand afterwards, hopefully setting up that rematch one day.
11:59And Cody posed with the absolutely enormous belt.
12:02Sammy stuff aside, this was mostly a filler show to pop the Saudi sports board.
12:06We've had a guest spot of PFK's Survival Series on the WrestleTalk Channel, it's
12:14up right now.
12:15Watch us all and Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez try to name every WarGames participant ever.
12:21Here's a clip.
12:51And with that said, name me someone who has been in a WarGames match.
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