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00:00WWE released several names, John Cena and AJ Styles bust out all the tributes, and Seth
00:05Rollins beat Cody Rhodes to win the Crown Jewel Championship.
00:09I'm Luko and welcome to WrestleTalk, this is my review of Crown Jewel 2025.
00:14But first, news.
00:20Fightful Bodyslam and The Wrestling Observer reported that WWE released several names from
00:24their contracts yesterday evening whilst not picking up some that were expiring.
00:28It's quite typical of WWE to release talents from their contracts on a Friday so that
00:32it gets buried in the Smackdown news cycle.
00:35The names include Jamar Hampton, Brandon, BJ Ray, Summer Sorrell, Hayes Jamison, Draco Knox
00:40and Jin Tala, with the most notable names being Lance Anawaii, Stevie Turner and Wes Lee.
00:45Anawaii was signed by WWE last year, but got injured rather quickly.
00:48Fightful's Lake reported just last week that word was he'd picked up another injury that
00:53would keep him on the shelf for the rest of the year.
00:56In a Twitter post, Anawaii said, I didn't have the best of luck since I arrived.
01:00I will not let this stop me from achieving to be great.
01:02I've worked hard on the indies for 15 years now, let's get back to work.
01:06Stevie Turner posted, My time with WWE has come to an end.
01:10I've had a brilliant time and I'm so excited for the future.
01:13See you soon.
01:14Earlier this year she'd been made the general manager of the Evolve brand.
01:16Wes Lee formed the group High Rise in NXT with Tyreek Igway and Tyson Dupont, but the group
01:21hasn't done much of note since the start of the year.
01:23It is important to note that these are releases and thus they have 30 day non-compete clauses.
01:29Elsewhere, WWE ID prospect Zadea Steel announced that she's departing the company of deciding
01:34not to resign with WWE.
01:37She tweeted, I've decided not to renew my WWE ID contract.
01:40I'm incredibly grateful for all the knowledge, experience and opportunities I've gained
01:43along the way, but at the end of the day I have to do what's best for me.
01:47I'm only 21 and I've already done so much, but I'm just getting started.
01:52Unlike the releases, Steele is free to work wherever she wants, and has already been
01:56announced by House of Glory to be facing Indi Hartwell for their Women's Championship.
01:59Zahra Sakhir has announced that her WWE ID contract has not been re-signed, and tweeted
02:04that she'll be taking a step back from Pro Wrestling.
02:07Perhaps the most surprising name of the lot is Kylie Rae, who was the inaugural WWE ID
02:12Women's Champion, a championship she had to vacate when she announced just a couple
02:16of weeks back that she was pregnant.
02:18Rae had previously worked for AEW, but requested her release.
02:21Their split was said to be amicable.
02:22Fightful Select report, in addition to the WWE ID contracts that have come to an end, we're
02:27told that some were extended.
02:29WWE continues to recruit talent for the program.
02:32But that's enough news, let's get into this Crown Jewel review, which kicked off with
02:35Roman Reigns taking on Bronson Reed in an Australian Street Fight, which featured Aussie
02:39rules, footballs and cricket bats, which I understand might be confusing to some of
02:44our American viewers, because, as we're all aware, you need to know what a crump it
02:48is to understand cricket.
02:50This was your standard WWE hardcore match, and featured Reed absolutely battering Reigns
02:54until he did a Samoan drop through a chair.
02:56He kicked out of a Death Valley driver and set up for a spear on the outside, but got caught
03:00by Brom Breaker.
03:01They hit the Shield powerbomb through the announcer's table, which brought out the
03:04Usos to make the save.
03:06They all brawled, but in the madness, Jay hit Roman with a spear through a table, and
03:10Reed hit the tsunami to get the pin, making him, as best as I and our Patreon backers could
03:14work out, only the second person in wrestling to pin both Roman Reigns and Kazuchika Okada.
03:20Very neat group, I'd say.
03:22The others Finn Balor, in case you were curious.
03:23He then got bloodline acting, as Roman Reigns told his cousins that while he loves them,
03:28he doesn't want to see them until Christmas.
03:31More on that later.
03:32Stephanie Bakker pinned Tiffany Stratton to win the Women's Crown Duel Championship in
03:35a perfectly fine match that really felt much like the TV leading up to it.
03:39It didn't really build too much.
03:41It went just over 10 minutes, but those 10 minutes weren't spent telling a story in
03:44the ring.
03:45They just did some stuff, and then Stephanie won.
03:48Quite underwhelming, considering that there was a decent story to be told, as this is Tiffany
03:52's first loss all year.
03:55Bakker cut a nice promo after the match, and the reported plan for Tiffany next is facing
03:59Jade Cargill again for the Women's Championship, where they might do a title switch.
04:03Before we get into the rest of the show, there's the small matter of Brian Children getting
04:07his shot at redemption.
04:09We tasked him with interviewing the top stars of Clash of the Comics, and if he didn't
04:13cause any screw ups, he might just get his job back.
04:17Well, he handled the solo interviews with Phil Wang and Ed Gamble very well, but what will
04:22happen during the sit down interview with both men, where they are contractually not allowed
04:28to touch each other?
04:29Over to you Brian.
04:30I'm reading for you pal.
04:31Hello it's me Brian Children on behalf of WrestleTalk with my final chance, and I've got a huge
04:37question for these two who are going to be facing each other at the Clash of the Comics.
04:41Am I currently doing an alright job?
04:44Well I don't know the context, I've never seen you work before, so I mean to me I'd
04:50probably give it a 6 out of 10 at the moment, but if you're normally worse than this it's
04:53probably a 9 out of 10.
04:55Also depends who the alternatives are and if they would do better off, you're as good
04:59as it gets.
05:00Well, I'm as good as I get, for sure.
05:02Now it's very very key that the two of you do not make any physical contact with each
05:07other, because otherwise I will lose my job.
05:09That being said, Phil, I must ask you about Ed's comments from earlier, he called you
05:13a slug man, what do you think?
05:15Well just because my mucus has healing properties, I don't take that as an insult at all.
05:20I might be a little slug to him, but he is a liar, a gambler and a delinquent.
05:25He's a thief who stole my belt.
05:28And he might have my belt, he might have a cool pair of sunglasses, he might have a debilitating
05:33gambling addiction, what he doesn't have are friends he doesn't pay.
05:38Ed, that is a huge allegation and of course everyone's been saying that you have stolen
05:43this belt.
05:44What do you feel about that?
05:45I don't take any of what Phil said as an insult.
05:47People say I've got a debilitating gambling problem, I say I have a strong hobby.
05:52I've not stolen this belt, this belt was there, open for the taking.
05:56It was there, you've got to know when to hold them, you've got to know when to fold them,
06:00know when to walk away, know when to run.
06:02And that is the lyrics to a song about gambling, in case you didn't know.
06:06No, that is very true, very true indeed.
06:08So who, Ed, do you think will come out on top if things are fair and square between the
06:13two of you?
06:14Well I don't think I'm going to come out on top, I know I'm going to come out on top.
06:18I'm a dead sir.
06:20I'm the favourite.
06:21Imagine this is the Grand National, I am the horse who is still alive after all the other
06:26horses have died in a horrific crash on the M1.
06:29Strong words there from Ed, and you must be feeling a little bit scared about maybe the
06:34Gambler's Anonymous gang that Ed has amassed.
06:39You worried about them at all?
06:40That gang of misfits, Rishi Ghosh who I defeated for that title, and Bullet who's just a hairy
06:46rock.
06:47No, I'm not scared of his so-called friends, employees really.
06:51Ed Gamble, when the fun stops, stop, and the clash of the comics, your fun's going to stop.
06:59The fun never stops for me, Phil, kill Wang, it never stops, it's fun right through the
07:04night.
07:05The sun comes up, I've got tears in my eyes, I'm still gambling.
07:09I'm the better wrestler, I'm the better gambler.
07:11Right, we'll do it, we'll do it, we'll do it right now.
07:13Right, simple game, simple gambling game.
07:16What number am I thinking of?
07:23Five.
07:24Well...
07:25How...
07:26This is...
07:29Come and get it, come and get it!
07:33Well, that's Brian Children, from WrestleTalk.
07:39I think they just had a very aggressive couple.
07:52Well, Brian, you funked it, mate.
08:14Still, that clash of the comics sure looks fun.
08:16And speaking of fun, AJ Styles vs John Cena was so much fun, like this was a blast.
08:23It wasn't really a wrestling match per se, but more like being down the pub on a Saturday
08:27night with a really good tribute band playing all of your favourite songs.
08:31But it's not just your favourite songs, it's the entire pub's favourite songs, so
08:36you're all just having a bloody lovely time.
08:38There's even a point where you start chanting at the band to play another of your favourite
08:42songs, and they tease playing that one too.
08:44Off the bat, AJ Styles came out in his 2005 TNA gear, which felt like it was done to pop
08:49people like me.
08:50When I got back into wrestling in 2005, it wasn't really WWE that made me fall in love
08:55with wrestling again after a few years of not watching it.
08:58It was people like AJ Styles.
09:00I'd actually say Styles was the first new guy I properly got into.
09:04So seeing AJ THYLES back was rather delightful.
09:10And this crowd were super here to see John Cena.
09:13With the amount of yellow shirts in this blue arena, I felt like I was watching from the
09:16inside of an Ikea showroom.
09:18It's a totally original joke and not one I stole from Dan Layton.
09:21And speaking of stealing other people's material, this match had tributes to The Miz, or Jeff
09:25Jarrett if you're cool, Sting, Rusev, Samoa Joe, Chris Jericho, Christopher Daniels, Hangman
09:29Adam Page, Randy Orton, The Big Show, Shawn Michaels, and one final tribute to The Undertaker
09:34with a hellacious tombstone.
09:36And before you argue with me in the comments, I think the chokeslam was a showstopper chokeslam,
09:41rather than the one that Kane and Undertaker do.
09:43Don't at me, I'm not on Twitter anymore.
09:45And also, I don't know if The Dead I really was a tribute to Hangman Page, but I was just
09:49having so much fun that I started looking for things that might not be there.
09:53And this crowd were having the time of their lives.
09:56At one point they started chanting 619, and I laughed that one off because there's no
10:00way Mr Roboto John Cena is going to do a 619, so it was actually hilarious when he teased
10:06doing one.
10:07AJ even did AJ tributes of his own, like a Springboard 450.
10:11The most touching tribute of course was the one to Bray Wyatt.
10:14Cena hit the sister Abigail, and when it came back from the replay, the entire crowd were
10:18doing the fireflies and led a thank you Bray chant.
10:21It was a genuinely lovely moment.
10:24Cena won with a tombstone and won final AA, and hugged AJ Styles afterwards.
10:28This was ridiculous fun.
10:30The commentators put over that Styles will be hanging up his own boots in 2026, and I
10:34don't know if I'm fully ready to accept that just yet.
10:37Despite the build for Rhea Ripley and Eosuke taking on Kabuki Warriors being around the drama
10:41between Sky, Asuka and Sane, because of the country this match took place in, it was all
10:45really built around Rhea Ripley.
10:47Not that Sky was particularly selling the drama.
10:49Michael Cole said during her entrance that he felt so sorry for her because of all the
10:52traumatic events that have happened to her over the last couple of weeks.
10:55Meanwhile, she's smiling, high-fiving fans and doing her finger point thing.
10:59It might be the happiest I've ever seen her.
11:01The Kabuki Warriors worked over Eosuke for an eternity to build to the Ripley hot tag.
11:05They all did some moves, and Rhea and Sky won.
11:08The crowd helped what was otherwise a perfectly cromulent match.
11:10I'm not saying that as a negative by the way.
11:13Like Roncil, this did exactly what was on the tin.
11:15This is exactly what it needed to be.
11:17It was like the first in a series of matches.
11:20And it very well could be, as the Wrestling Observer is reporting that Sky and Rhea will
11:23be part of the Women's War Games match alongside AJ Lee, Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss against
11:28Asuka, Kairi Sane, Nia Jax, Becky Lynch and Lash Legend.
11:31But the main event of this show was the excellently billed Cody Rhodes vs Seth Rollins match for
11:37the Men's Crown Jewel Championship.
11:39The story that led to the finish was told right from the get go, as the insecure Seth Rollins
11:44could not get out of the blocks against Cody, and he let the crowd calling him a wanker rattle
11:49him.
11:50When the commentary pointed out he was being rattled, he rattled even further and had a
11:53go at Michael Cole and Wade Barrett.
11:55He had gear made up of the three previous gears he'd worn against Cody, but those mind games
11:59had no effect.
12:00He did the stardust pose, and again it had no effect.
12:04So he went to get the watch.
12:06Boy, Triple H really does love wrist accessories and storyline crutches, doesn't he?
12:10But Seth didn't want to win this way.
12:12If he's going to be the man around here, the actual quarterback of WWE, he needs to do
12:16this the right way.
12:17Earlier in the night Paul Heyman told Bronson Reed and Brom Breaker to stay in the back,
12:21Seth needs to do this on his own.
12:23So he put the watch down and he gave it his all, but what he gave wasn't good enough.
12:27He did this wild coast to coast diving headbutt, he hit a crossroads of his own, he hit the
12:32manhandle slam and Cody kept kicking out.
12:36So did Seth for the record when Cody hit him with an avalanche crossroads.
12:40And in the end Seth ended up back next to the watch.
12:43He picked it up and after a ref bump, punched Cody in the mouth with it.
12:47And because of the symbolism, it had a plus two damage buff.
12:50He then hit a stomp and a super stomp to get the win.
12:52And after weeks of insecurity eating away at him, he reverted right back to cackling Seth
12:58Rollins during his post-match promo on the fans.
13:01Seth is now the quarterback of this company, and he did it the only way he knew how.
13:06Now according to the Wrestling Observer, Seth is set for some big matches coming up, and
13:10that might explain why he won here.
13:13Today report the next Saturday night's main event will be main evented by Seth vs CM Punk
13:17for the World Championship, before Punk teams with Roman Reigns, Jacob Fatu, Jey Uso and
13:22either LA Knight or Jimmy Uso in war games against Seth Rollins, Brom Breaker, Bronson Reed, Brock
13:28Lesnar and Austin Theory.
13:30Wait, what?
13:31I'm pretty sceptical about this report, not least of which because Roman seemingly wrote
13:35himself off TV for the rest of the year with that Christmas line, but also LOL Austin Theory.
13:40I know he has connections to Seth, but LOL Austin Theory.
13:45Well, according to Fightful Select, when Fightful enquired about this as it seemed out
13:49of left field, we were told it is actually one of the options moving forward.
13:55The Wrestling Observer say that those war games planned were as of a few weeks ago.
13:59And as we saw on Unreal, there's every chance it's just an option that's written on the
14:02whiteboard, not an actual direction, because again, LOL Austin Theory.
14:08As for Cody, they report he's going to face the winner of Drew McIntyre and Jacob Fatu
14:11from Saturday Night's main event at Survivor Series, and given that Jacob is in that proposed
14:15war games line-up, that sets up a Cody vs Drew WrestleBalooza rematch.
14:19And speaking of WrestleBalooza, well Crown Duel was way better than that, wasn't it?
14:22The Cena Styles match was a huge part of it, and will likely be ranked highly as some people's
14:27favourite match of the year.
14:29The lost TLC video for worst wrestling catchphrases, sorry that got taken down last week, will be
14:32live tomorrow, so catch up on the previous TLC video by clicking the one on screen right
14:37now.
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