Crown Jewel Reviews

Rob's Reviews

Bobby Lashley vs. Brock Lesnar

This match made Bobby Lashley look good in the beginning, but it never got as hot as some of Brock Lesnar’s other matches. The crowd absolutely loved both guys, but it wasn’t as entertaining at home. The ending really killed any chance of having a great match, in my opinion. The rollup-style finish was kind of sloppy, and it wasn’t satisfying after Lashley was looking so good against the mega-protected Lesnar.

Final Grade: 4/10 Below Average

Asuka and Alexa Bliss vs. Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky (Women’s Tag Team Championships)

These women had a few exciting spots, but the match was otherwise kind of slow-paced and didn’t really feel like they were fighting for the championships. I think Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky are the better team to carry the banner of the tag team division. However, it makes no sense that Asuka and Alexa Bliss are dropping the championships just five days after winning them. Short-sighted booking tainted this match.

Final Grade: 4/10 Below Average

Karrion Kross vs. Drew McIntyre (Cage Match)

This match didn’t really need to happen, but the cage match stipulation added something new to the personal feud. Both guys are similar-style bruisers, and they put forth an admirable bruiser-style match. Drew McIntyre didn’t need the win, but I’m not upset about it because he is such an asset to the main event scene.

Final Grade: 5/10 Average

The OC vs. The Judgment Day

I don’t remember much from that match, and that’s usually not a good sign. This should have felt like a huge feud, but WWE has leaned in so much to the “used to be Bullet Club” guys that it felt kind of empty. I was excited for Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson to return to WWE, but if they’re going to do the same old stuff, I regret that wish.

Final Grade: 4/10 Below Average

Omos vs. Braun Strowman

I think the crowd was into the two big men more than American audiences are. It was smart for WWE to book bigger men on the card to play to the crowd. I wasn’t really excited about this match,

but I have to admit they did their part. I’m glad Braun Strowman won, and now, I want more out of him in his WWE return.

Final Grade: 5/10 Average

The Usos vs. The Brawling Brutes (Tag Team Championships)

The aura of the Bloodline and the legacy of the Uso's current reign carried this match. Otherwise, this match was a lot like something we would see on SmackDown, but that’s not a bad thing. It was a high work rate, and the Usos looked great in continuing their reign.

Final Grade: 6/10 Above Average

Bianca Belair vs. Bayley (Last Woman Standing, Raw Women’s Championship)

I feel like we’ve seen these two wrestle too much, but there was nowhere else for either woman to go, and another new stipulation made it interesting. This match was consistently entertaining, and it had some really fun and creative spots. There were points where it was sloppy, as weapons are hard to work with. The finish was kind of disappointing in lieu of everything that happened, and the result was predictable. Those negative factors are the only thing keeping it this low. I’m not sure where Bayley goes from here after losing again.

Final Grade: 7/10 Good

Roman Reigns vs. Logan Paul (Undisputed WWE Championship)

Logan Paul trained with Shawn Michaels for this match, and it showed. There were so many signature HBK spots I felt like I was watching a Michael's WrestleMania match. Paul is clearly a natural performer, and I can’t even be upset that he was given this spot. Roman Reigns continues to work the perfect WWE main event style, and the stakes for all of his matches are huge because of his streak of holding the titles. There was no shot Reigns was losing this match, and both guys still made it entertaining.

Final Grade: 8/10 Great

Rob's Final Grade

The Saudi Arabia show is such a weird anomaly in WWE. The superstars are playing to a WrestleMania-sized crowd with varying levels of familiarity with the product. The spectacle was frankly awesome, with special entrances and drone effects that were Mania-worthy. This show also featured one of the weakest under and mid-cards of any premium live event in recent memory. However, the last few matches slowly escalated to a pace, and we got one of the better matches of the year. I still think the final grade has to be underwhelming because so much of the card was underwhelming, and the results, no matter how right, were super predictable and held up the status quo of WWE.

Final Grade: 4/10 Below Average

Reverse Hipster's Reviews

Brock Lesnar vs. Bobby Lashley 7.7/10 C

Going into this match, it seemed like this match would be a blockbuster, but it wasn't. Bobby and Brock didn't even do anything wrong necessarily. They had a Goldberg-esk match with high-impact moves. Bobby even got the better of Brock for most of the match. However, it just felt like they were holding back. It felt like Brock and Bobby were capable of more than they gave. WWE is not done with this rivalry. I think they will revisit it now that Bobby and Brock have one win each. I liked the ending because Brock won, but Bobby was protected. Brock got leverage on Bobby for a pin while in the Hurt Lock so Brock didn't dominate, he survived.

Asuka and Alexa Bliss vs. Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky (Women's Tag Team Championships) 7.8/10 C+

It was hard to care about this match. WWE just ended Damage CTRL's title reign on Monday Night Raw and had them win it back in this match on Saturday. What is the point of that? How does it make the titles feel important? Bad booking aside, the match was pretty decent. Probably the best match between these two teams yet, but it's time for them to get away from each other, and for Asuka and Alexa to enter into the singles division.

Karrion Kross vs. Drew McIntyre (Cage Match) 8/10 B-

This was the first good match of the card. This Cage Match felt like a spectacle that Crown Jewel deserved. The match was exactly what you expect from these two, a tough physical bruising match. Scarlett Bordeaux tried to do the same thing she did at Extreme Rules to help Karrion Kross win, but Drew was able to climb up and jump down right before Karrion could get out of the door. Drew got his win back.

The OC vs. Judgment Day 7.6/10 C

This match had a few nice spots, but, ultimately, it was pretty standard. It was hard to invest in this match because nothing was on the line. The Judgment Day is a popular group, but they have not had great feuds. They have yet to have a great feud, but they have had a few exceptional matches. Unfortunately, this was not one of them.

Omos vs. Braun Strowman 7.5/10 C

This was a good big man match. Omos is the first person to ever make Braun look small. Omos is also the only person who could go strength for strength with Braun, which made the spot at the end of the match much more impactful. At the end of this match, Braun actually lifted Omos, did a running powerslam on him, and won the match. It's an old fashion match story, but it was still effective.

The Usos vs. The Brawling Brutes (Tag Team Championships) 7.3/10 C

This match really didn't need to happen. It's a prime cut candidate for the PPV. It was just so predictable. Everyone and their mom knew The Usos weren't going to lose, and the match quality didn't make up for that. This Tag Team Title Match could have been on regular TV.

Bianca Belair vs. Bayley (Last Woman Standing, Raw Women's Championship) 8.5/10 B

This match was one of the best matches of the night. Bianca and Bayley really didn't hold back in this matchup, and they absolutely destroyed each other. It sucks that Bayley had to lose in back-to-back title matches, but it didn't weigh the match down too much. This is one of the few matches of the night where the story wasn't great heading in, but the match itself made up for that.

Roman Reigns vs. Logan Paul (Undisputed WWE Championship) 8.8/10 B+

Logan Paul was amazing in this match. Not only did he show he had the chops on the mic leading into this match, but during this match, Logan proved he was made for this. This celebrity performance is right up there with Bad Bunny. Logan pulled off a Buckshot Lariat and a Frog Splash off the top rope into the commentary table. It wasn't just the big moments either. He was chain wrestling with Roman in the beginning as well. Logan is also good at the technical aspect of wrestling.

During the match, The Bloodline came out to save Roman. Then, Logan Paul's brother, Jake Paul, came out and took out both Usos by himself. However, when Solo Sikoa came out to make it a three-on-one against Logan Paul's brother, Logan did the most babyface thing he could do. He left Roman behind, dove over the top rope, and saved his brother. Ultimately, this distraction cost Logan the match, and Roman retained. My only real complaint in this match is that it was marketed as what if Logan gets one lucky punch on Roman? However, it was false advertisement because Roman barely beat Logan. Roman didn't dominate the match. I'm okay with that because what they did do was super entertaining, but Logan should have at least hit his big punch once in the match.

Reverse Hipster's Final Grade 7.9/10 C+

This is one of the worst of these events in the last couple of years. Vince McMahon saw these shows as WrestleMania-like events, but Triple H appears to feel differently. This was really a three-match card. Bianca Belair vs. Bayley, Drew McIntyre vs. Karrion Kross, and Roman Reigns vs. Logan Paul.The rest you could take or leave. This PPV also illustrated how much SmackDown is carrying the company.