WWE Crown Jewel 2023 delivered from start to finish a solid wrestling show. Nothing was bad about any of the matches, but the show had a bit more hype around it all. From a storyline standpoint, the matches either advanced a story, created a new dynamic or finished one in a satisfying manner. The crowd was very good for the majority of the match and Michael Cole and Wade Barrett did great work together as well. I think the show structure was hindered by the best match on at first and setting the tone too high for the event. Regardless it was a solid show with really one match that has a rewatchable quality towards it being Seth Vs Drew.
WWE Crown Jewel 2023 presents a stacked card for Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh season. With Roman Reigns defending against the megastar LA Knight. Seth Rollins looks to add Drew McIntyre to the list of challenges he can successfully defeat. Iyo Sky and Bianca Belair are one win each, going into their third high profile match this year. It’s Logan Paul’s second championship match and it’s happening once again at a Crown Jewel event, but this time against Rey Mysterio. Cody Rhodes looks to prove his claims about Damian Priest to be right when he faces Damian. John Cena faces Solo Sikoa as Sikoa wants to take John Cena out for good. And it’s Mami Vs All for the WWE Women’s World Championship!
WWE Crown Jewel 2023 Kickoff:
GREAT Sami Zayn Vs JD McDonagh: WWE Crown Jewel 2023 Kickoff Match
Quick note, hopefully JD is fine. Got a scrape on his side that resulted in some blood. Probably a little sore.
Results: Sami Zayn by Pinfall via Helluva Kick and Blue Thunder Bomb Combo
Coby Galenzoski WR Star Rating – 3.50 Stars
WWE Crown Jewel 2023 Main Show:
MUST WATCH Seth Rollins Vs Drew McIntyre – World Heavyweight Championship Match: WWE Crown Jewel 2023 Opening Match
Fundamentals: 1
Atmosphere: 1
Storytelling: 0.75
Psychology: 1
Innovation: 0.75
By far the best match of the night. Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre just had a really solid match together. Great selling from both men, including Seth’s back. The crowd was hot from both men, including a lot of “OOOOOH Drew McIntyreeee” chants. Everything was top notch in this match. I don’t think it had a perfect ending or enough innovation in the match. That is not a knock on this match at all though. The story of the match had Drew McIntyre as the aggressor and Drew in that role was very effective. Great nearfalls with the kick out of the stomp and the claymore. The post match scene of Drew walking to the back after the loss was sublime. After the match, Damian Priest runs down and as he is about to cash in Sami Zayn pushes him into the Post before stealing the MITB briefcase and going into the crowd. Priest fails to catch up to Sami before Seth laughs the attempt off.
Results: Seth Rollins by Pinfall via The Stomp
Coby Galenzoski WR Star Rating – 4.50 Stars
ABOVE AVERAGE Rhea Ripley Vs Nia Jax Vs Shayna Baszler Vs Zoey Stark Vs Raquel Rodriguez – WWE Women’s World Championship Fatal Five Way Match:
Fundamentals: 0.50
Atmosphere: 0.50
Storytelling: 0.50
Psychology: 0.50
Innovation: 0.75
On a second watch, I will admit to liking what was in this match more. With a number of great sequences and good spots throughout it. We still had a basic story of Mami Vs All, and Nia Jax being a heel despite claiming she could squash everyone. The crowd was kind of average for this match as well. There were a couple rough spots, with Zoey missing her corkscrew senton and just a few not as smooth bumps. It’s also hard for psychology to be a main focus of a match with 5 wrestlers in it.
Results: Rhea Ripley by Avalanche Riptide onto Raquel’s Pin on Shayna
Coby Galenzoski WR Star Rating – 2.75 Stars
GREAT John Cena Vs Solo Sikoa:
Fundamentals: 0.75
Atmosphere: 0.75
Storytelling: 0.75
Psychology: 0.75
Innovation: 0.50
Another thing to mention, I do not know how Cena Vs Theory from Mania appeared on Television. But I feel like John had pep in his step in this match. We have Sikoa wanted to end Cena at the orders of Roman. Cena working on the taped up thumb of Solo and great psychology. There was a superkick that might not have connected perfectly and nothing that innovative in this match. Was this match enjoyable, Yes I do feel it was better than Mania. So, it’s a double edged sword to talk about the large amount of samoan spikes that it took to put Cena away. While yes it took that many to put Cena away, the story made sense. Solo needed to put an end to John Cena and John Cena didn’t necessarily kick out after any of them. The criticism is valid for psychology to be lower because of it, but I feel it shouldn’t be.
Results: Solo Sikoa by Pinfall via Several Samoan Spikes
Coby Galenzoski WR Star Rating – 3.50 Stars
GOOD Logan Paul Vs Rey Mysterio – United States Championship:
Fundamentals: 0.50
Atmosphere: 0.75
Storytelling: 0.50
Psychology: 0.75
Innovation: 0.75
A typical Logan Paul match, Logan looks great and has his spots that are very, very athletic. But the match was a tad clunky, but I will give credit to Logan Paul for protecting Rey Mysterio on multiple occasions in the match. I feel this was Logan’s first or second match where he was the aggressor, and his offense drove the match most of the way. Logan did well, but this match still lacked a bit in the story department. I do like the ending bit with Logan trying to get the brass knuckles like he did at Summerslam and Santos stopped it. There is continuity with the brass knuckles being a part of Logan’s matches. We also had Logan act like he beat Rey fair and gave his respect. Rey going “you know what you did” while Logan laughed it off was great. What a great choice to do with the United States championship.
Results: Logan Paul by Pinfall via Brass Knuckle Knockout Punch
Coby Galenzoski WR Star Rating – 3.25 Stars
GREAT Bianca Belair Vs Iyo Sky – WWE Women’s Championship Match:
Fundamentals: 0.75
Atmosphere: 0.50
Storytelling: 0.75
Psychology: 1
Innovation: 0.50
The biggest thing for this match that was the high point was the psychology. We have Iyo working Bianca’s injured leg that took her out before. Obviously they worked the arm in Puerto Rico. The rest of this match is a mixed bag, before the crowd was the exact opposite to how Backlash was. There was solid wrestling in this match, from the psychology and the wrestling side of things. The Damage CTRL story had Bayley show up, and nearly get KOD’d outside of the ring before a returning Kairi Sane had showed up. Sane was the reason Iyo got the win with the over the moonsault as Bianca had to break the countout. Welcome back Kairi, but I’m sorry you barely got a pop.
Results: Iyo Sky by Pinfall via Over The Moonsault
Coby Galenzoski WR Star Rating – 3.50 Stars
GREAT Damian Priest Vs Cody Rhodes:
Fundamentals: 0.75
Atmosphere: 1
Storytelling: 0.75
Psychology: 0.75
Innovation: 0.50
In a match that might not have needed to be on Crown Jewel, this was just a really solid match. With Damian Priest using the Reckoning on the announce table, which was very fun. It was a basic Raw main event with the run-ins. Finn, Dominik and JD McDonagh try to aid Damian before Jey Uso shows up. The wrestling after the run-ins’ was also very solid. Its just a match that logistically didn’t move a lot. Cody Rhodes got the victory but this was just a way to move us towards Survivor Series, the confirmed War Games event. Still a solid match from bell to bell and that’s why the rating is up there.
Results: Cody Rhodes by Pinfall via Trio Of Cross Rhodes
Coby Galenzoski WR Star Rating – 3.75 Stars
GREAT Roman Reigns Vs LA Knight – WWE Undisputed Championship Match: WWE Crown Jewel 2023 Main Event
Fundamentals: 0.75
Atmosphere: 1
Storytelling: 0.75
Psychology: 0.75
Innovation: 0.50
By all means, this was never going to be the best championship defense. Roman Reigns and LA Knight had good chemistry with each other, they work similar styles. The crowd was firmly behind LA Knight and enjoyed chanting towards Roman. Both men sold well and I was kinda shocked they didn’t go that far to protect LA Knight. LA Knight had a minimal amount of Bloodline shenanigans but still lost on the second spear. I do like that my WR Daily prediction was wrong about Roman kicking out of the BFT. After the match nothing happened other than Roman leaving the ring.
Results: Roman Reigns by Pinfall via Spear
Coby Galenzoski WR Star Rating – 3.75 Stars
WWE Crown Jewel 2023 Overall Summary…
WWE Crown Jewel 2023 delivered from start to finish a solid wrestling show. Nothing was bad about any of the matches, but the show had a bit more hype around it all. From a storyline standpoint, the matches either advanced a story, created a new dynamic or finished one in a satisfying manner. The crowd was very good for the majority of the match and Michael Cole and Wade Barrett did great work together as well. I think the show structure was hindered by the best match on at first and setting the tone too high for the event. Regardless it was a solid show with really one match that has a rewatchable quality towards it being Seth Vs Drew.
Matches: 0.50/1 Stars
Show Structure: 0.75/1 Stars
Atmosphere…: 1/1 Stars
Storytelling: 1/1 Stars
Production/Theme: 1/1 Stars
Overall Rating. 4.25 /5 Stars
Photo Credit: WWE – November 5 2023
For inquiries about the rating criteria check out the article announcing the new system here:
