It’s almost time for WWE Crown Jewel!
WWE returns to Saudi Arabia for the sixth Crown Jewel Premium Live Event. The show goes down on Saturday, November 2, at Riyadh’s Mohammed Abdo Arena. Seven matches have been officially confirmed (at the time of this writing). The PPV portion of the show will begin at 1 p.m. ET on Peacock in the US and WWE Network elsewhere.
WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H announced the first-ever Crown Jewel Championship match-up featuring the top men and women’s champions from RAW and SmackDown at Bad Blood. The inaugural Crown Jewel Championship match for both men and women champions will go down this Saturday. The winners of these respective matches will also get a “Super Bowl” sized ring to take home.
With that being said, here’s our Crown Jewel preview and predictions.
Gunther vs. Cody Rhodes — Crown Jewel Championship match
Backdrop: The October 7 episode of RAW saw Cody Rhodes show up to confront Gunther following his successful world title defense against Sami Zayn. The Ring General would travel to SmackDown on Rhodes’ invitation in the lead-up to WWE Crown Jewel to build their “Champion vs. Champion” match. Rhodes and Gunther previously collided at Royal Rumble 2024. They were the last two survivors at the 2023 Men’s Royal Rumble. Rhodes won that match-up by last eliminating Gunther.
Prediction: This is a tough one. You’ve WWE’s “Gold Boy” Cody Rhodes finally set to go one-on-one against the “Workhorse Champion” Gunther. Their body of work cannot be overstated. For Cody, it’s been about overcoming adversity to end Roman Reigns’ historic run. Gunther, on the other hand, had a record-breaking Intercontinental Title run before claiming the world title.
I’m going with Gunther for the Crown Jewel Championship match because it would add intrigue to Cody’s arc, and could potentially plant seeds for a “Codelander” run down the line.
Liv Morgan vs. Nia Jax — Women’s Crown Jewel Championship match
Backdrop: Liv Morgan popped up on 10/11 WWE SmackDown to confront Nia Jax. Morgan would cost Jax her non-title match against Naomi later that night. The episode also featured a cameo by Rhea Ripley. Nia got her payback the following week on RAW when she took out Liv with the Annihilator. The champion then encouraged Tiffany Stratton to cash-in on Liv, but Dominik Mysterio made the save.
Prediction: This is a singles match-up on paper but don’t be surprised if it turns into a triple threat at WWE Crown Jewel. With Rhea Ripley seemingly out of the picture due to a parking lot attack on NXT, Stratton has to get past Raquel Rodriguez (and Dominik) to cash-in on Liv. As for Nia, the WWE Women’s Champion needs to watch her back because her reign could be in jeopardy as well. Imagine the reaction if Tiffany cashes in on Nia during the match to become WWE Women’s and Crown Jewel Champion!
Seth Rollins vs. Bronson Reed at WWE Crown Jewel
Backdrop: “Big” Bronson Reed put Seth Rollins on the shelf with SIX Tsunamis on the August 5 episode of RAW. The Visionary would make his surprise return to cost Reed his Last Monster Standing match against Braun Strowman nearly two months later on the red brand. After convincing Adam Pearce to book a singles match between him and Reed, Rollins took a Death Valley Driver from the big man in the parking lot on the final RAW before WWE Crown Jewel.
Prediction: Saturday will mark Bronson Reed’s first PLE in-ring appearance since WWE King and Queen of the Ring 2023, when he went up against Chad Gable and Sami Zayn. The former JONAH has been built as an absolute monster under Triple. Reed needs the PLE win more than the already established Seth “Freakin” Rollins. If Reed can shake off the effects of a Curb Stomp on a freaking car, he can absolutely destroy Rollins this Saturday in Saudi Arabia.
Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens
Backdrop: Randy Orton tried to play the peacemaker between Kevin Owens and Cody Rhodes at WWE Bad Blood. But the Viper ended up being the victim of KO’s assault on 10/11 WWE SmackDown. A pissed off Orton would confront Triple H two weeks later before successfully convincing his former mentor and rival to book him against Owens at WWE Crown Jewel.
Prediction: Triple H didn’t want to put Orton against Owens because of what KO might do to the Viper. Hunter might be right. The WWE Universe knows what an unhinged KO is capable of. The same could be said about Orton. We’ve seen him unleash hell against the likes of Triple H, Batista, Ric Flair, the McMahons, and even The Undertaker. I’m not picking sides in this one.
LA Knight (c) vs. Andrade vs. Carmelo Hayes – Triple threat match for the United States title
Backdrop: LA Knight put a stop to the series decider between Andrade and Melo on SmackDown by taking out both men with the BFT. The Megastar soon found himself in a predicament when SmackDown GM Nick Aldis booked him in a triple threat match also featuring his two rivals at WWE Crown Jewel.
Prediction: Andrade and Carmelo gave the WWE Universe six incredible matches in the lead-up to Saudi. One man would’ve walked away the winner if it wasn’t for Knight using his special referee authority to his advantage. This triple threat could potentially be the match of the night with Knight walking out, still your United States Champion.
Jade Cargill & Bianca Belair (c) vs. IYO SKY & Kairi Sane vs. Lash Legend & Jakara Jackson vs. Chelsea Green and Piper Niven – WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship
Backdrop: Tired of seeing the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship defenses end in controversial fashion, the General Managers of RAW, SmackDown and NXT announced a fatal four-way match featuring challengers from all three brands to take on defending champions Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill at Crown Jewel.
Prediction: IYO SKY and Kairi Sane are, arguably, the biggest threat to Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair in this match-up. That said, it’s about time WWE Creative showed some love to Chelsea Green and Piper Niven. Both women have absolutely knocked it out of the park as a tag team. They must get the W come Saturday.
Roman Reigns & The Usos vs. three members of The Bloodline – Six-man tag team match at WWE Crown Jewel
Backdrop: Jimmy Rhodes’ return at Bad Blood to help Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes win against The Bloodline planted the seeds for this match-up. Jimmy tried to convince Reigns to talk to Jey as both men took on The Bloodline in the following weeks. The Bloodline would cost Jey his Intercontinental Championship against Bron Breakker on 10/21 RAW only for Jey to help MCMG claim the WWE Tag Team Championship on 10/25 SmackDown before embracing Jimmy later that night.
Prediction: WWE filmed an angle involving the OG Bloodline for the final SmackDown before Crown Jewel. With the trio on the same side, fans can expect some incredible action to go down this Friday. That said, Roman and The Usos are still one member short against The Bloodline. We know Solo will play dirty in this six-man tag team match. As for the outcome, Solo and his group gets the win to set up the WarGames match for Survivor Series – where we may see Roman and The Usos finally put an end to this rogue version of The Bloodline for good.
WrestleZone will have full coverage of Crown Jewel as it airs.
