Roman Reigns and The Bloodline couldn’t co-exist at Crown Jewel. (Credit score: WWE/Getty Pictures)
Getty PicturesWWE Crown Jewel 2024 started with one of many greatest upsets in WWE historical past when Roman Reigns was pinned by Solo Sikoa and ended with one other shocking end result when Cody Rhodes defeated Gunther.
Two great bookends capped off a memorable Crown Jewel occasion the place Liv Morgan defeated Nia Jax to change into Crown Jewel Champion and Randy Orton and Kevin Owens engaged in a loopy brawl that prevented their match from really occurring. General, it was one other profitable worldwide occasion for WWE, which has change into a constructive development for the corporate over the previous two years.
With WWE additionally simply 4 weeks away from Survivor Sequence, the artistic staff laid the framework for a number of marquee storylines and anticipated matches at that occasion. Now, it’s full pace forward to Survivor Sequence: WarGames in Vancouver and the highway to Royal Rumble
Beneath are fast outcomes for WWE Crown Jewel 2024:
- The brand new Bloodline defeats Reigns and the Usos after Sikoa pins Reigns.
- Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair retained the WWE Ladies’s Tag Staff Championship in a Deadly 4-Method match.
- Seth Rollins beat Bronson Reed.
- Liv Morgan defeated Nia Jax to win the ladies’s Crown Jewel Championship.
- Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens by no means came about after the 2 stars brawled pre-match.
- LA Knight defeated Anrade and Carmelo Hayes to retain america Championship.
- Cody Rhodes defeated Gunther to change into the first-ever males’s Crown Jewel Champion.
And listed here are the largest takeaways from WWE’s newest occasion in Saudi Arabia, with a take a look at what might lie forward.
LA Knight Wants Important Storyline On SmackDown
LA Knight retained his United States Championship in a show-stealing triple menace match by pinning Carmelo Hayes, and unsurprisingly, the followers in Saudi Arabia cherished that end result.
Nevertheless it’s been practically three months since Knight received that title, and but, you’d be hard-pressed to recollect any main second throughout his championship reign. That’s not a knock on Knight, however reasonably, is indicative of the dearth of consideration paid to quite a few midcarders on the blue model.
SmackDown’s roster admittedly isn’t loaded on the heel aspect, which has posed vital issues for Knight. With prime villains like Owens and The Bloodline busy with their respective storylines, WWE’s artistic staff has had a tough time creating compelling angles for Knight.
That should change as a result of Knight is as standard as ever, and his recognition received’t final eternally.
Lash Legend And Jakara Jackson Deserve Most important Roster Push
Belair and Cargill proceed to dominate the ladies’s tag staff division however are badly wanted within the singles division. WWE has discovered a duo to choose up the slack, although.
Current WWE NXT call-ups Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson of Meta-4 have been an instantaneous hit on SmackDown, producing robust crowd reactions and delivering a handful of actually good in-ring performances. In just some brief weeks on the blue model, they’ve confirmed not solely that they need to be there completely however that they deserve a substantial push, too.
WWE’s girls’s division shined at Crown Jewel in a better-than-expected Deadly 4-way match, and Legend and Jackson had been two of the largest highlights of the bout. Legend has immediately come throughout as a star, and the pair’s crowd connection has developed faster than anybody might have imagined.
Given their success to date, Jackson and Legend must be in line for a large function on SmackDown shifting ahead.
Tiffany Stratton Should Money In On Nia Jax Quickly
WWE continues to tease that Tiffany Stratton will money in her Cash within the Financial institution briefcase, and in all probability, it will likely be on her “pal” Nia Jax.
At Crown Jewel, Stratton practically cashed in throughout Jax’s match with Liv Morgan, however it wasn’t clear which championship she was concentrating on. Though Stratton was in the end unable to money in in any respect, Jax misplaced the match after Stratton bought concerned, which is certain to lead to extra friction between the 2 stars.
Stratton goes to be an enormous fan favourite each time she lastly cashes in, however WWE wants to make sure that occurs whereas their storyline continues to be scorching. A sound criticism of Triple H’s reserving is that he usually waits too lengthy to e book landmark moments, which typically are much less impactful in consequence.
WWE most likely has one other month or two, at most, to maintain the Stratton-Jax pairing fascinating earlier than a cash-in turns into mandatory.
Bronson Reed Should Defeat Seth Rollins In Subsequent Match
WWE had an opportunity to make sure that Bronson Reed picked up the largest win of his profession at Crown Jewel. As an alternative, he misplaced to Seth Rollins.
Within the very best situation, Reed, a rising star on Uncooked, would have soundly defeated Rollins in Saudi Arabia, however that’s not what occurred. The excellent news, nonetheless, is that WWE appears to be persevering with this rivalry. After Reed’s loss to Rollins following a trio of Stomps, Rollins indicated that their rivalry will proceed past WWE Crown Jewel.
That’s all nice and dandy, assuming that Reed beats Rollins the subsequent time the 2 stars conflict. Rollins, a surefire future Corridor of Famer, is bulletproof on the subject of taking losses, however the identical can’t be stated for Reed, who badly wants the massive win that he’s by no means gotten on the principle roster.
WWE should e book a rematch between the 2 stars sooner reasonably than later, and Reed should win it.
Calling Off Randy Orton Vs. Kevin Owens Was The Proper Name
Owens vs. Orton shockingly by no means came about because of a wild pre-match brawl initiated when Owens attacked “The Viper” with a metal chair.
Though WWE doesn’t sometimes promote a pay-per-view match after which pull it from the cardboard mid-show, it was really a well-executed angle that provides lots extra warmth to the bitter rivalry between Owens and Orton. For a lot of 2024, WWE has sometimes caught with 5 matches for its non-Massive 4 pay-per-views, so it got here as a little bit of a shock when the corporate booked seven matches for the Crown Jewel card.
Maybe that’s why it shouldn’t have shocked anybody when Owens vs. Orton by no means came about and WWE as an alternative delivered a wildly entertaining brawl that was extra like one thing you’d see on Uncooked or SmackDown. Given the heated nature of their rivalry, that was, in hindsight, really the best name.
Now, WWE can construct towards a reliable match between the 2 both at Survivor Sequence or Saturday Night time’s Most important Occasion that followers shall be salivating over.
Gunther Received’t Be Damage By Loss To Cody Rhodes
WWE booked itself right into a nook with Gunther vs. Cody Rhodes, however in the long run, it labored out about in addition to WWE might have hoped.
The end of what was a stellar back-and-forth match got here when Rhodes defeated Gunther through a artful pin, giving Gunther a uncommon loss and Rhodes one other marquee victory. Heading into Crown Jewel, there have been questions on why WWE would even e book this match, however in the end, it was a case of “no hurt, no foul.”
Gunther wasn’t defeated soundly, so the loss received’t halt his momentum the best way it could have had he misplaced after a Cross Rhodes finisher. In the meantime, Rhodes regarded like a good greater star after the victory and Gunther’s post-match handshake, which is becoming for a throwback character who treats wrestling like a reliable sport.
There’s nonetheless purpose to consider that Gunther will maintain the world title properly into 2025 whereas Rhodes will proceed his reign, too. That’s a win-win for a match that might have been a reserving catastrophe had it performed out one other method.
Roman Reigns Shockingly Pinned By Solo Sikoa
Solo Sikoa pinned Roman Reigns cleanly at WWE Crown Jewel. No, that was not a typo.
Over the previous near-half decade, “The OTC” had been pinned by precisely two individuals, Jey Uso and Cody Rhodes, which is what makes his loss to Sikoa one of the vital stunning reserving strikes in latest reminiscence. However, that’s precisely what this storyline wanted.
Reign’s model of The Bloodline clearly packs a considerably greater star energy punch, and Sikoa, fairly frankly, hasn’t been introduced as an equal to Reigns. Whereas Sikoa nonetheless has an extended approach to go to enter that class, WWE took a large step towards making this battle of The Bloodlines extra plausible with the new-look faction’s win in Saudi Arabia.
Reigns has to have some vulnerabilities and weaknesses as a babyface, and after taking the pin at Crown Jewel, it’s clear that he must get on the identical web page because the Usos or else he received’t have the identical success as a fan favourite that he did as a villain.