TJRWrestling WWE Crown Jewel 2024 Preview
It’s WWE Crown Jewel featuring Cody Rhodes taking on Gunther, Nia Jax in action against Liv Morgan and two versions of The Bloodline facing off in a very personal battle.
The month of November is here and there are two WWE PLEs this month. We start off with the annual Crown Jewel show from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and then the final main roster PLE of the year is Survivor Series on November 30th from Vancouver. In addition to Crown Jewel on Saturday, WWE is also taping the November 4th Raw (happy birthday to me) on November 3rd, so those fans will be getting back-to-back nights of WWE shows.
There are seven matches scheduled for Crown Jewel, which makes it feel more like SummerSlam rather than Bad Blood or Bash In Berlin, which had five matches. I think all WWE PLEs should have around seven matches with a 3.5-hour run time followed by the post-show press conference, but I know for Crown Jewel there is usually not a press conference. In this Triple H Era of WWE, he likes having five matches on most of the “B” show PLEs. Obviously, Crown Jewel is a big deal to WWE since they reportedly get paid about $50 million per show there. I don’t know what they will get for doing Raw too, but it’s probably even more money. Anyway, I like that there are seven matches on the show even without the four big singles titles on the line.
It was reported that Rhea Ripley was going to face Raquel Rodriguez at Crown Jewel, but Ripley’s orbital bone injury forced a change. That led to WWE replacing it with the Women’s Tag Team Title match.
As a reminder, WWE Crown Jewel is streaming live this Saturday, November 2, at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT on Peacock in the United States and on WWE Network everywhere else. I like an afternoon show.
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United States Championship: LA Knight vs. Andrade vs. Carmelo Hayes
The Andrade and Hayes rivalry has seen them wrestle seven times on Smackdown. They each won three matches and then Knight was the referee of the seventh match, which saw Knight get angry due to getting by both guys accidentally. That led to Knight attacking both guys, so Smackdown GM Nick Aldis has made the ruling that Knight has to defend his US Title against Andrade and Carmelo at the same thing. What’s interesting about that also is that Andrade and Hayes have each lost singles matches against Knight for the US Title, yet here they are getting a title shot.
LA Knight has had the US Title since SummerSlam three months ago and it’s been a decent reign, but he hasn’t had a memorable match or opponent yet. With that said, I don’t anticipate Knight losing the title yet because I think this is a title reign that should go five or six months at least before he loses it. It might even go longer than that. If one of the guys is to take the title from Knight then I’d go with Hayes as a younger star on the rise similar to Bron Breakker holding the Intercontinental Title on Raw. Andrade winning would be fine with me because I like him as well. My feeling is Knight needs more time with this title and WWE needs to give him a meaningful rivalry to see what he can do as US Champion because it hasn’t been that interesting for the past three months.
Winner: LA Knight
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WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship: Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill vs. Damage CTRL’s Iyo Sky & Kairi Sane vs. Chelsea Green & Piper Niven vs. Meta-Four’s Lash Legend & Jakara Jackson
There is a better storyline for this than the women’s singles match on the show just in terms of multiple teams going after the champions Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill. The challengers have all been involved with eachother and interfering in matches, so it makes sense. I think Sky & Sane are so much fun to watch. Sky is so much fun to watch as a babyface especially. She’s incredible in the ring. Green is an entertaining character while Niven fits her role as a powerhouse ally. The NXT team of Legend & Jackson have improved so much in the last few years. I think Lash could be a singles star one day, but I don’t mind seeing her as a team with Jackson.
We know that earlier in the year at Clash at the Castle that Bianca & Jade lost their titles in a triple threat match where they weren’t pinned, so could it happen again? Sure, but I doubt it. I think WWE had Bianca & Jade lose the titles just to give them a bit of adversity and it didn’t shock me when they won the titles back. I can see Bianca & Jade holding the titles until perhaps around Royal Rumble time. That could be when the issues start, which may lead to the champions losing the titles soon after. Just my hunch. For this match, I’ll go with Jade getting the win over Jakara Jackson from Meta-Four. It should be a solid match, but sometimes 4-way matches are hard to do, so we’ll see how it goes.
Winners: Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill
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Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens
This grudge match has been built up well since Kevin Owens turned on Cody Rhodes after Bad Blood and also on Randy Orton after Orton tried to stop Owens. The Owens turn has been similar to Drew McIntyre earlier this year when he became a top heel after years as face and now we see it with Owens on Smackdown. While Owens has been very good as a babyface for several years now, I think he’s better in a heel role. I think Orton is better as a heel too although I don’t mind Randy as a babyface legend who is beloved by the fans.
While I would like to see Orton pick up a big win after losing to Gunther at Bash in Berlin, I think it makes more sense for Owens to win to give him some momentum as a heel. I don’t see Orton being hurt by a loss. With that said, I think it will be a cheap win by Orton, who will do something like hit a low blow that the referee didn’t see and then Owens will finish him off after that. I don’t see this being a clean win.
Winner: Kevin Owens
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Seth “Freakin” Rollins vs. Bronson Reed
This is a classic story of a “new” heel like Bronson Reed doing a cheap attack on an established veteran like Seth Rollins and Reed is trying to make a name for himself. It is a classic wrestling story that has been done for decades. I thought that Reed attack on Rollins with the Tsunami splash six times in a row was an excellent way to put over Reed as a huge threat. I also enjoyed the Reed rivalry with Braun Strowman, which is what led to Rollins coming back with The Stomp on Reed to give Strowman the big win. The angle is proof that even though Reed lost to Strowman, Reed “won” because here he is in a high profile match with a top guy at a major PLE show.
It’s a match that could go either way because if Rollins wins then he gets payback for Reed doing the cheap attack that started this rivalry. However, if Reed wins then it would give Reed the biggest win in his WWE career. I think Reed could really be elevated by winning a match like this because of how good Rollins is in the ring and how well Rollins sells a beating. I’m going with Reed getting the win in a relatively clean manner while Rollins will fight back on Raw and they will set up a rematch with a stipulation, which Rollins will win.
Winner: Bronson Reed
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Women’s Crown Jewel Championship: WWE Women’s Champion Nia Jax vs. Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan
I think this match has been built up poorly because it involves two heels that the fans don’t like. There’s a good chance that the crowd will be dead for some of this match unless Tiffany Stratton shows up. That’s the story that people care about. Nia Jax is friends with Stratton, but Jax also bosses her around and Jax is rude to her, so the fans are ready for Stratton to cash in Money in the Bank on Jax. We know Jax has said Stratton should cash in Money in the Bank on Morgan instead. That makes me think there will be some double knockout spot with the referee out and Stratton will be in the ring thinking about what champion to cash in her contract on.
While the Stratton story will likely get a lot of attention, I’m not predicting a cash in here. I think they need to have Jax attack Stratton to turn Stratton face and then when Stratton is a face, that’s when she should do the cash-in. For this match, I’ll go with Jax picking up the win perhaps due to her new friend Candice LeRae (no more Indi Hartwell, who has been released) interfering. However, it could be clean as well. I think Morgan is more of a cheap champion, so of the two champions, I think Jax is more likely to win. With all that said, if Stratton leaves with a title I certainly wouldn’t mind that because I’m a fan of Tiffy Time.
Winner: Nia Jax
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Roman Reigns & The Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso) vs. 3 Members of The Bloodline (Solo Sikoa, Jacob Fatu, Tama Tonga & Tonga Loa)
It’s a big tag team match featuring the original version of The Bloodline facing off against the new version of The Bloodline led by Solo Sikoa. We don’t know officially who is on The Bloodline team, but I assume it’s Solo, Jacob and Tama since Loa isn’t as good as the other three guys. I did see a report about Solo being out of action for a few weeks, but that was considered a precaution due to a minor injury, so Solo should be ready for this. If he’s not then obviously they can use the other three guys.
The WWE Survivor Series WarGames PLE is in four weeks time and it’s likely going to feature these teams with additional members. Sami Zayn is likely going to be with Roman and The Usos against the four members of The Bloodline. They could add more people to make it 5-on-5, but 4-on-4 is certainly fine. I think because of the WarGames match coming later this month, the heel side version of The Bloodline should win this match.
I think one of the ways it can go is for Roman and Jey Uso to have issues in the match, which leads to some sort of miscommunication. That error by the cousins would then lead to one of the Bloodline guys pinning Jey to win the match. From there, the story can be that the “Wise Man” Paul Heyman makes his return, he’s the one who talks to Sami Zayn and tries to convince him to work with the original Bloodline again and that’s why they are on the same page at Survivor Series. They need to fail here in order to bring back Heyman, which leads to Zayn as well. That’s how I see it going anyway.
Winners: 3 Members of The Bloodline (Solo Sikoa, Jacob Fatu, Tama Tonga & Tonga Loa)
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Men’s Crown Jewel Championship: Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes vs. World Heavyweight Champion Gunther
When these two great wrestlers were the final two wrestlers in the 2023 Royal Rumble won by Cody Rhodes, I thought it was amazing and I was eagerly anticipating a singles match. Here we are nearly two years later getting that singles match in what is possibly the main event of this show. Even though both men are holding “World” Titles in WWE, they aren’t putting them on the line while the winner gets to receive the obscenely expensive Men’s Crown Jewel Championship.
I really don’t think either guy would be hurt by a loss in a match like this. They have both won nearly every match they have had this year and even going back to last year as well. My gut feeling is that we know Kevin Owens is on the horizon for Cody Rhodes soon and there’s a rumor that they might do it at the Saturday Night’s Main Event show in December. They might even do it for the first time at Survivor Series. That’s certainly fine with me, so it makes me think that Owens is going to show up to cost Cody this match and that will lead to their WWE Title feud. Meanwhile, Gunther can brag about being the greatest champion in WWE, which is fitting for a heel champion like him.
I think this is going to be the best match on the show and one of the better matches in WWE this year although if it’s a tainted finish then that will hurt it. Do I care about who holds the Crown Jewel Championship? No, not at all. However, I like both guys a lot and they are both top contenders for the coveted WWE Johnny Awards for Best Wrestler, so that’s a (non-existent) trophy that really matters. Anyway, like I said I’ll go with Gunther for the win.
Winner: Gunther
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BONUS TOPICS
The Match I’m Looking Forward To The Most
Cody Rhodes vs. Gunther because I think it’s the best match.
The Match I Care About The Least
Nia Jax vs. Liv Morgan. It’s heel vs. heel and there isn’t much of a story. There is the possibility of a Tiffany Stratton cash in I guess, but it’s a match that doesn’t feel like a big deal.
Longest Match
Roman Reigns & The Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso) vs. 3 Members of The Bloodline (Solo Sikoa, Jacob Fatu, Tama Tonga & Tonga Loa) going around 25 minutes.
Shortest Match
Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill vs. Damage CTRL’s Iyo Sky & Kairi Sane vs. Chelsea Green & Piper Niven vs. Meta-Four’s Lash Legend & Jakara Jackson going around 11 minutes.
Excitement Level on a Scale of 1-10 (1 being low, 10 being high)
I’m at 7.5 out of 10 for this show. It’s a good card that should produce some entertaining matches. However, I can’t say I care that much about the Crown Jewel Championship and whoever wins them is winning just a title that WWE wants us to think is a big deal, but is it really a big deal? I don’t think so. It’s like winning the Battle Rights trophy over a decade ago or when WWE would do Raw vs. Smackdown at Survivor Series and the “brand supremacy” thing that WWE loved to push. It’s not like winning a championship. I think the match quality will carry the show. I don’t know if there will be any major angles, but Crown Jewel should set up Survivor Series well.
I’ll be back with a review of WWE Crown Jewel on TJRWrestling.net on Saturday, so check that out live or after it’s over. You can also tweet me on X/Twitter at @johnreport as well.
If you want to send an email, send it to me at mrjohncanton@gmail.com. Thanks for reading.