TJRWrestling WWE Crown Jewel 2025 Preview
It’s WWE Crown Jewel with Cody Rhodes against Seth Rollins, John Cena facing AJ Styles, Tiffany Stratton taking on Stephanie Vaquer, and more.
The annual WWE Crown Jewel show is taking place in Perth, Australia, this year instead of Saudi Arabia. There was a good crowd in Perth for SmackDown on Friday, so I expect more of the same on Saturday for Crown Jewel and Monday for Raw.
Just like Wrestlepalooza last month, Crown Jewel is a five-match card. I wrote a column about changes that I think WWE should make to their PLE shows, and one of those changes was to have at least seven matches on the PLE shows. The roster is so talented, and the fans want to see more action, so why not add another one or two matches to the lineup? It’s still a strong card. I just think it would be better with more matches.
You can watch WWE Crown Jewel, STREAMING LIVE from Perth on Saturday, October 11th at 8 a.m. ET/5 a.m. PT on the ESPN App in the United States and on Netflix everywhere else. Let’s get to it.
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Rhea Ripley & Iyo Sky vs. Kabuki Warriors – Asuka & Kairi Sane
This match was given a lot of TV time on Raw over the last month or so. That includes matches, in-ring promo segments, and plenty of backstage segments as well. Iyo Sky was loyal to Asuka, but Asuka has become a heel who is jealous of Sky’s success and popularity, so Asuka turned on Sky, and Sane is loyal to Asuka. Rhea Ripley fits in due to her great rivalry with Sky, and they have become friends because of the respect they have for eachother.
I think in terms of the winners of this match, it would be a big surprise to me if Ripley and Sky didn’t win. Ripley will be extremely popular in her home country of Australia. Plus, Asuka and Sane have had the advantage on TV several times in recent weeks, so it should mean a win for Ripley and Sky. It should be an entertaining match.
Winners: Rhea Ripley & Iyo Sky
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Australian Street Fight: Roman Reigns vs. Bronson Reed
It’s a rematch from Clash in Paris on August 31st when Roman Reigns beat Bronson Reed clean. After the match, Reigns was attacked by Reed and his buddy, Bron Breakker, so Reigns was taken out on a stretcher. It was a way to write out Reigns over the next month while he was filming the Street Fighter movie. I wrote in the Raw review on Monday that I liked that this is an Australian Street Fight rather than a regular match because it makes sense to have a stipulation for the rematch instead of doing a regular match again. I’m happy for Reed getting a high-profile singles match in his home country of Australia.
I know some people probably think that Reed should win since he’s the younger guy, and it’s a match where Reigns could put him over. I don’t see it that way because I think the story is about Reigns trying to get revenge, and beating Reed is a way to do that. I also think that down the road, they want to do Reigns against Bron Breakker, so Reigns is likely going over here, and then he’ll beat Breakker down the road. All of this is going to lead to Reigns against Seth Rollins, which could be a WrestleMania 42 match, but they could go for Rollins against CM Punk there.
I think the finish for this will likely see Breakker get involved, which will lead to The Usos making the save for Reigns, and Reigns will get the win. If Reigns doesn’t win, then perhaps it will lead to a third, blowoff match for them, and then Reigns would win that.
Winner: Roman Reigns
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Women’s Crown Jewel Championship: WWE Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton vs. Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer
The match between the two women’s champions is a matchup of babyfaces who have had some screen time together, but not a lot compared to the men’s match. I think it would be more interesting if it were heel vs. face, but having two faces that the fans like will help the crowd care about the match. I don’t think the Women’s Crown Jewel Championship is a coveted thing since it’s ignored other than the build up to this show.
There isn’t much of a story, although in Stratton’s case, we know WWE likes to say she is undefeated this year after winning the Women’s Title on the first SmackDown of the year. Vaquer is awesome and has had a quick rise on the Raw brand. I like both women a lot. I think they’ll have a competitive match that will last around 15 minutes. It doesn’t really matter who wins, but I think I’m going with Stratton just to continue the story that she is a champion who is tough to beat. If it’s a Vaquer win, then that’s certainly fine with me.
Winner: Tiffany Stratton
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John Cena vs. AJ Styles
It’s a match between two 48-year-old dudes who are going to stop wrestling soon. John Cena is ending his in-ring career at the end of this year, so he only has a few matches left. AJ Styles reiterated on Friday that he is going to retire in 2026, so he’s at the tail end of his phenomenal career. Both guys have a lot to be proud of over the last 25 years and I certainly have a lot of love for both of them. They also had some incredible matches in the past, such as the battles at SummerSlam 2016 (won by Styles) and Royal Rumble 2017, when Cena won his 16th WWE World Title from Styles.
The fact that we are getting one more Cena-Styles match is a great thing. I wish there were a dueling promo in the ring to set it up instead of using social media, but Cena is apparently a busy guy, and he’s been off TV for the past month. The last time we saw Cena, he got his ass kicked by Brock Lesnar at Wrestlepalooza, which isn’t a good way to build up Cena for a match like this.
Who wins? It’s tough to say, and I also think it doesn’t matter too much. I expect both guys to kick out of finishing moves and the fans should get into it. I expect it to be an outstanding match too. Yes, they are older, but I think they can still go and they have a lot of pride, so they are going to do their best to deliver an epic match. My lean is to go with Cena winning because even though he only has a few matches left, it makes sense for him to win one of those matches, and it might as well be this one. I think they’ll go around 20 minutes and it will be great.
Winner: John Cena
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Men’s Crown Jewel Championship: Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes vs. World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins
This might be the match of the night on a card with plenty of great matches. The problem is, like I said with the women’s Crown Jewel match, that most people don’t care who wins the Crown Jewel Championship. Since it’s not a coveted championship like the WWE Title or World Heavyweight Title, the only thing the winner gets is a ring and a belt that matter for a few hours before they are ignored until next year. I think they could have done more to build this up and make us care about it more.
The story going in is that Rollins feels like he has to win because he needs it for his “Vision” to be successful. We are supposed to believe that if he loses, then somehow that means his vision will fail and he won’t lead WWE into the future. In response to that, Cody has basically made fun of Rollins for being overdramatic while also pointing out that Cody beat Rollins in their last three matches in 2022.
I’m going to go with Seth Rollins here because I think he’ll get help from The Vision, and maybe that means a debuting member in the group. Is this where a guy like Oba Femi debuts on the main roster as a heel with The Vision? I think it would be a good fit for the former NXT Champion, but I’m just throwing it out there. I don’t have any knowledge of Femi joining The Vision. I’m just saying it feels like a good fit. If not Femi, then they could put somebody else with the group, like a returning Austin Theory, who would work well too. I know he was mentioned in the WarGames match, so maybe that’s the direction they are going. They could also have Reed and Breakker interfere to help Rollins win. I think if Cody loses, then it needs to be cheap because it’s rare for him to lose clean. A win for Cody is also okay with me, because then maybe Rollins will lose, and he’ll be more of a crazy heel. Rollins is my pick thanks to an assist from his allies, which could include a new one.
Winner: Seth Rollins
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BONUS TOPICS FOR WWE CROWN JEWEL!
The Match I’m Looking Forward To The Most
John Cena vs. AJ Styles, because I want to see if they can have another great match between them.
The Match I Care About The Least
Roman Reigns vs. Bronson Reed. I think it will be pretty good, but I’m not that excited about it.
Longest Match
I think Seth Rollins vs. Cody Rhodes is going to be about 30 minutes.
Shortest Match
Rhea Ripley & Iyo Sky vs. Kabuki Warriors – Asuka & Kairi Sane around 12 minutes. I think everything on this card will get plenty of time.
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. That’s my standard for most WWE PLE cards. I think it’s going to have several great matches that will carry the show, but in a company with more than ten titles on the main roster, there isn’t a title match on the show. I don’t count the Crown Jewel Titles either because they are not defended like other titles. This is why you need more than five matches on the show. Put on a match with Dominik Mysterio, Sami Zayn, or some other champion with a title on the line to make it more interesting. I am looking forward to Cena/Styles and the Rollins/Rhodes match to see how it’s booked. I’m hoping for some surprises and memorable moments as well.
I’ll be back with a review of Crown Jewel on TJRWrestling.net on Saturday. You can also tweet me on X/Twitter at @johnreport as well.
If you want to send an email, send it to me at [email protected]. Thanks for reading.