WWE
For the second time this year, WWE returns to Saudi Arabia for Crown Jewel in Riyadh.
The show is directed by Roman Reigns, who is defending the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against Logan Paul. The story that has pushed WWE since the match was announced is that while Paul is at a disadvantage against Reigns, all it takes is “one lucky shot” to take out Reigns and pin him down. At Friday morning’s press conference for Crown Jewel, it was revealed that Logan’s brother Jake Paul will be in his corner.
Bayley will get another shot at Bianca Belair’s Raw Women’s Championship. Although Belair succeeded at Extreme Rules by defeating Bayley in a ladder match, Bayley pinned Belair to win another championship match two weeks ago.
Both the men’s and women’s tag team titles are at stake. The Usos will defend themselves against The Brawling Brutes. Asuka and Alexa Bliss, who won Monday’s Women’s Tag Team Titles, face former champions Damage CTRL (IYO SKY and Dakota Kai) in a rematch.
Other matches on the card include Brock Lesnar taking on Bobby Lashley, Braun Strowman taking on Omos, Drew McIntyre and Karrion Kross in a Steel Cage match, and The OC in a six-man tag team match against The Judgment Day .
Live coverage begins at 11 a.m. ET.
There was an opening video narrated by Titus O’Neil.
Brock Lesnar defeated Bobby Lashley
This was a good sprint of a match, just what was needed between these two. The story being told here was that while Lesnar clinched the win, he was dominated by Lashley for most of the match until he had a big break.
Lashley jumped onto Lesnar in front of the bell, aiming for his leg. Lashley hit with a spear. Lesnar tried to recover from the outside, but Lashley impaled Lesnar through the ringside barricade. Lashley then hit with another javelin for a near fall.
Lashley went for the hurt lock, but Lesnar countered with a German suplex, then another. Lesnar pinned Lashley with the F5, but Lashley kicked out. Lashley recovered and clotheslined Lesnar out of the ring, grabbed him and then rammed him into the turnbuckle. Back in the ring, Lashley grabs a spear, but Lesnar counters with an F5 attempt. Lashley took it down and then used the hurt lock.
The referee started raising Lesnar’s hand, but Lesnar woke up at exactly three and struggled to escape. Using the turnbuckle as leverage, he pushed himself and sent Lashley down to the mat while the referee counted his shoulders for the three.
After the match, an insane Lashley applied the hurt lock again, pinning Lesnar to the ground. I thought Lesnar was a babyface?
Byron Saxton backstage asked Asuka and Alexa Bliss backstage how they were preparing to defend their tag team titles tonight after only having them for 5 days. Bliss prepared to respond, but suddenly Bray Wyatt’s new logo appeared briefly on the screen. Bliss seemed surprised, but reacted anyway. Asuka said Damage CTRL is not ready for Asuka and Alexa. Michael Cole wrote down the past between Bliss and Wyatt.
Damage CTRL (IYO SKY and Dakota Kai) defeated Alexa Bliss and Asuka to win the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles
I guess they weren’t ready in hindsight. A good, basic game. I am guessing they made a title change on Monday just so they can make a title change here in Saudi Arabia.
Kai and Bliss started. After some back and forth, they switch to their partners. The crowd reacted as Bliss and SKY competed against each other. Asuka and Bliss hit Kai with an assisted jawbreaker for a near fall. The two then finished off Kai and SKY on the outside with stereo hip attacks.
SKY gave Asuka a springboard dropkick on the top rope and put her in a tree of woe position. Kai sent Asuka down with a dropkick who started resting her right knee. Kai worked on the knee in the ring and then switched to SKY. Asuka escaped and hot tagged Bliss, who lunged at both women.
The action continued as Bliss nailed Kai with a Tornado DDT. SKY comes on and briefly regains control before Bliss nails a red code for a nearfall. SKY meets Bliss on the top rope and is assisted by Kai. Asuka joins the Tower of Doom spot. Asuka comes in as she bombards Kai with strikes. Kai with a running kick to the corner for a nearfall. Asuka tags Bliss, who bets on Twisted Bliss but gets distracted by SKY, allowing Kai to pull her knees up. SKY moonsaulted the ground, but Asuka moved and cracked SKY. Despite this, SKY recovered fast enough for her and Asuka to fight in the ring, causing the referee to get distracted.
Bliss wanted Twisted Bliss again, but Nikki Cross appeared out of nowhere and defeated Bliss with an ego trip on the top rope. Kai then covered Bliss for the win.
A nice car pulled up behind the stage. Logan Paul and his brother Jake showed up. Byron asked how Logan was feeling before the game. Logan says all it takes is one lucky hit.