WWE Crown Jewel 2018 Recap, Reactions, & Biggest Moments

Despite all of the controversy and various people telling them they shouldn't, WWE went ahead and staged Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia on Friday. The show featured some good, some very bad, and also a fair bit of downright ugly. Here's everything you need to know about what went down and what we thought of the show.

With seven matches to get through in one night, it's no surprise that WWE powered through some of its World Cup matches to kick off Crown Jewel. Rey Mysterio and Randy Orton opened the show. Even though the former picked up the win, he looked worse for wear by the time he went backstage. That's because The Viper beat Mysterio down a little more after the match. The other man to progress in the SmackDown Live bracket was The Miz who defeated Jeff Hardy. On the red brand, no sign of Dean Ambrose meant that Seth Rollins was able to put away Bobby Lashley. Sadly, Kurt Angle's contribution was just the one match. The Olympic gold medalist couldn't make it past Dolph Ziggler in round one.

A quick break for the tournament participants via a SmackDown Tag Team Title match and it was right back to it for the semi-finalists. Despite being attacked by Orton, Mysterio had to go back out to the ring and take on The Miz. It was a valiant effort from the luchador, but eventually, he would succumb to the punishment he had endured throughout the evening. Meeting Miz in the final would be either Ziggler or Rollins. Both men know each other so well, and that showed in this match. It took an assist from Drew McIntyre to swing things in Ziggler's favor. The Scot shoved Rollins off the turnbuckle and as he staggered to his feet, The Showoff nailed him with a match-ending superkick.

We were supposed to be getting Daniel Bryan versus AJ Styles for the WWE Title at Crown Jewel. However, we got that match on SmackDown Live instead, and it was probably better than it would have been in Saudi Arabia. Samoa Joe stepped in for Bryan instead in what WWE knows is a good matchup no matter where in the world it takes place. Styles and Joe had a solid match as you'd expect, but once again The Destroyer came up short. A Phenomenal Forearm from Styles was enough to keep Joe down for a three count and keep the title around his waist.

The WWE Title match wasn't the only one that had to be changed up. The triple threat for the Universal Championship obviously lost its title holder due to Roman Reigns needing to take some time off as he battles leukemia. That meant we were guaranteed to see a new champion crowned. Things did not get off to a good start. Acting Raw GM Baron Corbin hit Braun Strowman with the title and then ordered the match to begin. Brock Lesnar then delivered an F5, and another, then another, and a fourth out of the ring. Strowman got in minimal offense before The Beast delivered another F5 to become new Universal Champion.

If you're disappointed with the above result then we suggest you look away now. As you know, it was Miz versus Ziggler in the final of WWE's World Cup. Except it wasn't. While attacking Ziggler before the match, Miz injured his leg. So badly in fact that the official decided he couldn't compete and was about to declare Ziggler the winner by forfeit. Shane McMahon wasn't going to let that happen. Instead, the commissioner stepped in and fought on behalf of The Miz. Not only that, but he won! So Shane O Mac is now the best in the world, and he only had to win one match in order to earn that title.

If the last two entries haven't left you raging, then this final paragraph will likely push you over the edge. There's no real way around it, Crown Jewel's main event was terrible. It should have been expected considering the age of all four competitors, but on paper, it was obviously a dream match. A couple of highlights included The Undertaker throwing himself into the barrier, and Shawn Michaels accidentally punching Kane's mask off. What really hurt the match, however, was what we're assuming was a real-life injury to Triple H. The Game appeared to hurt his back after going through a table and was absent for a very long time after that. He also didn't look himself when he eventually managed to return. D-Generation X won, but the result really doesn't matter at this point.

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