This Saturday, WWE is participating in its annual tradition of taking its show to the Middle East for Crown Jewel. For over a decade now, WWE has had a working relationship with the Saudi government, producing some of the more interesting PLEs in WWE history.
WWE always tries to hype their Crown Jewel shows with the biggest cards possible. They bust out aging veterans to bump the show’s numbers. Sometimes it has worked, and others not so much.
That’s not to say there haven’t been some good to great shows in the history of the event. It’s an event that has more positives than most would think. Let’s rank the shows.
5. Crown Jewel 2018
If you’re looking for the worst Crown Jewel, look no further than the first iteration. WWE wanted to make a big impression with their first PLE but there was a fundamental flaw with the entire card.
WWE pulled out all the stops for the show and jammed as many stars onto the card as possible. The problem was the stars were not recent ones. WWE paraded out a ton of aging veterans for the delight of the crowd but these stars were well past their prime.
Matches such as The Brothers of Destruction vs. D-Generation X were abject failures that show these stars had nothing left in the tank. Pair that with a World Cup tournament that had a laughable finish and there was not much to get excited about with this show.
Best Match: Dolph Ziggler vs Seth Rollins
4. Crown Jewel 2019
WWE’s next Crown Jewel was an improvement on its predecessor but not a huge margin of improvement. WWE was still wanting to push stars who had no business being on the show.
Tyson Fury and Cain Velasquez were big names meant to draw in an audience but putting them in a match made those matches boring. Both men had little pro wrestling experience and it showed in their matches. There was no redeeming quality for either of their contests.
The Universal Championship match was passable but it was tainted by the fact that The Fiend should have walked away the champion at the Hell in a Cell PLE. A Team Hogan vs Team Flair match was fun, yes, but it could have been broken up more. With that much talent, WWE could have built a better card.
Best Match: Seth Rollins vs The Fiend
3. Crown Jewel 2023
WWE continued its Crown Jewel showing with the least offensive of the PLEs. There was not a bad match on this card but there also was not a match that stood out to the audience.
The LA Knight and Roman Reigns main event was an entertaining affair but one that lacked any real stakes. Reigns was deep in his historic run and Knight was not going to be the man to dethrone him.
With a card boasting the likes of John Cena, Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, and Rey Mysterio, one would think they would have a better memory of the show. The matches were good but nothing that would get a mention in the best of the year.
It was a safe show for WWE that helped to progress storylines along. As an episode of Raw? Amazing. As a PLE? Middle of the road.
Best Match: Seth Rollins vs Drew McIntyre
2. WWE Crown Jewel 2021
Now we are getting into the cream of the crop for Crown Jewel. This was the first time that we felt like Crown Jewel was a card worth paying attention to. There were some great matches for the event that included the biggest current names in the industry.
Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar were always going to be a good match. These two knew how to put on a power sprint and make it entertaining. It was a blast watching them wail away at one another.
The opening Hell in a Cell match was a huge highlight. Probably in the top 5 of Hell in a Cell matches in WWE history. Edge and Seth Rollins put on a show for the Saudi faithful, and it was a great way to start the night.
On top of those two matches, there were two fun King and Queen of the Ring finals matches and a smattering of entertaining matches. All in all, it was a fun night of wrestling in Saudi Arabia.
Best Match: Seth Rollins vs Edge
1. WWE Crown Jewel 2022
WWE hit it out of the park for Crown Jewel 2022. The company had one of the deepest rosters that they ever had, and every single wrestler was ready to put on a fantastic show for the Saudi audience.
The star of the show was the main event between Roman Reigns and Logan Paul. Reigns was always a professional but Paul shocked everyone. He showed talent beyond his years and put on a compelling contest against Reigns that had people going higher register about Paul winning the strap.
Going on before the main event was a fantastic Last Woman Standing match where Bianca Belair and Bayley put together some awesome spots. It was the best women’s match in Saudi show history.
Bobby Lashley and Lesnar’s match was the best kind of car wreck while Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre were electric in their cage match. Each match was entertaining and added something to the card.
Best Match: Roman Reigns vs Logan Paul
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