Triple H has mostly opted for smaller match cards on PLEs since he took over creative control from Vince McMahon, but you wouldn’t know that by looking at the card for this year’s Crown Jewel. The annual Saudi Arabia-based PPV has seven matches scheduled including a triple threat, a fatal four way tag team match and a six man tag team match. Not including managers, escorts and people who might show up to interfere, there’s currently twenty-five performers scheduled to actually compete in matches.
To be clear though, I’m not complaining. This card is several orders of magnitude better than what we normally get with the Saudi PPVs, and that starts with the central gimmick the show is being built around. Both the men and women’s divisions have two World Champions, one that typically competes on SmackDown and one that typically competes on Raw.
Those champions are going to wrestle without their individual titles on the line for the inaugural Crown Jewel Championship, which is a combination of bragging rights and the most blinged out championship belt I’ve ever seen. That means we’re getting Gunther vs Cody Rhodes and Nia Jax vs Liv Morgan.
We’re also going to get the next big chapter in The Bloodline Saga, which will feature a newly reunited Roman Reigns, Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso vs three members of The Bloodline, which could include Solo Sikoa, Jacob Fatu, Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa. Expect whatever happens there to lead into a Survivor Series WarGames match next month.
Before I get into what might happen, though, here’s a look back at how I’ve been doing on predictions. I’ve done them for every single PPV since WrestleMania 38, and with great embarrassment, I have to admit Bad Blood was the first time I’ve ever had a losing record. But that’s the way it goes in wrestling. Sometimes you need to take some Ls so you have further to build up on your redemption arc.
| Event | Wins | Losses |
| '24 King Of The Ring | 5 | 1 |
| '24 Clash At The Castle | 4 | 1 |
| '24 Money In The Bank | 3 | 2 |
| '24 SummerSlam | 5 | 2 |
| Bash In Berlin | 5 | 0 |
| Bad Blood | 2 | 3 |
| Overall Record | 149 | 50 |
Randy Orton Vs Kevin Owens
There are already many wrestling fans trying to predict what Cody Rhodes is going to be doing at WrestleMania and how it could involve Randy Orton and Kevin Owens. Let’s put that aside for a minute and just review the most basic facts. Owens is not happy with Rhodes because he decided to team up with Roman Reigns, which is understandable given their shared history. Following a disagreement about it, Owens punched Rhodes in the face. Orton initially tried to play peacemaker but eventually sided with Cody, leading to this match that’s happening at Crown Jewel.
In theory, the real confrontation is between Owens and Rhodes, which means that’s probably the next match this is building toward. Only, if Orton wins, there’s not really a next match. Owens can’t progress to Rhodes if he loses to his buddy that’s standing in the way. So, I think KO needs to win here in order to keep this going… or Orton needs to also turn on Rhodes and turn this into a bigger thing.
Predicted Winner: KO
Seth Freakin' Rollins Vs Bronson Reed
Bronson Reed has been pushed harder over the last few months by Triple H and company than he has at any point in his WWE career. If he’s ever going to make the jump to the main event scene, now is the time to do it. He can’t repeatedly injure people on Raw and look like an absolute menace and then lose his first ever 1v1 match on a WWE main roster PPV. A win here, especially if it’s convincingly, would make him a legitimate contender for a world championship.
Whether or not that’s going to happen, however, is a big question mark. WWE definitely views Seth Rollins as one of its biggest stars, and he hasn’t won a match on PPV since Survivor Series 2023. That’s almost an entire year. It’s also very likely he’s going to end up in a WrestleMania match against CM Punk (possibly for the World Heavyweight Championship), and in a perfect world, you’d want those guys to both come in looking very strong.
Personally, I think there’s enough time to put Bronson Reed over here and still build Seth Rollins ahead of WrestleMania, but Triple H has proven over his last few years in charge that, while he’ll give fans the occasional upset, he mostly likes keeping the strongest guys in the company looking strong.
Predicted Winner: Seth Freakin’ Rollins
LA Knight (Champ) Vs Carmelo Hayes Vs Andrade For The United States Championship
Andrade and Carmelo Hayes have turned their in-ring chemistry into one of the best mid-card feuds going today. They’ve thrilled fans with six excellent matches (and one that was ended early via outside interference). Now LA Knight is involved and getting an opportunity to defend his championship on PPV with two guys who should be able to give him an excellent in-ring match.
Knight has definitely cooled off a bit since his peak when he was one of the most over guys in all of wrestling, but even having taken a step back, 95% of the people on WWE’s roster would be elated to be as over as him, including Andrade and Carmelo Hayes who have built their profiles and reputations but not fully found their connection with the crowd. I’m not sure how much longer LA Knight is going to hold The United States Championship for, but I have to think if he’s going to lose it, it’ll be in a bigger moment than this.
Predicted Winner: LA Knight
Bianca Belair And Jade Cargill (Champions) Vs Iyo Sky and Kairi Sane Vs Chelsea Green And Piper Niven Vs Lash Legend And Jakara Jackson For The Women’s Tag Team Championships
Forget all the Bloodline talk. Forget Cody Rhodes and who he might face at WrestleMania. With the possible exception of CM Punk and Seth Rollins dancing at ‘Mania, there is no prediction the wrestling community is more aligned with than Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill eventually turning on each other and feuding. Almost all of us are convinced that’s going to happen between now and WrestleMania.
The bigger question is definitely when the double-crossing or back-stabbing or tomfoolery or whatever you wanna call it is going to happen. I’ve watched a lot of wrestling in my day, and six months is an Earthquake-sized time to feud. That’s too much time. They can’t turn on each other yet. I suppose it’s possible we could start getting some seeds planted and sorta water those seeds for a few months before a full-on Rockers-style break-up happens, but this still feels too far out to me. So, I say WWE wants to keep these two on harmonious terms and that means keeping the belts.
Oh and by the way, I know some people have some thoughts about Bianca and Jade maybe not being a real tag team and holding these titles hostage to help their eventual feud. I get it. I like Kayden and Katana and a bunch of the other teams too, but it’s because of Jade and Bianca these titles are making PPVs on a semi-consistent basis. They are stars. All of the women in this match get to appear on PPV because they’re in the tag division.
Predicted Winner: Bianca Belair And Jade Cargill
Roman Reigns And The Usos Vs 3/4ths Of Solo Sikoa, Jacob Fatu, Tama Tonga And Tonga Loa
Earlier this month when I was writing my Bad Blood predictions, I said I expected Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu to beat Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes because WWE needed to build up the New Bloodline. For New Bloodline vs Old Bloodline to be a legitimate rivalry, the average fan needs to see the New Bloodline as a real threat. Well, that didn’t happen. Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes got the victory, and now, both Uso Brothers are officially back into the fold and ready to fight for the OG Bloodline, making Roman even stronger.
So, when exactly are we going to build up the New Bloodline? I get that The Rock is probably going to be reintroduced here at some point to swing the balance of power, but it’s unclear when exactly that might happen. Jacob Fatu, Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga won a six man tag at Money In The Bank, but that wasn’t against anyone actually in the OG Bloodline. They really need a win here for legitimacy. I don’t think it makes sense for them to take another L, but it’s also hard to bet against Roman Reigns when he’s 29-4 over his last 33 PPV appearances. I’m going to predict New Bloodline, but I don’t feel good about it.
Predicted Winner: New Bloodline
Nia Jax Vs Liv Morgan For The Crown Jewel Championship
It’s Tiffy Time, or at least I think it’s going to be. The Money In The Bank winner has teased cashing in her briefcase on several occasions, but Crown Jewel is where it makes the most sense for her character and provides the most potential drama for the audience. That’s because, if she comes down to the ring, we won’t know whether it’s to betray her frenemy Nia Jax or to follow instructions and cash in on Liv Morgan.
Most fans seem to think she’s going to betray Nia, especially because the champ has been showing a recent preference for new BFF Candice LeRae. I’m not entirely sure about that, but it seems the most likely given Rhea and Liv Morgan don’t seem to be done with their feud, which is made a lot more interesting by Liv holding the championship. This would also set up a potential Survivor Series re-match between Stratton and Jax, which I think fans would be a lot more into than Stratton and Morgan.
Predicted Winner: Tiffany Stratton
Cody Rhodes Vs Gunther For The Crown Jewel Championship
The hot rumor for the last week or two has been that Goldberg will interfere here and cost Gunther the match, setting up a feud between the two down the road. There’s some evidence for this given Gunther previously made reference to Goldberg during a promo and had a confrontation with him at Bad Blood. I’m not really sure there’s a huge appetite for that among hardcore fans, but Goldberg is still a big name and a match with The Ring General would generate a ton of conversation and interest from casuals.
There’s also a possibility here that Kevin Owens or Randy Orton could interfere in this match to cost Cody, furthering the story of whatever is going on there. To me, that’s probably the more appealing play from a storyline perspective, as I’m more intrigued by whatever is going on there, but it’s honestly hard for me to bet against Cody Rhodes here because he’s the face of WWE. Roman Reigns might be the biggest star but Cody is the torch-bearer. He’s the one signing the autographs and showing up in the small towns. He’s the person WWE is building around, and it makes a lot of sense to give him the inaugural Crown Jewel Championship if you want to elevate it as much as possible.
Predicted Winner: Cody Rhodes
Reminder: Crown Jewel will take place at an earlier time on Saturday than usual because it's happening in Saudi Arabia. You can catch the match for free with a streaming subscription on Peacock or via other methods around the world.
