Touching The Crown Jewels: WWE Crown Jewel Predictions

With WWE finally making an official statement confirming that Crown Jewel will indeed push through, and with the roster—and even the fans—having divided opinions (if rumors are to be believed) for this event, we here at the Smark Henry offices are giving you our own take on the event, which will be happening at the King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on November 2, 12:00 PM Eastern Time (November 3, 12:00 AM, Manila Time) and can be watched on the WWE Network.

As always, plans can change at any moment, with the card even changing recently to replace John Cena with Bobby Lashley, so any predictions made from this day are only based on the current announced matches of the Superstars involved in the matches. So without further ado, here are my predictions for the show.

WWE World Cup Tournament

First Round Matches:

Bobby Lashley vs. Seth Rollins 

Kurt Angle vs. Dolph Ziggler

Jeff Hardy vs. The Miz

Rey Mysterio vs. Randy Orton

The Migz’s Pick: Rey Mysterio or Kurt Angle

You'd have to forgive me for the multiple picks, but I really think it's a toss-up between the two. These picks make sense if you really think about it. Sure, it's WWE. They're known to not treat legendary returns like they're an important thing—I'm looking at you, Rob Van Dam and Sting—but there's a strong rumor that the Saudi royalty and officials have a strong attachment to the good old days of wrestling and a Kurt Angle win would please them and also entice them to invest more in the product. An Angle win could also lead to a renewed role for Angle on TV and help serve as build-up to his future role in the company.

On the other hand, they wouldn't kill Rey's momentum in his second or third match back, right? Right? Also, although Rey losing in a World Cup finals match wouldn't hinder his current run, the possibility of a Baron Corbin interference springs to mind to ruin Angle’s chances. I would guess that the Angle/Corbin feud is far from over and that a Corbin appearance here would start a highly speculated Team Angle vs. Team Corbin Survivor Series match.

Of course, to get there, we'd have to dissect the brackets further. They'll just be quick hitters, but here’s how I see the brackets unfolding. For the SmackDown side, The Miz defeats Jeff Hardy (by cheating, of course), which advances him to the next round. Rey Mysterio barely defeats Randy Orton because that’s how Mysterio has always been portrayed; he has always been the underdog in all his matches. For RAW’s brackets, the Seth Rollins/Dean Ambrose saga has to continue so do expect an appearance from the Lunatic Fringe, which will help Bobby Lashley get the W over Rollins. Meanwhile, Kurt Angle gets a clean win over Dolph Ziggler (yes, a clean win). 

In the semi-finals, Rey Mysterio beats The Miz due to the usual Miz over-confidence schtick, while Kurt Angle goes on to defeat Bobby Lashley, whose loss will probably be caused by either Finn Bálor or a botched interference by Baron Corbin. All these matches would lead up to the finals matchup I called above.

D-Generation X (Triple H and Shawn Michaels) vs. The Brothers of Destruction (The Undertaker and Kane)

The Migz’s Pick: D-Generation X

Mark my words, this feud is far from over.

With this matchup closing several episodes of RAW and SmackDown Live, it’s safe to assume that this is a rivalry that WWE would like to focus on for the next few months or so. After all, it is a high-profile match-up with a very massive build to it. To be honest, we can’t really tell who to cheer for in this match because both teams have shown that they’ve still got enough star power to call upon the support of the crowd.

With these things in mind, D-Generation X gets a slight nudge for me because I expect more tricks up DX’s sleeve. I also expect Shawn Michaels to show up for another match or two, just so he can get some closure with the Brothers of Destruction. Storyline-wise, it actually makes more sense for DX to get another victory before letting The Undertaker (and Kane, to some effect) get the eventual victory and a possible retirement with the inevitable Hall of Fame induction on or before WrestleMania season.

Singles Match for the Vacant Universal Championship: Brock Lesnar vs. Braun Strowman

The Migz’s Pick: Brock Lesnar

Originally I had Braun Strowman pegged as the new Universal Champion, but upon reflecting, it would make more sense to have Brock win it first and have Strowman kept busy with Ziggler and McIntyre. The Strowman sort-of babyface turn was executed in a weird and somewhat unexplained fashion so they might want to build The Monster Among Men up again slowly by having him lose this match via an eventual Ziggler and McIntyre interference.

WWE could always book a no-contest to set up a future McIntyre vs. Lesnar vs. Strowman match. But with my other prediction being a Styles vs. Miz vs. Bryan Triple Threat—see the SmackDown title match prediction below—along with the need to build the Strowman face turn, and the fact that this show needs to have a memorable moment in the championship picture in the form of a new champion, Brock seems like the very obvious choice to me.

Also, do remember that the last time Strowman was in Saudi Arabia, they already crowned him the winner of the Greatest Royal Rumble Match—which they haven’t acknowledged since—so maybe a Strowman win here isn’t as important and breathtaking.

WWE Championship: Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles (c)

The Migz’s Pick: Samoa Joe

As of this writing, *SPOILER ALERT* SmackDown just did the original Daniel Bryan vs. AJ Styles title match on today's show, with Styles getting the upper hand. With rumors going around that Daniel Bryan does not want to compete at Crown Jewel, I find that this was a good way to write off Bryan without burying his title shot.

Enter Samoa Joe. The post-match beatdown Joe gave to both Styles and Bryan was brutal enough that it was actually Styles who challenged Joe to a match at Crown Jewel. The big question on everyone's mind would be "Is the title on the line?" The way Joe held the title after the assault was subtle enough to hint that he wanted the belt, but there was no mention of this during the backstage segment with Styles and SmackDown GM Paige.

Either way, I think the smartest thing to do is to let Joe win regardless of whether it is a title match or not. Personally, we don't want another Shinsuke Nakamura-type booking disaster on our hands wherein he'd lose all the matches he has with AJ. Sure, Nakamura bounced back a little by winning the United States Championship, but they definitely can't have Joe go the same route.

Personally, I still think they'll eventually do the Daniel Bryan vs The Miz for WrestleMania so expect that AJ will lose the title some point this year. I can envision a Bryan vs. Styles vs. Joe vs. Miz for the championship at some point, maybe at Fastlane or even Elimination Chamber so expect a lot to happen in the WWE Championship title picture in the next coming months.

SmackDown Tag Team Championship: The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, and/or Xavier Woods) vs. The Bar (Sheamus and Cesaro) (c) (w/ The Big Show)

The Migz’s Pick: The Bar

The Bar. Hands down. It wouldn't really make a lot of sense to play back-and-forth with the SmackDown Tag Team Championships (although RAW famously did it with their Women's Championship) and we still have a long story to unfold. I do suspect a Big Show appearance—as he's not yet booked for this event – which will shock The New Day once again and give Sheamus a chance to hit a Brogue Kick to continue this rivalry.

Eventually, I see this as another Survivor Series feud waiting to happen with The New Day—and probably The Usos (who could get a rub from the Roman announcement) against The Bar, The Big Show, and another heel team to prolong this tag feud before giving Sheamus and Cesaro a lengthy tag team title reign.

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With the controversy surrounding the event, along with the non-participation of more than half of the roster, expect that some announcements or changes will be made before the actual show. Nonetheless, you may catch the show on the WWE Network on November 2, 12:00 PM Eastern Time (November 3, 12:00 AM, Manila time.)

Do you agree with our picks? What’s your opinion on WWE’s decision to continue Crown Jewel? Are there any wrestlers you expect to be booked in the show but haven't been announced yet? Do you have your own predictions for the event? Sound off in the comments section below.

Photos from WWE

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Miguel “The Migz” Llado is your supposed fashion guru and not-so-young boy at the Smark Henry offices. A lover of everything music, wrestling, videogames and food, he lives his life tweeting his mind off (@the_migz) and ‘gramming random food and destinations (@tha_migz) as he sets on his journey to completely do things at random for his own personal amusement. You  can also challenge him via PSN (MigzLlado) in a WWE 2K19 match and help him as he creates a roster worthy of the Philippine wrestling scene. When not being a smark, he lives his life being (and trying to be) an awesome architect and musician extraordinaire.

October 31, 2018