WWE Crown Jewel 2018 Review (Part 1)

WWE Crown Jewel 2018
November 2, 2018
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

One of the biggest nights of the calendar year for WWE sees Shawn Michaels returning to action as he teams with Triple H to represent D-Generation X and go into battle against The Brothers of Destruction. Also, the vacant Universal Championship is up for grabs in a bout between Brock Lesnar and Braun Strowman while the WWE World Cup Tournament decides who is the best in the world.

Match 1: WWE World Cup Quarterfinal - Rey Mysterio vs. Randy Orton
Dig the mention of the two meeting 12 years ago at the start of the 2006 Royal Rumble match, here they are now to kick open one of the biggest shows for 2018. Longevity doesn't get the recognition it deserves. If you were expecting a usual amazing match between the two here, forget it. They have had some outstanding matches in the past with some great chemistry between the two, even fighting for the World Heavyweight Championship. However, this was barely 5 minutes and not much offense from the two was on display here.  Rey Mysterio is able to quickly roll Randy Orton up to score the win before Orton hits Mysterio with an RKO afterwards and attacks him around the ring. With so many matches lined up for the night, I get why it was so short. But damn, would have loved to see them go at it for just a few more minutes. 
Winner: Rey Mysterio
Rating: *1/2

Match 2: WWE World Cup Quarterfinal - Jeff Hardy vs. The Miz
How I miss The Miz as a heel... and how I miss Jeff Hardy as a top star. Good times. Much like the last match, this was a fairly quick and basic bout, almost as if I was at a house show watching this. Hardy is able to hit some of his usual stuff here in a more competitive match than the last one before falling to The Miz and a Skull Crushing Finale. Good for what it was. Like I said, very basic match as you would expect here but still solid, especially considering how many matches they have lined up for the night. 
Winner: The Miz
Rating: **1/2

Match 3: WWE World Cup Quarterfinal - Seth Rollins vs. Bobby Lashley
Am I the only one who enjoyed seeing Lio Rush as Bobby Lashley's hype man? I think their dynamic worked really well together. With Rush by his side, Lashley was seemingly having his way against the Intercontinental Champion in Seth Rollins. However, a missed Spear was enough to cost Lashley the match as he would quickly fall right into a Curb Stomp for the finish as Rush watched in horror. Again, continuing the pattern of quickly getting the first round matches out of the way. Take it or leave it. Still would have been nice to have Rollins maybe get a little more offense than he did. 
Winner: Seth Rollins
Rating: **

Match 4: WWE World Cup Quarterfinal - Kurt Angle vs. Dolph Ziggler
Completely forgot they had Kurt Angle wrestling on this card, he goes against Dolph Ziggler who also has Drew McIntyre keeping an eye on things in his corner. Almost sad to watch Angle at this point in his career, looking very stiff in the ring and unable to move around like he once did. Thankfully, he had somebody like Ziggler who was able to really sell much of Angle's attacks nicely and really keep the match pushing forward at a great pace. Angle gave his best efforts to Ziggler but he would run himself into a corner post before Ziggler would be able to land a Zig Zag to score the win.
Winner: Dolph Ziggler
Rating: **1/4

Match 5: WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship - The Bar (c) vs. The New Day
For those keeping score at home, The Big Show is a heel around this time and accompanies The Bar to the ring as their enforcer. The Bar defend their belts against The New Day with Xavier Woods rooting on both Big E and Kofi Kingston. Loved seeing The New Day come down to the ring on a magic carpet, they really do have the best entrances in the game today. The action in the ring was solid for what it was worth with both teams getting in a good amount of offense. Watching Kingston prior to him winning the big one feels strange, it's almost unbelievable how good he is and how baffling it is to think that he wasn't actually given a shot at it until a few months later. But I digress, Big Show gives Sheamus a helping hand with a punch to the face of Big E as the referee's back was turned which led into a Brogue Kick for the finish.
Winners: The Bar
Rating: **3/4