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Roman Reigns and Chelsea Green are Crown Jewel champions. Reigns and Green won their champion vs. champion matches on Saturday at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia to win the honorary championships.
What was not the same for Green and Reigns was how their nights ended.
Reigns survived a very stiff test from Sami Zayn in the night's main event. Despite the rivalry between the two, Reigns finally gave Zayn the respect he craved at the conclusion of the match.
For Green, however, her win provided but temporary validation. After beating Liv Morgan to win the Crown Jewel title, her friend Tiffany Stratton came to the ring to help Green fight off Morgan's Judgment Day teammates. Stratton then turned on Green, hitting her with the Money in the Bank briefcase and cashing in the contract to win the WWE women's championship from Green.
WWE Crown Jewel was presented live on Saturday from ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. CBS Sports was with you the whole way, bringing results, highlights and grades for all the action.
Cody Rhodes pulls the trigger and defeats Randy Orton to be the Last Man Standing
Orton took the fight right to Rhodes, delivering several early blows before accidentally charging shoulder-first into the ring post. While Rhodes tried to briefly take control of the match, Orton quickly reasserted control, backdropping Rhodes onto the commentary desk several times. The action went back to the ring, where Rhodes used a kendo stick to batter Orton to the body. The two men then battled up the entrance ramp before Rhodes went backstage before reappearing with a garbage can, which he used to strike Orton in the head. Orton was able to cut off Rhodes' assault with a thumb to the eye, followed by a powerbomb through a table. Rhodes beat the referee's 10-count, however, and the match continued. As they spilled back to the ring, Rhodes again got the upper hand, delivering Orton's own trademark hanging DDT for another referee's count. Orton came right back, delivering a superplex that, again, was not enough to put Rhodes away. Just seconds after Rhodes hit a Cody Cutter, Orton hit the first RKO of the match, but Rhodes beat the count again. Orton tried to hit Rhodes in the head with the ring steps, but Rhodes avoided the shot, took the steps and drove them into Orton's head. Rhodes broke out a ladder but missed a leap from the top onto Orton, instead crashing through the commentary desk. Orton missed a punt, and Rhodes responded with a top-rope Cody Cutter as the match started to head toward its conclusion.
When Orton beat the count, Rhodes delivered a Cross Rhodes, only for Orton to again get to his feet. Rhodes brought the ring steps and a steel chair into the ring, using the chair to hit Orton over the back. Rhodes then placed Orton on the steps and stood over him with the chair, before he could deliver a kill shot, Orton delivered a low blow. Orton attempted to follow up with an RKO, but Rhodes delivered a trio of Cross Rhodes, the third of which caused Orton's head to hit the ring steps, opening a gash on top of his head. Rhodes stopped the referee from continuing his count and delivered a punt, this time managing to keep Orton down for the count. Interestingly, the crowd did not want Rhodes to get the win. The match itself was fine. Not spectacular and a bit overdone, which is always a risk with a Last Man Standing match. Rhodes delivering the punt is the big moment that will carry his story forward. Result: Cody Rhodes def. Randy Orton -- Grade: B
Je'Von Evans and Penta take down The Vision to win the world tag team titles
The match got going quickly, with Je'Von Evans and Penta getting the jump on The Vision, hitting dives to the outside and Evans hitting a big frog splash on Austin Theory. Bron Breakker eventually cut off Evans' attack, and Maxxine Dupri tripped up Penta to allow Theory to take control of the match. Penta attempted to fight back once Breakker was in the ring, but Breakker was able to cut him off with a German suplex, allowing The Vision to take back over. Breakker continued to toss Penta around the ring but ran into a kick as he tried to spear the Money in the Bank briefcase holder, allowing Penta to tag in Evans for a burst of offense. Evans tried to tag Penta back in, but The Vision had taken him out from the apron, allowing Breakker and Theory to hit a tandem clothesline and German suplex. Penta worked his way back into a match, helping Evans with a run of offense that culminated in an Evans standing shooting star press for a two-count. Dupri continued to interfere in the match, including putting Theory's foot on the rope to break a pin.
Bronson Reed then ran in while the referee was distracted, taking out Penta and Evans before a top rope bulldog by Breakker, but Penta kicked out of the pin. Oba Femi's music then hit, and Femi returned. Reed charged at Femi, but Femi took him down with a running European uppercut before throwing Reed from the stage and through a table. Breakker was distracted by Femi, allowing him to be hit by Penta coming off the top rope to the floor. Back in the ring, Penta hit Theory with a Mexican Destroyer, and Evans followed up with an OG Cutter to win the titles. Breakker and Theory's run with the titles came to an end after more than four months without defending the title a single time on TV or on a PLE. Result: Je'Von Evans & Penta def. Bron Breakker & Austin Theory to win the world tag team championship -- Grade: B
Chelsea Green survives and pulls off the upset over Liv Morgan to win the women's Crown Jewel title
Morgan quickly got the better of the early exchanges, causing Green to sink into the doubt she expressed ahead of the match. At one point, Morgan offered Green a hand to help her back up but kicked her right back down. Green then fired up and took the fight to Morgan until Morgan hit a clothesline. Morgan continued to control the pace, cutting off Green's attempts to build momentum and going for repeated pin attempts. As Green was in the turnbuckles, Morgan locked her in a half crab before hitting a facebuster and driving Green's face into the mat several more times. Green finally managed to get herself back into the match by catching Morgan on the top rope and hitting a superplex. Green continued to rally, but jumped off the middle rope into a codebreaker from Morgan. Morgan hit a powerbomb counter to a rough rider for another near fall. Green avoided Oblivion and hit a German suplex and a rough rider for a near fall of her own. Morgan hit another codebreaker, then locked in another half-crab. Green fired up with another rally, hitting a pair of suicide dives to the floor before a top-rope missile dropkick. Morgan fought off an unprettier and went for Oblivion, but Green reversed back into the unprettier. Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez both ran to ringside, distracting Green. Morgan told her Judgment Day teammates that she's "got it" and that it's "just Chelsea" before sending them both away. Morgan hit yet another codebreaker and then went for Oblivion, but Green held the ropes and fell on top for a jackknife pin for the victory. This wasn't the smoothest match, and Green is always going to be somewhat limited in the ring, but the match told the story as they wanted, with Green surviving and surviving until she scored the upset win to "legitimize" her position as WWE women's champion. Result: Chelsea Green def. Liv Morgan via pinfall -- Grade: C+
Tiffany Stratton cashes in Money in the Bank to win the WWE women's championship
Liv Morgan attacked Chelsea Green during Green's post-victory speech, but Tiffany Stratton's music hit and Morgan looked panicked. Judgment Day ran to ringside, and Green knocked them to the floor. Rather than cashing in on Morgan, Stratton hit Green with the Money in the Bank briefcase, cashed in her opportunity and pinned Green after the Prettiest Moonsault Ever. Result: Tiffany Stratton def. Chelsea Green via pinfall to win the title -- Grade: N/A
Roman Reigns fends off stiff test from Sami Zayn to win the Crown Jewel championship
Zayn managed to work Reigns into the corner in their first lock-up, delivering a shove to Reigns as the referee broke them up. Reigns did the same on the second lock-up, shoving Zayn's face several times. Reigns fought back against Zayn's early grappling by delivering a clothesline and then several punches. Zayn then got one up on Reigns again, tossing him from the ring and then driving him right back over the top rope as Reigns attempted to get back inside. Zayn continued to run Reigns into the ringside barricade and commentary desk as he worked at a slow pace. Reigns started a comeback, but Zayn used the ropes to leapfrog him and hit a clothesline for a quick pin attempt. Zayn quickly went for three pins, with Reigns kicking out at one on each attempt, but it kept Reigns on the defensive. Reigns finally cut off Zayn with an uppercut and delivered several clotheslines in the corner before dropping him with a big boot. Reigns hit his drive-by dropkick for a two-count. Zayn countered a Reigns superplex attempt into a sunset flip bomb for his own two-count.
Zayn's counters continued when he hit a blue thunder bomb counter to Reigns' Superman punch attempt. Zayn followed up with a big tope to the outside. Reigns finally hit a Superman punch for yet another near fall. Reigns moved out of the way of a Helluva Kick and hit another Superman punch. As Reigns went for a spear, he was caught by a Zayn Helluva Kick. Reigns accidentally hit the Superman punch on the referee, and Zayn followed up with another Helluva Kick, but with the referee down, Reigns had enough time to recover before the next referee made it to the ring. Zayn snapped and kicked referee Charles Robinson in response. Zayn grabbed the title belt but missed two shots on Reigns before Reigns hit a spear, only for Zayn to kick out at two. Zayn kept battling back to his feet as Reigns delivered big shots, demanding Reigns keep firing away. Reigns delivered another Superman punch, but his attempt at a second was met with an exploder suplex. Zayn countered a spear with his own Superman punch, but his spear attempt was cut off by Reigns' own spear. Reigns delivered another spear, and this one finished off the match. After the match, Zayn stopped Triple H from giving Reigns the Crown Jewel championship, before ultimately extending his hand for a handshake. When Reigns hesitated, Zayn screamed at him that Reigns knows he had to give everything he had, and if he doesn't want to acknowledge him, he can at least acknowledge that. Reigns slapped Zayn's hand away before sharing a hug. Reigns gets the clean win, and Zayn gets the moral victory of going toe-to-toe with Reigns in a stiff test and gaining Reigns' respect. In that way, it's a win-win. The match got a little goofy down the stretch with Zayn doing all of Reigns' mannerisms, but it was still a fun enough main event on one of WWE's B-tier premium live events. Result: Roman Reigns def. Sami Zayn via pinfall -- Grade: B+
