WWE Crown Jewel 2023 is the latest in the WWE’s offering from Saudi Arabia, and looks to be the most star-studded event since the inaugural “Greatest Royal Rumble” event. While this show is short on legends making a long-awaited comeback, it does include four world championship matches and all the top wrestlers in WWE today.
Crown Jewel 2023 includes Roman Reigns defending his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against fan-favorite LA Knight, while Seth Rollins does battle with Drew McIntyre with his World Heavyweight Championship on the line. Meanwhile, both women’s belts are on the line, with two of seven women guaranteed to walk out with gold around their waist by the end of the night.
Other bouts see Sami Zayn returning to Saudi Arabia for just the second time, John Cena taking on Solo Sikoa (in a match that hearkens back to his clash with Umaga in 2007) and a dream match between WWE Hall of Famer Rey Mysterio and Logan Paul. These matches are sure to be some of the best in WWE this year, and should garner a high star rating from outlets like Dave Meltzer, and Cagematch.net.
Crown Jewel 2023 Star Ratings
Here are all the matches from WWE Crown Jewel 2023, as well as the star ratings given by Dave Meltzer for the match. This also includes the user ratings on Cagematch.net, as well as the match rating given by us here at Atletifo.
Kick Off Show – Sami Zayn vs. JD McDonogh
In a decent match that saw Sami Zayn welcomed to Saudi Arabia as one of the most over babyfaces of all time, the Candian/Syrian superstar pinned JD McDonagh to win just his second match in Saudi Arabia.
Zayn hit a Hulluva kick at the end of the match, before shockingly landing a Blue Thunder Bomb and pinning JD McDonagh to win the bout. This is one of the few times Zayn has won with the move, with him famously beating AJ Styles with the Blue Thunder Bomb a few years prior.
- Dave Meltzer’s Star Rating – TBD
- Cagematch Rating – TBD
- Atletifo Rating – 2.5 Stars
Seth Rollins vs Drew McIntyre (World Heavyweight Championship)
Drew McIntyre made a World Title match feel truly personal at Crown Jewel 2023, as he attempted to win his first world championship in front of a live crowd in Saudi Arabia. Despite an incredibly pro-Seth Rollins crowd, McIntyre showed no sign of letting up as his physical dominance was in full display, knocking the champion down with multiple shoulder tackles.
Drew even managed to get the crowd back on his side, hitting Cristiano Ronaldo’s (who now plays in Saudi Arabia for Al Nassr) signature Siuuu celebrating, before beginning to work on the back of Seth Rollins. McIntyre had the upper hand for most of the match, but the pair soon traded finishers – The Scottish former World Champion kicked out of a Curb Stomp and a Pedigree, while Rollins is one of few men to survive the Claymore Kick.
Seth Rollins picked up the win soon after this, hitting the Curb Stomp after dodging a Claymore Kick, pinning Drew McIntyre to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. We’ve rated this match at three-stars, as it did what it had to do without going too overboard with crazy moves and big spots.
After the match, Damian Priest tried to cash in his Money in the Bank Contract, but was thwarted by Sami Zayn, who ran off with the briefcase as Rollins celebrated in the ring.
- Dave Meltzer’s Star Rating – TBD
- Cagematch Rating – TBD
- Atletifo Rating – 3 Stars
Rhea Ripley vs. Nia Jax vs. Shayna Baszler vs. Zoey Stark vs. Raquel Rodriguez (Women’s World Championship)
The second match of the show saw five women battling it out for the Women’s World Championship. The first four women had a fairly bog-standard entrance, but that changed when Rhea Ripley came out. About 10 Saudi officials came out one-by-one, each holding a goblet while some traditional middle-eastern music played. This took forever and was pointless, but it was soon interrupted by “THIS IS MY BRUTALITY!”, and Rhea Ripley walking out to a huge cheer, a huge star in the fans eyes.
While she looked like a true star, Rhea Ripley had four other women to contend with if she was to keep his belt. She had to tackle Shayna Bazler, Raquel Rodriguez, Zoey Starkz and Nia Jax (the latter of which hid outside the ring to start, a huge act of cowardice) in a five-way match, which meant that Ripley didn’t need to be involved in the finish to lose her title.
It was a typical multi-woman match, with too much happening to mention. One notable spot was when Shayna Bazler had three women locked in three separate submission holds at one time, an incredibly impressive feat, before it was broken up by Starkz
The match went well above my expectations, with even Nia Jax playing her role well. Ripley won the match with an incredible spot, as she hit a top-rope Riptide on Zoey Starkz onto two women on the ground, before pinning Shayna Bazler for the win. Dave Meltzer’s star rating for this may not be high, but here at Atletifo we see this as one of the best matches at WWE Crown Jewel 2023.
- Dave Meltzer’s Star Rating – TBD
- Cagematch Rating – TBD
- Atletifo Rating – 3.5 Stars
John Cena vs. Solo Sikoa
A rabid crowd couldn’t help but belt out John Cena’s theme song, as he took on a resolute Solo Sikoa. Cena lamented not winning a singles match in the past five years, while Solo Sikoa made history as the fifth man to make his Premium Live Event debut against John Cena.
John Cena worked over the thumb of Solo Sikoa in this match, aiming to nullify the “Samoan Spike” finishing move that helped take out Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 39. The move was innovated by the late Umaga, who Sikoa has taken much inspiration from since his debut at Clash at the Castle 2022.
To be frank, the match wasn’t very good. It was your “paint by numbers” John Cena match, where Cena took control with his familiar spots, before Sikoa slowly and boringly beat him down. Cena eventually came back and looked like he was going to win (even hitting a Rock Bottom), but eventually lost to about ten consecutive Samoan Spikes to the throat.
This was not entertaining to watch. John Cena is passed it, and Solo Sikoa is a pale imitation of Umaga, who he is clearly trying to copy. This is a match I will never consider watching again, and is rated one-star as a consequence.
- Dave Meltzer’s Star Rating – TBD
- Cagematch Rating – TBD
- Atletifo Rating – 1 Star
Rey Mysterio vs Logan Paul (United States Championship)
No matter what you think about Logan Paul’s controversies (of which there are many), you cannot deny that inside a WWE ring, he is something special. He made a spectacular entrance into Riyadh, throttling a dune buggy around the desert before driving it into the arena for his match at Crown Jewel 2023 against Rey Mysterio.
Winning his first championship in wrestling, Logan Paul defeated Rey Mysterio to win the United States Championships in one of the best matches of the night. It continues a streak of fantastic bouts by Paul, who has taken wrestling by storm as one of the top stars in the company since his debut in 2022.
In a match filled with huge spots and tributes to legends (Paul hit the signature moves of Bruno Sammartino, Ultimate Warrior and The Undertaker), Logan Paul resorted to the brass knuckles to knock out Rey Mysterio while on the brink of defeat, taking home the United States Championship.
The match was amazing. I’d give it a four-star rating, as the encounter at Crown Jewel just shows Logan Paul’s true skills once again – he is clearly a CAW from WWE 2K23 who has been given all the coolest moves, and that’s exactly what I was here for.
- Dave Meltzer’s Star Rating – TBD
- Cagematch Rating – TBD
- Atletifo Rating – 4-Star
Iyo Sky vs Bianca Belair (WWE Women’s Championship)
Despite Bianca Belair winning the WWE Women’s Championship at Summerslam 2023 being by far the wrong booking decision, her clash with IYO SKY was a brilliant example of women’s wrestling, a rematch that was months in the making since Iyo Sky’s Money in the Bank Cash on Belair.
A familiar face helped Sky retain her title, as Kairi Sane made her long-awaited return to the WWE after a sting with NJPW. Sane debuted at the end – with a new look to her last WWE run – and helped IYO SKY betray Bayley and win the match via pin fall, confirming the reunification of her tag team with the WWE Women’s Champion once again.
- Dave Meltzer’s Star Rating – TBD
- Cagematch Rating – TBD
- Atletifo Rating – 2 Stars
Cody Rhodes vs Damien Priest
In a fairly innocuous and inoffensive match, Cody Rhodes apparently moved on to “finish the story” by beating Damian Priest in a non-title singles match at WWE Crown Jewel 2023. We’ll give this a two-star rating, and is really only a must-watch if you’re a really, really big fan of Cody Rhodes.
Fighting off interference from Finn Balor and JD McDonagh, Cody hit three consecutive Cross Rhodes, despite being put through the announce table with one of Priest’s own, on Damian Priest to win the match in front of a crowd who could not get enough of The American Nightmare.
- Dave Meltzer’s Star Rating – TBD
- Cagematch Rating – TBD
- Atletifo Rating – 2 Stars
Roman Reigns vs LA Knight (Undisputed WWE Universal Championship)
Shall I just copy and paste the review and star rating from Roman Reigns’ previous title defenses? LA Knight had the match won after hitting a BFT, the ref almost counted to three, but oh no – here comes Jimmy Uso! He plops The Tribal Chief’s leg onto the rope, saving the WWE Universe from a WWE Champion that they actually enjoy. A quick spear later and ROMANWINSLOL.
I’m tired, Robbie. I’m sick of Roman Reigns title reign. I actually did enjoy parts of this match, with LA Knight putting on probably his best performance in WWE so far. He clearly has the ability to work a main event match, and could be a dark horse to win the Royal Rumble. Of course, it would have to be the World Heavyweight Championship he would go after, because I simply don’t want to watch him wasted on another Roman Reigns match.
Finish the story, etc. I’m sure Dave Meltzer’s star ratings for the Crown Jewel main event will say this was a lot better than I have rated it, but I feel a solid 2 Stars (for LA Knight’s four-star performance and the zero-star finish of the match)
- Dave Meltzer’s Star Rating – TBD
- Cagematch Rating – TBD
- Atletifo Rating – 2 Stars