Big E Retains WWE Championship At WWE Crown Jewel 2021

Big E retained the WWE Championship at today's WWE Crown Jewel 2021 event, defeating Drew McIntyre in a fast pace match.

Courtesy of our LIVE coverage partner RAJAH.com here is what went down:

WWE Championship
Drew McIntyre vs. Big E. (c)

We head to the video package for our next match of the evening, which will be our second championship bout of the show here at Crown Jewel, as the WWE Championship will be on-the-line.

On that note, the video airs to tell the story leading up to tonight's showdown between Drew McIntyre and Big E. for the WWE Championship. After it wraps up, we head back inside the Mohammed Abdu Arena.

The familiar sounds of McIntyre's theme hits and "The Scottish Warrior" emerges. He begins making his way down to the ring to a nice reaction from the fans in Saudi Arabia as the commentators talk on the broadcast about the on-again, off-again friendship between these two going out the window right now, as they are only worried about finding out who the better man is inside the ring.

He settles in the ring and his music dies down. We hear the entrance music of the champion now as Big E. emerges on the top of the entrance ramp. He heads down to the ring in his fun-loving trademark fashion.

The bell sounds and we're off-and-running with this WWE Championship contest. We see both guys hesitant early on, and then they finally start duking it out. McIntyre gets in some good early work, but the champ takes over from there. Big E. establishes the offensive control and goes to work on the challenger.

When the action spills out to the floor at ringside, Big E. heads out after McIntyre to keep the pressure on him, but "The Scottish Warrior" catches him coming in with a belly-to-back release suplex. He rolls Big E. back in the ring and goes back to work on him, as he is now in firm control of the offense at this point.

McIntyre isolates the arm of the champ, working over Big E. with some submission work on the ground. Big E. is stuck for a bit but eventually makes it to his feet and punches his way free. He hits the ropes but jumps right into a spinebuster from McIntyre for a near fall attempt.

Big E. fights back into competitive form and just as it seemed that he was about to take back over control of the action, McIntyre again cuts him off before he can get any momentum built up. He clotheslines him down, hits a suplex and then plays to the crowd as he waits for Big E. to get up. He hooks Big E.'s arms but Big E. escapes and slams McIntyre. He hits the ropes and jumps in the air, splashing on the challenger for a near fall.

We see some back-and-forth action, with each guy hitting some of their big trademark spots and looking to finish off the other, only to be unable to do so time and time again. The fans are letting them hear it as well, as a "This is awesome!" chant spreads throughout Mohammed Abdu Arena as both guys are slow to get back to their feet.

A HUGE win for @WWEBigE at #WWECrownJewel!#WWEChampionship pic.twitter.com/mTxSGeQSVu

— WWE (@WWE) October 21, 2021