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And we're off-and-running as the Kickoff Show is now live. We shoot to the pre-show set where Kayla Braxton, Matt Camp and Peter Rosenberg welcome us to the show. They immediately make two big announcements -- Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar will now be a No Disqualification match and the Bobby Lashley vs. Goldberg No Holds Barred match is now also a Falls Count Anywhere bout.
From there, the panelists run down the lineup for today's show and then send us to our first extensive video package, which tells the story leading up to today's WWE Championship showdown between Big E. and Drew McIntyre. We return to the panel and they give their thoughts on the match.
After that, the panelists set up our next video package, which this time gives an extensive look at the journey through the 2021 King of the Ring tournament, as well as the first-ever Queen's Crown tournament, with the finals going down tonight in the Finn Balor vs. Xavier Woods and Zelina Vega vs. Doudrop matches. The panelists then give their thoughts on those matches.
We now shift gears and see the locker room door of WWE Hall of Fame legend Goldberg and then we head to our in-depth video package that tells the story leading up to their No Holds Barred match, which is now also a Falls Count Anywhere showdown. The panelists give their thoughts on this highly-anticipated bout and talk about how personal their rivalry has become.
The pre-show trio start talking about the 2021 WWE Draft and then we see a look at the new roster coming to Monday Night Raw next week as a graphic appears on the screen while they talk about some of the Superstars making the move to the red brand. They talk about some potential new matches as a result of the rosters being jumbled up in the draft.
Now we hear an update on the Reigns-Lesnar match, with Braxton informing us that after Reigns and Paul Heyman learned of plans for their Universal Title defense against Brock Lesnar being changed to a No Disqualification match, they rejected the idea and as a result, it is not, in fact, going to be a No DQ match.
There is a chance they will still make the change with another update later in the show. We will keep you posted if that happens. We head to the Reigns-Lesnar video package and the panelists weigh in with their thoughts on the highly-anticipated showdown.
We shoot backstage and we see Paul Heyman walking around backstage looking anxious. Up walks Kevin Patrick and startles him. He asks him for his thoughts on the Reigns-Lesnar match. Heyman has some fun with him and then makes it clear he will walk to the ring with the Universal Champion Roman Reigns before the match and he will walk backstage with the Universal Champion after the match.
Heyman didn't say Reigns when mentioning walking backstage with the champion after the match as well, which Braxton and the pre-show panelists immediately point out when we return to the pre-show set. They wrap up after some more brief discussion and then send us inside the arena in Saudi Arabia for the first time today, as it's time for our first match of the show.
Michael Cole, Byron Saxton and Pat McAfee welcome us to the show and then we hear the familiar sounds of the entrance theme music of The Usos. The SmackDown Tag-Team Champions make their way down to the ring for this non-title pre-show match.
They settle into the ring and their music dies down. Now the theme plays for The Hurt Business and out comes the team of Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander. The duo make their way down to the ring.
Now the bell sounds and we're off-and-running with this one. The crowd in Saudi Arabia immediately breaks out in an enthusiastic "Uso! Uso!" chant as the early action gets underway. We see Uso dominate the action early on, taking it to Alexander as the fans rally behind him with "Let's go Uso!" chants.
Alexander ends up cutting Uso's momentum short and then he makes the tag to Benjamin, who comes into the ring and picks up where he left off, putting a sleeper-hold on the crowd in the process. Benjamin tags Alexander back in and the two hit a double-team spot on Uso for a near fall.
After Cedric works him over for a bit, he brings Benjamin back in and the longtime veteran keeps the pressure on one-half of the SmackDown Tag-Team Champions, all-the-while keeping him on his side of the ring and far away from the tag he badly needs to make to his brother.
Uso starts to show signs of life, as the crowd comes to life a bit as well, although The Hurt Business do a good job of shutting that down before it gets started. Jey Uso fires up again and starts blasting Benjamin with big shots that gets the crowd going again. This time he buys himself some time by decking Benjamin. He finally makes the tag.
The crowd goes nuts as the fresh Jimmy Uso hits the ring. Benjamin also makes the tag and in comes Alexander to take the fired up offensive comeback of The Usos as the crowd continues to go nuts. Benjamin ends up tagging back in and connecting with his Pay Dirt spot but the Usos survive and end up hitting double super kicks and a big Uso splash off the top-rope for the pin fall victory.
Winners: The Usos
Once the match wraps up, we head back to the pre-show panel, where Braxton, Camp and Rosenberg run down the lineup again for today's WWE Crown Jewel 2021 special event, which continues with the main card starting momentarily. From there, they set up the elaborate video package to tell the story leading up to tonight's Hell In A Cell showdown between Edge and Seth Rollins.
After that, we return to the panel again where the trio give their insight and analysis into the Edge-Rollins rivalry. Braxton then asks Camp and Rosenberg for their predictions on many of tonight's big matches and then we wrap up the Kickoff Show with Braxton reading a tweet from Xavier Woods and sending us into the main show. Here we go!
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The WWE Then. Now. Forever. Together signature airs and then we transition into the usual bad ass cold open video for the third annual WWE Crown Jewel special event from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
We see the camera pan around the Mohammed Abdu Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as we shoot live inside the building and see the jam-packed crowd making a ton of noise as Michael Cole welcomes us to the show.
He then introduces his broadcast partners at the commentary desk for today's show -- Byron Saxton and Corey Graves. The trio give their opening thoughts and then we get ready for our first match of the main card.
The commentary crew sends us to the elaborate video package to tell the story leading up the highly-anticipated Hell ‌In A Cell match between Edge and Seth Rollins. We're starting things off with a bang!
After the package wraps up, we hear the ominous music that plays as the Hell In A Cell cage is lowered over the ring. We then hear the familiar sounds of "BURN IT DOWN!!!!" as Seth (freakin') Rollins makes his way out.
Rollins heads down to the ring for our opening bout of the evening as fire pyro explodes from the entrance ramp. He settles inside the ring enclosed by the HIAC structure and his music dies down.
We hear the fans boo as we watch Rollins survey the audience from one side of the building to the other. He is then startled as we hear "YOU THINK YOU KNOW ME!" and then on this day, we see clearly as "The Rated-R Superstar" emerges.
Edge makes his way down to the ring as the crowd reacts in Saudi Arabia and fireworks and pyro explodes from the entrance area as the WWE Hall of Fame legend prepares to enter hell for his grudge match showdown against Rollins.
There's a big fight feel, and it's only noon on the east coast, folks! Crown Jewel is live! It sounds like the fans are actually singing along with the lyrics to Edge's theme as he checks the strength of the HIAC cage surrounding the ring before entering.
Now we see Rollins and Edge intensely staring each other down inside the ring as the bell sounds to officially get this one off-and-running. They finally collide and start brawling with a wild exchange of back-and-forth strikes. Edge beats Rollins down in the corner but then Rollins turns the tables and does the same to him.
Edge fights back into the lead again as the fans break out in an early, thunderous "This is awesome!" chant. Edge beats Rollins down and looks out to the crowd, who break out in "Yes!" chants. Edge goes to pick up Rollins but Rollins catches him off guard and chokes him throat-first over the top rope before connecting with a leaping springboard knee to the dome.
Rollins sees Edge recovering on the floor at ringside and decides to hit the ropes to build up a head of steam for a dive through the ropes. It goes bad for him, however, as Edge side-steps him and helps guide him for his landing -- face-first into the HIAC cage. Edge grinds Rollins face into the cell to follow-up and then he rams him into it. He rams him into the steel steps after that and he now finds himself in a comfortable offensive lead.
This doesn't last long, however, as Rollins shifts the momentum in his favor moments later and immediately turns up the violence level as well. He looks to tear the eye of Edge out. He rams him into the cell when the action spills out to the ringside area. The fans chant "Let's go Edge!" as Rollins continues to dominate the action, slamming and bashing Edge into anything solid in sight
Edge recovers and brings two chairs in the ring as the commentators remind new fans about his fondness of con-chair-to's. Rollins avoids it and takes back over. After a leg of the chair is broken off, which has become a regular weapon used in recent Edge matches, Rollins ends up with it and he bashes it directly into the eye of "The Rated-R Superstar." The fans immediately go dead silent after the scary looking spot.
Rollins continues to beat down the WWE Hall of Fame legend, and now a table has been introduced to the match. The fans react with a loud cheer, even though Rollins was the one who brought it into play, setting it up outside of the ring. The battle gets going again before he can use it. Rollins finally gets Edge down and begins climbing up to the top-rope. Edge pops up and shoves Rollins off, and Rollins goes crashing violently through the table he set up moments ago at ringside.
We see the action return to the ring, as Edge brings a lifeless Rollins back into the squared circle and delivers some more punishment before heading back out to the ringside area to retrieve half of the steel steps. He brings them into the ring and sets them up in the middle. He drags Rollins over to them and connects with an Edge-O-Matic on Rollins that sees Rollins land hard on the unforgiving steel steps. Edge picks up a steel chair as the fans chant "This is awesome!"
"The Rated-R Superstar" takes the chair with him and heads up the ropes with it as Rollins is still laid out on the steel steps in the ring. He comes flying off with an elbow smash with the chair over his arm and connects. He goes for the cover after this, but Rollins somehow finds a way to kick out and keep this brutal HIAC match alive. Edge stalks Rollins looking for a spear, but Rollins recovers and blasts him with a super kick as he comes charging in. He follows that up with a Pedigree and a pin attempt, but somehow Edge kicks out as well.
Rollins backs in a corner and stalks Edge. He looks for the stomp but Edge avoids it and hits Rollins with his own buckle-bomb spot. After that he blasts him with a spear and goes for the cover. The fans bit on it being the finish, although Rollins again managed to kick out at two. The fans react to the kick out with an absolutely thunderous "This is awesome!" chant as the commentators point out that this is only the first match of the show.
Now we see Edge head back out to the ringside area looking for something. He reaches under the ring and pulls out a table and slides it into the ring. He isn't satisfied, however, and heads back under the ring and pulls out a ladder. The fans react with a loud gasp and cheer as Edge wears a sadistic look on his face and puts the giant ladder into the ring. He re-enters the ring as well and lawn-darts the top of the still-folded ladder into the face of Rollins. He sets it up leaning in the corner of the ring. He goes to whip Rollins into it but Rollins reverses and whips Edge into it -- hard.
The two brawl back-and-forth and then Rollins takes over again. He sets up a table inside the ring and the ladder is set up near it as well. Edge climbs up one side of the ladder while Rollins is on the top-rope on the opposite side of the ladder. He flips over Edge's head and connects with a sunset bomb that puts "The Rated-R Superstar" through the table. He goes for the cover and still, Edge somehow finds a way to kick out before the count of three.
A frustrated Rollins heads out to the ringside area and starts looking for any kind of other weapons under the ring. He pulls out whatever he can find and then sees Edge staggering around lifeless, completely out of it on his feet. He decides to re-enter the ring and he decks him with a super kick. He lays Edge out with a few more big shots and then starts taunting him as he lays lifeless on the mat. He goes over to a tool box he threw in the ring when looking for weapons a moment ago.
He grabs a long steel chain that he found in it and he wraps it around his boot as he is backed up in the corner stalking Edge with a violent steel-chain-wrapped stomp in mind. He waits for Edge to get up and Edge manages to barely sit up. Rollins walks over and blasts Edge with a super kick with the chain-wrapped boot. We see cuts and bloody welts all over the back of Edge as he falls down to the mat. Rollins isn't satisfied, so he grabs a steel chair and lays it on the mat. He puts Edge's face/head on it and backs into the corner after shouting in his face, "This is how it ends!"
Rollins runs to Edge with violent intentions but Edge pops up and grabs the chair his head was laying on and rams it into the low blow region of Rollins. Edge gets back to his feet and waits for Rollins to get up as well. He then blasts him with a big super kick. Rollins makes it up to his knees and crawls to Edge, only to get laid out with another super kick. Edge grabs the chain wrapped around Rollins' boot and he unwraps it. He takes it and wraps it around Rollins' face and squeezes it. Rollins crawls to the toolbox still in the ring and grabs a wrench. Edge takes it from him and uses it to pull back on Rollins open mouth with it in the crossface position.
Just as it looked like Rollins was about to tap out but Edge decides to let him go in favor of a more violent, barbaric ending. He backs up and stalks Rollins, waiting for him to get up just enough that he charges back towards him and connects with a big stomp. He goes for the cover and this time he gets it. What an absolutely incredible opening contest here at WWE Crown Jewel.
Winner: Edge
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After a quick commercial time out, we return to the ring entrance of Ali, as it is time for our second match of the evening here on the main card at Crown Jewel.
Ali settles into the ring as some highlights are shown from recent weeks to tell the story leading up to his showdown against his former partner Mansoor.
Back live, Ali's music wraps up and now the theme for Mansoor plays and the crowd goes nuts as the Riyadh native and WWE's first Saudi Arabian Superstar makes his way out and heads down to the ring.
The bell sounds and we're off-and-running with this one. Ali jumps off to an early offensive lead, however it doesn't last long, as Mansoor fires up and gets the crowd on their feet as he takes it to Ali. Ali takes a breather at ringside to regroup, stopping only to yell at the fans to shut up.
He heads back in the ring and Mansoor goes right back to work on him and Ali is having trouble dealing with the momentum that the Saudi Superstar has built. Ali attempts to roll out to ringside to regroup again, but this time Mansoor is having none of it, as he hits a dropkick through the ropes.
He goes to follow-up, however Ali yanks him down feet-first off the ring apron and he bounces out to the floor, with his head bashing on the hard corner of the ring apron on the way down. Ali stops to taunt the fans a bit and then brings the action back into the ring.
Mansoor fights back into competitive form, but Ali stops him and connects with a big tornado DDT that shifts the momentum back into his favor. Ali beats Mansoor down while shouting and taunting him, calling him a worthless loser and blasting him with kicks in the corner.
Finally Mansoor hears one too many insults and he catches a kick and gets up with an angry look on his face. He starts fighting back and beating Ali down. The crowd rallies behind him as he continues to work over Ali in the corner of the ring. Ali tries popping up but runs right into a big clothesline from Mansoor that turns him inside-out.
We see Mansoor run and go for a dive through the ropes, but he launched himself right into a dropkick from Ali on the floor. Ali heads to the top-rope and goes for a crazy high spot, but Mansoor rolls out of the way. He then connects with a belly-to-belly suplex. He heads to the top-rope backwards and hits a moonsault.
He sells his neck that Ali has been working on throughout the match upon landing and then goes for the cover. Ali reverses into a koji clutch after the count of two. Mansoor eventually makes it to the ropes to force the hold to be broken. Ali goes for the 450 splash off the top but Mansoor moves. He then hits a springboard neckbreaker of his own and scores the pin fall victory over Ali. His hometown fans give him a nice reception after the victory.
Winner: Mansoor
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Once the match wraps up, we see Mansoor celebrating when Ali attacks him out of frustration for losing. He beats him down and then out of nowhere, some music hits and out comes someone dressed up in a karate gi with a red belt on, as well as a Saudi Arabian head-dress.
We discover that it is Saudi Olympic karateka Tareg Hamedi, who earned a silver medal in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo in the 75kg division of Kumite. The commentators inform us of this and how he was disqualified from winning gold after knocking out his opponent.
Ali and Hamedi have a staredown as the crowd gives this a mega-reaction, and they are clearly aware of who this is, even though virtually everyone watching will probably be scratching their heads. He hits the same blow that got him DQ'd, which the commentators point out. He leaves Ali laying and then he and Mansoor celebrate for the Saudi fans.
After the Ali-Mansoor post-match segment wraps up, we head to a special segment featuring WWE global ambassador Titus O'Neil, as well as Natalya.
The two talk about it being Breast Cancer Awareness Month and then introduce some survivors of breast cancer. This only lasts for a couple of minutes and then we get ready to return to the ring for our next match of the evening.
We're back inside Mohammed Abdu Arena in Riyadh and we see some highlights of AJ Styles and Omos causing havoc in recent weeks, beating down The Street Profits and others as they continue their journey to recapture the Raw Tag-Team Championships.
The theme for AJ Styles plays and out comes "The Phenomenal One" along with his tag-team partner, the giant Omos. The challengers settle inside the squared circle and then their music dies down.
Now the familiar sounds of Randy Orton's theme hits and out comes the reigning, defending Raw Tag-Team Champions -- RK-Bro. "The Viper" and Riddle head out and begin making their way to the ring, only for Riddle to scoot to the back. Orton looks upset thinking Riddle bailed on him, but then "The Original Bro" comes back out on a camel.
Riddle rides the camel down to the ring looking like the happiest person on planet earth, while Orton looks confused and even a bit jealous as the champs make their grand entrance to the ring for our first title match of the day here at Crown Jewel.
The bell sounds and it will be Riddle and Styles kicking things off for their respective teams. Styles blasts Riddle with the first shots and then taunts him and the fans. The fans are already chanting "This is awesome!" as Riddle starts firing away at Styles with kicks. He then tags Orton into the match.
Orton hits the ring and picks up where Riddle left off, taking it to Styles as the fans break out in a thunderous "RKO! RKO!" chant. Orton tried to oblige them, as he goes for an "RKO out of nowhere," however Styles has it well-scouted and manages to avoid it. Orton opts instead to stomp every bit of Styles' body, "Rugged" Ronnie Garvin style, as the fans react to each shot.
Riddle tags back in and Orton hoists him up in the air by lifting him up for a back-flip splash onto Styles for a near fall. Riddle picks Styles up in a gut-wrench suplex spot without going for the actual suplex. He holds him in that position and swings him around in circles and then slams him down. The fans give that a big reaction and then Styles heads over and tags in Omos.
Omos stares Riddle down as the fans quiet down and the giant begins his beatdown of "The Original Bro." He hoists Riddle up, but Riddle escapes out the back door and quickly scrambles to his corner and makes the tag to Orton. Orton stares at Omos and soaks in his massive size before stepping through the ropes to begin his attempt at fighting this mammoth human being.
We see Orton blast Omos with a big punch, only for the big man to laugh it off and ask him if that's all he's got. He tries this a few more times and then Omos finally responds with a shot of his own, decking Orton with a big boot to the face. He hoists Orton up with ease and then drops him face-first on the top turnbuckle. Styles shouts instructions at Omos from the apron as Orton continues to find himself on the wrong end of a one-sided beatdown.
Now Omos drags Orton over to his team's corner and makes the tag to Styles. Styles comes in and picks up where Omos left off, taking it to "The Viper" as the fans try and rally behind him with "Randy! Randy!" chants. Randy tries firing up and he throws some punches at Styles, but Styles kills his comeback attempt with a picture-perfect drop kick. He then tags Omos back into the match. Omos grabs a hold of Orton with a vice-like grip on his traps.
After inflicting some more punishment, Omos tags Styles back in. Orton also tags out and back in comes Riddle. Styles blasts Riddle with a Pele kick that finds the mark, but Riddle recovers quickly and gains the upper-hand on "The Phenomenal One." He then tags Orton back in. Orton takes Styles out and then drapes him over the middle rope for his trademark DDT spot. He sees Omos coming and lets go of Styles. He heads over to Omos and Riddle helps from the ringside area on the floor.
Orton returns his focus to Styles, who is setting Orton up for a big "Phenomenal Forearm" finisher, but Orton sees it coming. Styles ends up springboarding off the ropes with Orton catching him with an RKO out of nowhere. Riddle comes off the top with his Floating Bro finisher to follow-up and then they score the pin fall to retain their Raw Tag-Team Championships.
Winners and STILL Raw Tag-Team Champions: RK-Bro
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Once the match wraps up, we head backstage where Kevin Patrick is standing by with SmackDown Women's Champion Becky Lynch. Lynch is offended by Patrick asking about losing to Sasha Banks on the recent supersized SmackDown on FS1 show leading up to tonight's title defense in a triple-threat match.
She says she thought they were better than that, since Patrick also comes from "the old country." She then talks about not being fond of being in a match she doesn't even have to be involved in the finish to lose her title. She says despite this, she is going to remind everyone just who the hell she is. She walks off and we head to a quick ad break on that note.
When we return from the ad time out, we see a video that tells the story of the first-ever Queen's Crown tournament, showing the journey that Zelina Vega and Doudrop took to make it to the finals.
From there, we hear the theme music for our first finalist in the inaugural Queen's Crown tourney. She makes her way out with extra clothing on, per the usual standards for women's matches in Saudi Arabia.
Both women are in the ring and the bell sounds to get this one off-and-running. After several minutes of back-and-forth action, including a big DDT spot from Vega, we see Doudrop take over and just as it seemed she was about to get things finished up, Vega ends up scoring the victory out of nowhere.
After the victory, Vega heads up to the throne at the top of the entrance area and puts on her crown and robe and plays to the fans as the commentators talk about her being the first person in WWE history to hold the honor of winning the new, annual Queen's Crown tournament.
Winner and FIRST-EVER Queen's Crown tournament winner: Zelina Vega
We see the elaborate video package that tells the story leading up to tonight's grudge match showdown between "The All Mighty" Bobby Lashley and WWE Hall of Fame legend Goldberg.
From there, we re-enter Mohammed Abdu Arena where Lashley's theme hits and "The All Mighty" one himself begins making his way down to the ring. He settles inside the squared circle and his music dies down.
The commentators remind us the added stipulation given to this contest during the Kickoff Show, as the previously announced No Holds Barred match will now also be a Falls Count Anywhere bout.
After a pause to build some anticipation, we see a shot backstage as someone comes up and knocks on the locker room door of Goldberg and then the legend emerges. He is escorted by security as he makes his way to the entrance area.
Finally, we see smoke fill the entrance area and white out the camera shot on the WWE Network / Peacock broadcast as the iconic music of the pro wrestling legend plays and the fans in Saudi Arabia break out into loud "Goldberg! Goldberg!" chants to the tune of his theme.
He emerges through the smoke and then heads to the ring as the chants continue. As he settles into the ring, we see Lashley wrapping his hand with a steel chain prior to the bell sounding. Now the bell does sound to get this match off-and-running.
Goldberg charges over and starts firing away at Lashley with shots, however after Lashley responds back with his first shot of his own with the chain-wrapped fist, the tables quickly turn into the favor of "The All Mighty" one. He pummels Goldberg from one side of the ring to the other and then stops to head out to the ringside area to retrieve a steel chair.
Lashley re-enters the ring with the chair and blasts Goldberg with it. He then heads back out to the floor and reaches under the ring for some more goodies. He pulls out a table, which Michael Cole calls a ladder until he is corrected, and slides it into the ring. He re-enters the ring himself and goes to work on the knee of Goldberg that was softened up in their last in-ring encounter.
Now he heads over and unfolds one leg of the table. He leans it up against the corner of the ring. He notices Goldberg slowly getting back to his feet, so he shifts his focus to him, charging over and nearly spearing him out of his boots. He puts Goldberg's already hurt knee through a steel chair. He stomps on it, looking to permanently tear apart the knee of the WWE Hall of Fame legend. He hops on the middle rope and jumps off, stomping on it again.
Bobby Lashley stalks Goldberg, waiting for him to get up. He charges at him with a full head of steam looking to turn him inside-out with a spear. Instead, Goldberg moves and Lashley explodes through the table set up in the corner of the ring earlier.
This allows Goldberg to take over, as he begins mounting his offensive comeback in full form now, complete with the intensity returning to his eyes. He blasts Lashley with a spear and the commentators say this one is over. He decides against finishing him off. On the floor, Goldberg rushes at Lashley and blasts him with another spear through a bunch of the production gear next to the commentary section.
Goldberg proceeds to bash Lashley off of anything that is solid enough to withstand impact, including the steel steps. Goldberg stalks Lashley around the ring and then up the ramp, as it looks like Lashley is running from him. Instead, we see him stop at the top of the ramp and start smiling as out comes The Hurt Business duo of Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander, who have kendo sticks. Lashley takes one as well.
Alexander and Benjamin head down the ramp to attack Goldberg with the kendo sticks, but instead Goldberg takes them bout out. He heads up the ramp with a kendo stick. Lashley has one as well and is waiting for him. Goldberg decides against using his, breaking it over his leg instead. He beats Lashley down and then charges at him and spears him off the ramp. They crash through a table way down below. Goldberg pops up and covers him and gets the pin fall victory.
Lashley's arms and other parts of his body are bleeding. Goldberg heads up to the ringside area and hugs some kids in the front row before heading back up the ramp as a bunch of replays from different angles of the finishing spear off the entrance ramp spot is shown over-and-over again. We return live and we see Lashley manage to get to his feet on his own power, which elicits a pop from Corey Graves on commentary. The camera shows a close up of Goldberg before he heads backstage. He talks into the camera, saying, "Don't EVER mess with my family!" We head to an ad break after this.
Winner: Goldberg
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We head to the elaborate video package telling the story leading up to the finals of this year's King of the Ring tournament, as we see the battles won by Finn Balor and Xavier Woods to secure their spot in the finals.
From there, we shoot back inside the arena where Balor's theme hits and "The Prince" makes his way out and heads down to the ring. His music dies down.
The theme for Xavier Woods plays and out comes the popular veteran performer to a great reaction from the fans in Saudi Arabia. He plays the trombone and has fun in typical Xavier Woods fashion as he settles into the squared circle.
Now the bell sounds and we're off-and-running with our KOTR final showdown between Woods and Balor. We see Balor jump off to an early offensive advantage. He controls the action for a couple of minutes and then Woods fires back up and takes over.
Woods gets in some big kicks and a nice dropkick on Balor in the ropes. He goes for another spot in the ropes, however Balor avoids it and decks Woods with a leaping kick to the side of his head. The fans try and get a "This is awesome!" chant going, but it doesn't spread enough to get loud.
Balor and Woods trade shots and Balor ends up hitting a nice reverse neck-breaker for a pin fall attempt. Woods kicks out. Balor backs in a corner and then runs and hits a sling blade on Woods. He stops in the other corner and stalks him, waiting for him to get up. He charges at him when he does but walks right into a super kick from Woods for his efforts.
The two both take a moment to recover as they are each down and out after the big shot connects from Woods. Back on their feet, they trade shots until Balor lays Woods out with a leaping overhead kick that blasts him in the dome. Balor goes for another big shot when Woods gets up, but Woods avoids it and decks Balor. He then takes him to the top-rope and connects with a picture-perfect super plex for a close near fall.
We hear a loud "This is awesome!" chant that does spread throughout the arena this time. Woods heads to the top-rope and walks the rope a bit before launching himself off for a flying elbow smash. Balor ends up countering it as Woods was coming down. This leads to a fired up comeback from Balor. He hits his usual pre-finisher spots and then heads to the top-rope for the Coup de Grace, only for Woods to avoid it.
Woods fires up and hits a bunch of kicks and then a gut-buster on Balor. He then heads up to the top-rope. He walks the top-rope a bit again and once more launches himself off with a flying elbow smash that connects this time. He makes the cover and scores the pin fall victory. Xavier Woods is your 2021 WWE King of the Ring.
He gets emotional immediately after scoring the pin and then talks into the camera about how he said this was his destiny. We see replays of the finish as Woods heads up the ramp to take his rightful spot on the throne. He puts the crown on and then the announcer says "all hail King Xavier." He puts his robe on as fireworks and pyro explodes and the fans give him a big pop as his music plays to continue his fun-spirited celebration. Got to love it!
Winner and King Of The Ring tournament champion: Xavier Woods
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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.
The WWE Champion gets a hold of McIntyre's leg and has it behind his own head. He is looking to grasp his hands together to submit "The Scottish Warrior," however McIntyre avoids it. Big E. ends up catching McIntyre with his Big Ending finisher after that. He goes for the cover and the crowd thinks it's all over, however McIntyre manages to kick out at the count of two-and-a-half.
Now we watch as Big E. grabs McIntyre and begins heading up to the top-rope. He is looking to hit his Big Ending off the top on McIntyre, but McIntyre avoids it and ends up connecting with a top-rope bulldog on the champ for a super close near fall of his own. The fans make a ton of noise as McIntyre backs into a corner and stalks Big E., waiting for him to get up. He charges at him when he does, looking for his Claymore Kick, but Big E. avoids it. Big E. stalks McIntyre and waits for him to get up, looking to connect with his spear through the ropes trademark spot, however as he charges at McIntyre, he gets caught with an explosive Claymore Kick out of nowhere. McIntyre goes for the cover but somehow, some way, Big E. kicks out again.
The fans explode with their reaction after Big E. kicks out. When their sustained roar subsides a bit, a thunderous "This is awesome!" chant breaks out and spreads throughout the arena. McIntyre hoists Big E. up but the champion escapes out the back door. He hits the ropes, ducks a Claymore Kick and hoists McIntyre up awkwardly, shifting him around his body and eventually connecting with his Big Ending again. He goes for the cover and this time he gets the three-count. Big E. retains the title in a thriller against Drew McIntyre here at Crown Jewel. Great match from these two.
Winner and STILL WWE Champion: Big E.
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We return inside the Mohammed Abdu Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as the ring announcer begins his pre-match ring introductions for our next championship contest of the evening -- which will be a triple-threat bout.
The familiar sounds of Becky Lynch's theme song plays as the reigning, defending SmackDown Women's Champion begins making her way down to the ring. During her entrance, highlights from recent weeks are shown.
"Big Time Becks" settles into the ring and her music dies down. Now we hear Sasha Banks' theme play and "The Boss" heads down to the squared circle as more highlights from their rivalry playing out on WWE TV in recent weeks airs.
Now with two of the three competitors in this triple-threat match are in the ring, it is time to welcome the third and final participant. The theme hits to bring out Bianca Belair and the lady with "The EST of WWE" settles in the ring.
The ring announcer does the formal pre-match introduction for the challengers and then the champion, with all three getting a nice pop from the fans, but Lynch clearly feeling like the biggest star of the bunch to the fans in Saudi Arabia.
We hear the bell sound and we're off-and-running with this one. Lynch, Banks and Belair all go at it to get this one started. Lynch is bumped out of the ring, leaving Banks and Belair alone to duke it out inside the squared circle.
Belair gets the better of the exchange and she hoists Banks up over her head in a military press position. She puts one of her hands down and is literally holding Sasha Banks over her head with one hand now, which draws a big reaction from the fans.
Lynch re-enters the mix as Belair is bumped to the outside of the ring now. Banks and Lynch are left alone in the ring to mix it up, and Banks controls the action. She grabs Lynch and pushes off the ropes with her feet, knocking Belair off the apron in the process, before settling on the mat looking for the Bank Statement on Lynch.
Belair hits the ring and breaks it up. All three mix it up in the corner of the ring. Belair hoists Banks up in a torture rack position. Graves thinks she's looking for the KOD, but it is irrelevant as Lynch comes off the top-rope and takes out both Banks and Belair with a missile dropkick.
Becky Lynch hits a nice bulldog on Belair for a near fall. She blasts Banks on the ring apron with a variety of kicks and then climbs to the middle rope, connecting with a flying leg drop to the back of Banks head. She goes for the cover after Banks crashes down on the mat, however "The Boss" kicks out to keep this one alive. The fans react with a "This is awesome!" chant as Lynch takes turns delivering stomps to Banks and Belair as they are both laid out in the ring.
We see some unique three-way spots that shows off the impressive strength of Bianca Belair. She hooks Lynch for a suplex and hoists her up as Banks flips over her looking for a sunset flip pin attempt. Belair stomps on her and steps aside while still holding Lynch in the suplex position. Lynch's legs fall over though and she nearly falls forward, only for Belair to muscle her back up and over to finally finish the suplex in an impressive display of power.
Belair is bumped out of the ring and this leaves Banks and Lynch alone in the ring to duke it out. Banks establishes control of the champion and then locks her in her Bank Statement submission finisher in the middle of the ring. Belair hits the ring and does some back-flip, splashing onto Lynch and Banks to break up the Bank Statement. She goes for the cover on both afterwards, but they each kick out.
Now we see some back-and-forth finishing move attempts in a row until finally Lynch hits the Man-Handle Slam on Banks for a near fall that Belair ends up breaking up. Banks kicks Lynch out to the floor as she and Belair were looking for a spot on the ropes. Banks then looks to sunset-flip bomb Belair off the ring apron to the floor, however Belair avoids it. Banks looks for a tornado DDT off the ring apron but Belair blocks it. While they're fighting, Lynch runs and jumps off the barricade -- taking them both out with a splash.
Lynch looks for the DisArmHer submission on the mat on Belair back inside the ring, however Banks hits the ring to break it up. Lynch grabs Banks while still keeping the hold applied on Belair. She ends up getting Banks and Belair in the DisArmHer submission at the same time. Belair stands up with both of them on her back at the same time. Lynch falls off and Belair hits her KOD on Banks. Belair then picks Lynch up and hits the KOD on her. Banks takes Belair and yanks her out of the ring in an attempt to steal the pin.
She rushes over to Lynch, who grabs Banks and rolls her up and holds the ropes during the pin attempt to secure the three-count and retain her SmackDown Women's Championship in the process. The commentators talk about how with the win, Lynch will be bringing the SmackDown Women's title to Monday Night Raw.
Winner and STILL SmackDown Women's Champion: Becky Lynch
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We get a quick message from the commentary trio about the WWE trip to Saudi Arabia and then we switch gears and get ready for our highly-anticipated main event of the show.
With that said, the extensive video package airs to tell the story leading up to the WWE Universal Championship showdown between Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar.
We're back inside Mohammed Abdu Arena and out comes "The Tribal Chief" Roman Reigns, accompanied by his special counsel -- Paul Heyman. The two head to the ring as "The Head of the Table" prepares for his Universal Title defense against "The Beast Incarnate."
He settles into the ring and his music dies down. Brock Lesnar's theme hits and the fans in Saudi Arabia give him the clear-cut biggest pop of the evening. Definite Road Warrior pop for the big fella.
The bell sounds and we're off-and-running with this one. Brock goes right at Reigns, who tried to avoid the action early on. Finally things pick up another level as Reigns takes over and starts dominating the action as the fans try and rally behind Lesnar.
Reigns takes it to Lesnar for a while and then Lesnar starts to fight back into competitive form. He goes for a suplex and hits the first of what could be many, until Reigns cuts his attempt to take him kicking-and-screaming to "Suplex City" short and takes back over.
Now we watch as Reigns takes back over. He blasts Lesnar with a Superman Punch and goes for the cover, but Lesnar kicks out and keeps this one alive. He starts to fight back into competitive form and eventually, he shifts the momentum into his favor.
Lesnar beats Reigns from one end of the ring to the other. He hits a bunch of suplexes as the fans keep getting louder and louder. He charges at Reigns in the corner but Reigns moves and Lesnar smashes his dome into the corner hard.
This sees Reigns try and take back over, only for Lesnar to "hulk up" out of nowhere. The crowd goes absolutely bonkers. Lesnar takes back over and hits an F5. After some more action we see Lesnar hoist Reigns up for another F5, and he hits this one as well.
The only problem is, they also took the referee out on the way down. Lesnar goes for the pin but the referee is completely out of it. Lesnar gets off of Reigns and heads over to the referee. He lets out a war scream and then picks the ref up by his belt line with one hand.
He turns around right into a big spear from Reigns and now both guys are down and there is still no conscious referee in sight. With this being the scene, we see Paul Heyman grab the Universal Championship. He slides it in the ring in the middle of Reigns and Lesnar both and simply yells, "You know what to do with it!"
But we don't know who he's talking to. Reigns and Lesnar don't seem to be sure either. Lesnar ends up with the title and he goes to blast Reigns with it, only for Uso to appear in the ring and take him out. Reigns then follows up and finishes off Lesnar and pins him for the victory to retain his Universal Championship.
Reigns and The Usos head to the back and we see Paul Heyman leave with them, but he looks very, very unsure of things. He keeps looking at Reigns and nervously looking back in the ring at Lesnar with confusion. Reigns celebrates with Usos and doesn't really acknowledge Heyman, even though he's stealing the scene in every camera shot he's included in during this post-match scene.
Reigns finally does look at Heyman, only to get the title from him and hoist it in the air. Heyman puts his hands together and bows his head to Reigns. We see Lesnar recovering in the ring looking around confused and angry. That's how this jam-packed special event from Saudi Arabia goes off the air. Thanks for joining us!
Winner and STILL WWE Universal Champion: Roman Reigns
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