Rhea Ripley Grows Stronger and Greatest Takeaways from WWE Crown Jewel 2023 Outcomes

WWE returned to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Saturday for its Crown Jewel premium stay occasion, a present headlined by Roman Reigns defending the Undisputed WWE Common Championship in opposition to LA Knight.

It additionally featured title defenses by high champions resembling Rey Mysterio, Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky.

What have been the largest takeaways from the extravaganza and what do they imply for the way forward for the WWE product?

Discover out with this recap from the present.

Zoey Stark, Nia Jax, Shayna Baszler and Raquel Rodriguez challenged for the Ladies’s World Championship in a Deadly 5-Method match that was infinitely higher than anticipated.

Like the very best anthology movies, the competition was made up of particular person segments that highlighted every competitor’s in-ring fashion whereas nonetheless being half of a bigger, overarching story.

Stark, particularly, got here out of the bout wanting very sturdy, because of an brisk and athletic fashion that captivated the followers late on.

The challengers could have shined, however no star burned brighter than champion Rhea Ripley, who walked by way of two traces of Saudi princes and held her title overhead in a press release of dominance.

She carries herself like a star and is accompanied by an aura that you just can’t manufacture. She believes in herself and her character, and because of this, the followers do too.

Her in-ring work backs it up as she was clearly the very best employee of the bunch Saturday, and the gang’s response to her profitable title protection mirrored the extent she is at as a performer and her place as a star within the WWE Universe.

It isn’t essentially a shock to anybody, she has been heading in that path for a very long time now. However this was the newest instance of a girl persevering with to comprehend the potential so many noticed in her the second she first walked into the WWE Efficiency Middle.

Seth Rollins overcame a continual again damage to defeat Drew McIntyre, retaining his World Heavyweight Championship and prompting Wade Barrett to ask on commentary: “What number of instances are you able to come inside millimeters of shedding your title?”

If that appears acquainted, it is as a result of followers of wrestling past the WWE Universe have seen it unfold each not too long ago and within the not-so-distant previous.

Over in All Elite Wrestling, Orange Cassidy spent a yr defending the worldwide title regardless of a physique wracked with ache earlier than he lastly succumbed to the ache through the All Out most important occasion in opposition to Jon Moxley in September.

Earlier than that, Matt Jackson of The Younger Bucks spent months nursing a again damage in New Japan Professional-Wrestling.

It’s a long-term storytelling device that builds sympathy and drama when executed successfully.

To date, it has labored for Rollins, however the overwhelmingly optimistic response for McIntyre on Saturday begs the query: How lengthy can WWE inform that story with out paying it off?

The Visionary has repeatedly overcome the damage, however will probably be little greater than a storytelling crutch if it continues. It is the equal to the “insurmountable odds” John Cena commonly confronted as the highest babyface in WWE through the late 2000s.

Followers rejected that exact trope then, turning on Cena and rooting for any opponent who may finish his run as champion and save them from the monotony of the reserving.

Rollins shouldn’t be there but, because of a extra layered character and a performer the followers respect, however the damage story has to repay sooner or later. It’s going to doubtless be within the type of Damian Priest cashing in Cash within the Financial institution and profitable the title because the again situation serves because the “out” for The Visionary.

If that’s the case, then the story will doubtless go the way in which of the Cassidy and Jackson tales, which finally noticed the mounting bodily harm price them their gold.

As is commonly the case, timing will likely be all the pieces.

A lot was made from John Cena’s promo on SmackDown, a one-sided verbal beatdown that WWE’s social media accounts dismissed as The Biggest of All Time merely “cooking,” and followers instantly thought-about to be him “burying” his Crown Jewel opponent, Solo Sikoa.

Because it seems, that promo labored brilliantly after Sikoa obliterated the previous 16-time world champion in entrance of a worldwide viewers on a significant WWE pay-per-view.

The Enforcer of The Bloodline shrugged off all the pieces Cena threw at him and demolished him with a number of Samoan Spikes earlier than pinning him for a definitive victory.

There was no query as as to whether Sikoa was the higher man, and the entire insults hurled his means and the comparability to a poor man’s Taz rang hole as he stood over Cena.

This was his greatest reserving up to now and a match we are going to look again on because the second Sikoa was firmly established as one among the guys in WWE’s vivid future.

Cena’s selfless efficiency was a testomony to his understanding of how the enterprise strikes ahead but additionally nearly apropos given how essential his match with Umaga on the 2007 Royal Rumble was to ascertain him because the undisputed face of the corporate.

This will likely have been essentially the most beneficial match on the cardboard based mostly on the long-reaching impact it has on WWE.

There’s a new United States Champion in WWE and his identify is Logan Paul.

There will likely be these followers who criticize it as a promotional tactic, and there will likely be credence to that based mostly on the eye and social media buzz that comes with it. However make no mistake: The Maverick completely earned the title win.

A yr in the past at Crown Jewel, he put the wrestling world on discover with a professional Match of the 12 months candidate in opposition to Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Common Championship.

Since then, he has delivered one other show-stealing efficiency in opposition to Seth Rollins at WrestleMania and had the stress on his shoulders throughout a SummerSlam showdown with Ricochet.

Prefer it or not, he capped off a yr of progress and evolution within the professional wrestling trade Saturday with a win over Corridor of Famer Rey Mysterio in a match that solely served to solidify his standing as the best celeb performer in WWE historical past.

It was an earned win due to the mainstream consideration, certain, but additionally as a result of he has repeatedly improved between the ropes to the purpose that he’s higher at this gig than some guys who’ve been doing it for a decade.

Which may be a controversial take, however the proof is within the high-profile contests wherein he has competed, their general high quality and significance to the exhibits on which they seem.

Paul is a legit skilled wrestler and if his work thus far is any indication, he’s solely going to get higher. Search for a big-time WrestleMania 40 title protection as he holds onto the gold for the foreseeable future.

Kairi Sane made her much-anticipated return to WWE tv Saturday, costing Bianca Belair the WWE Ladies’s Championship and standing triumphantly with a victorious Iyo Sky.

The return of the internationally celebrated competitor is big information in its personal proper, however it additionally opens a artistic door for the kind of multi-layered storytelling that has change into a trademark of Triple H’s time in cost.

There was the look on Bayley’s face as she watched Sky and Sane have fun that informed the story of a Harm CTRL chief realizing the group was crumbling earlier than her eyes, particularly following the miscommunication that almost price The Genius of the Sky her title earlier within the match.

Add to that the earlier points between Bayley and Sane in WWE, and you’ve got lots to drag from for weeks of tv.

Whenever you add in the truth that Sane eradicated Belair from the Mae Younger Basic in 2017 and price her the title right here, and is a former greatest good friend and tag crew associate of Asuka, you’ve got two different story components Triple H can exploit whereas reenergizing the SmackDown ladies’s division.

And it is all because of the return of a single Celebrity.

The important thing will likely be preserving Sane related and reminding followers of why she is so essential.

Cease me when you’ve got heard this one earlier than: Roman Reigns retained the Undisputed WWE Common Championship in the principle occasion of a PPV because of interference from The Bloodline.

Which will seem to be a detrimental sentiment, however removed from it.

Your entire Reigns character is predicated on the concept that he believes he’s the very best however at all times depends on his household to get him out of sticky conditions. Sami Zayn known as him out on it, Jey Uso realized it for himself, and the WWE Universe has been hip to it for over three years now.

Is it lather, rinse and repeat? Positive, however it’s an efficient reserving methodology that has developed as he has misplaced help. One would think about the purpose of strengthening Solo Sikoa earlier within the present is for him to finally stand on his personal in opposition to Reigns someday earlier than WrestleMania 40 in April.

Jimmy Uso has been handled like a lackey for weeks, however we all know he’s able to standing up for himself and certain will earlier than The Enforcer departs, finally leaving The Tribal Chief with no tribe, simply as Cody Rhodes foreshadowed the evening after final yr’s Present of Exhibits.

Not solely is it efficient reserving as evidenced by how scorching the WWE product is, however it additionally permits babyface LA Knight to retain his warmth and have the out of “he wanted all that assist to beat me.”

Repetitive? Positive. But it surely helps Knight greater than it enhances Reigns and that had to be the aim coming into this. Thus, it is a success.