4 reasons why Crown Jewel 2019 was WWE's best Saudi Arabia PPV by a mile

So, Crown Jewel happened.

Honestly, it was a pretty decent show. It may have been a house show masked by a ton of pomp and circumstance, but WWE really did make the effort to put on a memorable event both for the live crowd as well as those watching at home.

WWE's deal with The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been problematic in the eyes of many fans, but it has provided the opportunity for progress. Putting politics aside, the previous three installments from the KSA were received by fans as below average for their own mishaps. A mixture of poor booking decisions, lack of consequences and unfortunate botches made for some car crash pay-per-views in the past.

Crown Jewel 2019 did extremely well in comparison to its predecessors. It was by no means a perfect show, but it did provide us with some solid action and some amazing moments. Here are four reasons why Crown Jewel 2019 was WWE's best Saudi Arabian supershow by a country mile.

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#4 Sensible booking throughout

Luckily, this wasn't an overbooked mess.

WWE has been known to make some rash booking decisions in Saudi Arabia, with a couple sticking out more than others. Shane McMahon inexplicably won the WWE World Cup at last year's Crown Jewel event and went on to defeat Roman Reigns at Super Showdown this June. Other similarly puzzling decisions were made at these shows, but today's show was surprisingly free off any terrible booking decisions, aside from possibly Cain Velasquez's disappointing submission defeat to Brock Lesnar in the night's opener.

There were a few questionable moments on the show, like the Viking Raiders getting pinned for the first time in a WWE ring. It did elevate Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, though. Tyson Fury's countout victory over Braun Strowman also made sense, especially since the Monster Among Men attacked the Gypsy King after the match to somewhat get his heat back. And luckily, everything that could have gone wrong in the main event matches did not go wrong. It is a massive step up from recent Saudi shows, that's for sure.

#3 Using current stars instead of old legends

A vast improvement in the ring.

Another theme of the past events that WWE have booked in Saudi Arabia has been the extreme focus on legends who are past their prime. The likes of The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels and Goldberg among others stepped inside the ring and threatened to ruin their phenomenal legacies. The Deadman's disaster of a match with Goldberg is still fresh in the memory of the WWE Universe, and was bad enough that Goldberg himself acknowleged how poorly the match came across.

It was very wise for WWE to decide against using said legends in a wrestling capacity. Other than Tyson Fury, Cain Velasquez, and Brock Lesnar, the entire card was filled with full-time members of the WWE (and NXT) roster. The quality of matches also proved to favour the current talent.

While they don't have the drawing power of legends, matches like AJ Styles vs Humberto Carrillo and Mansoor vs Cesaro seriously delivered in the ring. Aside from the two attraction showcases, every match on the card ranged from solid to memorable. Team Flair vs Team Hogan also delivered very well, with a whole host of names impressing and zero physical involvement from the legends. Hopefully, WWE keeps up this trend and begin to make some new stars on both RAW and SmackDown.

#2 WWE realized their misfire with the Fiend

The Fiend won the Universal Championship.

When WWE decided to book the referee stoppage finish at Hell in a Cell, everybody knew it was a mistake. If they were going to have "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt challenge for the Universal Championship, how could he not win? The company appeared to be muddying the waters even further by booking a Falls Count Anywhere match at Crown Jewel. Fans were dreading the worst and luckily, on this occasion, we got a satisfying finish. WWE realized the very poorly-received misfire they made with Wyatt and went above and beyond to rectify it.

Aside from the 24/7 Championship scene earlier on the show, the Fiend's victory over Seth Rollins was the first time a championship changed hands on a Saudi Arabia show, not counting matches for vacant titles.

The moment also felt really grand, with the dominant monster standing tall at the end of an eventful show. It was a great moment, a moment where WWE genuinely admitted their poor judgement. Bray Wyatt is back on top of the WWE's momentum train and he has the Universal Championship with him as well. They will have to figure out what happens next as this leaves RAW without a world champion for the time being but for now, putting the belt on "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt was a great idea.

#1 Making history

A very proud moment for women everywhere.

Say what you want about the Saudi Arabia deal, but today, history was ma After getting the green light to perform at Crown Jewel, Natalya and Lacey Evans went on to have a history-making match. The first-ever women's match in Saudi Arabia. This alone makes Crown Jewel 2019 a more positive show than possibly the rest of the Saudi shows combined, at least in terms of progress.

This match was bigger than storylines and booking. It was all about taking a step in the right direction, and that's what both Natalya and Lacey did. The reaction to both women during their entrances was lovely, with the crowd welcoming the female Superstars with open arms. The two proceeded to have a standard affair, a decent one which showcased the vastly improved chemistry between the pair of former rivals.

Nattie may have won, but I assure you. She wasn't the only one who did. Lacey Evans won as well, as did the females in the crowd who had visible joy on their faces. At the end of the match the women shared an emotional embrace in the middle of the ring, making for one of the most significant WWE moments in years. It was genuinely heartwarming to see the women take the stage in Saudi Arabia.

This moment was the biggest contributor in making Crown Jewel 2019 a success.

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