5 Reasons To Temper Reactions To Crown Jewel

If you watched Crown Jewel this past Friday, one thing is for sure: it got you talking.

It was baffling to give Brock Lesnar the Universal Championship again. It was baffling to have Shane McMahon win the World Cup Tournament.

I'm with the majority who was befuddled as to why Strowman isn't champion. Did Shane McMahon really need to win a tournament when he's not a wrestler?

What we have to remember is that on the immediate surface, yes, the outcomes of a lot of the matches were ludicrous. WWE is, however, often in the long-term payoff business of storytelling.

It happened with Daniel Bryan's fight for respect against the Authority and it happened with Roman Reigns' pursuit of the Universal Championship.

While it might be annoying, in some cases it works and the payoff is worth it (Daniel Bryan winning at Wrestlemania 30).

As we've seen before, feuds have often been drawn out over multiple PPVs and motivations are sometimes provided on the following Raws/Smackdowns.

Here are five reasons why I and we all need to temper our reactions to Crown Jewel just a little bit.

#5: We knew beforehand not to expect magic

Welcome to 10 years ago. A lot more hair was involved.

Let's face it - we all knew the card beforehand.

And if watching the Greatest Royal Rumble last year taught us anything, it's that the show wasn't going to be on par with the good PPVs.

The World Cup Tournament featured a field where half of the wrestlers were better five to seven years ago (Rey Mysterio, Kurt Angle, Jeff Hardy, Randy Orton).

We had another Universal Championship match with Lesnar. While we all hoped for the best, we should have known to expect for the (likely) worst. They probably paid Lesnar a boatload for the match and they wanted a return on investment.

It sucks for us fans, but as a business move, it made sense for the WWE.

If you were expecting a five-star match from DX and the Brothers of Destruction, what wrestling have you been watching for the last five years?

While Triple H is still in game shape and Kane has been active for the last few years, Shawn Michaels hasn't had a sustained match since Wrestlemania 26.

And even if you love him, the Undertaker has looked rough ever since his match with CM Punk at Wrestlemania 29. It's why he only wrestles a handful of times a year.

The Smackdown Tag Team Title match was going to be good either way, but we've seen that match at least 10 times over the last two years.

To make a long story short, we knew that there might be good match in the pile, but overall it would be a lesser version of normal WWE PPVs.

And we knew Triple H would have to be a part of a near 30-minute match.

#4: Pro Wrestling is still new to Saudi Arabia

Whether people like it or not, WWE broke new ground in Saudi Arabia.

Another thing we have to remember is that this is only the second public wrestling event put on by WWE in Saudi Arabia.

It was weird to see the lack of interest from a lot of the people in the front few rows, but a lot of kids showed enthusiasm.

Loads of hardcore fans did pack the stadium at Crown Jewel. They chanted with the New Day and many were enthusiastic when the camera panned to them throughout the show.

The country does have strict entertainment laws, and to accept to have such an event in the country was historic.

It still might have laws and ideas that a lot of us disagree with but the events were a step in the right direction nonetheless.

It's their country and if we don't agree with how they do things, don't go or don't watch the event. Yes, some of the WWE employees had no choice and I understand that. Everyone doesn't have the pull a John Cena or Daniel Bryan does.

#3: The Shane McMahon storyline will go somewhere

Yes, it was frustrating to have another part-timer like Shane McMahon win a match when guys like Dolph Ziggler, the Miz or Seth Rollins could have easily triumphed.

Rollins doesn't need another piece of gold to carry around, though. He still has the Intercontinental Title and the Raw Tag Team Titles.

Shane's been around for Survivor Series the last two years, and this was probably to help start the road to it for Smackdown vs. Raw.

You know Stephanie is going to be angry that her brother of all people interjected himself and won a tournament full of wrestlers.

The tournament was thrown together and a lot of the real 'best wrestlers in the world' weren't involved (Dean Ambrose, Finn Balor, Daniel Bryan, Shinsuke Nakamura) in the field of eight. We know why Daniel Bryan wasn't even at the event.

And those wrestlers will be just as angry. Some might be allowed to show it in the storyline leading up to Survivor Series.

Expect The Miz and guys like Rollins and Ziggler to be visibly upset on Raw and Smackdown respectively.

We'll find out his motivations on Smackdown. If it goes absolutely nowhere, then riot by all means.

#2: A lot of WWE talent wasn't used

Ambrose was backstage but not used at the event.

Yes, obviously the women didn't compete, so a decent chunk of the roster wasn't represented. We know why.

A lot of full-time guys we see every week also weren't used.

Wrestlers like Finn Balor, Dean Ambrose, Elias, Andrade 'Cien' Almas, Daniel Bryan and others did not appear in matches at the event.

They might have been backstage (except for Bryan), but there weren't matches for some of the best wrestlers on the roster.

When a lot of the wrestlers that are as popular as the guys above aren't wrestling, the quality of the show will probably be lacking.

The Dean Ambrose/Seth Rollins storyline was put on hold. Elias and his goading of Baron Corbin was briefly on hiatus.

Crown Jewel didn't push forward all of the storylines and it wasn't meant to. The following Raw and Smackdown should do that and then we can get back to some semblance of normalcy.

#1: Strowman might hopefully become Champion at the Royal Rumble

Will Braun get another shot at the Universal Title at the Royal Rumble?

I'll admit it. I was wondering during the match how many F5s it was going to take for Strowman to either come back and win or lose.

Every time Lesnar pinned him, my stomach was turning. They weren't going to give Brock the belt again, right? Not so soon after they just rectified the problem having a part-time champion creates.

I, like millions, was upset that Braun was once again denied the Universal Title and that Brock 'Pay Per Appearance' Lesnar was champion again.

I figured that yes, Lesnar with the belt is the same problem we all hated, but it would be forgivable as long as he didn't hold it until Wrestlemania 35.

We still have the Royal Rumble to consider, and if Braun does indeed get another shot because of the Baron Corbin chicanery, then it needs to be in January.

Hopefully, he can win it then. If we're forced to sit through another per-appearance title reign up until 'Mania, WWE will, once again, totally alienate the fan base they made somewhat happy with a full-time champion Roman was turning into.

Long-term planning is a tactic WWE has always used and we know they often pencil in certain matches for the biggest show of the year.

We need to temper our thoughts for just a few more months. If things don't change between now and April, though, expect a lot of fan backlash.

Let's just hope that we finally get a full-time Universal Champion before the show of shows. We deserve it. The talent who aren't Brock Lesnar deserve it. WWE doesn't.