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WWE's relationship with Saudi Arabia has promised to feature events which are billed as "WrestleMania caliber" PPV outings and feature the company putting forth marquee matchups and match concepts which rival major PPV events such as Royal Rumble, SummerSlam and more.
This year's WWE Crown Jewel PPV was a star-studded affair, featuring the likes of boxing Champion Tyson Fury and former UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez, the latter of whom recently inked a multi-year contract with WWE. Crown Jew also featured a 10-man mega match pitting Team Flair vs Team Hogan, and the bout featured many of Raw and SmackDown's top stars.
While the Crown Jewel did offer some very memorable moments, such as The Fiend Bray Wyatt winning his first-ever WWE Universal Championship, the PPV was not without its faults, and several key talents floundered at this year's big event. With that, let's take a look at five WWE Superstars who were lackluster at the 2019 Crown Jewel PPV.
#5 Humberto Carrillo
Apparently, WWE learned very little from the recent Cedric Alexander vs AJ Styles feud, which culminated in Alexander unable to pick up a single victory against U.S. Champion. Following the feud, Alexander's push on RAW has fizzled significantly.
Humberto Carrillo is RAW's latest import from the 205 Live brand, having made the move to the main roster following this year's WWE draft. The talented high-flying star has had some impressive matches on WWE TV, however, Carrillo has yet to pick up a major match win which could end up hurting his budding push.
Most recently, Carrillo won a 20-man Battle Royal match at WWE Crown Jewel which secured him a match against AJ Styles for the U.S. title, however, Carrillo came up short in the match and was unable to defeat Styles.
Carrillo then lost a tag team match on RAW this week, and if WWE is not careful, Carrillo's momentum is going to burn out before he gets the chance to make a name for himself on RAW.
#4 Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins
One of the more entertaining matches at WWE Crown Jewel this year was the tag team turmoil match, which saw The O.C. pick up the win and earn the title of the Greatest Tag Team in the World following the match.
The bout featured numerous tag teams including The New Day, Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode, Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins, Lince Dorado and Gran Metalik, Heavy Machinery, The Viking Raiders, The O.C., The Revival and The B-Team.
In the end, The O.C. picked up the win when they defeated current WWE RAW Tag Team Champions The Viking Raiders, but all of the tag teams in the match had a chance to shine with impressive showings in a match which was ultimately one of the highlights of the night. There was one team, however, who was completely lackluster in the match, and it will likely surprise no one to learn it was the team of Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins.
Ryder and Hawkins' participation in the match was very short-lived, and their presence in the bout felt unnecessary as they accomplished very little. The tag team continues to be used sparingly in WWE, and the lackluster showing at Crown Jewel indicates no serious plans for the team going forward.
#3 Samir Singh and R-Truth
WWE Crown Jewel was a card filled with numerous big stars, including Brock Lesnar, Braun Strowman, Cain Velasquez, Roman Reigns, Hulk Hogan, Tyson Fury, Ric Flair, and more, but WWE did manage to work some comedy into the show in the form of the WWE 24/7 title.
While it was nice to see talents such as R-Truth and The Singh Brothers used on a show like Crown Jewel, it feels as if the 24/7 title storyline is beginning to run its course. The constant title changes, which always result in R-Truth regaining the title before the end of the night, is a gimmick which has overstayed its welcome.
There are a plethora of storyline directions in which WWE could go with the 24/7 title. It was rumored when the title debuted that WWE legends and Hall of Famers might be competing for the championship. The legend idea could be fresh and unique, but it appears as if WWE is dead set on having the 24/7 title revolve around R-Truth.
While Truth is certainly entertaining, both he and Singh were rather lackluster at WWE Crown Jewel this year, given the nature of the 24/7 title storyline beginning to burnout.
#2 Shinsuke Nakamura
Interestingly enough, the WWE Crown Jewel PPV featured a 10-man tag team match in the same month as the upcoming Survivor Series PPV, which always features several traditional 5-on-5 tag team Elimination matches, carrying on the concept of Survivor Series.
But just weeks before Survivor Series this year, WWE Crown Jewel featured Team Flair vs Team Hogan, comprised of numerous top stars including Roman Reigns, Randy Orton, Rusev, Shorty G, Ricochet and more. One of the competitors on Team Flair was current WWE Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura, who saw little hype heading into the match as one of Ric Flair's team members.
In recent months, Nakamura has been paired up with Sami Zayn, and while the two have worked well together with Zayn acting as a mouthpiece for Nakamura, Zayn was featured very little during the build up to Crown Jewel. Without his manager by his side, Nakamura struggled to take center stage at the event.
Given the lack of both Sami Zayn and Shinsuke Nakamura heading into WWE Crown Jewel this year, and Nakamura's limited in-ring time in the 10-man tag team match, Nakamura felt out of place in the bout this year, and was overall one of the more lackluster match competitors.
#1 Tyson Fury
WWE took a risk with two unpredictable matches at Crown Jewel this year, the first came when Cain Velasquez challenged Brock Lesnar for the WWE title in Velasquez's first match inside a WWE ring.
The second risky bout came when Tyson Fury challenged The Monster Among Men, Braun Strowman, to a singles match, which would also be a first for the boxing Champion.
The first of the two matches fared much better, with Cain Velasquez and Brock Lesnar working an MMA/shoot style match playing off their time in UFC and as contenders to the Heavyweight Championship.
The second bout, however, did more to expose Tyson Fury's lack of pro wrestling knowledge than it did to emphasize his abilities as a fighter, and neither Fury nor Braun Strowman emerged from the bout looking any stronger.
While the finish of the match was well executed, with Tyson Fury picking up a win via count out when Braun Strowman could not return to the ring after taking a punch which knocked him to the outside, the bout itself felt out of place and unnecessary.
Who do you think felt lackluster during WWE Crown Jewel? Let us know in the comment section and be sure to follow us at Sportskeeda Wrestling & Sportskeeda MMA on Twitter!
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