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Crown Jewel 2019 surprisingly began with the WWE Championship match between long-term rivals Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez.
Back in October 2010, Lesnar lost the UFC Heavyweight Championship in 4 minutes and 12 seconds to Velasquez, who recently retired from MMA to begin a full-time career in professional wrestling/sports entertainment.
Despite Velasquez’s inexperience inside the squared circle, he was immediately thrown into a main-event storyline after signing with WWE, becoming the first person in the company’s history to challenge for the WWE Championship on his debut.
Considering the hype around this nine-years-in-the-making rematch, it was safe to assume that the former UFC heavyweights would produce a competitive contest in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. However, the match ended up being one of the shortest WWE Championship encounters of all time, with Lesnar making his opponent tap out to the Kimura Lock after just 2 minutes and 10 seconds.
In this article, let’s take a look at five of the biggest questions that need answering after the shocking manner of Lesnar’s victory.
#5 Why was the match so short?
Regular WWE viewers will know that Brock Lesnar is often involved in one of the shortest matches on the card at WWE events.
In the last three years, his one-on-one matches against Goldberg (1 minute, 26 seconds), Samoa Joe (6 minutes, 25 seconds) and Braun Strowman (3 minutes, 15 seconds) were over in quick fashion, while it only took “The Beast” nine seconds to win the WWE Championship from Kofi Kingston on the first episode of SmackDown on FOX.
Needless to say, his latest match at Crown Jewel was expected to last a lot longer than it did (2 minutes, 10 seconds), but the destructive victory allows Lesnar to maintain his beastly aura as the only Superstar in WWE whose matches can finish in the blink of an eye, regardless of who he is facing.
Lots of people have criticised WWE’s booking of the match, with some saying that Cain Velasquez was “buried” on his debut, but it is worth remembering that this was only his third official match since making the switch from MMA.
With that in mind, did WWE try to hide his weaknesses by keeping the match so short?
#4 What’s next for Cain Velasquez?
Triple H was among the guests on the first episode of Corey Graves’ new After The Bell podcast this week.
Regarding Cain Velasquez signing with WWE, the 14-time World Champion made an interesting comment when he referred to the former UFC Heavyweight Champion as “developmental”, which seemed to suggest that his future storylines and position in the company will be dependent on how quickly he adjusts to his new profession.
“Cain has a deal with us. Cain is a bit more long-term on the developmental. Like, he wants to be a WWE Superstar now. Much like Ronda [Rousey] did, and is doing. I think the Cain piece of it will be just how good can he get, how quickly and what does that mean?” [H/T to 411mania.com]
Following Brock Lesnar’s dominant victory over Velasquez, Rey Mysterio quickly recovered from another attack at the hands of “The Beast” and retaliated by striking him with multiple steel chair shots.
Moving forward, it appears as though the on-screen storyline between Lesnar and Velasquez will continue, with Mysterio and Dominik likely to play a key role.
Off-screen, meanwhile, Velasquez has spent the last two weeks training at WWE’s Performance Center to prepare for Crown Jewel, but it is unclear if he will continue to train at the facility in future months.
#3 Who will face Brock Lesnar next?
As of the time of writing, WWE is yet to confirm which Superstars and Champions will face each other at the Survivor Series pay-per-view on November 24.
In the last two years, Brock Lesnar has defeated AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan in one-on-one Champion vs. Champion matches at the annual event, which is due to include NXT Superstars for the first time in 2019.
Assuming that Paul Heyman’s client will represent SmackDown as the WWE Champion this year, he will almost certainly be in singles action against the Universal Champion, NXT Champion or United Kingdom Champion.
Looking at the list of potential opponents, fans have already seen Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins on multiple occasions in 2019, so a match against “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt would likely be preferable if the WWE Champion and Universal Champion meet for the third year in a row.
Alternatively, Lesnar vs. Adam Cole or Tommaso Ciampa is a match that would certainly appease the majority of the WWE Universe, as would a blockbuster encounter against United Kingdom Champion WALTER.
It is worth noting that “The Beast” is not listed on WWE’s website among the ‘Featured Superstars’ who will appear at Survivor Series, but that will surely change if WWE announces that the PPV will have a Champion vs. Champion theme again.
#2 Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez: Rematch?
As mentioned earlier in the article, Cain Velasquez had only competed in two official matches before this Crown Jewel encounter, so it is inevitable that he will go one-on-one with Brock Lesnar again one day when he has some more training under his belt.
From a storyline perspective, it would make sense for WWE to book an immediate rematch between the two men. After all, Lesnar kept the Kimura locked in on his opponent after the referee had signalled for the end of the match, while Rey Mysterio’s post-match attack seemed to suggest that this rivalry is far from over.
That being said, if Velasquez was not ready to face Lesnar in a competitive WWE match after two AAA matches and two weeks of training at the Performance Center, then it is unrealistic to expect his WWE character to fare much better in a rematch in the near future.
This is merely speculation, but all signs seem to point towards Velasquez going head-to-head with Lesnar again when he has trained in professional wrestling/sports entertainment for a while longer.
Despite the somewhat underwhelming outcome of their first WWE match, Lesnar vs. Velasquez II (or III if you include their UFC fight) is still high-profile enough to warrant being included on a WrestleMania card.
#1 How did the WWE Universe react to the match?
Brock Lesnar’s nine-second victory over Kofi Kingston on the first episode of SmackDown on FOX turned out to be one of the biggest WWE talking points of 2019.
Cain Velasquez’s connection with the WWE audience is nowhere near the scale of former WWE Champion Kingston, but plenty of fans have questioned on social media why the company’s decision-makers did not allow him to have more of a competitive match against his former UFC rival.
Traditionally, newcomers to WWE pick up a victory on their debut (e.g. Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania 34, Tyson Fury later in the night at Crown Jewel), and it is unprecedented for a big star to lose their first match in just two minutes.
On the flip side, some people, including Sportskeeda’s very own Gary Cassidy, have looked at the positives of the WWE Championship match, with the Crown Jewel finish simply being the latest chapter in a long story between Lesnar and Velasquez.
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