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WWE Crown Jewel 2019 exceeded everyone’s expectations as the creatives managed to pull off a fairly decent show. The pay-per-view that’s often termed as a ‘glorified house show’ by unhappy fans, ended up witnessing major storylines take a shocking turn.
Bray Wyatt’s alter-ego ‘The Fiend’ finally defeated Seth Rollins to conquer the Universal Championship. Natalya and Lacey Evans fought in a historical match that may prove pivotal for women’s evolution in the pro-wrestling business in this part of the world.
Barring the first match that featured Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez, Crown Jewel 2019 was a good pay-per-view. Of course, it had its ups and downs with some Superstars performing better than their counterparts.
It was difficult to look for multiple Superstars who ‘flopped’. Some of them were merely helpless in the face of complex bookings. Nevertheless, there’s always a reason why someone is at the bottom of the ranking when it comes to the post-show analysis.
In this article, we will take a look at five Superstars who had a disappointing night and five who absolutely owned Halloween.
Also Read : 7 former Champions in WWE who are now 'Free Agents'
#5 Flop – Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder
The WWE Tag Team division is home to a plethora of talent. Unfortunately, that causes many of the talented wrestlers being constantly subjected to weak one-off encounters. The same thing happened with Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder last night.
Ever since the duo reunited to compete in the tag team division, they have received very few opportunities to showcase their full potential. The former tag team champions are often used in filler segments these days. Hence, they had no actual rivalry with any other team ahead of Crown Jewel 2019.
They competed in the Tag Team Turmoil match and were eliminated almost immediately by Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler. It would have been better if the creatives at least teased a budding rivalry between these two teams.
WWE have a lot of good tag teams at their disposal but they can’t be included in the title picture all at once. Hence, the best way in which the creatives can use the full roster is by having them engage in short feuds even if there’s no title involved.
#5 Hit – Humberto Carrillo
Humberto Carrillo made his main roster debut last month. He faced Seth Rollins on the day he appeared on Monday Night RAW for the first time. The following week, he fought against AJ Styles and it was evident that WWE have already put a lot of trust in this high-flying star.
At Crown Jewel 2019, Carrillo competed in the 20-men Battle Royal. After an impressive performance, he was one of the last three men left inside the ring alongside Luke Harper and Erick Rowan.
Harper and Rowan joined forces to take on Carrillo but the latter fought his way back and eliminated both the giants. He now had a chance to go up against AJ Styles for the United States Championship.
Carrillo and Styles squared off for the US title later that night and the Mexican star was once again cheered for his high-flying maneuvers. Although the 'Phenomenal One' was dominant throughout the match, Carrillo had his moments of glory.
Carrillo may not have won the title but he is definitely in line to get a major push in the coming weeks. It is still unclear if he will continue to feud with Styles. Hopefully, he will be a part of engaging storylines going forward.
#4 Flop – Buddy Murphy
There cannot be enough outrage about the unflattering manner in which Buddy Murphy is being booked on the main roster. The Australian Superstar has incredible in-ring skills but somehow finds his back in the corner in every match, courtesy of lazy booking.
Murphy competed in the 20-men Battle Royal at Crown Jewel and barely had any significant spots during the entire match. He had a slightly interesting encounter with Carrillo at the beginning of the match but was soon seen seeking assistance in his one-off battles that followed.
Murphy was eliminated by Erick Rowan which was ironically the only spot in the entire match that showed him as a fairly strong contender.
When Murphy was drafted to the Red brand last month, it was expected that he will receive enough chances to explore his full potential. Unfortunately, the reality is quite different on Monday Night RAW.
WWE Creatives need to find a way to redeem this former 205 Live Champion on the main roster before he loses every ounce of credibility that he has built so far.
#4 Hit – Mansoor
“This may be the biggest night of his (Mansoor) career but it’s just like every other Thursday night for me.”
A confident Cesaro was hopeful of defeating Mansoor in front of the latter’s home crowd. But Mansoor had other plans.
It is true that Mansoor exclusively appears on the pay-per-views held in Saudi Arabia. Maybe that is the biggest reason why he is not taken seriously by the WWE Universe. But his match against Cesaro at Crown Jewel is proof that he deserves more attention from the creatives.
Despite participating in only two WWE matches in the last year, Mansoor had a chance to take down Cesaro in a Singles match with every fan in the arena rooting for him. And boy, did he live up to the expectations…
Both Cesaro and Mansoor engaged in a fantastic, fast-paced match that had countless jaw-dropping spots. From creative moves around the turnbuckle to aggressive challenges and tricky counters, this match had it all.
Although the result of their match was predictable, it was Mansoor’s in-ring performance that won him new fans last night. Hopefully, we will see more of him in the future and not just on annual PPVs.
#3 Flop – Andrade
There is no denying that Andrade is one of the most talented Superstars on the main roster and may find himself in the Universal Title picture in the near future. But his booking in the last few weeks have only portrayed him in a weak light.
Andrade was one of the crowd-favorites, heading into the 20-men Battle Royal. Although it was expected that Humberto Carrillo will win, the WWE universe hoped to see more from this Mexican Superstar.
He barely eliminated a couple of wrestlers before being thrown out of the ring. Andrade’s exit from the match had no significant consequence which speaks volumes about the ‘threat’ that he supposedly poses on the other members of the locker room.
Even if Andrade was one of the last five Superstars left inside the ring, it would have made him look much better. Unfortunately for him, that was not the case.
He hasn’t been involved in compelling feuds which is bad for the overall impact of his presence on the Red brand. Hopefully, that will change before the end of this year.
#3 Hit – The OC
Ever since The OC lost their RAW Tag Team titles, they were reduced to AJ Styles’ side-kicks. Don’t get me wrong, they are brilliant together and make for an awesome stable, especially with Styles constantly putting them over. But their position in the tag team division was still severely threatened.
However, it all changed last night.
The OC eliminated The New Day who were previously brutalized by The Revival. Following that, they eliminated RAW Tag Team Champions The Viking Raiders to become the ‘Best Tag Team in the World’.
This was also the first time when the Viking Raiders were pinned in WWE. That goes on to show that even without the gold, the creatives are keen on keeping The OC at the top of the tag team division on the Red brand.
Now that they are the best tag team in the world, The OC will look to continue their feud with the Street Profits. They might also challenge the Viking Raiders for the Championships and will hope to win back their titles.
#2 Flop – Braun Strowman
I was conflicted regarding this choice in my list but there are a few points that need to be addressed. Braun Strowman and Tyson Fury had an okay-ish match at Crown Jewel 2019. Fury looked decent in his debut match that was mostly carried by the ‘Monster Among Men’.
But as previously stated, it’s the booking that has landed him so high up in my list of Superstars who flopped at Crown Jewel.
Strowman is immensely popular amidst the WWE Universe and often gets involved in title pictures. The problem, however, lies in the fact that he is always booked as the weaker contender on the big occasions. He has had so many shots at the title but has rarely been successful in using that to capture the gold.
And once again, even with no title involved, Strowman was booked to look incredibly weak against a debuting Superstar.
Although Fury’s win was predictable at the PPV, it was expected that Strowman will be equally dominant in this match, if not more. But once again he came up short when the stakes were high. He lost the match via countout but nothing before that portrayed him as the ‘Monster Among Men’.
Barring a couple of spots, Strowman looked like someone who is only staying up to make Fury look stronger. Yes, Fury has accomplished a lot in the world of boxing but is that enough to sacrifice everything that the ‘Monster Among Men’ has earned so far?
That brings me to my next point which is the duration of this match. It was a little longer than it should have been and started to lose its engagement towards the end.
The only good outcome of this match would be a heel turn for Strowman. He can continue to feud with Fury who is charismatic and has the potential to deliver much better matches in the future.
Maybe another encounter between a brutal Strowman and a boxing legend will live up to the hype surrounding their feud.
#2 Hit - Cesaro
The only reason why Cesaro is not at the top of my list of the best performers at Crown Jewel is the lack of a storyline involving him ahead of the PPV. Other than that, his match against Mansoor was arguably the best bout of the night.
Cesaro is an incredibly talented wrestler who does a brilliant job in putting over younger talent. Not so long ago, his match against Ilja Dragunov at NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff had the entire pro-wrestling world talking.
Once again, Cesaro delivered an outstanding performance at Crown Jewel in his encounter with the local hero, Mansoor. One of my favorite spots from this match was the uppercut from Cesaro that had Mansoor visibly shaken.
Both Superstars shared incredible chemistry inside the ring. Cesaro’s body-language was continuously changing in response to Mansoor’s counters which made for a compelling narrative. He is the reason why Mansoor might have won the attention of the creatives.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I will conclude this slide by saying that Cesaro is criminally ignored on the main roster. If they do not have proper storylines for him, he should be moved to NXT where he will definitely explore new altars of success.
#1 Flop – Cain Velasquez
While Tyson Fury managed to have a decent match upon his in-ring debut, Cain Velasquez was subjected to the brutality of horrible booking.
After weeks of hyping up the encounter between Brock Lesnar and Velasquez, the creatives decided to end this match in less than two minutes. But there’s a big difference between this former UFC Champion and the rest of the Superstars who flopped at the PPV.
In his case, I cannot blame the booking alone.
Velasquez looked less than average inside the ring and his punches barely made contact with Lesnar. Needless to say, he did not come across as a threat. Forget the scar, he couldn’t even cause the ‘Beast Incarnate’ to break a sweat.
The only silver lining in this match was the brutal attack that Rey Mysterio laid on Lesnar after the match. The latter was hit by a steel chair multiple times and was forced to leave the ring with his title to escape the beatdown from Mysterio.
Hopefully, this storyline will see more of Lesnar and Mysterio feuding for the WWE Championship. As for Velasquez, he has a long way to go before he can become a dominant force in the pro-wrestling business. It takes time for fighters to transition from UFC to WWE and Velasquez may surprise us once he gets familiar with the art form.
I must add that Velasquez has had promising matches when he dons his Lucha wrestling attire. Now that he is set to work with WWE for few more months, could we see that side of him inside the squared circle?
#1 Hit – The Fiend
After the disastrous end to their match at Hell in a Cell, The Fiend and Seth Rollins sought redemption with their Universal Championship match at Crown Jewel. Both these Superstars were brilliant in the match. Having said that, I must add that the creatives deserve special accolades for booking The Fiend as the unbeatable beast.
From surviving Curb Stomps right to the back of his head to being put through exploding equipment, The Fiend took enough punishment. But he was not ready to bow down to the ‘BeastSlayer’.
After toiling with his opponent’s mind and spirit for some time, The Fiend finally took down Rollins with the help of ‘Sister Abigail’.
He is now the Universal Champion but interestingly, he is still a member of the SmackDown roster.
It will be fun to see how WWE works out this entire situation since the wild card rule no longer exists. In addition, Bray Wyatt is set to appear on The Miz TV which will provide more clarity on the entire situation.
This result may also cause Rollins to turn heel which will definitely spar excitement amidst the fans who had started to get weary of his babyface gimmick. It will be exciting to see how this feud moves forward.
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