The 2019 Crown Jewel was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by the American company WWE, held for wrestlers from the promotion's main roster brands, Raw and SmackDown. It was the second annual Crown Jewel and took place on Thursday, October 31, 2019, at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as part of the city's inaugural Riyadh Season festivities, which launched earlier that same month. It aired live at 8:00 p.m. Arabia Standard Time (1:00 p.m. Eastern Time) and was the fourth event that WWE held in Saudi Arabia under a 10-year partnership in support of Saudi Vision 2030. A Crown Jewel event was not held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it returned in 2021.
Nine matches were contested at the event, including one on the Kickoff pre-show. In the main event, SmackDown's "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt defeated Raw's Seth Rollins in a Falls Count Anywhere match that could not be stopped for any reason to win the Universal Championship, which subsequently transferred the title to SmackDown. In other prominent matches, Brock Lesnar defeated Cain Velasquez by submission to retain SmackDown's WWE Championship, which was the opening bout, professional boxer Tyson Fury defeated Braun Strowman by countout, and Natalya defeated Lacey Evans by submission in what was the first professional wrestling women's match to take place in Saudi Arabia.
The event was met with mixed to positive reception from critics; although the tag team turmoil match, Raw's United States Championship match, the 5-on-5 tag team match, and in particular the singles match between Mansoor and Cesaro were largely praised, Lesnar vs. Velasquez and Fury vs. Strowman were near-universally panned, with the Universal Championship match receiving a polarized reception. The women's match received polarized reactions for its booking and significance, while being considered average in quality.
Production Background
In early 2018, the American professional wrestling promotion WWE began a 10-year strategic multiplatform partnership with the Ministry of Sport (formerly General Sports Authority) in support of Saudi Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia's social and economic reform program. Crown Jewel was established later that year as one of the recurring events in this partnership to be held in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.
As first reported on August 5, 2019, and later confirmed on September 27, WWE's Arabic website announced that a second Crown Jewel event would be held at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh on Thursday, October 31, and feature wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event was held as part of the city's inaugural Riyadh Season festivities, which launched earlier that same month. The 2019 Crown Jewel was the fourth event under the Saudi Arabian partnership and established Crown Jewel as a recurring Saudi Arabian event in Riyadh. In addition to the main card airing at 8:00 p.m. Arabia Standard Time (1:00 p.m. Eastern Time) on traditional pay-per-view (PPV) worldwide, the event was available to livestream on the WWE Network. WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan and The Undertaker were announced to be making appearances at the event; however, it was later revealed that The Undertaker would not be appearing, but was seen representing WWE in the Riyadh Season Grand Parade Opening.
Storylines The event comprised nine matches, including one on the Kickoff pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.
On the September 30 episode of Raw, Hulk Hogan and fellow WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair were guests on "Miz TV" where Hogan and Flair teased a match against each other. The Miz then announced that at Crown Jewel, there would be a 5-on-5 tag team match between Team Hogan and Team Flair, with Hogan and Flair as the respective coaches. Universal Champion Seth Rollins and Randy Orton were selected as the captains of Team Hogan and Team Flair, respectively. Later that night, Rusev joined Team Hogan while King Corbin joined Team Flair. On the October 14 episode of Raw, Ricochet was added to Team Hogan, while Bobby Lashley and Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura were added to Team Flair. That same episode, Rollins was scheduled to defend the Universal Championship at the event and was subsequently removed from the tag team match. On the following SmackDown, Hogan revealed that Ali and Shorty G (shortened from Shorty Gable) were added to his team. Later, Roman Reigns was announced as Rollins' replacement as Team Hogan's captain. Drew McIntyre was revealed as the final member of Team Flair on the following Raw.
On the September 30 episode of Raw, Brock Lesnar and his advocate Paul Heyman interrupted an in-ring promo by Rey Mysterio. Lesnar proceeded to brutally attack Mysterio as well as Mysterio's son, Dominik, who was seated in the front row. After Lesnar won the WWE Championship during SmackDown's 20th Anniversary that Friday, Mysterio appeared along with former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) mixed martial artist Cain Velasquez, making his WWE debut. Velasquez, who had defeated Lesnar for the UFC Heavyweight Championship by technical knockout at UFC 121 in October 2010, entered the ring and attacked Lesnar, who managed to escape and retreated. In a backstage interview, Velasquez stated he came to exact revenge from Lesnar for what he did to Mysterio and Dominik, who was later revealed to be Velasquez's godson. At the Crown Jewel press conference in Las Vegas on October 11, it was announced that Lesnar would defend the WWE Championship against Velasquez at Crown Jewel.
Amid Braun Strowman's match during SmackDown's 20th Anniversary on October 4, Strowman taunted professional boxer Tyson Fury, who was seated in the front row. Later during that match, Strowman brutally slung Dolph Ziggler into the barricade, which knocked Fury back into his seat. Following the match, Fury jumped the barricade only to be restrained by security. On the following Raw, Fury appeared, wanting an apology from Strowman. After exchanging verbal insults, a massive brawl broke out between the two that had to be separated by security and other wrestlers. At the Crown Jewel press conference in Las Vegas on October 11, it was announced that Strowman would face Fury at Crown Jewel.
At Hell in a Cell, the Universal Championship Hell in a Cell match between defending champion Seth Rollins and "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt ended by match stoppage, thus Rollins retained. The Fiend, thought to be injured, proceeded to further attack Rollins after the match. On the October 11 episode of SmackDown (the first night of the 2019 WWE Draft), a match between Rollins (representing Raw) and Roman Reigns (representing SmackDown) was scheduled to determine which brand would earn the first draft pick of the night. Rollins won by disqualification due to The Fiend's interference, earning Raw the first draft pick; The Fiend was later drafted to SmackDown. Although Rollins was drafted to Raw on the second night of the draft, a championship rematch between Rollins and The Fiend was scheduled for Crown Jewel as a Falls Count Anywhere match. That same night, Wyatt as his normal self hosted a segment of Firefly Fun House, only for Rollins to interrupt Wyatt inside the Fun House. Rollins attacked Wyatt, and set the Fun House ablaze. On the following SmackDown, a further stipulation was added in that the referee could not stop the match for any reason.
At Super ShowDown, NXT's Mansoor, a Saudi native, won WWE's largest standard battle royal. On October 14, a match between Mansoor and Cesaro was announced for Crown Jewel.
On October 14, the largest tag team turmoil match in WWE history was scheduled for Crown Jewel, with the winners receiving the WWE Tag Team World Cup and being called "the best tag team in the world". Nine teams were announced for the match: The New Day (represented by Big E and Kofi Kingston; Xavier Woods was injured prior to the event), Heavy Machinery (Otis and Tucker), Lucha House Party (Lince Dorado, Gran Metalik, and/or Kalisto), Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder, The O.C. (represented by Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson; AJ Styles was scheduled for another match), Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode, The B-Team (Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas), SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Revival (Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder), and Raw Tag Team Champions The Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar).
On the October 23 episode of The Bump, a 20-man battle royal was scheduled for the Crown Jewel Kickoff pre-show, with the winner receiving a title match against United States Champion AJ Styles later that night.
Due to the limited rights women have in Saudi Arabia, all WWE female wrestlers had been banned from wrestling in WWE events in the country. However, during the Crown Jewel media press conference on October 30, it was announced that a match between Natalya and Lacey Evans had been approved for Crown Jewel, marking the first-ever women's match in Saudi Arabia. In respecting the country's culture, WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon said that both would be wearing full body suits instead of their normal ring attire, although Natalya's normal ring attire is mostly a bodysuit. Both women also wore shirts from the souvenir shops normally sold at the venue and from the WWE store featuring their branding.
Event + Other on-screen personnelRole:Name:English commentatorsMichael ColeCorey GravesArabic commentatorsFaisal AlmughaisibJude AldajaniRing announcerGreg HamiltonRefereesShawn BennettJohn ConeDarrick MooreEddie OrengoChad PattonInterviewerByron SaxtonPre-show panelCharly CarusoScott StanfordBooker TDavid Otunga
Pre-show During the Crown Jewel Kickoff pre-show, the 20-man over the top rope battle royal was contested to determine AJ Styles' challenger for the United States Championship. Midway through the match, after both R-Truth and Sunil Singh had been eliminated, Truth pinned Sunil with a roll up on the entrance ramp to win the 24/7 Championship. At the end of the battle royal, Humberto Carrillo eliminated Erick Rowan to win the match and earn a United States Championship match later in the night. This match would also serve as Luke Harper's last match in WWE before his release on December 8 and untimely death the following year.
Preliminary matches The actual pay-per-view opened with Brock Lesnar (accompanied by Paul Heyman) defending the WWE Championship against Cain Velasquez (accompanied by Rey Mysterio). After the two traded strikes, Velasquez went for the ground and pound, but Lesnar forced Velasquez to submit to the Kimura Lock to retain the title. After the match, Lesnar kept the hold applied until Mysterio struck Lesnar with a chair. Lesnar threw Mysterio out of the ring and struck Velasquez with the chair. Lesnar performed an F-5 on Velasquez onto the chair. Mysterio struck Lesnar with a chair, forcing Lesnar to retreat.