The 2023 Crown Jewel () was a professional wrestling premium live event (PLE) produced by the American company WWE, held for wrestlers from the promotion's main roster brands, Raw and SmackDown. It was the fifth annual Crown Jewel and took place on November 4, 2023, at Mohammed Abdu Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as part of Riyadh Season. This was the second Crown Jewel held at this venue after the 2021 event, and the 10th event that WWE held in Saudi Arabia under a 10-year partnership in support of Saudi Vision 2030.
Eight matches were contested at the event, including one on the Kickoff pre-show. In the main event, which was the main match from SmackDown, Roman Reigns defeated LA Knight to retain the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. In what was Raw's main match, Seth "Freakin" Rollins defeated Drew McIntyre to retain the World Heavyweight Championship, which was also the opening bout. In another prominent match, Logan Paul defeated Rey Mysterio to win SmackDown's WWE United States Championship. The event also saw the return of Kairi Sane to WWE; her last WWE match was in July 2020, however, she had remained with the company until December 2021 as a Japanese ambassador. Saudi Arabian actor and comedian Ibrahim Al Hajjaj also made an appearance.
This was also the final WWE event to be officially distributed on DVD in Europe, as well as the penultimate release in the United States, as WWE opted not to renew Fremantle's contract for home video releases after 2023 and shut their home video division down at the end of the year. Crown Jewel had a 2-disc release on December 12 in the United States, December 18 in the United Kingdom, and December 22 in Germany.
Production Background
Crown Jewel is a professional wrestling premium live event (PLE) produced by the American company WWE since 2018, held in late October–early November in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It has been held every year since, except in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is held as part of the city's annual Riyadh Season festivities, which began in 2019. It is the main recurring event held as part of 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, a partnership that began in early 2018.
Officially announced on October 7, 2023, the fifth Crown Jewel, and 10th overall event in the Saudi Arabian partnership, was scheduled to be held on Saturday, November 4, 2023, at the Mohammed Abdu Arena, marking the second Crown Jewel held at this venue after the 2021 event. The event featured wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brand divisions.
The 2023 Crown Jewel was first promoted by Saudi Arabia's Riyadh Season in September, which advertised John Cena for the event. It was also reported that WWE would have other attractions along with Crown Jewel, including a theme park dark ride and an Undertaker-themed walk-through, among other things.
Broadcast outlets The PLE was broadcast on traditional PPV outlets worldwide. It was also available to livestream on Peacock in the United States and the WWE Network in most international markets. This was also the first Crown Jewel to livestream on Binge in Australia and Abema in Japan following the WWE Network's merger under those services in January and September 2023, respectively.
Storylines The event comprised eight matches, including one on the 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 October 9 episode of Raw, while Seth "Freakin" Rollins was celebrating his successful World Heavyweight Championship defense at Fastlane, he was confronted by Drew McIntyre, who wanted a title match. Despite complaining about feeling fatigue from his Fastlane defense, Rollins accepted, believing it was for that night. However, McIntyre stated that he wanted to face a healed up Rollins and suggested the match for Crown Jewel, which Rollins accepted.
At Payback, Rhea Ripley defeated Raquel Rodriguez to retain the Women's World Championship. During a rematch on the September 11 episode of Raw, however, Nia Jax made a surprise return to WWE—her first appearance after a brief return at the Royal Rumble in January—and attacked Rodriguez, which allowed Ripley to retain her championship. However, Jax also attacked Ripley after the match. Jax then interfered in a tag team match that involved Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark the following week. Over the next few weeks, Ripley, Rodriguez, Baszler, and Jax would interfere in each other's matches and brawl with each other. These eruptions would come to a head during the season premiere of Raw on October 16, as following another brawl between the women which also involved Stark, Raw General Manager Adam Pearce announced that Ripley would defend the Women's World Championship against Jax, Baszler, Stark, and Rodriguez in a fatal five-way match at Crown Jewel.
After endorsing LA Knight at Payback, and then teaming with him at Fastlane to defeat The Bloodline (Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa), John Cena opened the season premiere of SmackDown on October 13; however, he was interrupted by Sikoa, Paul Heyman, and the return of Bloodline leader and the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion, Roman Reigns, who had taken a vacation shortly after SummerSlam in August. Reigns gave Cena the option to leave the ring voluntarily or they would make him leave; however, Cena stated that he acknowledged Reigns and that he was not there to challenge him for the title as he had not earned the opportunity. Cena then introduced Knight as a worthy challenger. Knight came out and berated Reigns and noted his own rise to stardom in Reigns' absence. Uso then attacked Knight from behind only for Knight to throw him out of the ring. Reigns then ordered Sikoa to handle Knight, and the two faced each other in the main event where Uso tried to interfere once again, however, he was impeded by Cena, and Knight subsequently defeated Sikoa. Following the match, Reigns attacked Knight. On October 20, it was announced that Reigns would defend the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against Knight at Crown Jewel. On SmackDown that night, after realizing he had not won a televised singles match since April 2018 and teasing retirement, Cena called out anyone to face him, which prompted Sikoa to come out and a brawl ensued. On October 27, a match between the two was announced for Crown Jewel.
After winning his boxing match at MF & DAZN: X Series 10 – The Prime Card on October 14, Logan Paul, whose last WWE match was at SummerSlam in August, challenged Rey Mysterio for the United States Championship. Mysterio responded that Paul could find him any Friday on SmackDown. Paul then appeared on the October 20 episode and recounted that he already defeated Mysterio in a tag team match at WrestleMania 38 in April 2022, which was Paul's first WWE match. Mysterio then came out and accepted Paul's challenge for the United States Championship at Crown Jewel.
For months, Cody Rhodes had been at odds with The Judgment Day (Finn Bálor, Damian Priest, "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio, and Rhea Ripley), and their accomplice, JD McDonagh. At Fastlane, Rhodes and Jey Uso defeated Bálor and Priest to win the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship, however, Bálor and Priest regained the titles in a rematch during the season premiere of Raw on October 16. The following week, as Bálor and Priest were celebrating winning back the titles, Rhodes interrupted them. After Priest taunted and called Rhodes a failure, Rhodes challenged Priest to a match that night, however, Priest denied since he already had a match scheduled against Uso. Priest in turn challenged Rhodes to a match at Crown Jewel, which Rhodes accepted.
At SummerSlam, Bianca Belair won the WWE Women's Championship, however, following the match, Damage CTRL's Iyo Sky cashed-in her Money in the Bank contract and defeated Belair to win the title. On the August 18 episode of SmackDown, after Belair defeated Damage CTRL (Sky and Bayley) in a tag team match, Bayley and Sky viciously attacked Belair backstage with chairs, injuring Belair's knee (kayfabe). Two months later on the October 20 episode, after Sky successfully defended her championship against Charlotte Flair, Sky and Bayley attacked Flair, and Belair made a surprise return, saving Flair. The following week, Belair announced that after talking with SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis, she would get her rematch for the WWE Women's Championship against Sky at Crown Jewel.
Since mid-July, Sami Zayn would also be embroiled in a rivalry against The Judgment Day (Finn Bálor, Damian Priest, "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio, and Rhea Ripley) and their accomplice, JD McDonagh. During this time, Zayn and Kevin Owens would lose the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship to Bálor and Priest at Payback, and failed to regain them in a rematch. Following that, Owens was traded to SmackDown while Zayn remained on Raw and continued his rivalry with The Judgment Day. On the October 30 episode of Raw, as Ripley, Mysterio, and McDonagh were in the ring, Zayn interrupted and stated that despite the fact that he was alone, he would continue to fight The Judgment Day until the group ended. Following that, Zayn managed to escape from an attempted beatdown from Judgment Day. Later that night, a match between Zayn and McDonagh was announced for the Crown Jewel Kickoff pre-show.
Event + Other on-screen personnelRole:Name:English commentatorsMichael ColeWade BarrettArabic commentatorsFaisal Al-MughaisibJude Al-DajaniRing announcerByron SaxtonRefereesDanilo AnfibioShawn BennettJessika CarrRyan TranPre-show panelMegan Morant Matt CampPeter Rosenberg Pre-show On the Crown Jewel Kickoff pre-show, Sami Zayn faced JD McDonagh. During the match, Zayn delivered a lariat to McDonagh for a nearfall. McDonagh then performed a Spanish Fly on Zayn for a nearfall. As McDonagh attempted a moonsault, Zayn countered with a big boot. In the end, Zayn delivered a corner exploder suplex, the Helluva Kick, and a Blue Thunder Bomb on McDonagh to win the match.
Preliminary matches The actual pay-per-view opened with Seth "Freakin" Rollins defending the World Heavyweight Championship against Drew McIntyre. During the match, McIntyre delivered a vertical suplex to Rollins for a nearfall. Rollins then delivered a flying knee strike on McIntyre. As Rollins attempted a suicide dive, McIntyre caught him and performed an overhead belly-to-back suplex. Rollins performed a Pedigree on McIntyre for a nearfall. In the climax, as Rollins attempted a Phoenix Splash, McIntyre dodged it and performed the Claymore Kick on Rollins for another nearfall. As McIntyre attempted another Claymore, Rollins countered with a superkick and delivered the Pedigree and the Curb Stomp to McIntyre to retain the title. Following the match, McIntyre immediately departed backstage while Rollins sat in the ring. Damian Priest then came out and attempted to cash-in his Money in the Bank contract, however, Sami Zayn appeared from the crowd and shoved Priest into the ring post to prevent the cash-in. Zayn then ran off into the crowd with Priest's briefcase.
Next, Rhea Ripley defended the Women's World Championship against Shayna Baszler, Nia Jax, Raquel Rodriguez, and Zoey Stark in a fatal five-way match. In the closing moments, Ripley performed the Riptide on Baszler and Rodriguez attempted to pin Baszler. Ripley broke up the pin by delivering an avalanche Riptide on Stark onto Rodriguez and Baszler and then pinned Baszler to retain her title.