Tossing Salt Presents:
WWE Crown Jewel 2023
Thoughts & Predictions
DougMaynard.com
Doug Maynard

Tomorrow, live on The WWE Network and Peacock, from Saudi Arabia, is WWE Crown Jewel. Say what you will about the political correctness of the visits to Saudi Arabia by WWE, but the show rarely fails to deliver. And it’s prediction time. Here is my take on what will happen at the event.

Roman Reigns vs. LA Knight for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.

I don’t see LA Knight winning the title here. It could happen and we could see a swerve, but I just don’t think so. LA Knight is on fire right now, but The Bloodline is an ongoing story that has a long way to go and while it’d be interesting to see Knight pull the upset, it might be too much for the average WWE fan. I think we’ll see the usual interference with Jimmy Uso and Solo, maybe some counter-interference by Jey Uso and Cody, and lots of chaos with Roman sneaking out a win in the process. Sounds fair to me. That title isn’t changing hands.

Winner and STILL WWE Universal Champion: Roman Reigns.

Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

I think we’ll see a title change here. Seth has been playing the walking-wounded champion for a while, but everyone’s luck has to run out at some point. I love the way this match has been built up. We don’t know if Drew is a face, a heel, a tweener, or what he’s supposed to be. And how will The Judgement Day factor in? Mami has approached both Drew and Seth with talk of alliances, plus Damian Priest still has that Money In The Bank contract. How about this? Drew wins due to The Judgement Day getting involved and he’s the champ. And then, ambush and Priest cashes in, destroying the big moment for Drew, as Priest walks out the champion. Regardless of who wins, we’re getting a new champion.

Winner and NEW WWE World Champion: Drew McIntyre

Rhea Ripley defends the WWE Women’s World Championship vs. Raquel Rodriguez vs. Nia Jax vs. Shayna Baszler vs. Zoey Stark.

I hate the multi-person matches where a champion can lose a title, but not be a part of the final decision. Usually, those matches tend to suck, but in this case, I don’t think it will matter. Rhea is hot right now and she should not lose the belt. But wait. Didn’t she give ultimatums to her fellow Judgement Day partners when they lost their titles to get the belts back or else? I believe she did. So what happens if Mami loses? I smell a swerve and some dissension for the Judgement Day. How about a title change, where Mami is not the person pinned, but loses the title anyhow, and then she has to get it back, or else? Works for me. So look for a new champion. Let’s go with Raquel Rodriguez pinning Zoey Stark to win the belt. And then, she has to face the wrath of Mami who wants her belt back at RAW and as we build to the Survivor Series. That sounds like a plan.

Winner and NEW WWE Women’s Champion: Raquel Rodriguez

Iyo Skye vs. Bianca Belair for the WWE Women’s Championship.

Bianca is the WWE golden child and can do no wrong in management’s eyes. Iyo had a good run, but this match will not go her way. This belt is switching hands and we’re back to the era of Belair as we build to a Bianca versus Jade Cargill face-off and match down the road.

Winner and NEW WWE Women’s Champion: Bianca Belair

Rey Mysterio vs. Logan Paul for the WWE United States Championship.

Rey doesn’t need the title at this point in his career and Logan Paul means views and press. Logan has been excellent in every appearance thus far with WWE and a run with some gold makes sense. New champion.

Winner and NEW WWE United States Champion: Logan Paul.

Cody Rhodes vs. Damian Priest.

This one could go either way. Cody can lose cleanly, but he’s so over right now, plus has an “ankle injury” that can be blamed, it wouldn’t hurt him a bit. Priest has been really hot and a loss might hurt him a little bit, but if he loses to Cody, but cashes in the Money In The Bank contract on Seth or Drew, would the loss matter? Both men are so damn good, taking a fall won’t matter for either guy. It’s just a bump in the road as the story continues. So let’s flip a coin to figure out a winner. Heads for Cody and tails for Priest. Tails it is. Priest wins.

Winner: Damian Priest

John Cena vs. Solo Sikoa

It’s nearly time for Cena to go back to Hollyweird as the SAG-AFTRA strike seems to be winding down and may be ending soon. Thus far, he’s done an excellent job in helping to get other talents over and I think that streak will continue here. There will probably be some shenanigans as Jey Uso or maybe Paul Heyman gets involved. Hell, we might even see Austin Theory or Grayson Waller make an appearance. That being said, it’s time to make Solo a big star and give him the biggest win of his career thus far.

Winner: Solo Sikoa

And there you go with my predictions for WWE Crown Jewel. Am I right? Am I wrong? We’ll find out tomorrow, but regardless of how well my prophetic talents turn out to be, I expect it will be a damn good show. Let me know what you think.

And with that, let’s wrap things up. Take care and be well, my friends. Watch out for foreign objects and new members of The Bloodline. I’ll see you at the matches.

Ubuntu!