Crown Jewel 2023

Crown Jewel 2023 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view and WWE Network event produced by WWE for their Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. It took place on November 4, 2023 at the Mohammed Abdu Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It was the fifth event in the Crown Jewel chronology.
==Production==
===Background===
In 2018, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) began a partnership with Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Sport as part of Saudi Vision 2030. The Crown Jewel event was established that year, with each event taking place in Riyadh. On October 7, 2023, WWE announced that the fifth edition of Crown Jewel would take place on November 4 at the Mohammed Abdu Arena in Riyadh.
===Storylines===
Embroiled in a feud with The Judgment Day (Finn Bálor, Damian Priest, Dominik Mysterio, and Rhea Ripley), along with their ally JD McDonagh, Sami Zayn and his tag team partner Kevin Owens lost the Raw and SmackDown Tag Team Championships to Bálor and Priest, and failed to win them back in a rematch. Later, Owens was traded to SmackDown, while Zayn remained on Raw. On the October 30 episode of Raw, Zayn interrupted The Judgment Day, vowing to continue to fight them until the group was disbanded. Zayn would then escape an attack from The Judgment Day. Later that night, it was announced that Zayn would face McDonagh on the Crown Jewel Kickoff Show.
After defeating Dillon Danis in a boxing match on October 14, Logan Paul called out United States Champion Rey Mysterio. Mysterio would respond by declaring that Paul could find him any Friday on SmackDown. On the October 20 episode of SmackDown, Paul appeared, discussing his tag team victory over Mysterio at WrestleMania 38. Mysterio would interrupt, accepting Paul's challenge to a title match at Crown Jewel.
At SummerSlam on August 5, IYO SKY won the WWE Women's Championship after cashing in her Money in the Bank contract on champion Bianca Belair. On the August 18 episode of SmackDown, Belair teamed up with Charlotte Flair to defeat SKY and her Damage CTRL stablemate Bayley. Soon after, SKY and Bayley attacked Belair backstage, injuring her in kayfabe. Following her title defence against Flair on the October 20 episode of SmackDown, SKY, along with Bayley, attacked Flair. However, Belair made her return to save Flair. The following week, Belair announced that, after talking to SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis, she would receive a rematch with SKY at Crown Jewel.
At Payback on September 2, Women's World Champion Rhea Ripley defeated Raquel Rodriguez to retain her title. The pair had a rematch on the September 11 episode of Raw, however, Nia Jax made her return to WWE, interfering in the match, allowing Ripley to retain. After the match, Jax would attack Ripley. The following week, Jax would interfere in a tag team match that involved Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark. Over the following weeks, Ripley, Rodriguez, Jax, and Baszler would continue to brawl and interfere in each others matches. After another altercation between the four, that also involved Stark, Raw General Manager Adam Pearce announced that Ripley would defend her Women's World Championship in a Fatal Five Way Match at Crown Jewel.
At Fastlane on October 7, Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso defeated Finn Bálor and Damian Priest of The Judgment Day to win the Raw and SmackDown Tag Team Championships. However, Rhodes and Jey would lose the titles back to Bálor and Priest in a rematch on the October 16 episode of Raw. The following week, as Bálor and Priest celebrated winning back the titles, Rhodes interrupted. Priest would taunt Rhodes, leading to Rhodes challenging Priest to a match that night. Due to Priest already being scheduled to face Jey that night, Priest declared he could face Rhodes at Crown Jewel, which was accepted.
On the October 9 episode of Raw, World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins, who was celebrating his successful defence at Fastlane, was interrupted by Drew McIntyre. McIntyre challenged Rollins to a match for his title, however, Rollins mentioned he was fatigued. McIntyre then clarified that he wanted to face a fully healed Rollins at Crown Jewel, which was accepted.
At Payback on September 2, John Cena endorsed LA Knight before teaming up with him at Fastlane on October 7 to defeat Solo Sikoa and Jimmy Uso of The Bloodline. On the October 13 episode of SmackDown, Cena opened the show, only to be interrupted by Sikoa, Paul Heyman, and WWE and Universal Champion Roman Reigns. Reigns would request that Cena leave, however, Cena responded by announcing that he was not there to challenge Reigns. Instead, Cena introduced Knight as a worthy challenger. Knight would make his entrance, berating Reigns before being attacked by Jimmy, but Knight was able to defend himself. Sikoa went on to face Knight in the main event, where Cena stopped Jimmy's attempted interference, allowing Knight to get the victory. Reigns would then attack Knight. It was announced on October 20 that Reigns would defend his championships against Knight at Crown Jewel. Additionally, on the October 20 episode of SmackDown, Cena, having not won a televised singles match since 2018, called out anyone to face him. Sikoa would answer, brawling with Cena. It was announced on October 27 that Cena would face Sikoa at Crown Jewel.
==Match Preview==
Sami Zayn vs. JD McDonagh 	Preview
IYO SKY vs. Bianca Belair 	Preview
John Cena vs. Solo Sikoa 	Preview
Cody Rhodes vs. Damian Priest 	Preview
Rey Mysterio vs. Logan Paul 	Preview
Fatal Five Way Match 	Preview
Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre	Preview
Roman Reigns vs. LA Knight 	Preview
==Results==
;
;
*Pre-Show: Sami Zayn defeated JD McDonagh (9:46)
*Seth Rollins (c) defeated Drew McIntyre to retain the World Heavyweight Championship (18:24)
*Rhea Ripley (c) defeated Raquel Rodriguez and Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark and Nia Jax in a Fatal Five Way Match to retain the Women's World Championship (11:05)
*Solo Sikoa defeated John Cena (16:10)
*Logan Paul defeated Rey Mysterio (c) to win the WWE United States Championship (17:52)
*IYO SKY (c) defeated Bianca Belair to retain the WWE Women's Championship (16:33)
*Cody Rhodes defeated Damian Priest (11:04)
*Roman Reigns (c) defeated LA Knight to retain the WWE Championship & WWE Universal Championship (20:03)
==Other on-screen talent==
;Commentators
*Michael Cole
*Wade Barrett
;Pre-show Panel
*Megan Morant
*Matt Camp
*Peter Rosenberg	
;Interviewers
*Jackie Redmond
;Ring announcer
*Byron Saxton
;Referees
*Danilo Anfibio
*Jessika Carr
*Ryan Tran
*Shawn Bennett
==See also==
*List of WWE pay-per-view events
*WWE Event History
*Event gallery
==External links==
* Official Website
* Kickoff on WWE Network
* on WWE Network
* Kickoff at CAGEMATCH.net
* at CAGEMATCH.net
Category:WWE Crown Jewel
Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events
Category:2023 pay-per-view events
Category:Crown Jewel 2023
Category:Events with Miz TV