RIYADH: WWE returned to Saudi Arabia on Thursday evening for the 2021 edition of Crown Jewel.
The sports entertainment group brought a stacked card to the Mohammed Abdu Arena on the Boulevard in Riyadh as part of the ongoing Riyadh Season.
The event had major matches taking place, including the return of some of the organization's biggest superstars, none bigger than Brock Lesnar, who was back in a championship match against Roman Reigns.
Three more championship matches, including a “No Holds Barred” match as well as the finals for King of the Ring and Queen's Crown also took place.
After taking a beating under Hell in a Cell match conditions, the WWE veteran Edge managed to defeat Seth Rollins capping off their long fued.
Mansoor and Mustafa Ali faced off again with a swift win for the WWE wrestler hailing from Riyadh, Mansoor pinned Mustafa Ali in under minutes. Ali did not take the his defeat on the chin and attacked Mansoor from behind, this move was followed by a surprise appearance and WWE debut for Tarek Hamdi, karate silver medalist for Saudi Arabia in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Next was the Raw Tag Team Championship where champions RK-Bro took on the dynamic duo of AJ Styles & Omos. The champions retained their titles and are still on their RK-Bro path as tag champions.
Next was the finals for the first ever Queen's Crown finals between Doudrop and Zelina Vega which saw Vega become the first ever Queen of WWE’s ring.
Up next was Bobby Lashley and Goldberg in the “No Holds Barred” contest where pin falls could happen anywhere in the arena. Everywhere in the arena is exactly where these two battled it out as the two bulls pulled out all the stops for the bout and Goldberg scored the win.
Goldberg unleashed his full power on Lashley, giving him no moment to grasp what was happening, as the much anticipated fight began.
The victory for Goldberg will taste all the sweeter as he wanted revenge against Lashley for hurting his son in Summer Slam earlier this year.
The finals of the “King of the Ring” proved to be a stellar match between Finn Balor and Xavier Woods, the crowd awed at the spectacle Balor and Woods put on. Chants, screams and applause filled the auditorium after Woods pinned Balor in what was a lengthy and worthy match-up between the two warriors, in which Woods was crowned the winner.
Elsewhere, Big E retained the championship against Drew McIntrye in one of the nine major matches. After losing to Lashley, McIntyre faced Big E as his first non-Lashley challenger.
A rowdy triple header saw Becky Lynch victorious over Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair retaining her belt in the Smackdown Women's Championship.
Free agent Brock Lesnar, the Beast Incarnate, faced the tribal chief Roman Reigns in the main event of the evening and the most anticipated fight yet.
Fighting his heart out wasn’t enough as the Usos helped the universal champion by knocking Lesnar out leaving him immobile for their cousin Roman Reigns to easily pin and win the championship.
With heavy hearts, Lesnar fans gave a standing ovation, thanking him for his first match back in in the WWE.
