Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of WWE Crown Jewel 2024.

Instead of getting matches for the top men's and women's titles, WWE has decided to pit the titleholders against each other to determine the first-ever Crown Jewel champions at the Mohammed Abdo Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

These belts will not be defended the same way the WWE and World Heavyweight Championships are regularly defended. This will be a one-time honor similar to Queen and King of the Ring. This is about bragging rights.

The card also included five other matches and the usual premium live event festivities, including bouts for the United States and Women's Tag Team Championships.

Let's take a look at everything that happened at this year's Crown Jewel.

The Crown Jewel Card

Here is the full lineup for this year's Crown Jewel:

• Gunther vs. Cody Rhodes (Men's Crown Jewel Championship)
• Liv Morgan vs. Nia Jax (Women's Crown Jewel Championship)
• LA Knight vs. Carmelo Hayes vs. Andrade (United States Championship)
• Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair vs. Piper Niven and Chelsea Green vs. Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson vs. Iyo Sky and Kairi Sane (WWE Women's Tag Team Championship)
• Bronson Reed vs. Seth Rollins (Unsanctioned match)
• Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens
• Roman Reigns and The Usos vs. Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga and Jacob Fatu

Bloodline vs. Bloodline

The match WWE chose to open Crown Jewel was the Bloodline Civil War with Reigns' and Sikoa's respective versions of The Bloodline fighting in a six-man tag team match. Tanga Loa was not part of the bout but was still present.

The crowd in Riyadh went wild for The Original Tribal Chief and The Usos. The show's intro and the entrances took a combined 20 minutes, so it took a while for the match to get underway.

Jey and Tama started for their teams and took their time taunting each other between moves. Jimmy got the first tag of the match and the first tag between The Usos in almost 18 months, but he only scored a two-count.

When Reigns asked for a tag, Jey tagged his brother instead. The signs of friction were beginning to show as Sikoa tagged in.

This contest was in line with most of what we have seen from The Bloodline since its inception. This wasn't a work-rate match with the best chain wrestling or the most dangerous moves.

This was about the story they were telling. It's the definition of sports-entertainment.

However, we don't want to take anything away from the six competitors in the ring. Everyone put forth a great effort to make this fun, but it would be a lie to say it was the most action-packed and competitive bout from the PLE.

All that being said, this played out exactly the way it needed to. The new Bloodline was a cohesive unit while the OG Bloodline dealt with communication and trust issues.

The OTC and The Street Champ tagged in at the same time and began trading punches. Both men survived each other's best shots, but it was Sikoa who emerged as the victor after taking out Reigns with three Samoan Spikes.

Sikoa and his crew continued to assault Reigns and The Usos after the match was over. Sami Zayn's music hit and he marched his way to the ring. Sikoa held out his arms for a hug and wanted Zayn to join him, but the babyface unleashed an exploder suplex instead.

Zayn ended up accidentally kicking Reigns when Sikoa avoided the hit. Jey, Jimmy and Zayn argued while Reigns tried to recover.

Result: New Bloodline defeated OG Bloodline

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• The crowd was chanting "OTC" before Reigns' music hit. 
• It's interesting that Jimmy came out with Reigns but Jey got his own entrance. He had to make a long journey through the crowd to get to the ring. 
• Reigns smiled from the apron as he watched his cousins work in tandem.
• Fatu's running hip strike looked nasty. 
• The camera was at the wrong angle to see Jimmy break up a pin, so it looked like the ref just stopped counting for a second. 

Belair and Cargill vs. Jackson and Legend vs. Sky and Sane vs. Green and Niven

The women's tag titles were up for grabs in a Fatal 4-Way bout that featured teams from both NXT and the main roster.

Belair and Cargill came into this bout as the champions but had the odds stacked against them. The EST of WWE and The Genius of the Sky began, but anyone from any team could tag in at any time, so they were trying to avoid the corners that didn't contain their own teammates.

Sky got a little too close and Green tagged herself in. From this point, the match was a series of quick tags and exchanges from all four teams.

We saw a few botched moves but most of what these performers did looked good. Cargill and Legend were especially stiff with some of their strikes and it made for a great sequence.

As always, Green and Niven stood out because of their hilarious antics, but it's safe to say all four teams came away from this looking good. The crowd was certainly into it and that's usually a good barometer to follow.

The final sequence had a few hiccups, but Belair and Cargill were able to retain the titles by taking out Niven with their finisher. This was fun but not without its problems.

Result: Belair and Cargill retained

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations

• The announcers made sure to note how Belair and Cargill first lost the titles in a multi-team match so we knew it could happen again. 
• As usual, WWE's team made the bodysuits look cool. 
• Corey Graves and Michael Cole took some funny shots at Matt Cardona during Green's entrance. 
• Legend slammed Green on her side instead of her back when she was tagged in. It looked awkward but Green recovered quickly. 
• Jackson has the charisma part down. If she can get a bit better in the ring, she will have real star potential. 
• Sky and Sane missed a catapult move, but they kept the match going without much trouble. 

Seth Rollins vs. Bronson Reed

Reed and Rollins fought in an unsanctioned match. The wording is supposed to indicate WWE does not approve of this bout and is not responsible for anything that happens.

Rollins was his usual jovial self during his entrance, and Reed had his usual look of disdain as he walked to the ring, but he didn't even make it halfway before The Visionary met him on the ramp to begin fighting.

Rollins used his speed to keep the big man on defense, but he gave Reed too much time to recover and ended up being thrown over the barricade into an office chair in the timekeeper's area. They finally got into the ring, and the bell rang to make it official.

Welts began to form on The Visionary's back as the former North American champion decimated him. He kept finding ways to come back, but Reed appeared to have just as much energy and resistance.

This was WWE giving Reed a big opportunity. A singles match at a big event against a multi-time world champion is the chance he has been waiting for to display his ability.

Reed looked like a monster as he shrugged off some of Rollins' biggest moves, and the crowd was eating up every second of it. At some points, it felt like the Riyadh crowd favored him over The Visionary.

Even with Rollins having a lot more experience, they did a good job of making him feel like the underdog against a near-unstoppable powerhouse.

Rollins had to hit several Stomps, including one from the top rope, to finally put Reed away and get the win.

This was a lot of fun and made the Australian look like a viable main event star.

Result: Rollins defeated Reed

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• This feud is a perfect example of doing more with less. Rollins and Reed didn't spend dozens of minutes talking every week. It was a fight on sight every time they saw each other. 
• Reed's gear was a tribute to rapper MF Doom. 
• Rollins hit the office chair at the perfect angle. Reed threw him with great accuracy. 
• Rollins' counter into a DDT from a powerbomb was great. 
• Reed was bleeding from his head by the end of the match. 

Liv Morgan vs. Nia Jax

The first of two Crown Jewel Championship matches was up next as Morgan and Jax fought for the gigantic belt that will remain in Saudi Arabia.

Morgan exploded out of the gate with a dropkick as soon as the ref called for the bell. She tried to bring the fight to Jax but found herself on the mat after a headbutt.

This was booked as the usual underdog vs. monster match. Since both women were heels, the crowd didn't seem to favor one or the other at first, but Morgan quickly gained favor by fighting from underneath.

Tiffany Stratton ran down with her Money in the Bank briefcase, and Jax tried to tell her it wasn't the right time. Tiffy was told to leave but she had a change of heart. Raquel Rodriguez tried to stop her from cashing in and the distraction allowed Jax to take out both women and her opponent at ringside.

Dominik Mysterio tried to slide the briefcase in, and when the ref went to remove it, Rodriguez shoved Jax off the top rope. Morgan used the opportunity to hit her finisher for the pin and the win.

Triple H was there to present a tearful Morgan with the belt.

This was a decent match that was a little overbooked at the end, but Morgan winning was the right way to go. Stratton cashing in on Jax would have been a great way to end it, but giving Morgan her moment made sense.

Result: Morgan defeated Jax

Grade: C+

Notable Moments and Observations

• The belt was on a big pedestal in the middle of the ring during the official introductions. 
• Morgan has improved so much each year since she was called up to the main roster in 2017. She is a homegrown success story for WWE because her career began at the Performance Center, rather than the indie scene. 
• The camera cut ruined the sunset flip powerbomb. 
• The crowd was really hoping for a cash-in. 

Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens

Owens seems to be allergic to keeping friends, so after several months of co-existing with Orton and often working together, he ended up turning on The Viper to set up this match.

The Prizefighter's original issue was with Rhodes, and Orton became a secondary rival after KO perceived him as choosing The American Nightmare over him. During the leadup to this, Owens was banned from most episodes of SmackDown, so they have only gotten physical a couple of times.

As Orton posed on the middle turnbuckle during his entrance, Owens attacked him from behind with a steel chair to the knee. The Viper fought back before he could be powerbombed onto the announce table and dropped KO onto it instead.

The ref took the chair from Owens and ended up taking a Stunner for his trouble. Orton fought back with the chair as officials ran down to try to stop them.

Commentator Michael Cole said officials waved off the match as they continued to fight and attack anyone who tried to stop them.

The Viper delivered an RKO to Raw GM Adam Pearce before they fought into the crowd. Owens put Orton through some tables with a flying elbow drop to finally end the scuffle.

This was a fun fight and a good way to keep the feud going without one of them needing to take a loss. WWE doesn't do this kind of thing at PLEs often, so it feels like it was done at the right time for the right feud.

Result: No-contest

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

• The crowd was singing along to Orton's music with a lot of enthusiasm. The Viper took his time soaking it in. 
• The fans didn't seem to care that the match never happened because they fought for so long and caused so much damage. 

LA Knight vs. Andrade vs. Carmelo Hayes

The United States Championship was on the line in a Triple Threat match as Knight defended his title against Hayes and Andrade.

This match came about after Knight prevented Melo and El Idolo from settling their feud with a seventh match, so SmackDown GM Nick Aldis booked him to put the belt on the line as punishment for preventing a proper finish to the series.

All three men started fighting as soon as the bell rang. The Megastar was superkicked out of the ring by both opponents, leaving Hayes and Andrade to duke it out.

This was a fantastic display of different wrestling styles from three talented competitors. From a pure in-ring perspective, this was the best match we had seen up to this point.

Triple Threats can often feel like glorified singles bouts in which one person is isolated while two fight for most of the time, but this was anything but that.

Other than a few short moments, all three men were involved in almost all of the action, which made for a much more exciting contest.

Knight retained his title by hitting his finisher to both men at the same time and pinning Hayes.

Other than one notable moment, everything they did worked perfectly.

Result: Knight defeated Andrade and Hayes

Grade: A-

Notable Moments and Observations

• Knight's custom strap for his belt isn't always easy to notice because the plates are so big. 
• The Megastar is an underrated seller. The way he bumps is always very safe. 
• Andrade's moonsault from the top rope to the floor looked perfect. 
• The crowd chanted for all three men at different points. Everyone was just happy to be there. 
• Knight missed a jump to the top rope and crotched himself, but they recovered and made it work. 

Gunther vs. Cody Rhodes

The main event of the night was the men's Crown Jewel Championship match between Rhodes and Gunther.

They were slow to lock up and circled each other as the crowd chanted on and off. It made them pause for a moment to take it in before finally getting going with an exchange of wristlocks.

The Ring General outwrestled The American Nightmare for a few minutes as they kept it simple and focused more on grappling than anything else.

Once they upped the intensity, both men started to take more risks and go for bigger impacts. Rhodes tried everything to combat Gunther's brutal style and seemed to come up short at every turn.

In many ways, this felt like a throwback. They weren't doing many flashy moves or trying to cheat left and right. They were just two accomplished wrestlers fighting to see who was the best.

The American Nightmare began to show signs of life after spending several minutes being punished by The Ring General. He was able to counter a sleeper by rolling back into a pin to defeat Gunther and win the Crown Jewel Championship.

This was a good way to end the match and keep Gunther strong. Rhodes got one over on him this time, but the Austrian showed him some respect by offering a handshake before leaving him to celebrate.

Result: Rhodes defeated Gunther

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• The crowd was going so wild that is was almost distracting because the competitors were trying to start slow. 
• The fans chanted for so long and so loudly that you could barely hear the announcers. 
• Gunther's first chop at ringside was the loudest of the match. 

The Final Word

This year's Crown Jewel had matches ranging from average to great, but there are a few that stick out the most.

The women's tag team title bout was an energetic and entertaining battle that showcased eight competitors in an effective way.

Knight, Hayes and Andrade put on a show-stealing performance, and Reed and Rollins had a brutal fight fitting of their violent feud.

Some fans may be disappointed that Owens and Orton never technically had a match, but the carnage they caused was just as entertaining as any normal bout would have been.

The idea of crowning Crown Jewel champions by having the top men's and women's titleholders fight for bragging rights is a novel concept that allows WWE to put on a champion vs. champion fight without either competitor needing to lose a belt, but some may also feel it devalues the title of whoever loses by portraying them as a weaker champion.

Morgan winning with so much interference protects Jax but also robs the winner of a definitive claim to being the best of the best. Gunther and Rhodes took the opposite approach and kept it to a simple one-on-one encounter with a clean finish.

As a whole, this PPV was relatively average, but a few moments are going to be talked about a lot in the coming weeks.

Grade: B