WWE Crown Jewel 2018: Analysing and grading each match

Undertaker and Kane vs Triple H and Shawn Michaels

Shawn Michaels is back!

Match: Well, there's no more waiting - Shawn Michaels is back! A match of epic proportions closed Crown Jewel much to the delight of an incredibly hot crowd. "Undertaker", "HBK" and "You still got it" chants rained down for the entire match as we saw four veterans leave it all in the ring.

That is once they got there. Undertaker's entrance took almost five minutes on its own, and we did get a huge staredown. Triple H and Kane started the match off, but it wasn't long before we saw Taker and HBK back in the ring and striking each other to roll back the years. This match was surprisingly physical and it had everything - Chokeslams, Sweet Chin Musics, sit-ups from Taker and Kane, and even a Shawn Michaels kip-up!

Just call him H-B-KIP UP!#WWECrownJewel @ShawnMichaels pic.twitter.com/BVdunbOvBF

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) November 2, 2018

The match even ended up on the outside with Taker clearing off both announce tables while staring through Michaels demonically. Taker set up Michaels for a Tombstone, but Triple H saved his teammate before Kane interrupted and ended up Chokeslamming Triple H through the announce table - monitors an' all!

The Brothers of Destruction would decimate an isolated HBK in the ring and systematically tag in and out, but HBK kicked out every step of the way. In fact, he more than kicked out, he fought back and hit Kane so hard his mask fell off, before hitting a double moonsault from the top turnbuckle to the outside of the ring onto both Undertaker and Kane.

A badly injured Triple H would then take over and battle Taker, but end up in Hell's Gate, but Michaels reversed a Kane Chokeslam to hit the Sweet Chin Music and Kane landed on Taker to break the hold.

The Brothers of Destruction sat up and went for the double Tombstone, but HBK raked Kane's eyes to free Triple H, The Game then kicked Taker in the midsection to free HBK, Shawn Michaels hit the Sweet Chin Music on Kane and Triple H instantly hit the Pedigree to take the win.

Verdict: Even if these four are obviously way past their prime, this was fun. Michaels actually looked really good in the ring. The match was understandably slow at points, but the crowd was really hot throughout and this was a real nostalgia trip. A much better match than expected, and incredibly good storytelling!

Grade: A

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Crown Jewel verdict: Take all the controversy surrounding the event and the one thing you can say is that this is the most spectacular WWE event you could hope to see production wise, even including WrestleMania. So much pyro, a huge stage set-up, and the crowd loved every minute. Some matches were incredible hits, some were really bad misses - but this was a fun event to watch, and it's always special seeing WWE events take place overseas and at a different time.

Crown Jewel grade: B