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The 2019 WWE Crown Jewel event will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Thursday, October 31.
A total of eight matches have been announced for the show, including Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez (WWE Championship) and Braun Strowman vs. Tyson Fury.
There will also be a five-on-five tag team match between Team Hulk Hogan (Roman Reigns, Rusev, Ricochet, Shorty G and Ali) and Team Ric Flair (Randy Orton, King Corbin, Bobby Lashley, Shinsuke Nakamura and Drew McIntyre), while Seth Rollins will defend his Universal Championship in a Falls Count Anywhere match against “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt.
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Elsewhere on the card, Saudi Arabia’s own Mansoor will face Cesaro in a one-on-one match, 20 men will compete in a Battle Royal to find out who will take on AJ Styles in a United States Championship match later in the night, and nine teams are due to do battle in a Tag Team Turmoil match to determine the 2019 WWE World Cup winners.
In this article, let’s take a look at seven last-minute predictions ahead of the pay-per-view.
#7 Team Hulk Hogan vs. Team Ric Flair
The latest episode of RAW saw Team Hogan member Ricochet defeat Team Flair member Drew McIntyre via disqualification after Randy Orton hit “The One and Only” with an RKO out of nowhere.
Much of the build-up to this five-on-five tag team match has seen members of Team Hogan pick up wins over Team Flair, which is unusual when you consider that a series of weekly babyface triumphs usually leads to a heel victory at the pay-per-view.
In this case, it seems highly unlikely that Flair’s group of villains will emerge with the victory at Crown Jewel, simply because WWE’s Saudi Arabia shows often take the live event approach of giving the high-profile victories to the good guys.
With that in mind, let’s predict that Roman Reigns will pick up the 1-2-3 over his current rival on SmackDown, King Corbin, to record a victory for Team Hogan.
This would also give Rusev his first WWE PPV win since way back at Roadblock: End of the Line in December 2016 – a run spanning 1,047 days!
Prediction: Team Hulk Hogan def. Team Ric Flair
#6 Battle Royal, AJ Styles vs. TBC (United States Championship)
WWE has confirmed that 20 Superstars will compete in a Battle Royal at Crown Jewel, with the winner going on to challenge AJ Styles for the United States Championship later in the show.
The following men have been announced as participants: Sunil Singh, Mojo Rawley, Erick Rowan, R-Truth, Sin Cara, The Brian Kendrick, Titus O’Neil, Tony Nese, Akira Tozawa, Shelton Benjamin, Apollo Crews, Buddy Murphy, Andrade, Drake Maverick, Eric Young, Luke Harper, Cedric Alexander, Heath Slater, Humberto Carrillo, No Way Jose.
Given that Sunil Singh is involved in this match, it is safe to assume that there will be some kind of shenanigans involving the 24/7 Championship. That is, of course, unless he loses the title on the flight to Saudi Arabia, just like R-Truth and Jinder Mahal did before Super ShowDown.
As for the match itself, the seeds were planted for a rematch between Carrillo and Styles when “The Phenomenal One” faked a handshake with his opponent on Monday’s RAW before targeting his injured knee, prompting The Street Profits to make the save.
Let’s predict that the up-and-coming Carrillo will win the Battle Royal but ultimately fail to defeat Styles in their resulting one-on-one encounter.
Prediction: Humberto Carrillo wins the Battle Royal; AJ Styles retains
#5 Tag Team Turmoil (WWE World Cup)
WWE has announced that a Tag Team Turmoil match is scheduled for Crown Jewel, with the winners claiming the 2019 WWE World Cup, as well as the nickname of “The Best Tag Team In The World”.
The following nine teams will take part: The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston), The Viking Raiders, Heavy Machinery, Lucha House Party, Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder, The Revival, The O.C. (Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson), Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode, The B-Team.
The unique match type has been described by WWE as a “groundbreaking free-for-all”, which presumably means all nine teams will be active in the match at the same time.
Realistically, it seems unlikely that Lucha House Party, Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder, Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode or The B-Team will come away with the victory, especially when the title of “Best Tag Team In The World” is at stake.
That leaves The New Day, Heavy Machinery and The O.C. as possible winners, as well as RAW Tag Team Champions The Viking Raiders and SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Revival.
You could easily make a case for any of those teams to pick up the win, but a victory for The New Day seems most probable following Xavier Woods’ injury. A new storyline would also allow Kofi Kingston to move on from his WWE Championship reign.
Prediction: The New Day wins
#4 Mansoor vs. Cesaro
Other than The Undertaker vs. Goldberg, one of the biggest stories from the Super ShowDown event in June came when Mansoor outlasted 50 other Superstars to win the largest Battle Royal in WWE history.
Almost five months later, WWE has announced that the Saudi Arabian will compete in a featured match on his return to his home country when he goes one-on-one with Cesaro.
The story behind the match revolves around the Super ShowDown Battle Royal, in which Mansoor eliminated “The Swiss Cyborg” on his way to winning the match.
Although many WWE fans regard Cesaro as one of the most impressive in-ring talents in the entire company, it seems that this match has only been set up to give Mansoor another crowd-popping victory in front of a Saudi audience.
If this took place on an episode of NXT, the six-time WWE Tag Team Champion would likely pick up the victory and help elevate the up-and-coming Mansoor in the process, much like he did with Ilja Dragunov at NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff in August 2019.
However, given that Mansoor received the loudest crowd reaction of the night at Super ShowDown when he won the Battle Royal, we would be foolish to expect anything other than a win for the NXT Superstar.
Prediction: Mansoor def. Cesaro
#3 Seth Rollins vs. “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt (Universal Championship)
One of the most controversial WWE pay-per-view finishes of all time took place at Hell in a Cell earlier this month when Seth Rollins vs. “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt ended without a clear winner.
Many fans expected Wyatt to emerge with the Universal Championship, but the referee opted to bring a stop to the main event when Rollins ignored a warning from the official and hit his opponent with a sledgehammer.
Since then, it has been announced that the two men will do battle in another title match at Crown Jewel. This time, to avoid another unpopular outcome, WWE has confirmed that the Falls Count Anywhere rematch “cannot be stopped for any reason”, meaning there will not be a repeat of the shenanigan-filled finish from Hell in a Cell.
Given that Wyatt is officially a member of the SmackDown roster, it is very difficult to believe that he could win the top title on RAW and either move back to the Red brand or move the title over to Friday nights.
For that reason, let’s predict that Rollins will win another controversial match, possibly by trapping Wyatt underneath an object (forklift, perhaps?), just like he did to defeat Erick Rowan on RAW.
Prediction: Seth Rollins def. “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt
#2 Braun Strowman vs. Tyson Fury
Braun Strowman appeared to have suffered another setback in his bid to become one of WWE’s top Superstars when he lost his latest Universal Championship match against Seth Rollins at Clash of Champions in September.
However, “The Monster Among Men” has since bounced back by getting involved in a mainstream storyline with heavyweight boxer Tyson Fury.
It remains to be seen how Fury will fare in a WWE ring, but it is worth noting that Triple H recently hinted that fans will be very surprised by his abilities inside the squared circle.
Regardless of his progress as a pro wrestler/sports entertainer, Fury is almost certain to defeat Strowman at Crown Jewel. After all, just like when Floyd Mayweather appeared in WWE in 2008, “The Gypsy King” is undefeated as a boxer, so would he really sign up for a WWE match with the condition that he is going to lose?
Fury has not ruled out future matches in WWE but confirmed this week that he is not scheduled for any more appearances after Crown Jewel.
With that in mind, all signs point towards the Brit picking up the victory in his debut match on Thursday.
Prediction: Tyson Fury def. Braun Strowman
#1 Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez (WWE Championship)
Moments after dismantling Kofi Kingston on the first episode of SmackDown on FOX to become the new WWE Champion, Brock Lesnar was confronted by Rey Mysterio and the man who defeated him nine years ago in a UFC octagon, Cain Velasquez.
It has since emerged that Velasquez has officially retired from MMA to sign with WWE, which means this Crown Jewel match may only be a small part of a lengthier story between the long-term rivals.
Regarding the outcome at Crown Jewel, it is difficult to envisage Velasquez as WWE Champion at this early stage of his career with the company.
Despite aligning with Mysterio, it cannot be denied that the connection between the 37-year-old and the WWE Universe is not there yet, meaning he would likely prove to be an unpopular WWE Champion if he conquers “The Beast” in Saudi Arabia.
In all likelihood, Lesnar will retain his title in controversial circumstances (say, a low-blow in the build-up to the finish?), setting up a rematch at some point further down the line.
Prediction: Brock Lesnar def. Cain Velasquez
Listen to Sportskeeda’s Dropkick DiSKussions to hear Gary Cassidy’s Crown Jewel preview, as well as Scott Stanford’s thoughts on CM Punk!
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