Well "Crown Jewel" Was a flop?

Braun wasn't ready from a kayfabe perspective. He will be now since he's eaten a ton of F-5's and kicked out. He'll probably get a rematch for the cheapness involved with Corbin or something, but yeah. The match gave Braun sympathy he needed as a newly fleshed out babyface, strength he needed from the last time Brock beat him with one F-5, and a reason to stay in the title picture.

I haven't watched anything WWE main roster related outside of PPV in months, but from what I understand Shane's supposedly going on a power trip. For that reason alone it made sense. He came in fresh and beat a man who went through the rigors of a one night tournament and acted like he was the best in the world. Technically the tournament means nothing, so at least they did something with it to advance storyline. I'm not saying I liked it, but if they're going to push Shane as a mega heel authority this is a good first step.

The match was a vanity bout probably requested by Saudi backers. It meant nothing, and when there are no stakes to raise none can be lost.

While I agree that those match outcomes were mostly hot garbage, and that the card is superfluous in the long run, there was some great wrestling on the card. I personally enjoyed what little time Rey and Orton got against one another, likewise with Rey and Miz, and Seth versus Ziggler. The tag title match wasn't bad, and AJ vs Joe delivered again. Could you get most of that from a few weeks of Smackdown? Definitely, but I think anyone could've called what matches were likely going to flop from the moment they were booked. Brock's getting lazier, and the old timers are old. As soon as a McMahon sticks their foot in anything I immediately expect them to make it all about themselves. My friend even called Shane interjecting himself into the match before it happened because that's just insane crap McMahons do. What surprised me was how hot the crowd was throughout. For that reason alone I'll disagree with it being a flop because it exceeded what limited expectations I actually had for the show.

Just read the results. This was not about furthering any existing plot lines. This was really a one off event to give some folks who never saw WWE live before something to see.

Hulk Hogan. Eh, I guess he has mostly redeemed himself, let's see how it goes. It's still kind of weird, though.

I wasn't that happy with the world cup tournament and Shane winning it didn't make much sense to me. A feud might emerge between The Miz and Shane McMahon, though.

I understand that Styles vs Somoa was a filler match and its concept was actually quite brilliant and convienent considering the history the two have together and Somoa Joe returning to WWE programming right after A.J. Styles beat Daniel Bryan, who cashed in his #1 contendership for A.J. Styles' WWE Championship at Crown Jewel on SmackDown. However, I still didn't like the fact that we were getting the match AGAIN. The second WWE Saudi Arabian Pay-Per-View wasn't even a glorified house show this time, though, Greatest Royal Rumble kind of was.

I wish Braun was champion but business wise, I understand why WWE put the Universal championship back on Lesnar. Even creatively, it made sense to continue pushing Brock Lesnar as an unstoppable monster/force because he is and it makes the company look better and more legitimate. Brock is one of WWE's biggest money makers so he's a safe choice and WWE loves to play it safe these days. Also, WWE loves the possibility of having Lesnar be a double champion in two separate sports companies. I love it too but I believe WWE pulled the trigger too early. If anything, have Brock win the Universal title at Royal Rumble as his first UFC match in almost three years will most likely take place in early February. But maybe WWE wanted to save Braun's first Universal title run for when he is more ready and when WWE is less foucsed on part time veterans on a more lenghty time.

DX defeating BOD was okay I guess, I rather would have not seen it or seen it at a different time but Michaels needs assistance as it's his first match since the beginning of this decade and Saudi Arabia would pay all four superstars/competitors and WWE in general very good money.

Greatest Royal Rumble was WWE's most financially successful wrestling event of all time...until this event convincing Saudi Arabia to pay even more money to WWE.

How boring

Kane /undertaker should have won