Every WWE Crown Jewel Ranked From Worst to Best (2018-2025)
WWE Crown Jewel 2026 takes place this Saturday, November 7, in Riyadh. Before it does, we went back and rewatched every Crown Jewel from the first show in 2018 to last year's event in Perth. There was no Crown Jewel in 2020, so that makes seven shows.
This ranking uses the scores from our full Retro Reviews, where we rated every match. We have kept it spoiler-free: you will find out which shows and matches are worth your time, not who won them. Ties are broken by how well each show holds up today.
Quick ranking
| Rank | Show | Where | Our rating | Best match |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Crown Jewel 2025 | Perth | ★★★★ (4) | John Cena vs. AJ Styles |
| 2 | Crown Jewel 2021 | Riyadh | ★★★★ (4) | Edge vs. Seth Rollins, Hell in a Cell |
| 3 | Crown Jewel 2022 | Riyadh | ★★★½ (3.5) | Roman Reigns vs. Logan Paul |
| 4 | Crown Jewel 2024 | Riyadh | ★★½ (2.5) | Cody Rhodes vs. Gunther |
| 5 | Crown Jewel 2023 | Riyadh | ★★½ (2.5) | Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre |
| 6 | Crown Jewel 2019 | Riyadh | ★★ (2) | Mansoor vs. Cesaro |
| 7 | Crown Jewel 2018 | Riyadh | ★½ (1.5) | Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler |
7. Crown Jewel 2018: ★½
The first Crown Jewel was held on November 2, 2018, at King Saud University Stadium. It was built around the WWE World Cup tournament, a vacant Universal Championship and a nostalgia main event with D-Generation X against The Brothers of Destruction, Shawn Michaels' first match since 2010.
The first half is better than people remember. The World Cup semi-final between Seth Rollins and Dolph Ziggler is a genuinely good match, and AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe and The Bar vs. The New Day are both worth a look. The problem is the last three matches. A one-sided title match, a tournament that undercut its own competitors and a main event that ran far too long sank the night.
Watch: Rollins vs. Ziggler. Skip: the last hour. Full review: Crown Jewel 2018 retro review.
6. Crown Jewel 2019: ★★
Crown Jewel 2019 took place on Halloween at King Fahd International Stadium. It brought in UFC's Cain Velasquez and boxer Tyson Fury, and it had the first women's match ever held in Saudi Arabia, Natalya vs. Lacey Evans.
It is a step up from 2018, but not a big one. Mansoor vs. Cesaro is a smart way to make a local star in front of his home crowd, and AJ Styles vs. Humberto Carrillo is good. The ten-man Team Hogan vs. Team Flair match is an easy watch. But the two matches WWE pushed hardest were the weakest on the card, and the Falls Count Anywhere main event is still one of the most criticized of its era.
Watch: Mansoor vs. Cesaro. Skip: the celebrity matches. Full review: Crown Jewel 2019 retro review.
5. Crown Jewel 2023: ★★½
Crown Jewel 2023 on November 4 looked like one of the strongest cards on paper: Roman Reigns vs. LA Knight, Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre, John Cena vs. Solo Sikoa and a Women's World Championship fatal five-way.
Rollins vs. McIntyre holds up very well. The rest of the show is mostly fine wrestling, but finish after finish in the second half leaned on outside help. That pattern is why a stacked card felt flat on the night, and it is why it sits just below 2024 for us.
Watch: Rollins vs. McIntyre. Full review: Crown Jewel 2023 retro review.
4. Crown Jewel 2024: ★★½
Crown Jewel 2024 on November 2 introduced the Crown Jewel Championship, where the top champions of Raw and SmackDown face each other. Cody Rhodes vs. Gunther closed the show, and Liv Morgan vs. Nia Jax decided the first women's Crown Jewel Champion.
The men's main event is worth watching in full, and Seth Rollins vs. Bronson Reed and the United States title triple threat are both good. The opening six-man tag is a solid chapter of the Bloodline story. The letdowns: the first women's Crown Jewel title match was short and full of interference, and the Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens match fans were promised turned into a brawl.
Watch: Rhodes vs. Gunther. Full review: Crown Jewel 2024 retro review.
3. Crown Jewel 2022: ★★★½
Crown Jewel 2022 on November 5 at Mrsool Park was the first in the Triple H era. Roman Reigns faced Logan Paul in the main event, and Bianca Belair and Bayley had a Last Woman Standing match.
This show is better than its reputation. The top two matches are both well worth watching, and Reigns vs. Paul is a reminder that a celebrity match can work when the celebrity puts in the work. The tag matches in the middle of the card are solid. Brock Lesnar vs. Bobby Lashley was short with a messy finish, and Braun Strowman vs. Omos is the one to skip.
Watch: Reigns vs. Paul, then Belair vs. Bayley. Full review: Crown Jewel 2022 retro review.
2. Crown Jewel 2021: ★★★★
Crown Jewel 2021 on October 21 was WWE's first trip abroad in almost two years. The card was loaded: Edge vs. Seth Rollins inside Hell in a Cell, Big E vs. Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship, a Becky Lynch, Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks triple threat, the King of the Ring and Queen's Crown finals, and Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar.
Edge vs. Rollins is a must-watch, and Big E vs. McIntyre is close behind. The women's triple threat is very good until its last few seconds. There are weak spots, including a rushed Queen's Crown final and a main event that leaned on referee bumps. But only one match on the card is truly poor. It tied with 2025 on our score, and only lost the top spot because the 2025 show had fewer slow moments.
Watch: Edge vs. Rollins. Full review: Crown Jewel 2021 retro review.
1. Crown Jewel 2025: ★★★★
The first Crown Jewel outside Saudi Arabia was held in Perth, Australia, on October 11, 2025. It had only five matches: two Champion vs. Champion bouts, Roman Reigns vs. Bronson Reed in an Australian Street Fight, a women's tag match, and John Cena vs. AJ Styles on Cena's farewell tour.
A short card meant every match got time, and three of the five are very good or better. Cena vs. Styles is the reason to watch. The main event and the women's tag match are both worth your time, and the Perth crowd lifts everything. The weak points are a long opener with a lot of run-ins and a women's title match that was cut far too short.
Watch: Cena vs. Styles. Full review: Crown Jewel 2025 retro review.
What we learned from rewatching them all
- Smaller cards work better. The two best shows either had a clear focus (2025) or a deep card where almost every match had a story (2021).
- Celebrity matches are a gamble. Logan Paul in 2022 is the best example of one done well. The 2019 matches with outside stars were the low points of that show.
- Seth Rollins is Mr. Crown Jewel in-ring. He is in the best match of three different shows on this list: 2018, 2021 and 2023.
- Finishes matter. The 2023 show had the matches, but too many endings relied on outside help, and it dropped down our list because of it.
Where will Crown Jewel 2026 rank?
This year's card has two Champion vs. Champion matches, Roman Reigns vs. Sami Zayn and Liv Morgan vs. Chelsea Green, plus Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton in a Last Man Standing match. On paper, that is a card built on real stories, which is what the best shows on this list had. We will rate it the same way after Saturday.
For the full card, start time and how to watch, read our Crown Jewel 2026 preview. For every result and champion, see our Crown Jewel history. And for the main event story, read Roman Reigns vs. Sami Zayn: the full history.
More retro reviews
Other classic shows we have revisited:
- WrestleMania XL: ★★★★½ (4.5 out of 5), two nights in Philadelphia, The Rock and the end of the Bloodline story
- WrestleMania 39: ★★★★½ (4.5 out of 5), two nights in Hollywood and Reigns vs. Rhodes, part one
- SummerSlam 2025: ★★★★ (4 out of 5), the first two-night SummerSlam and John Cena's last one
- Money in the Bank 2016: ★★★★ (4 out of 5), Cena vs. AJ, a great ladder match and Reigns vs. Rollins
- WrestleMania 41: ★★★½ (3.5 out of 5), Cena's farewell year and a Heyman story in Las Vegas
- WrestlePalooza 2025: ★★★½ (3.5 out of 5), the first WWE show on ESPN, with Lesnar vs. Cena
See them all on our Retro Reviews page, and read our Crown Jewel 2026 preview.
