WWE Crown Jewel 2025: 3 Things We Hated & 3 Things We Loved

Good morning Wrestling Inc. readers! It's still morning and an entire WWE premium live event has already come and gone. Send coffee; please? Beware to those who should wish to proceed, because here be spoilers.

The books are closed on WWE Crown Jewel 2025, emanating live from Perth, Western Australia, Australia, and these are our thoughts. Two Crown Jewel Champs have been... crowned (again, really?), two all-time greats tangled for the last time, two brothers caused some family friction and two people are happy about the result of the only tag team match on the card. 

Undisputed WWE champ Cody Rhodes faced World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins in the men's Crown Jewel Championship match, while Women's World Champion Stephanie Vaquer took on WWE Women's champ Tiffany Stratton. John Cena made one of the final stops in his WWE retirement tour, which was his last overseas date, and faced rival AJ Styles one last time. The Usos got involved in cousin Roman Reigns' Australian Street Fight with locally-sourced kaiju Bronson Reed when his Vision-mate Bron Breakker got involved. And another Aussie export, Rhea Ripley, stood beside friend and ally IYO SKY against the Kabuki Warriors, the domineering Asuka and the obedient Kairi Sane.

If you want the wins and losses without our wise words, head over to the WWE Crown Jewel 2025 results page. If you're interested in immersing yourself in our insight, we'll happily impart it!

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Hated: Finishers mean nothing in main event

I know WWE is notorious for finishing moves, oftentimes many of them in a row, not finishing matches, but in today's main event with World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins challenging Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes for the meaningless Crown Jewel title, it was absolutely egregious. I might have felt that way a little bit more after the AJ Styles and John Cena match, where they were paying tribute to other wrestlers by using their finishers all throughout the match. While I liked that bit in that match, I think the false finishes from the big spots in the main event match could have been toned down.

There were quite a few points during the Crown Jewel Championship match where I thought it should have been over. Don't get me wrong, I love a good false finish, but not as many as there were today. While I'm glad Rollins got the victory here, it certainly didn't feel like he was going to when Rhodes hit him with a top rope Cross Rhodes after hitting the "WWE Raw" champion with Cody Cutter after Cody Cutter and a finisher or two from the canvas before taking it to the ropes.

Rhodes also kicked out of multiple moves from Rollins, including Pedigrees and Stomps. While those moves might not always finish a match for Rollins, you would think a big Spanish Fly, a move Rollins seemingly pulled out of nowhere from desperation, followed by a Rock Bottom would. After all of this, it started to feel quite silly and it was hard for me to suspend my disbelief. Rollins and Rhodes are fantastically good, but they're not superhuman. And, apparently, watches are just made of steel or they must feel like straight up bricks when you use them as a weapon, which I also found pretty lame.

This match also featured probably the fastest recovery by a referee I've seen in quite a long time, or honestly, ever. The official got knocked over somehow, and while WWE referees usually sell it like they've been tackled, this time, the referee was back up, recovered, and counting Rollins' pin on Rhodes following the shot with the Rolex within seconds. 

While I thought the winner of the match was the right decision, the way this bout went about it all wasn't exactly my favorite. Overall, Crown Jewel was a solid show and my gripes with it are minor, but the issue with finishers not actually finishing a match in WWE until someone's hit at least three or four in big matches is an overarching issue.

Written by Daisy Ruth

Loved: Roman Reigns beaten, Bloodline broken

Opening Crown Jewel in Perth was the "Aus-Zilla" Bronson Reed taking on Roman Reigns in an Australian Street Fight, giving the pair an extreme variant of their maiden bout at Clash in Paris. It feels like a foregone conclusion at this point that any match featuring Reigns will be one to watch, given that he is so often given the time and the leeway to layer moves and narrative into a centerpiece of Bloodline-centric storytelling. And, despite what chants would have had you believing for so many years, he is also a damn fine worker in the ring, both on the offensive but also on the flip side, selling to ensure his opponent comes off as a better competitor for it. 

Until this point, Reed had been the arguable third best in the Vision, with Seth Rollins leading the group and the blue-chip prospect Bron Breakker flanking him. But he went on to not only stand against Reigns as a would-be equal in the ring, going further to beat Reigns, albeit with a little help, and truly legitimize himself as one of, if not the, next big things in the company. 

However good the match was, however, it would be nothing without the subtext between Reigns and his cousins, Jimmy and Jey Uso; The Usos and Reigns reunited to take on The Vision over the past few months, but things can hardly be said to have gone to plan for any of them, and Reigns explicitly asked the Usos not to get involved in his match with Reed. 

They didn't listen, coming out to take out Reed and set their eyes on the emerging Breakker, and ultimately that came back to bite them as Jey speared Reigns through a table inadvertently, thus allowing Reed to get his win. When the match was done, Reigns lambasted his cousins for getting involved. "The whole world thinks I can't do s*** by myself," he yelled at them, making it clear that he felt they were getting in his way. For the first time, really, this was Reigns making it clear he was done with running in a group. After five years of being the "Tribal Chief," he has no interest in his tribe, and wants to carve his own path. 

For Jey, as he would make clear, it was just Reigns being self-centered as usual, and a bitter disappointment after having felt like he and Reigns were getting on the same page; he lashed out at his brother, screaming that Reigns will not change and he's done. It was the perfect way to close the chapter on their temporary reunion, and continue the story on from the result.

Written by Max Everett

Hated: WWE's B show treated like B-team

Is it just me, or did "WWE SmackDown" get absolutely owned by "WWE Raw" at Crown Jewel? I can't help but believe that "SmackDown" got the short end of the stick when it came to Crown Jewel's champion vs champion booking, with both "Raw" Champions Seth Rollins and Stephanie Vaquer getting one over on their blue-brand counterparts Cody Rhodes and Tiffany Stratton.

Now, my issue isn't that Rollins and Vaquer went over Rhodes and Stratton — not in vacuum, anyway. My issue is the disparity between the booking on "Raw" versus "SmackDown;" this disparity is so great that it just made an overwhelming amount of sense for Rollins and Vaquer to go over. This sentiment comes after news regarding a creative team shake-up at "SmackDown" hit news cycles, which prompted a fair amount of netizen conversation about the difference between "Raw's" booking quality versus "SmackDown's." Plenty of individuals (including myself) noting just how weak the blue brand talent is booked next to Monday night's finest. My issue is that there was no other way Crown Jewel could have logically gone — "SmackDown's" poor booking has made itself known, tangible, with Crown Jewel's results.

There was no way Stratton was going over Vaquer Saturday. I'd say that it is unilaterally because of her poor booking. She has been trapped in the Nia Jax/Jade Cargill vortex for the past few months, and simply has become stale as a champion. Her victory streak doesn't mean anything when she's not fighting anyone else than Jax or Cargill. Whose fault is that? "SmackDown" booking. Stratton stood no chance going up against Vaquer, and while she did the best that she could in that match, it was clear that Stratton's career momentum has been stunted because of the trite, monotonous, uninspired state of the "SmackDown" women's division. Had Stratton had a decent feud against even one more person other than Jax and Cargill, she might have been a more believable contender for the Women's Crown Jewel title.

Rollins and Rhodes was more of a toss-up, but in hindsight, it made overwhelming sense for Rollins to win, simply because he had higher stakes in this match. Rhodes' second reign as Undisputed WWE Champion has been underwhelming compared to his initial run, and while some of that may be due to his "Street Fighter-"related absence, WWE also hasn't given him much to work with since winning the title. Rhodes isn't doing anything as champion, and that showed in the decision to strap Rollins up over the near-invincible "American Nightmare."

This is a wake-up call for "SmackDown" creative. Your champions need stakes. Otherwise, they'll always be secondary belt-warmers.

Written by Angeline Phu

Loved: Stephanie Vaquer makes Tiffy Time stand still

In the first of Saturday's two Crown Jewel Championship matches, WWE Women's World Champion Stephanie Vaquer took on WWE Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton to determine who is truly the number one woman in WWE. Their Crown Jewel match saw an excellent series of counters, grapple-based offense, and dangerous bumps, but when it was all said and done, Vaquer came out on top in a match that, in the midst of a card heavy with sentimentalities and spots, screamed pure wrestling.

I love a spotfest just as much as the next guy, but I can acknowledge how an overuse of top-rope dives or powerhouse slams might take away from the detailed beauty that is well-thought out in-ring work. Saturday's match leaned towards the latter, with Stratton's explosive moveset being tamed by Vaquer's calculated grappling-based offense. This isn't to say that Stratton's body of work is typically bad, but considering that the abundance of stunt spectacles down the card, it was the right call to have this match be more of a technical bout, filled with counters, reversals, and Dragon Screws. If you pride yourself on being a wrestling connoisseur, Vaquer's technical masterclass with Stratton will probably be up your alley.

Throughout the entire match, Stratton was in Vaquer's territory, with the much more experienced Vaquer commanding the space. Stratton's career has been filled with powerhouse wrestlers like Jade Cargill, Nia Jax, and Charlotte Flair; she hasn't really been face-to-face with an in-ring technician like Vaquer. It showed during their match at times, where their intricate grappling and counter sequences faltered slightly because of a slow or awkward response from Stratton. Vaquer's abundance of experience outside WWE really made up for Stratton's lack thereof, however, and, to her credit, Stratton always got back up to meet Vaquer right where she was. Stratton's extra effort set this match apart from the rest in her repertoire and she put on one of her best in-ring performances to date.

There are some small criticisms here, like Vaquer getting up way too early to dodge Stratton's Prettiest Moonsault Ever attempt near the end of the match. However, the rest of the match more than made up for it, and Vaquer going over was absolutely the correct decision. I also, on principle, dislike that Vaquer and Stratton's match was by far the shortest on the card, clocking in at just over 10 minutes. However, when you consider how much these two women were able to get done in such a short amount of time, you can appreciate how straightforward the match was. Vaquer is absolutely bulldozing through the women's division with one spectacular performance on top of another, and with the previously-undefeated Stratton now in the rear view mirror, who knows what is next for "La Primera"?

Written by Angeline Phu

Hated: WWE misses opportunity to reveal Vaquer's first opponent

Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed the Crown Jewel Women's Championship match pitting Women's World Champion Stephanie Vaquer against WWE Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton. Sure, there was no real story going into the match, but I knew it would be excellent when it came to the in-ring action. I wasn't disappointed, with Vaquer really laying into Stratton at the end, bouncing off the poor girl off the corkscrew splash. I also loved that it was Vaquer to hand Stratton her first loss of 2025, but without any story behind this match, there actually was a lot of opportunity to at least further things elsewhere.

What I didn't like about all of this was the fact WWE had the perfect opportunity to set up Vaquer's first challenger for the Women's World Championship and didn't do so. It's no secret that the Crown Jewel titles don't exactly mean anything in the grand scheme of things, and while I'm happy for Vaquer, because she was obviously emotional about getting the win and the opportunity, many fans (myself included), at least from what I've seen online, absolutely do not care about those titles and what happens with them after they're awarded.

After both Crown Jewel Championship matches, the winners got to cut a promo. I thought that Vaquer's was the perfect time to reveal who her first challenger for the Women's World title would be. "La Primera" has gotten the short end of the stick a bit in recent months, no fault of her own, and hasn't had a single defense of her own gold since winning it at Wrestlepalooza last month. Even before winning the title in her match with IYO SKY, she hadn't wrestled much, outside of a "WWE NXT" appearance. Tonight, if WWE wanted to get someone real heel heat, they could have interrupted Vaquer's victory promo, possibly even when she was emotionally cutting part of it in Spanish.

Maybe those in WWE didn't want to step on Vaquer's moment and upset the crowd, as she's white-hot right not, but this really felt like a missed opportunity. With the premium live event, you could have brought out a "WWE SmackDown" star, brand split be damned, to subtly move rosters, even just for a few weeks, to challenge Vaquer. I just felt like something was missing to this after Triple H awarded Vaquer the belt and ring. While again, I'm really happy for her, and she's one of my favorites, I'm ready to see who she'll be feuding with in a story that actually matters moving forward on "WWE Raw."

Written by Daisy Ruth

Loved: Styles and Cena play their greatest hits and more

AJ Styles and John Cena really embraced the nostalgia of their final showdown in Perth from entrance to the final bell, starting with Styles' return to the iconic trunks of his TNA days, and then a special introduction for him mentioning his legacy with TNA and as the leader of Bullet Club. And while one might have expected them to run the greatest hits of their own catalog, they took it a step further over the course of 27 minutes to collect a smorgasbord of finishers from their rivals of yore. 

Cena, of course, hit the Attitude Adjustment, and then another, and then another, as well as the STF, the Five-Knuckle Shuffle and the other "Five Moves of Doom." Styles, of course, hit the Styles Clash, a whole bunch of forearms, a 450 splash, and his Calf Crusher submission. But when their best wasn't enough to end the match, they started to dip into a whole new kind of trip down memory lane. Cena delivered the Skull Crushing Finale, an ode to The Miz, and at the time surprising the audience with the move out of nowhere. 

But that in itself spurred an exchange of each man's rivals over the years' finishers, with Styles using Sting's Scorpion Death Drop, Samoa Joe's Coquina Clutch, Christopher Daniels' Angels' Wings, countering a Pedigree into Frankie Kazarian's Fade to Black, and lastly tuning up to deliver Shawn Michaels' Sweet Chin Music. On the other hand, Cena delivered the aforementioned SCF, locked in Rusev's Accolade, Chris Jericho's Walls of Jericho, paid heartwarming tribute to Bray Wyatt with Sister Abigail's Kiss, taking a moment after the consequent near-fall for the crowd to shine their 'Fireflies,' went for the aforementioned Pedigree before succeeding with a draping DDT followed by RKO in homage to Randy Orton. When that failed, he sought for Orton's punt kick, missing and getting slammed for Styles to go for Five-Knuckle Shuffle, only to then be interrupted a la Kane or Undertaker with a sit-up chokeslam. 

Cena sought to deliver the 619, only for Styles to escape the move, but would eventually finish things with the Tombstone Piledriver setting up the last Attitude Adjustment. It was a match that embraced what it was, a nostalgia trip that dared not to hold a candle to their work when they were younger, and reliably substituted that with beats from their respectively lengthy careers. It was something only they could do, to circumvent what they can do no longer, combining a love letter to their careers, a ballad of professional wrestling's main event picture over the past couple of decades, and an epic in testament to that between the bells. As a result, by far the best match of the soon-to-conclude Cena retirement tour, and a very good reminder of who Styles can be when given the time to do so. 

Written by Max Everett

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