WWE Crown Jewel Perth Recap and Review

We are back once again for another rasslin ppv/ple review. After watching an abysmal game of football between the Broncos and Jets, I decided to cleanse my palette with a show that I have heard good things about. I have nothing to do until baseball starts so I will fill that time with WWE Crown Jewel from Perth, Western Australia. I haven’t watched so much as one wrestling match since the last one of these, so this should be fun. I am aware that WWE has said and done things that people may find objectionable. Like I said last time, there are plenty of ways to watchwrestling if you want to watchwrestling. On with the show!

The opening hype package shows some security looking dudes grabbing the Crown Jewel championship from Riyadh and flying it to Perth. Apparently the Crown Jewel title is a big enough deal to get this treatment, but not a big enough deal for me to ever remember hearing about it. We get a helicopter shot of Perth with Michael Cole doing an intro while Green Day’s “One Eyed Bastard” plays in the background. Green Day is in my top 3 favorite bands of all time, but like c'mon guys. Have you not seen anything this company has been putting out there this year? No wonder they, as a band, got banned from Gilman St. After all of the shots of the wrestlers arriving, we get a video package featuring the home country girl, Rhea Ripley narrating over a montage of all of the international events that WWE has been doing over the past few years. This basically just buries American crowds and I can’t really disagree with that sentiment. I’m now wondering how much I would have to pay for a Rhea Ripley vs Toni Storm match. Anyway, the package ends and we get our pyro and ballyhoo while Cole does another intro. Soon after, it's time for our first match.

Bronson Reed def. Roman Reigns in an Australian Street Fight.

Bronson Reed comes out with Paul Hayman and both are breaking the golden rule of wearing jeans for street fights. Bronson gets a big pop when he is introduced because he is also Australian. The Tribal Chief is out next, also breaking the golden rule of street fights. Maybe they just do things differently down under. The two titans have a faceoff before Roman gets an early advantage. Roman clotheslines the big man out of the ring and they work their way into the crowd. They work their way around the arena back to the timekeepers area where Roman pulls a Cricket bat and some Rugby balls to use. Finally Bronson is able to cut Roman off and he takes over. However, Roman is able to take back over soon after. He then grabs a microphone to ask the crowd to acknowledge him. They do. Roman then pulls out the Slim Jim table, but gets cut off. Bronson then does the ultimate heel move by shoving the table back under the ring. He then takes Roman to stair shot city before tossing the OTC back in the ring and grabbing some chairs. Reed then works over Roman’s ribs with one said chair and wedges the other in between two turnbuckles. He sets up a chair to slam Roman through, but Roman hits a Samoan drop onto the chair for a near fall. Ouch. Roman hits several dozen lariats and goes for the superman punch but Reed counters with a Death Valley Driver for a near fall. Somehow a stop sign got in the ring, but Reed has no intentions of stopping this ass whoopin. The fans chant “Read the Sign” at him, but he ignores their wishes. He slams Roman onto the sign for another near fall. A bit later, Reed goes for a spear, but eats the chair he placed in the corner earlier. Roman hits a superman for another 2 count. He sets up for another but Reed bails out of the ring. Roman runs around the ring to spear Reed, but Bron Breakker comes from the crowd to spear Roman. The duo powerbombs Roman through the announce table. Reed then gets the Slim Jim table back out and sets it up in the corner. As Bron is dragging Roman towards the ring, The Uso’s music hits and they make their way to the ring, superkicking Bron along the way. They get some offense in before hitting Bron with a 1D. They both go to the top, but get cut off by Bron and Bronson. Bron spears Jimmy Uso through the timekeeper’s barricade. Bronson goes to hit a big splash onto Jey, but is cut off by Roman. Roman cleans house and goes to spear Bronson through the Slim Jim table in the corner, but Reed gets Roman onto his shoulders. Roman wiggles out, but is speared through the Slim Jim table by Jimmy Uso, who gets speared by Bron. Are spears the new superkicks? Bronson hits a big splash off the top for the win. Overall a pretty fun match and a good way to open the show. Although it was far from clean, putting Bronson Reed over Roman Reigns is a pretty big deal. ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆

After the Brons leave, Roman reads the Usos the riot act while ESPN’s censors completely fail at their jobs. The crowd chants what sounds like “You’re in trouble” at the Usos as Roman heads back up the ramp. There is some tension between the Uso in the ring as they have a heated discussion about their cousin.

Women’s Crown Jewel Championship: Stephanie Vaquer def. Tiffany Stratton

I've got my "Latina Power" shirt on for this one. Before the match they put over the Crown Jewel Championship by showing how many precious stones it has in it. La Primera is out first. WHY IS SHE SO FUCKING COOL?!?! Tiffy is out next to a pretty big reaction. We start out with some good back and forth chain wrestling. The two go back and forth for a bit before Tiffany hits a back suplex for a quick double down. Once they’re up, Tiffany does a cartwheel that then turns into an Alabama slam which looked fucking great. Stephanie is able to cut Tiffany off with a wicked dragon screw in the corner. The two keep going back and forth hitting increasingly bigger moves. Tiffany goes for a Swanton but Stephanie gets the knees up, then hits a Devil’s kiss. A package lifting backbreaker from Stephanie gets a near fall. A bit later, Tiffany gets back on top and goes for the Prettiest Moonsault Ever, but Stephanie moves and hits a top rope corkscrew moonsault for the win. A very good match that could have been amazing with 10 more minutes and a couple of big false finishes. I hope they run this back at some point, because damn it was good. ★★★★★★★☆☆☆. After the match Stephanie is presented with the belt, a ring, and a microphone. She cuts a promo putting the fans over and thanking them for their support.

The Brons are in the back with Paul E. He puts over Bronson’s big win from earlier and tells them that if Seth needs help later, they should not help him.

John Cena def AJ Styles:

This match needs no introduction. Michael Cole doesn’t give it one. I don’t want one. It’s John Cena vs AJ Styles. What else needs to be said? AJ is out first wearing some old school biker tights. Cole recounts AJ’s comments that he wants 2026 to be his last year. As much as I’m feeling emotional about Cena’s retirement, I’ll be twice as emotional about his. Big match John is out next to a huge reaction. The crowd sings along to the chorus of his song, but drops off immediately once the actual rapping starts, which was kind of funny. During introductions, a big “Thank you Cena” chant breaks out. This has the biggest of big fight feels, as any match that gets “Holy shit” and “This is awesome” chants before the bell even rang should. I’m not going to recap a whole lot of this one because I just want to enjoy it.

The vast majority of this match is the two going back and forth using their moves in association with other wrestler’s moves. I’m loving that using other people’s moves is the new meta in wrestling. AJ hit an Ushi Goroshi at one point, and when I stop being lazy, I will eventually write about the time I got Hirooki Goto sick at the NJPW LA Dojo. At another point, there was a fantastic moment where Cena hit a Sister Abigail for a near fall, after which, the crowd did the fireflies with their phones. After an incredible match Cena catches AJ from a diving crossbody and rolls through, then hits a tombstone piledriver and a 3rd Attitude Adjustment for the win. Michael Cole had the line of the night after the match. “Ladies and gentlemen, this is why we all fell in love with professional wrestling”. I couldn’t have said it better myself. Do I care that it was basically two guys just doing moves with seemingly no rhyme or reason? Do I care that they triggered my major pet peeve of kicking out of 9 million finishers? Not at all. If this match were between anyone else, I would have hated it. But, with these two, I loved every second of it. It may not have been at the level of their Royal Rumble match from 2017, but that was also 8 and a half years ago and both of these dudes are 48. Both of them being almost 50 and putting on this kind of match is just incredible. If you don’t love pro wrestling, I think less of you as a person. ★★★★★★★★★☆. We only have 4 more Cena matches left… I’m not ready. After the match we get a handshake and a hug as they both get a much deserved standing ovation.

Rhea Ripley/Iyo Sky def Kabuki Warriors

This match features Rhea Ripley and three Joshi. I don’t think it’s possible for this to be bad. Asuka and Kairi are out first and get a reserved reaction. Iyo is out to a pretty solid reaction, but not one that arguably the best women’s wrestler on Earth should be getting. The crowd is saving all of that for Mami and I don’t blame them. You could also make a very convincing argument that Rhea is the best on Earth. Now I desperately want a triple threat between Rhea, Iyo, and Stephanie Vaquer. As expected, Rhea comes out to a massive pop. WHY IS SHE SO FUCKING COOL???. As the bell rings, the Kabuki Warriors jump Iyo and Rhea. After a short sequence, Rhea and Kairi are out leaving Asuka and Iyo to battle it out as Cole breaks down the history between the two. Shortly after, Iyo hits a big dive through the top and middle ropes, but is cut off soon after. Kairi and Asuka put the heat on Iyo and I can’t wait for the roof to blow off the building when she makes the hot tag to Rhea. This portion of the match follows the formula of heat, hope, cutoff, heat, hope, etc. That being said, it's a formula that works, so I can’t complain. This match is also reminding me of how much I love Asuka. After Iyo hits a flapjack on Asuka, we get the dual hot tags and Rhea is a house of fire. Later on, Rhea hits a Razor’s edge that looks like it murdered Kairi, followed by Iyo hitting a big missile dropkick. There is some good back and forth between the two teams. After the Warriors send Rhea into the steps, Iyo hits a big Asai moonsault before tossing Kairi back in the ring. Later on, Iyo hits a springboard dropkick on Asuka that looked stiff as fuck. But Asuka has been in the ring with Minoru Suzuki so it didn’t faze her that much. Kairi gets a blind tag and as her and Asuka are on the apron, Rhea runs at them. Kairi pushes Asuka out of the way and catches a big boot. Rhea then hits a riptide, then tags in Iyo who hits a moonsault for the win. Very good match, but as I said earlier, it was Rhea and three Joshi. It would be impossible for it to be bad. ★★★★★★★☆☆☆.

Men’s Crown Jewel Championship: Seth Rollins def Cody Rhodes:

Once again, the Crown Jewel Championship is put over before entrances. I do like the idea of the PLE specific championship because it allows for things like champion vs champion matches without writing yourself into a corner of unifying the titles. Seth is out first to his usual big reaction. It’s still super weird to think back to watching this guy on Wrestling Society X back in the day. Cody is out next and he gets an equally big reaction. I will forever be in awe of Cody’s path to the top of the industry. After the championship intros, Seth does his best Tetsuya Naito impression as he takes his sweet time taking all of his entrance gear off. After Cody has the advantage, Seth rolls out of the ring. The crowd chants something that riles him up, but I don’t speak Australian, so I don’t know what the chant was. Cody remains firmly in control and Seth continues his crash out outside the ring. He blames Wade Barrett for the crowd being against him, then gets in the faces of both Cole and Barrett. Cody comes to get him, but Seth quickly gains control and hangs Cody up on a barricade before pushing over the table of Prime bottles, which gets a big pop. He hits a double foot stomp on Cody’s back before bringing things back into the ring. Seth then begins slowing things down and working Cody’s arm. A bit later on, Cody begins firing back up, but Seth cuts him off with a gorgeous dragon screw. Seth gets Cody in a figure four and Cody teases one of my other big pet peeves of reversing the pressure on the hold by rolling over. If anything it would allow Seth to pull his own leg to increase pressure. But I digress. Cody starts coming back and hits a big Vertibreaker, which I will never not call the Gringo killer. Cody is back in control, but Seth rolls out. Cody hits a big dive, then rolls Seth in the ring where he hits the Cody cutter. I find Cody’s “if I’ve wrestled you more than five times, I’m stealing your shit” mindset to be hilarious. He was ahead of the game when it comes to using other wrestler’s moves. Shortly after, Seth takes back over and goes for what looked like a running lariat. Cody reverses and attempts a Crossrhodes, but Seth reverses it into a Crossrhodes of his own. Seth goes for a Phoenix Splash, but lands on his feet as Cody rolls away. Cody goes for a top rope Cody cutter but Seth moves and hits a Pedigree for a near fall. Seth then goes outside and grabs his watch and wraps it around his knuckles. He teases using it, but puts the watch down on the ring apron, Cody hits a superkick, a top rope Cody cutter, and a Crossrhodes for a 2.9 count. Shortly after Seth takes back over and gets Cody in a tree of woe. He then goes to the top of the opposite rope and HITS A COAST TO COAST DIVING HEADBUTT. Seth puts Cody on the top rope, but Cody is able to fight him off. Seth then runs up to the ropes to hit a big Spanish fly, followed by a Rock bottom for another very near fall. Seth looks like he is setting up for a second rope Curb stomp, but Cody cuts him off and climbs up top. He hits a top rope Crossrhodes for a two count. We’ve officially entered the too many kickouts of big moves phase of this match. The two competitors start throwing haymakers at one another in sheer desperation. Cody goes for a Pedigree, but Seth fights out and grabs the watch. After a little sequence, the ref gets hit just enough to give Seth time to punch Cody with the watch. He then hits a curb stomp followed by a second rope curb stomp for the win. ★★★★★★★☆☆☆. Very good match, but once we are kicking out of top rope versions of finishers, what are we even doing? Only certain people in very certain situations can get away with that. (see the match from earlier for an example). Outside of those specific situations, the only way to make that work is to sell it as double down and take a bit of time before going for the pin. Or just keep it as a big double down and don’t go for a pin at all. But I also never did shit in the business, so I’m not going to pretend I know more than two of the top guys in the entire industry.

Triple H presents Seth with the belt and ring, then he takes the microphone from Cathy Kelly. He then cuts a promo about finally beating Cody. He puts himself over for a bit before calling himself the greatest of all time, possibly sowing the seeds for a match with Cena. He then goes to the second rope and holds the belts up high while a ton of pyro goes off. Stephanie Vaquer is out as well and the show ends with the two Crown Jewel champions posing in the ring.

Overall it was a very good show with the obvious standout being Cena and Styles. Every match on the show delivered and there are plenty of intriguing story directions WWE can go from here. I hope you enjoyed reading this, and as always, Don’t let the bastards grind you down.