4 Ups & 3 Downs For WWE Crown Jewel 2025 (Results & Review)

3. Desperate Times…

Despite a surprisingly great build for their Crown Jewel clash, it was always going to be difficult to recapture the magic of Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins’ original feud in 2022.

However, the two world champions did a solid job of delivering something different Saturday – a bombs-away battle that saw Rollins pull out a coast-to-coast diving headbutt(!), Rhodes drill Seth with a Vertebreaker, an avalanche Cross-Rhodes, a Spanish Fly into a Rock Bottom, and a smattering of other “swing for the fences” offense.

They managed to not make this feel like a finisher spam match, which is an accomplishment given that the back half of the match was almost entirely punches and finishers/signature spots.

Rollins apparently hurt his shoulder on the diving headbutt and grew increasingly desperate as Rhodes continued to kick out, so he finally used the watch Cody bestowed upon him after WrestleMania 40, punching the American Nightmare with it when the referee was down. Two stomps later, and Rollins became the Crown Jewel Champion, finally defeating Cody.

Again, while not a classic in the way their Hell in a Cell match was, this battle accomplished what it set out to achieve, with Rollins finally winning the big one against Cody, allowing him to lay claim to being a leader of a successful movement.