4 Ups & 6 Downs From WWE Crown Jewel 2024 (Results & Review)

3. The Wrong Call

There will be plenty of praise for Cody Rhodes versus Gunther as a match in a bit, but there needs to be some criticism leveled at WWE for the decision to have the American Nightmare go over at Crown Jewel.

The match itself – pitting Rhodes and Gunther against each other for the first time ever in a match for a joke “title” – should not have happened, but since it was, the logical conclusion was to have Gunther pick up the win. He and the World Heavyweight Championship could use the credibility more than Cody picking up yet another accolade.

This was worsened when the announcers invoked John Cena’s name a couple times in reference to Rhodes. There’s a legit concern that if Cody keeps piling up win-against-the-odds moments and accolades galore, fans will start to resent him and turn on him, ala Cena. Rhodes is probably a ways away from this, but Saturday’s match was an easy loss for him to eat.

Gunther still has tremendous credibility himself, but the victory would have put him on a pedestal, given the heel champ something to crow about, and would have given him an edge over Cody that could be exploited when they eventually meet for a real championship down the line. Instead, he’ll have to settle for “stewing over the loss” until they meet again.

This isn’t some horrific booking decision to be blasted, but it definitely is something that could have been done differently, with better short- and long-term results.