9 Match Star Ratings For WWE Crown Jewel 2019
1. Seth Rollins Vs. The Fiend - Universal Title Match
Would this have worked significantly better, had the Hell In A Cell debacle not acted as the most sapping of prologues (and not taken place in front of a tired Saudi Arabia crowd on a show very few people anticipate in good faith)?
Possibly.
Seth Rollins and Bray Wyatt worked very hard in assembling the customary, painful-looking WWE weapons main event. The big spots never felt too contrived - there was an elegance specific to the craft, however ridiculous that craft was - and the double table bump in particular looked awesome. But that red light remains a disastrous aesthetic choice.
Do you get it?
They are in hell.
Competing against the Fiend is hell on earth.
It's such an on-the-nose Vince McMahon thing to do, but maybe you don't get it, because you can't f*cking see it.
This was anti-wrestling not because it was so cartoonish and so removed from a competitive match between two (human) athletes, but because it broke so many rules of build and dramatic progression. Seth Rollins' Stomp was again buried to put over the impervious Fiend character, and it didn't work. The multiple executions (erm) even drew boos from a hardly discerning crowd.
A good - or logical - wrestling match builds the impact of moves. The moves progress in magnitude to put over the escalation of the conflict. This, again, was performed in reverse, diminishing the purpose, internal logic, and drama.
Where does this all lead? 18 Spears at WrestleMania 36? It's Suplex City-esque, painted-into-a-corner booking.
Star Rating: ★★½