Two WWE champions will sport extra hardware by the time WWE Crown Jewel ends. The promotion returns to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday to start a new annual tradition: the Crown Jewel championship matches.
Raw and SmackDown's world champions compete to become the inaugural Crown Jewel champions. World heavyweight champion Gunther takes on undisputed WWE champ Cody Rhodes, and women's world titleholder Liv Morgan meets WWE women's champ Nia Jax. The Crown Jewel titles were introduced by WWE chief content officer Paul Levesque at Bad Blood. The champion vs. champion matches will take place annually in Saudi Arabia.
In addition, the next chapter of the Bloodline saga is set to unfold when Jey and Jimmy Uso team with "Original Tribal Chief" Roman Reigns to take on Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa in a six-man tag team match. The Usos recently reunited after the new version of the Bloodline continued to run roughshod over SmackDown. With both Usos back together with Reigns, anything could happen as we get closer to Survivor Series.
Plus, there's some more bad blood in the air in a pair of non-title singles matches. Seth Rollins and Bronson Reed are set to square off after the two have brutalized each other for the last month or so. Reed's initial violent attack took Rollins out of action for a few months. And former friends have turned rivals when Randy Orton faces Kevin Owens. Owens has gotten more and more unstable with each passing week to start attacking both Orton and Rhodes, his former best friends, after teasing attacks on Rhodes for months.
Let's take a look at who the CBS Sports experts are picking to win in each match on Saturday's card, beginning at 1 p.m. ET.
WWE Crown Jewel 2024 predictions
Roman Reigns and The Usos vs. The Bloodline: The sensible finish here is for The Bloodline to win and keep things heating up as Survivor Series approaches. However, there's something about The Usos reunion and how heel-heavy I feel like the results are going to skew makes me think WWE may want to give the fans a babyface victory in this one. There are ways to let The Bloodline get back at Reigns, Jimmy and Jey between Saturday and Survivor Series to keep things moving in the right direction. I hope I'm wrong because a Bloodline win really is the most reasonable approach from a wrestling storytelling standpoint but there are ways to spin Sikoa's increasing frustration into vital story beats as well. Pick: Roman Reigns and The Usos win -- Brent Brookhouse
Unlike Brent, I assume WWE does the reasonable thing. The Bloodline needs momentum heading into Survivor Series and they still have a one-person edge on the original faction. Reigns and Jey are bigger draws than anyone in the rival group. WWE risks making The Bloodline 2.0 look like a cheap rip-off if they lose to Reigns' team at consecutive pay-per-views. The biggest variable is how long WWE plans to draw out this storyline. If Survivor Series is the conclusion, the creative team must make conscious decisions about how things play out in November. If there is a lot more in store, it might not matter who wins at Crown Jewel. Pick: The Bloodline wins -- Shakiel Mahjouri
Men's Crown Jewel Championship -- Gunther vs. Cody Rhodes: The problem I'm having with the two champion vs. champion matches is that it feels like both are going to end with interference or some other sort of unsatisfying finish to avoid a top champion eating a loss because Crown Jewel simply feels less important than something like Survivor Series. When looking at escape hatches to avoid a clean loss, Rhodes simply has more antagonists who can stick their noses in the match and allow Gunther to steal a cheap win. Whether Kevin Owens or someone from The Bloodline, someone will interfere and Rhodes will lose without it having any real impact on anything. Pick: Gunther wins the title -- Brookhouse (also Mahjouri)
Women's Crown Jewel Championship -- Liv Morgan vs. Nia Jax: The new WWE regime seems high on Jax. Her latest run in the company is by far her strongest. It's not perfect but it's a clear improvement over past efforts. Jax won May's Queen of the Ring tournament in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It preceded her WWE women's title win and set the tone for this weekend. Morgan has more upside but she's a conniving heel who doesn't need a one-off ceremonial title win. Jax is a physical force. Hunting more prizes for her trophy case is responsible booking. Pick: Nia Jax wins the title -- Mahjouri (also Brookhouse)
Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens: Owens is too central to Rhodes' story right now to lose to Orton, who is enjoying a fine run as a veteran who can easily slot in against anyone. Owens needs to stay hot and in position for a rematch with Rhodes, this time with his old edge. I have a sneaking suspicion that this could steal the show on Saturday but the result does not feel in doubt. Pick: Kevin Owens wins -- Brookhouse (also Mahjouri)
Seth Rollins vs. Bronson Reed: It's good to see Reed in a major feud but something about this storyline feels like busywork. I can't remember the last time Rollins was such a small player on Raw. Such are the ebbs and flows of professional wrestling. Reed will be presented as an unstoppable force but Rollins almost certainly finds a way to vanquish this monster. Pick: Seth Rollins wins -- Mahjouri (also Brookhouse)
United States Championship -- LA Knight (c) vs. Andrade vs. Carmelo Hayes: Knight would have been a main event champion if SmackDown still had an inactive champion. Unfortunately for him, Rhodes is a workhorse. The U.S. champion has taken a backseat to storylines more central to SmackDown's two-hour block. He even feels like a supporting act in Andrade and Hayes seven-match series. Knight is still one of the roster's more popular babyfaces and benefits more from having the title than his challengers. Pick: LA Knight retains the title -- Mahjouri (also Brookhouse)
WWE Women's Tag Team Championships -- Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill (c) vs. Damage CTRL vs. Meta-Four vs. Chelsea Green & Piper Niven: A lot going on in this match but picking a winner ultimately comes down to what makes sense. Cargill and Belair are still relatively fresh into their second run as champions and no team in the match jumps out as someone ready to run with the belts, even in a fairly weak women's tag division. It feels like Cargill and Belair will continue to hold the titles until WWE can figure out an intriguing direction for one or both as singles. Pick: Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill retain the titles -- Brookhouse (also Mahjouri)
