WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming event
The 2023 Crown Jewel was a professional wrestling event produced by the American company WWE. It was the fifth Crown Jewel and took place on Saturday, November 4, 2023, at Mohammed Abdu Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as part of Riyadh Season. This was the second Crown Jewel held at this venue after the 2021 event. The event aired via pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming and featured wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. It was the 10th event that WWE held in Saudi Arabia under a 10-year partnership in support of Saudi Vision 2030.
Eight matches were contested at the event, including one on the Kickoff pre-show. In the main event, which was the main match from SmackDown, Roman Reigns defeated LA Knight to retain the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. In what was Raw's main match, Seth "Freakin" Rollins defeated Drew McIntyre to retain the World Heavyweight Championship, which was also the opening bout. In another prominent match, Logan Paul defeated Rey Mysterio to win SmackDown's WWE United States Championship. The event also saw the return of Kairi Sane to WWE; her last WWE match was in July 2020, however, she had remained with the company until December 2021 as a Japanese ambassador. Saudi Arabian actor and comedian Ibrahim Al Hajjaj also made an appearance.
This was also the final WWE event to be officially distributed on DVD in Europe, as well as the penultimate release in the United States, as WWE opted not to renew Fremantle's contract for home video releases after 2023 and shut their home video division down at the end of the year. Crown Jewel had a 2-disc release on December 12 in the United States, December 18 in the United Kingdom, and December 22 in Germany.
Production.
Background.
In early 2018, the American professional wrestling promotion WWE began a 10-year strategic multiplatform partnership with the Ministry of Sport (formerly General Sports Authority) in support of Saudi Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia's social and economic reform program. Crown Jewel was then established later that same year, subsequently becoming the main recurring event in this partnership, held in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, in late October–early November as part of Riyadh Season that launched in 2019. The fifth Crown Jewel, and 10th overall event in the Saudi Arabian partnership, was announced on October 7, 2023, and was scheduled to be held on Saturday, November 4, 2023, at the Mohammed Abdu Arena, marking the second Crown Jewel held at this venue after the 2021 event. The event aired on pay-per-view worldwide and was available to livestream on Peacock in the United States and the WWE Network in most international markets, and it featured wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. 
The 2023 Crown Jewel was first promoted by Saudi Arabia's Riyadh Season in September, which advertised John Cena for the event. It was also reported that WWE would have other attractions along with Crown Jewel, including a theme park dark ride and an Undertaker-themed walk-through, among other things.
Storylines.
The event comprised eight matches, including one on the pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, "Monday Night Raw" and "Friday Night SmackDown".
On the October 9 episode of "Raw", while Seth "Freakin" Rollins was celebrating his successful World Heavyweight Championship defense at Fastlane, he was confronted by Drew McIntyre, who wanted a title match. Despite complaining about feeling fatigue from his Fastlane defense, Rollins accepted, believing it was for that night. However, McIntyre stated that he wanted to face a healed up Rollins and suggested the match for Crown Jewel, which Rollins accepted.
At Payback, Rhea Ripley defeated Raquel Rodriguez to retain the Women's World Championship. During a rematch on the September 11 episode of "Raw", however, Nia Jax made a surprise return to WWE—her first appearance after a brief return at the Royal Rumble in January—and attacked Rodriguez, which allowed Ripley to retain her championship. However, Jax also attacked Ripley after the match. Jax then interfered in a tag team match that involved Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark the following week. Over the next few weeks, Ripley, Rodriguez, Baszler, and Jax would interfere in each other's matches and brawl with each other. These eruptions would come to a head during the season premiere of "Raw" on October 16, as following another brawl between the women which also involved Stark, Raw General Manager Adam Pearce announced that Ripley would defend the Women's World Championship against Jax, Baszler, Stark, and Rodriguez in a fatal five-way match at Crown Jewel.
After endorsing LA Knight at Payback, and then teaming with him at Fastlane to defeat The Bloodline (Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa), John Cena opened the season premiere of "SmackDown" on October 13; however, he was interrupted by Sikoa, Paul Heyman, and the return of Bloodline leader and the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion, Roman Reigns, who had taken a vacation shortly after SummerSlam in August. Reigns gave Cena the option to leave the ring voluntarily or they would make him leave; however, Cena stated that he acknowledged Reigns and that he was not there to challenge him for the title as he had not earned the opportunity. Cena then introduced Knight as a worthy challenger. Knight came out and berated Reigns and noted his own rise to stardom in Reigns' absence. Uso then attacked Knight from behind only for Knight to throw him out of the ring. Reigns then ordered Sikoa to handle Knight, and the two faced each other in the main event where Uso tried to interfere once again, however, he was impeded by Cena, and Knight subsequently defeated Sikoa. Following the match, Reigns attacked Knight. On October 20, it was announced that Reigns would defend the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against Knight at Crown Jewel. On "SmackDown" that night, after realizing he had not won a televised singles match since April 2018 and teasing retirement, Cena called out anyone to face him, which prompted Sikoa to come out and a brawl ensued. On October 27, a match between the two was announced for Crown Jewel.
After winning his boxing match at on October 14, Logan Paul, whose last WWE match was at SummerSlam in August, challenged Rey Mysterio for the United States Championship. Mysterio responded that Paul could find him any Friday on "SmackDown". Paul then appeared on the October 20 episode and recounted that he already defeated Mysterio in a tag team match at WrestleMania 38 in April 2022, which was Paul's first WWE match. Mysterio then came out and accepted Paul's challenge for the United States Championship at Crown Jewel.
For months, Cody Rhodes had been at odds with The Judgment Day (Finn Bálor, Damian Priest, "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio, and Rhea Ripley), and their accomplice, JD McDonagh. At Fastlane, Rhodes and Jey Uso defeated Bálor and Priest to win the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship, however, Bálor and Priest regained the titles in a rematch during the season premiere of "Raw" on October 16. The following week, as Bálor and Priest were celebrating winning back the titles, Rhodes interrupted them. After Priest taunted and called Rhodes a failure, Rhodes challenged Priest to a match that night, however, Priest denied since he already had a match scheduled against Uso. Priest in turn challenged Rhodes to a match at Crown Jewel, which Rhodes accepted.
At SummerSlam, Bianca Belair won the WWE Women's Championship, but immediately after the match, Damage CTRL's Iyo Sky cashed-in her Money in the Bank contract and defeated Belair to win the title. On the August 18 episode of "SmackDown", after Belair defeated Damage CTRL (Sky and Bayley) in a tag team match, Bayley and Sky viciously attacked Belair backstage with chairs, injuring Belair's knee (kayfabe). Two months later on the October 20 episode, after Sky successfully defended her championship against Charlotte Flair, Sky and Bayley attacked Flair, and Belair made a surprise return, saving Flair. The following week, Belair announced that after talking with SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis, she would get her rematch for the WWE Women's Championship against Sky at Crown Jewel.
Since mid-July, Sami Zayn would also be embroiled in a rivalry against The Judgment Day (Finn Bálor, Damian Priest, "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio, and Rhea Ripley) and their accomplice, JD McDonagh. During this time, Zayn and Kevin Owens would lose the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship to Bálor and Priest at Payback, and failed to regain them in a rematch. Following that, Owens was traded to SmackDown while Zayn remained on Raw and continued his rivalry with The Judgment Day. On the October 30 episode of "Raw", as Ripley, Mysterio, and McDonagh were in the ring, Zayn interrupted and stated that despite the fact that he was alone, he would continue to fight The Judgment Day until the group ended. Following that, Zayn managed to escape from an attempted beatdown from Judgment Day. Later that night, a match between Zayn and McDonagh was announced for the Crown Jewel Kickoff pre-show.
Event.
Pre-show.
On the Crown Jewel Kickoff pre-show, Sami Zayn faced JD McDonagh. During the match, Zayn delivered a lariat to McDonagh for a nearfall. McDonagh then performed a Spanish Fly on Zayn for a nearfall. As McDonagh attempted a moonsault, Zayn countered with a big boot. In the end, Zayn delivered a corner exploder suplex, the Helluva Kick, and a Blue Thunder Bomb on McDonagh to win the match.
Preliminary matches.
The actual pay-per-view opened with Seth "Freakin" Rollins defending the World Heavyweight Championship against Drew McIntyre. During the match, McIntyre delivered a vertical suplex to Rollins for a nearfall. Rollins then delivered a flying knee strike on McIntyre. As Rollins attempted a suicide dive, McIntyre caught him and performed an overhead belly-to-back suplex. Rollins performed a Pedigree on McIntyre for a nearfall. In the climax, as Rollins attempted a Phoenix Splash, McIntyre dodged it and performed the Claymore Kick on Rollins for another nearfall. As McIntyre attempted another Claymore, Rollins countered with a superkick and delivered the Pedigree and the Curb Stomp to McIntyre to retain the title. Following the match, McIntyre immediately departed backstage while Rollins sat in the ring. Damian Priest then came out and attempted to cash-in his Money in the Bank contract, however, Sami Zayn appeared from the crowd and shoved Priest into the ring post to prevent the cash-in. Zayn then ran off into the crowd with Priest's briefcase.
Next, Rhea Ripley defended the Women's World Championship against Shayna Baszler, Nia Jax, Raquel Rodriguez, and Zoey Stark in a fatal five-way match. In the closing moments, Ripley performed the Riptide on Baszler and Rodriguez attempted to pin Baszler. Ripley broke up the pin by delivering an avalanche Riptide on Stark onto Rodriguez and Baszler and then pinned Baszler to retain her title.
After that, John Cena faced Solo Sikoa. Cena began to target Sikoa's entire right arm in an attempt to prevent him from using the Samoan Spike. Despite this, Sikoa dominated the offence for almost all of the match. In the closing stages, Sikoa delivered a spinning heel kick to Cena for a nearfall. As Sikoa attempted a Samoan Spike on a seemingly broken Cena, Cena escaped and executed four of his moves of doom, including a five-knucke shuffle. As Cena attempted the Attitude Adjustment, Sikoa escaped and delivered a Samoan Drop and a running corner hip attack on Cena for a nearfall. Cena recovered again and locked in the STF, but Sikoa managed to escape. Sikoa then delivered a Samoan Spike to Cena. Sikoa then delivered two more Samoan Spikes to Cena, who managed to still get up. Afterwards, Sikoa attacked Cena with several Samoan Spikes and pinned him to win the match. Following the match, the crowd gave Cena a standing ovation as he emotionally walked to the backstage area, further teasing a retirement.
Following this, Raw's The Miz hosted a "Miz TV" segment with special guest, Saudi Arabian actor and comedian Ibrahim Al Hajjaj, who starred in the 2022 Saudi wrestling comedy "Sattar". They were interrupted by SmackDown's Grayson Waller, who wanted to turn the segment into "The Grayson Waller Effect". Miz and Waller argued and Hajjaj sided with Miz. After a scuffle, Miz hit the Skull Crushing Finale on Waller, followed by Hajjaj performing the People's Elbow on him.
Next, Rey Mysterio