Big E defended the WWE championship against Drew McIntyre today (Oct. 21) at WWE Crown Jewel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Their story up to this point has revolved around the two top babyfaces reluctantly teaming together multiple times on Raw, with things sometimes working out okay, and other times not so much. McIntyre even laid Big E out with a Claymore as tensions mounted. The implication was clear: if Drew hits the Claymore at Crown Jewel, then he’s bringing the WWE championship with him to SmackDown when new rosters go into effect tomorrow.
There was a lot of meat slapping in this match, as you would expect, including Drew tossing the champ with an overhead belly-to-belly suplex on the outside of the ring.
The POWER of @DMcIntyreWWE!#WWECrownJewel #WWEChampionship @WWEBigE pic.twitter.com/MkwMc4KqDj
— WWE (@WWE) October 21, 2021
McIntyre wasn’t done there; he followed up with a leaping spinebuster, and even a Michinoku Driver a few minutes later.
Michinoku Driver! #WWECrownJewel #WWEChampionship @DMcIntyreWWE pic.twitter.com/wh5gfHGHvg
— WWE (@WWE) October 21, 2021
Big E isn’t accustomed to being manhandled like that, but it still wasn’t enough to keep him down. He countered Drew’s Claymore with a powerbomb and the stretch muffler submission. He then hit his finish, the Big Ending. But Drew kicked out!
The #WWEChampion @WWEBigE thought he was handing @DMcIntyreWWE his #BigEnding ... but The #ScottishWarrior KICKED OUT! #WWECrownJewel pic.twitter.com/o4RMTa0PNI
— WWE (@WWE) October 21, 2021
Drew recovered and hurt Big E with a top rope bulldog. He then executed a perfect Claymore. But Big E kicked out!
After another brief exchange, Big E reversed Drew back into the Big Ending, and the second time was the charm.
Big E is still your WWE champion.
Get complete Crown Jewel results and coverage of every match on the card right here.