Two men who otherwise are friends, or at least friendly, fought one another at Crown Jewel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Oct. 21 for the right to wear a crown and call themselves King.
Xavier Woods, who for years has been telling anyone who will listen how much being King of the Ring would mean to him, defeated Ricochet and Jinder Mahal to reach today’s final. Finn Bálor, who still working to cement himself atop the main roster card, beat Cesaro and Sami Zayn.
Neither gave any quarter, and the crowd at Mohammed Abdu Arena on the Boulevard cheered every big move and shift of momentum between Woods and Bálor. The New Day-er looked to have it won after a superplex...
HIGH RISK, HIGH REWARD.@AustinCreedWins delivers a massive #Superplex to @FinnBalor with the right to be crowned #KingOfTheRing up for grabs! #WWECrownJewel
— WWE (@WWE) October 21, 2021
https://t.co/5FC5w1zamA
https://t.co/aEwGYUp0uE pic.twitter.com/QkhMHDKMdz
...but Finn countered his elbow drop follow-up. A slingblade then set the Prince up to become King, but X evaded. A short time later, the elbow off the top hit, and the boyhood dream became a reality!
All Hail King Xavier!
The dream has come true.
— WWE (@WWE) October 21, 2021
ALL HAIL KING @AustinCreedWins! #WWECrownJewel pic.twitter.com/eAvtQcMUmP
Woods was the lone member of his legendary trio who hadn’t experienced a big single win. To most of us, King of the Ring in 2021 isn’t quite the WWE title, which has been captured by Kofi Kingston and Big E. But to Xavier Woods? It’s a dream come true.
Get complete Crown Jewel results and coverage of every match on the card right here.