WWE Crown Jewel 2023 preview: This could be the end of John Cena’s WWE run

WWE Crown Jewel is set to take place today (Sat., Nov. 4, 2023) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It begins at 12 pm ET with the Kickoff show leading right into the main card at 1 pm ET on Peacock in the U.S., WWE Network everywhere else, or your local cable pay-per-view provider.

This could be the end of John Cena’s WWE run

John Cena returned to WWE two months ago as a result of the SAG-AFTRA strike, and he has been a weekly staple on SmackDown television ever since. But Crown Jewel is the last date that Cena is advertised to appear for WWE, so even though the strike continues on, there is a chance that his current run with WWE will wrap up later today in Saudi Arabia.

Paul Heyman knows this and suggested that WWE fans get ready to say goodbye to the face that used to run the place. John Cena has not won a singles match on TV or PPV in over 2000 days, going all the way back to 2018. Today at Crown Jewel, Solo Sikoa will keep that streak going by beating John and proving he no longer has what it takes to win. That’s the Bloodline’s plan, anyway.

That’s not how John sees things playing out today. He still believes in himself and considers this match to be a must-win. Solo already tried to silence John with a vicious Samoan Spike to the throat. John plans to repay him in Saudi Arabia by sticking that same thumb up his ass.

Most of the Crown Jewel card is pretty straightforward to predict, but this one is more of a coin toss. If John Cena is done with WWE for now, there’s a good argument to be made that he should put Solo over on the way out. However, in order for John to have value to WWE going forward, he needs to back up his words and end this losing streak.

Which one will it be? You’ll have to tune into Crown Jewel to find out what happens when John Cena goes one-on-one with Solo Sikoa.

Here are the remaining seven segments that are currently advertised for Crown Jewel:

Roman Reigns (c) vs. LA Knight for the WWE Universal Championship

Roman Reigns last defended the WWE Universal championship three months ago at SummerSlam. Since then, LA Knight has had a meteoric rise to the top of the card in WWE. He’s the hottest star in the company, largely fueled by the gift of gab and multiple catchphrases.

Knight made a bold move last month when he saved John Cena from The Bloodline before teaming with John at Fastlane to beat Jim Uso and Solo Sikoa. But now it’s just Roman and LA one-on-one for the gold. Roman looks down on LA Knight as akin to a virgin who has no idea what he’s doing at this level. That inexperience doesn’t matter one bit to the megastar, who is supremely confident that he’s just one BFT away from ending Roman’s 1200+ day championship reign. What will he do when Roman kicks out of that pin attempt?

For what it’s worth, the Wise Man says we’ll see the most savage version of Roman Reigns ever tonight. But this is Paul Heyman we’re talking about, so he could be full of shit as usual.

Seth Rollins (c) vs. Drew McIntyre for the World Heavyweight Championship

Drew McIntyre looks down on weak people like Cody Rhodes and Sami Zayn for being so quick to forgive Jey Uso for all his past sins from when he was a member of the Bloodline. McIntyre still can’t get over Jey’s role in screwing him out of the WWE Universal Championship last year in the United Kingdom at Clash at the Castle. That was Drew’s chance to finally win the top prize in WWE in front of a live audience, after his initial run on top was relegated to empty arenas in the early months of COVID.

Drew desperately wants to win a world title, so he didn’t hesitate to challenge Rollins for the gold. Drew plans to break Seth’s back and take his belt, whereas Seth thinks Drew is a big Scottish crybaby who needs some perspective on how much worse those early COVID months were for most other people in the world. Seth has no pity for Drew’s sob story, and he plans to send him to the back of the line after winning at Crown Jewel.

While Seth and Drew have been bickering back and forth on the mic in recent weeks, Damian Priest hasn’t let anybody forget that he can easily cash in his Money in the Bank on whoever wins this match. Rhea Ripley has been looking to cut a deal with Seth or Drew to partner up with The Judgment Day and avoid that fate. Will Seth or Drew accept her offer?

IYO SKY (c) vs. Bianca Belair for the WWE Women’s Championship

With an assist from Bayley, IYO SKY has managed to withstand multiple challenges from Asuka and Charlotte Flair while retaining the WWE Women’s Championship. But now Bianca Belair is back in WWE, and she is a much more difficult opponent to beat. Damage CTRL put Belair on the shelf for two months with a backstage attack in August, so this is a lot more personal for Bianca than just trying to win a belt. She is consumed by vengeance and wants to make IYO pay for what she did to her.

For what it’s worth, there is a rumor that Kairi Sane could be back in WWE very soon. If Damage CTRL is scheming to find a way to beat Bianca, bringing Kairi into the fold for a surprise attack today could be one way to do it.

Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Nia Jax vs. Shayna Baszler vs. Zoey Stark vs. Raquel Rodriguez for the Women’s World Championship

There are very few women in WWE who can’t stand toe-to-toe with Rhea Ripley, so WWE decided to throw four of the top contenders against her at once. Even so, Rhea is still the dominant force in this match, moreso than the recently returned Nia Jax. It would be pretty shocking if Ripley drops her belt in Saudi Arabia.

Rey Mysterio (c) vs. Logan Paul for the United States Championship

After Logan Paul beat Dillon Danis in a boxing match a few weeks ago, the YouTube douchebag decided to call out Rey Mysterio for a shot at the United States championship. Rey is never one to turn down a challenge, so the match was booked for Crown Jewel. Since then, Logan has made the smart play of becoming buddies with that little shithead Dominik Mysterio, who might be looking to screw his father out of the belt. Logan is heavily favored to defeat the WWE Hall of Famer and bring home his first championship belt in WWE.

Cody Rhodes vs. Damian Priest

Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso defeated Priest and Finn Balor for the WWE tag team titles last month at Fastlane. Priest and Balor won those titles right back with some help from Jim Uso. Cody has since had his leg Pillmanized by The Judgment Day, so he’s looking to get revenge on Priest at Crown Jewel. Cody has called Damian out for being a follower rather than a leader; this is Priest’s chance to make him eat those words.

Sami Zayn vs. JD McDonagh (pre-show)

Every faction needs someone to take beatings for the group, and that’s what JD McDonagh is currently doing for The Judgment Day. Meanwhile, Sami Zayn swears that as long as he’s breathing, he will not rest until The Judgment Day is no more. In addition to that, Zayn is determined to prove that he can win a top singles championship now that his tag team partner Kevin Owens has been traded to SmakDown. Add it all up, and JD McDonagh is very likely going to get his ass kicked by Sami on the Crown Jewel pre-show.

Summary

Crown Jewel is the latest event that is part of WWE’s disgusting business relationship with the Saudi Arabian government. Unlike most of the earlier events of this deal, though, WWE actually built a lineup here that looks like it could be a great show. When Cody Rhodes is in the least important match on the main card, you know the lineup is stacked, and that’s without Brock Lesnar on hand for maybe the first time ever on one of these Saudi cards. More specifically, there’s a lot of intrigue in how the matches featuring LA Knight, John Cena, Seth Rollins, IYO SKY, and Logan Paul will be booked.

How will WWE try to protect LA Knight in defeat? Is this really the end of John Cena’s current run with WWE? Is Damian Priest finally going to cash in that Money in the Bank contract? Is Kairi Sane scheduled to make a surprise return? These are some of the more interesting questions that should be answered in a matter of hours.

What will you be looking for at Crown Jewel?