WWE Crown Jewel 2021: Retro 3 Things We Hated & 3 Things We Loved

Welcome to another edition of Wrestling Inc.'s retro reviews, where we take notable wrestling shows from the past and apply our universally celebrated loved/hated format! Last time we had a PPV/PLE weekend, we doubled up on backward looks at both an ECW show and an AEW show that were renowned for their overall lack of quality. This time around, we're getting back to the good stuff — in this case, looking ahead to WWE Crown Jewel 2025 by looking backward at Crown Jewel 2021, a show that exceeded almost everyone's expectations.

This event only happened four years ago, but it was a totally different landscape. Adam Copeland, Mansoor, Mustafa Ali, and Bobby Lashley were all still WWE stars. The women's division still had to wear baggy t-shirts in Saudi Arabia. Big E was WWE Champion. Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar were in the main event (okay so it's not radically different). And perhaps most importantly, there were nine matches on the four-hour main card, which means that unlike current WWE PLEs, there's no way for us to cover everything that happened at this event. As a result, we're sticking mostly to the stuff mentioned above — though that still gives us a ton to talk about! Here are three things we hated and three things we loved about WWE Crown Jewel 2021!

I'd heard good things about this match going in, and it does contain one legitimately cool spot — the one where Edge shoves Rollins off the top rope and into the cage wall, after which he falls through a table set up on the outside. But beyond that, this felt like a cheap approximation of a great wrestling match more than the real deal.

Like, I get the idea here. I really do. Edge and Rollins feel like natural opponents, aesthetically — similar builds, similar styles, similar characters over the years. On the indies, Rollins often felt like Edge's Pokemon evolution; the same genre of wrestler, but with a more exciting moveset (and, to the uncharitable, a similar knack for getting pushed ahead of more deserving talent). They also feel like the kind of guys you want in this kind of sanitized, bloodless Hell in a Cell match, because they have this growly goth thing going on that conveys some of the grittiness you lose when you don't get color in the cage. And yes, technically they had been feuding, this was their third big match, and they had history going back to Rollins threatening to break Edge's neck for good a decade prior.

All of this works – in theory. In practice, a single decade-old throwaway segment that didn't make a ton of noise even at the time is a pretty flimsy foundation for a feud, and there wasn't much else that was believable about the animosity between these two wrestlers. The match felt like somebody checking a box, like we just had to do Edge vs. Rollins because they had that one segment once, and because they look good together on the poster. Their mutual aesthetic matches a 2021 WWE Hell in a Cell match almost too well – style without substance, the superficial appearance of hatred without any of the actual grit beneath it. That's how this match felt to me, and it went on forever; there was no universe where this needed to take up the first 40 minutes of the show. If this is, as it had been pitched to me, the best of the bloodless Cell matches, it's the best possible argument for never doing a bloodless Cell match again.

Written by Miles Schneiderman

While there are some very significant and credible objections to WWE's dealings with Saudi Arabia, there has to be something to be said about the validity in embracing and shining a light on other cultures, and giving people from a different part of the world an international platform. 

I can't in good faith say this was indicative of a cultural shift within the company, specifically earlier in the events agreement there was a shift to accommodate people of Muslim descent and/or faith, and more importantly in a way that didn't stand to place them in a box as a foreign heel. Did it last long, or lead to any significant shift? No. Of course it didn't, and there is the sure argument of appeasement when it came to signing the handful of Saudi talent they did in the wake of the deal. 

But for what it was worth, Crown Jewel 2021 did play host to a historic match as a result; Mansoor, pushed as the Riyadh hometown hero during his initial run, against Mustafa Ali, the bitter heel who had been – and unfortunately continued to be – criminally underused, in the first singles match between Muslim competitors in WWE history. 

And the match, while hardly given the chance to be a barn-burner, proved to be a fun time in itself. The story was Mansoor's need to prove himself worthy and on the level of Ali, who had found himself in the proximity of Mansoor after rug-pull after rug-pull, just in time for them to have their historic match. It wasn't much, but it was a moment of representation that felt important, and really should be the focus of these shows while they need to be held. As much as the marquee matches will be held, per the objective of the sportswashing, there should be more of these moments and these outcomes, the platforming of a diverse talent-base and the showcasing of a culture, rather than a hollow recreation of the greatest hits.

Written by Max Everett

It should be said right off the bad that I'm going to put everything about the fact this is a women's match in Saudi Arabia aside, as I tried to watch it with an open mind this time, after watching it live for the first time in 2021. I couldn't remember much about it, and after watching this match back not just once, but twice, I can see why I couldn't recall a thing outside of Zelina Vega's victory. For this being the first-ever Queen of the Ring (Queen's Crown, whatever, that was also a pretty stupid name to begin with) tournament, the final match fell flat. This was also in poor Piper Niven's "Doudrop" era, which was absolutely terrible, so I'm going to just refer to her at Niven here going forward to not have to relive too much of that.

This was the shortest match on the card at just under six minutes, but it feels like it goes on forever, and I thought that on both watch-throughs of it. I'm all for the little guy vs. big guy thing, but it's just not believable with Vega for me. The match is entirely about the smaller Vega trying to take down the bigger Niven, but I just don't find it believable. Usually I'm better at suspending my disbelief when it comes to professional wrestling, but this just didn't do it for me. It could be because Niven had an answer for everything Vega threw at her up until the very end, and that final move, the Code Red by Vega, was really the only thing I liked about this match. She hit that perfectly, obviously with a bit of Niven's help, though you couldn't tell Niven helped at all.

The crowd didn't help this match at all, and again, that's not a knock at the Saudi crowds, as we've seen they can be loud for women's matches, and were more alive for the other women's match on this show. The crowd was pretty silent throughout the entire six minutes, up until Vega sat on the thrown with the crown and she got a moderate pop. She was also just so loud and vocal in the ring, which works when there's enough crowd noise and helps a match be believable, but that wasn't the case here.

Out of curiosity, I looked back at the women in the Queen's Crown tournament that year, and, though it sounds terrible to say, I'm not entirely sure any combination of women would have led to a big crowd response at that point in history. The biggest name would have been Liv Morgan, who was a few years away from really breaking out into a main event star.

Crown Jewel 2021 was a pretty good show and while this match was by no means offensive, it just wasn't great compared to the caliber of the other action on the card. Vega may be the first QotR, but sadly, she's not a very memorable one.

Written by Daisy Ruth

Bobby Lashley faced off against Goldberg in what very well may have been his last good match in WWE, and one of the best matches he had since he started to do one-off bouts here-and-there starting in 2016. The feud was personal after Lashley put Gage Goldberg in the Hurt Lock during his bout with his father at SummerSlam.

Getting Goldberg's family involved was the right move here, as it added a lot more emotion and story into this feud that worked well for a big stipulation match. Even if you just watched the video package that played before the men got in the ring, you would be caught up to speed on how personal this was and how hard these men were about to go after each other. It was Lashley who put forth the No Holds Barred stipulation, making him look tougher, if that's even possible, and the Falls Count Anywhere part of the match was added later, which ended up being a really nice touch when it came to the end. It also didn't hurt that this was a super-hot crowd in Saudi Arabia, a country whose Crown Prince is notorious for loving his legends and Hall of Famers.

The match was pretty lengthy for a Goldberg match, clocking in at just under 11 minutes and 30 seconds. The legend was no slouch in the match, either, for never really being known for his work in stipulation matches, outside of maybe his Taser Ladder Match against Scott Hall in WCW. It was also fun to see Lashley, who was never exactly used right in WWE, shine against a legend who the crowd was so into. 

Lashley immediately went after Goldberg when he armed himself with a chain he pulled out of his tights before the bell even rang. The pair go back-and-forth, with Lashley going through a table set up in the corner at one point. Lashley took a spear and Jackhammer in the ring but just wouldn't stay down, and Goldberg speared him through the barricade right after for his troubles.

While Goldberg does start to limp and it's difficult to tell whether or not he's selling it well or really in pain, the speed of the match never really slows down. They took the fight to the outside with the spear through the barricade, and the Hurt Business' Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin make brief appearances when the competitors make their way up the ramp, but Goldberg makes quick work of them.

The finish to the match is also excellent and despite Goldberg's victory, didn't make Lashley look weak. After the pair traded kendo stick shots, Goldberg speared Lashley off the stage, into tables below and got over him for the cover and pinfall victory. Goldberg got a decisive victory where he actually looked good, which the star desperately needed at this point. I was surprised at how much I liked this, but it was a great stipulation match that the Crown Jewel card needed.

Written by Daisy Ruth

For the record, this is only a "hated" because of where we are now, four years later. That's how we do things when a show is overall very good.

I wasn't watching much WWE – or really much wrestling in general – in 2021, so I sadly missed out on most of the period in which Big E was WWE Champion. That said, Big E has been a favorite of mine for many years, and it was absolutely thrilling to watch him make his entrance with that title around his waist. Both the entrance and the match with Drew McIntyre was even better for the lack of comedic shenanigans throughout; I love New Day as much as anyone, but aside from their names on E's gear and a very understated mid-match hip swivel, they were absent from this contest. It was like getting a brief, prophetic glimpse of a timeline where Big E Langston (he of the five-count and the powdered hands, the second-ever NXT Champion) never needed New Day to rehabilitate his career after almost immediately being wasted on the main roster.

Nor did the match itself disappoint. E's reign was still young and he was still a relative newcomer to the main event scene, so all this really had to do story-wise was prove he belonged there. To that end, McIntyre was the perfect opponent, and he's an even better choice when you consider that E has always done his best work against his fellow bigs – appropriate for the man who coined the phrase "big meaty men slapping meat." This match was less Euro-style hard chops and stiffness and more "big guy throw other big guy real far," with the size and strength of the wrestlers merely serving to supplement and enhance their suplexes, grappling exchanges, and smooth technical counters. As a style, it's very much my jam, and these two in particular are great at it. Yes, this match did include the bane of my personal wrestling existence, the finisher kick-out, but I actually think it was necessary this time, and done well. McIntyre kicking out of the Big Ending raised the question of whether or not E really was ready for prime time; E kicking out of the Claymore was his rebuttal that yes, in fact, he was; after that, a second Big Ending kept Drew down for three. In a world where Brock Lesnar is kicking out of three finishers and then hitting six of his own, I'll absolutely take this. Just absolutely excellent work from top to bottom, and they didn't even need 15 minutes to get there.

And then, of course, after you're done enjoying the match in a vacuum, you have to come back to the real world. The one where Big E lost the title to Lesnar after just one more defense. The one where he broke his neck just months later in early 2022. The one where, despite Woods and Kingston doing an entire heel turn that seemed to foreshadow his long-awaited return, he's still not back in the ring, and it's starting to look like he never will be. This was fantastic, but in the end, it's just a reminder of how few matches and championship runs like this we actually got from Big E, and the fact that we may never get another.

Written by Miles Schneiderman

When it comes to generational rivalries and perfect dance partners in the world of WWE, Brock Lesnar's chemistry with Roman Reigns has to be in the conversation. Much of Lesnar's work in the ring after 2012 told a story of him either wanting to turn up and wrestle his socks off, making the other worker in the ring look good even in crushing defeat, or him turning up and realizing that he does not get paid by the hour, smashing certain wrestlers within minutes of the bell ringing. Reigns happened to be one of the only wrestlers that ever generated the former version of the "Beast Incarnate," starting with their brutal masterpiece at WrestleMania 31, and lastly at SummerSlam 2022 when he decided to flip the entire ring with a tractor. 

The feud for the latter of those bouts started in 2021, with Lesnar's first challenge against the "Tribal Chief" coming at Crown Jewel, at a time when the questions of Paul Heyman were being questioned in the presence of his former client. And it managed to serve up the perfect transition for the next part of their story further down the line; looking at this retrospectively, and knowing that Heyman would go on to be "fired" by Reigns, becoming the advocate for Lesnar as the WWE Champion once again, only to then betray him for Reigns to eventually become the Undisputed WWE Champion at WrestleMania, everything made perfect sense when rewatching this bout. 

Heyman, because of course he did, sold the idea that he was in empathetic pain when either one of his wards took a shot perfectly, and it added to the overall melodrama. In fact, it was arguably the first time Lesnar and Reigns had a match with melodrama at all, outside of maybe the Seth Rollins cash-in aspect of WrestleMania 31. And by the time they had run through the moves we had all seen before, but still very much appreciated, Heyman throwing the title dead in the middle, refusing to commit to one person, topped everything else they had ever done before. 

The Usos saved Reigns, putting the well-needed spotlight on them in a run that would make a main eventer, and the title run continued to much success. At the time, everything felt must-see and there was a drawing power to Lesnar's challenge against The Bloodline. There was a tangible heat and atmosphere to every little movement, an energy that can be rarely captured, and an even rarer example of WWE hitting each and every stride with the booking – strictly as it pertains to this story.

Written by Max Everett