WWE Crown Jewel takes place on Nov. 7 at Riyadh Season Stadium in Saudi Arabia, with Roman Reigns and Sami Zayn in one of two official matches. Reigns holds the World Heavyweight Championship, and Zayn brings the Undisputed WWE Championship into the bout for the men’s Crown Jewel title. Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan faces Chelsea Green, who holds the WWE Women’s Championship, for the second Crown Jewel title. Each bout pits a Raw titleholder against a SmackDown counterpart.
Gunther has been feuding with Finn Balor on SmackDown. On the Oct. 9 episode, a scheduled match between Gunther and Danhausen never started after the Ring General attacked his opponent before the bell. Balor made the save, only to be ambushed by Gunther later in the show.
Gunther is a former World Heavyweight Champion. Balor became the first Universal Champion in 2016, beating Seth Rollins at SummerSlam. A shoulder injury forced Balor to give up that title the next night.
Trick Williams beat Bron Breakker by disqualification in the main event of the Oct. 9 SmackDown after The Vision interfered. Bronson Reed hit Williams with a Tsunami, and The Vision stood tall to close the show. Both men were also in the men’s Money in the Bank ladder match the next night.
Williams is in his second United States Championship reign. The former NXT Champion won the title back from Baron Corbin on Sept. 6 at Sunday Night’s Main Event in Atlanta. Breakker works on Raw, where he holds the World Tag Team Championship with Austin Theory.
Jade Cargill, Michin, and B-Fab attacked Charlotte Flair backstage before the Oct. 9 SmackDown. General Manager Nick Aldis ruled Flair medically unfit, and Alexa Bliss replaced her in a Women’s Tag Team Championship match. Flair beat Cargill in a singles match on the Aug. 7 SmackDown.
Cargill, Michin, and B-Fab also beat Flair, Bliss, and Tatum Paxley in a six-woman tag match at Sunday Night’s Main Event in Atlanta. Cargill took the WWE Women’s Championship from Tiffany Stratton on Nov. 1, 2025. Flair is a former Raw and SmackDown Women’s Champion.
Damian Priest turned on R-Truth after the duo lost a tag team title match to Erik and Ivar on the Sept. 11 SmackDown. Priest explained the turn on the following week’s SmackDown. Priest later attacked Truth again in a video filmed at the WWE Performance Center.
Priest and Truth challenged for the WWE Tag Team Championship as a team as early as March. Truth first appeared in WWE in 2000. Priest is a former World Heavyweight Champion.
Bliss and Paxley won the Women’s Tag Team Championship from Fatal Influence’s Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid on the Oct. 9 SmackDown. Bliss hit Sister Abigail on Reid, and Paxley pinned Henley. Bliss is also a former Raw and SmackDown Women’s Champion.
Fatal Influence also includes Jacy Jayne, who won the Women’s United States Championship on the Aug. 14 SmackDown. Fatal Influence had won the tag titles at Saturday Night’s Main Event earlier in 2026. Jayne, Henley, and Reid beat Stratton, Green, and Paige on the Sept. 25 SmackDown.
Gunther vs. Balor should be the third-biggest match in Riyadh. Gunther spent Oct. 9 beating up Danhausen, and the Ring General needs a real opponent again. Balor is the right man, and Crown Jewel is the type of show where a big-match veteran like Gunther belongs.
Williams vs. Breakker is the best cross-brand match WWE can make. The Oct. 9 DQ finish left it unresolved, and Breakker was the standout of the men’s ladder match. Putting the United States Championship on the line raises the stakes. Williams should win clean and make his second reign feel like the real thing.
Cargill vs. Flair deserves a rematch on a bigger stage than SmackDown. The backstage attack on Oct. 9 gave Flair a personal reason to want a fight, and Riyadh offers the feud a big stage. Priest vs. Truth and the tag title rematch would round out a strong card without stealing time from the two Crown Jewel Championship matches.
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