WWE Raw and SmackDown Recap: Road to Crown Jewel

Crown Jewel is this Saturday, and for once I actually care. That’s saying something, because Crown Jewel is not my favorite event.

Sami Zayn is out here fighting like the last real good guy in WWE. The 946 is running wild. Demon Finn went from goofy to fire in one segment. And Ethan Page is somehow holding the Intercontinental Title. So yeah, grab your snacks. Let’s break down Friday’s SmackDown and last night’s Raw.

SmackDown Recap: Sami Zayn Earns It the Hard Way

Sami Zayn def. Trick Williams, Undisputed WWE Title, No DQ

I love the run Sami is on right now. He’s the last real good guy, and he’s standing firm on earning that belt. He’s not letting anybody downplay it, and he’s going to extreme lengths to keep it.

Sami hid behind the ref, hit the low blow and cracked Trick with the title. I’m good with all of it. I’m all about hard work over the bells and whistles, so I’m picking Sami over Trick all day. I could care less about an entrance song.

These two have given us some bangers in the past, and this one just adds to the collection. The best part? When Yachty and Gargano got ejected and Nick Aldis restarted the match as a No DQ. That’s when it took off.

Danhausen and Demon Finn

This is a match made in heaven, and it’s exactly what the Gunther and Finn feud needs.

It’s crazy because I’m not a fan of Danhausen at all. I thought his gimmick was super corny and he hasn’t done anything in the ring to impress me. But managing Demon Finn is a great fit, with Finn as one of his experiments. Gunther attacked Danhausen in the middle of the reveal, then Finn hit the Coup de Grace off a ladder and put him through the announce table.

Gunther being the big bad ass that he is didn’t expect that, and I’m a huge fan of Gunther too, so I’m intrigued to see how this plays out. It went from goofy to fire in one segment.

Chelsea Green def. Nikki Bella, WWE Women’s Title

Chelsea got the rollup win after Nikki’s Rack Attack was wiped out by her leg being through the ropes. But the real story was Tiffany Stratton teasing the cash-in on Liv Morgan until Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez shut it down.

Here’s my theory: Tiffy is cashing in on Chelsea and possibly turning heel. I can see it. They keep teasing it against Liv, and I believe that’s to sidetrack us from what’s really going to happen. Chelsea vs. Tiffy might just be firrrreeeee. I’m just waiting for it to go down.

Also on the show, Rey Fenix beat Ricky Saints to keep the AAA World Cruiserweight Title, and Jade Cargill beat Tatum Paxley.

Raw Recap: The 946 Keeps Cooking

Ethan Page def. Chad Gable, Intercontinental Title

Ethan Page is super wack sauce. I’m not feeling him at all.

Chad was cooking with the luchadors and the IC title. After the whole Grande Americano story, which was epic, they should’ve kept building on that. Page has no direction and no skills for me right now. Horrible move at the moment.

But if there’s one thing I know about WWE, it’s that they might have something up their sleeve. So we shall see how this plays out.

Royce Keys vs. Solo Sikoa, No Contest

The 946 has been cooking, and I love the street life angle they gave them. Jaida Parker running over Jacob Fatu. Pulling up on The Bloodline. Getting out of their cars. Kidnapping Solo. That’s the energy.

Last night they jumped Solo, Roman and The Usos came out, then Cruz Montana leveled Roman and joined up. Jaida, Melo, Bronco Nima, Lucien Price, Royce, and now Cruz. I love that they’re taking people nobody was paying attention to, turning them into stars and collecting them from different places. In my eyes this is cooking hard and setting up WarGames for something epic.

Then Sami ran in and hit Roman with the Helluva Kick. That part made it a little personal.

The Vision def. Penta, Je’Von Evans and Dragon Lee

The Vision needs direction. They can do more to make the tag titles relevant. Logan needs to come back for sure, and cut the Maxxine Dupri angle because that’s not going anywhere. Bronson Reed’s comeback against Oba was a good angle, but now it’s done and they need something new for him.

Bron Breakker, though? Cooking. He speared Je’Von out of midair. I think him attacking all the future stars is solidifying his future as the top dog, and I don’t even think it’s full blown on display yet. They did it with Oba, but Je’Von and Penta are top future stars too. Keep that angle going, with Bron destroying the whole future of WWE. It’s a good angle for him.

The John Cena Classic

Cena announced it for Dec. 14 at Disney World, and it’s meh. I didn’t care about it much the first run and this one is even worse. There’s no need for the belt unless you’re going to defend it. I guess we’ll see if any future stars shine bright and set up their future through it. That’s about the only thing I’d look forward to.

Crown Jewel Predictions

I don’t like the concept of Crown Jewel, and I don’t like that there’s a different Crown Jewel champ every year. Same issue as the John Cena Classic. The belt isn’t necessary unless you’re going to defend it.

If the first Crown Jewel champ was crowned and the belt only got defended once a year, between the last Crown Jewel champ and the winner of both champs, I would’ve been OK with that. It gives that champ a title to defend even after he drops his main belt, and he still has bragging rights. The way it’s set up now is just corny.

The only reason this one is decent is Roman and Sami’s history in The Bloodline, and it got a lot more interesting after Sami attacked Roman last night. Now I’m kind of excited.

Sami Zayn vs. Roman Reigns: The 946 beats Roman down and Sami wins.

Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton, Last Man Standing: These two have been cooking for a bit now and giving us bangers. This should be another good one. I got Randy winning with a punt to Cody.

Chelsea Green vs. Liv Morgan: Should be alright. I definitely see Tiffy popping out and cashing in. Again, it might just be on Chelsea, with a heel turn. lol

I’m all about hard work over the bells and whistles, in wrestling and in real estate. If you’re trying to figure out your own next move, my free First-Time Homebuyer Planner lays out the work step by step.

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