Cody Rhodes flaunts after pinning Gunther at WWE Crown Jewel
This past Saturday, WWE Crown Jewel emanated from Mohammed Abdo Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where Cody Rhodes narrowly escaped Gunther's Gojira Clutch and stole a win. As a result, The American Nightmare became the inaugural Men's Crown Jewel Champion.
The match started off slow, but the crowd was evidently excited to witness the world champions lock horns. The two competitors eventually shifted gears, and things went back and forth until the end, where Rhodes reversed The Ring General's hold and trapped the latter in a pinfall.
Taking to Instagram, the Undisputed WWE Champion basked in the glory, sharing snaps of the Crown Jewel show's main event, the diamond-encrusted belt, and the ring he received post-show:
"1st #WWECrownJewel Champion ✅," Cody Rhodes wrote.
The loss marked only Gunther's second loss since moving to WWE's main roster in April 2022 and also his second in 2024. Sami Zayn and Cody Rhodes are now the two people who have scored pinfall wins over The Ring General.
Triple H has left the door open for Cody Rhodes vs. Gunther II, says Sam Roberts
WWE analyst Sam Roberts discussed the finish of Crown Jewel's main event on the latest episode of his NotSam Wrestling podcast, among other topics.
Sam praised WWE CCO Triple H for the unusual pairing of Cody Rhodes and Gunther at Crown Jewel. He reminded that Sami Zayn's recent challenge to the World Heavyweight Champion was important because Zayn had a win over The Ring General. Similarly, a sequel to Crown Jewel's main event could prove to be very interesting:
"But it does, I think, leave it fairly open for the potential in the sense that, like, why was the RAW match between Gunther and Sami Zayn so important? Because Sami Zayn beat Gunther. So it's like Gunther has no blemishes except for this one. And eventually, whether it's at WrestleMania, whether it's a year from now, whether it's two years from now, because everything counts," Sam Roberts said.
Meanwhile, Gunther's next challenger will be determined tonight on RAW. The four men competing to become the number one contender are Seth Rollins, Damian Priest, Dominik Mysterio, and Sheamus.