Roman Reigns at WWE Crown Jewel: Ranking all of The Tribal Chief's matches including Brock Lesnar, Logan Paul, and more
Roman Reigns returns to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia next Saturday, as he heads to Riyadh to defend his Unified WWE Universal Championship at Crown Jewel 2023.
LA Knight is scheduled to be The Tribal Chief's next opponent. "The Megastar" has been a thorn in The Bloodline's path for a while, and Reigns will look to put this problem to rest in Riyadh.
However, this will not be his first outing at Crown Jewel, as he has competed at the event three times before. This listicle takes a trip down memory lane, and ranks Roman Reigns' previous matchups at the mega Saudi-based premium live event.
#3. Team Hogan (Roman Reigns, Ali, Chad Gable, Rusev, Ricochet) vs. Team Flair (King Corbin, Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley, Randy Orton, Shinsuke Nakamura) at WWE Crown Jewel 2019
In a smart attempt to attract casual fans, WWE booked a 5-on-5 Tag Team Match for Crown Jewel. The catch was that Hall of Famers, Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan, selected, and coached the participants of their respective teams.
The Hulkster, ever the babyface, chose Roman Reigns as the captain. Mustafa Ali, Rusev, Ricochet, and Shorty G (Chad Gable) were The Big Dog's teammates. At Crown Jewel 2019, Team Hogan prevailed over Team Flair - King Corbin, Drew McIntyre, Randy Orton, Bobby Lashley, and Shinsuke Nakamura.
In terms of the action, there was nothing very special. It was designed to attract casual fans, and felt like a throwaway, typical Saudi match. By no means was the 5-on-5 encounter a dud. However, with such a packed card that featured Tyson Fury and Cain Velasquez, it soon faded out of memory.
Among all his outings at the show, this was Reigns' least memorable.
#2. Roman Reigns (c) vs. Brock Lesnar at WWE Crown Jewel 2021
After two months of compelling build, The Tribal Chief collided with his greatest adversary, Brock Lesnar, at Crown Jewel 2021. Until that point, this was the champion's toughest battle.
The Beast Incarnate returned to snatch the Universal Title away from Reigns, with a chiseled physique and an invigorated look. Due to his past as Lesnar's advocate, The Special Counsel, Paul Heyman, was put in a difficult position to firmly choose a side.
Considering the build, the match was pretty underwhelming. Fans had watched these two adversaries fight tooth-and-nail in hellacious bouts in the past. This encounter was nowhere near the standards that were set.
It was a typical Lesnar match lasting twelve minutes, with small doses of signature moves. The ending was also pretty ordinary, as The Usos interfered, to help their cousin retain the Universal Championship.
The clash did serve to further the Lesnar-Reigns saga, which only grew in intensity with time. However, The Tribal Chief and The Beast have fought in memorable bouts, and this, unfortunately, was not one of them.
#1. Roman Reigns (c) vs. Logan Paul at Crown Jewel 2022
12 months removed from the clash with Brock Lesnar, WWE opted for the unconventional route, booking The Tribal Chief against Logan Paul.
This was Paul's third match, but this was a smart business move, as Triple H was hoping to capitalize on the YouTube sensation's popularity and influence. Fortunately, it turned out to be an amazing decision, as this was, by far, Reigns' best match at Crown Jewel.
The Maverick built his entire narrative around "one lucky punch," and the title clash revolved around Paul's fists. In terms of in-ring action, this was superb. Paul frog-splashed Reigns through the announcers' table, and nearly knocked out the champion to a near-fall.
Jake Paul and The Bloodline also got involved, to spread chaos all over the arena. The Maverick's efforts didn't bear much fruit as a spine-jarring Spear was enough to put him down for the three count.