Biggest Takeaways From 2022 WWE Crown Jewel Results

WWE presented Crown Jewel live from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday, with a Match of the Year candidate pitting undisputed WWE universal champion Roman Reigns against Logan Paul and several other bangers across the card.

It also left the WWE Universe with several takeaways, not least of which was the otherworldly performances from Reigns and Paul. But there was also the questionable booking of Damage CTRL and the protective finish of the Drew McIntyre-Karrion Kross steel cage match to consider.

Dive deeper into each takeaway now with this recap of Saturday's pay-per-view.

There was reason to believe WWE had booked itself into a corner Saturday with the steel cage match between Drew McIntyre and Karrion Kross.

The Scottish Warrior could not afford a third straight PPV loss if there was any hope that he would retain his main event momentum, and Kross could not afford to lose any legitimacy this early into his return run with the company.

Something had to give, though, and it turned out the steel cage gimmick was the perfect setting for the creative team to book itself right out of trouble.

Late in the match, Scarlett sprayed McIntyre's eyes with mace and urged Kross to climb out the door. When that did not work, she locked the door, keeping McIntyre from leaving the structure and winning the match.

The idea that she had outthought the former WWE champion proved costly as McIntyre scaled the side of the structure and emerged the victor before she could pull her man to victory.

In booking that finish, the Scot got the all-important victory while Kross was protected. It was overconfidence that cost him, not the fact that he was summarily defeated by a better wrestler. He was not decisively beaten, just outsmarted and there is a world of difference between the two when determining credibility.

WWE Creative clearly still has big things in store for Kross and the tense staredown following the bell suggests the feud may not be over. If that is the case, how it carries out the remainder of the booking will determine how successful the events of Crown Jewel were.

For now, McIntyre and Kross carried out expert booking in a very good match that proved the former is still very much a top-tier guy in the company and his rival may well join him in that position before long.

The O.C. and The Judgment Day wrote the latest chapter of the rivalry in a six-man tag team match that saw the heels emerge victorious after Rhea Ripley interfered in the closing moments of the contest and set up Finn Bálor to deliver the Coup de Grace to AJ Styles.

It was in that moment that it became clear she is the star of The Judgment Day.

The booking leading into the match teased The O.C. producing a woman to offset the interference from Ripley and that continued into the match itself, when the commentary team brought it up.

No one showed up, though, and The Nightmare was allowed to influence the outcome before standing alongside the victors, with the spotlight clearly on her.

That is by no means a bad thing. Ripley has been a star in waiting from the moment she captured the NXT UK Women's Championship and announced to the world that it would have to deal with her for many years to come.

She looks like a star, carries herself like one and has repeatedly risen to the occasion when put in the position to be one. Whether she is shining against Charlotte Flair or Asuka between the ropes, or cutting promos and playing key roles in matches involving her teammates, she has repeatedly proved herself.

Does that sit well with fans of Bálor or Damian Priest, who believe they should be doing more? Probably not, but they can be instrumental in her rise to stardom and benefit from the exposure along the way.

Just five days after losing the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship to Alexa Bliss and Asuka, Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky reclaimed the gold after Nikki Cross laid out The Goddess.

At that point, it seemed the stars were aligning for Damage CTRL to dominate the night and stand atop the Raw women's division with all the gold. All Bayley had to do was capture the singles title in a Last Woman Standing match against Bianca Belair later in the night.

The Role Model and The EST of WWE tore the house down in a great match, with spots that were equally scary and captivating. In the end, it was Belair trapping her opponent in a ladder, shoving it under the bottom turnbuckle and preventing her from making it back to her feet to secure the win.

The booking of Damage CTRL to this point has been one of the few headscratchers with WWE Creative under Triple H. The group are prominently booked on Raw but never get to build much momentum. They win some, lose some and come back the next week to do it all over again.

What was the point of Bliss and Asuka beating Sky and Kai in the first place if the goal was to switch the titles back a few days later? To prove important stuff happens on Monday nights? We already knew that.

Why book another match with Belair if Bayley was going to lose, as she did in October at Extreme Rules? Simply to continue the feud because there is still time before the real endgame?

More importantly, where do the group go from here?

Kai and Sky have proved they cannot keep a tight grip on the titles, and Bayley can't win the big one. Are we supposed to buy the idea of them continuing their respective feuds with Belair, Bliss and Asuka? Probably, especially with War Games upcoming at Survivor Series.

A loss in that match, though, will hurt whatever credibility they have left as a bona fide main event attraction in a rapidly expanding division.

The established wrestler in any match with a celebrity participant is typically overlooked and taken for granted. However, they are faced with the unenviable task of carrying an untrained, inexperienced outsider to a competent match.

Logan Paul is so much more than an inexperienced outsider, but undisputed WWE universal champion Roman Reigns was faced with a scenario in which he was expected to not only deliver but also to turn in a match worthy of the main event spot on a major pay-per-view.

And The Tribal Chief did just that.

Much will be rightly made about the performance of Paul, but to dismiss the excellence of Reigns would be a mistake.

He was the trusted, credible wrestler in the match. He was the overconfident heel who overlooked his celebrity challenger. And if he did not portray that role to perfection, nothing about the match and its story would work.

Reigns sold brilliantly for Paul, making everything the social media star did look like the most devastating move or strike imaginable. When it came time for a particularly great near-fall, The Tribal Chief executed the close kick-out perfectly.

He was arrogant when he needed to be, talked trash when necessary and looked every bit the world champion he is. When the time came for him to put Paul's offense over and sell to the fans that he might actually lose, he did so brilliantly.

We have spent the last two years listening to the commentary crow about Reigns being the greatest of all time. All he has done over that span is repeatedly prove them right. Whether it was in hard-hitting, heavyweight slugfest with Brock Lesnar, emotionally fueled family feuds with Jey Uso, by making Finn Bálor look like a guy with the tools to unseat him, and by snuffing out Drew McIntyre's storybook ending at Clash at the Castle.

In discovering his Tribal Chief persona, he found himself and as the top heel in wrestling's most storied promotion, and he has embraced the challenge.

Reigns may not quite be the GOAT yet, but more performances like this will only further solidify him as the greatest of his generation. And then, perhaps, of all time.

There was an infinite amount of pressure on Logan Paul entering Saturday's show.

Already one of the most polarizing figures in mainstream pop culture, he had faced considerable negativity from fans in WWE, despite two breakout performances at WrestleMania and SummerSlam, respectively.

In only his third match, against the top star in the industry and for the most coveted prize in wrestling, he had to live up to the expectations of his supporters and prove his doubters wrong.

He did, in grand fashion.

With the timing, execution and showmanship of performers far more experienced than he, he delivered a performance that helped elevate his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship Match against Roman Reigns to Match of the Year candidacy.

He was extraordinary, taking the appropriate risks when necessary, settling down and doing the basics when the time called and never working outside his abilities. He was reserved, looked like a much more seasoned performer than he is, and had social media buzzing as he damn near upset The Tribal Chief.

Paul told Bleacher Report about his growing love of the artistry of pro wrestling and all of the intricacies that go into making a great performance. He proved that sentiment was more than just words Saturday night in a match that will live forever on his highlight reel and should earn him the respect of the WWE Universe.

Do not be surprised if The Maverick sets foot back inside the squared circle sooner rather than later, perhaps in time for the Royal Rumble in January or WrestleMania 39 in Los Angeles.

If not sooner.