WWE Crown Jewel 2018 review: What we learned, takeaways, future projections

WWE World Cup Round 1

Rey Mysterio vs. Randy Orton: Well, that was quick. The opening match of the night and of the WWE World Cup didn’t last very long as Rey Mysterio picked up a win over Randy Orton in maybe five minutes. Meeting for the first time in one-on-one action in more than seven years, Orton had the upper hand for the most part, but Mysterio stole one with a quick pin.  But that didn’t keep him from taking a beating at the hands of The Viper following the match. It was good enough for how short it was.

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The Miz vs. Jeff Hardy: This one had a bit more depth to it as The Miz and Jeff Hardy went back and forth and back and forth. The crowd seemed to be into this one, and while the “this is awesome” chant was a little much, this was a good match with The Miz picking up the win.

Seth Rollins vs. Bobby Lashley: It’s getting harder and harder to watch Bobby Lashley matches without hitting the mute button. I understand what they’re doing with Lio Rush but it’s really annoying. But at least that’s the only one we had to watch today. In another fairly quick match, Seth Rollins disposed of the big man with The Stomp to move on to the second round.

Kurt Angle vs. Dolph Ziggler: This was the match I was most looking forward to in the first round as Dolph Ziggler took on his hero, Olympic gold medalist and WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle. Both have great backgrounds in the amateur wrestling world and that’s how the match got rolling, which was fun to watch. From there, this turned into a good back-and-forth match with some good near-falls. The finish seemed a little abrupt with Ziggler coming out on top after hitting the ZigZag, but The Showoff moved on nonetheless.

What we learned: The obvious things we learned from the first round were simply who was moving on in the tournament. That’s all for now.

What’s next: The Orton/Mysterio drama should carry over to Tuesday night. With Tye Dillinger now out of action, Orton needed a new target and Mysterio fits the bill of someone most people like. I thought Baron Corbin might come out to cost Kurt Angle his match but that didn’t happen so it will be interesting to see where that story goes.

As for the second round, we have Rey Mysterio vs. The Miz on the SmackDown Live side of things and yet another Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler matchup on the Monday Night RAW side. More WWE World Cup later on.