Solo Sikoa pins Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes wins

Crown Jewel's boldest and most timely moment came in the opening match, followed by a largely safe rest of the card that had some highlights in the ring.

In a rare opening match for him, Roman Reigns was pinned for the third time during his Tribal Chieftain era – this time by Solo Sikoa, as Reigns' bloodline still has some work to be resolved.

With a lot of help, Liv Morgan became the first Crown Jewel Women's Champion after another cash-in teaser from Tiffany Stratton.

With a little quick thinking, Cody Rhodes outlasted Gunther and won the men's championship for the first time on Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Both he and Morgan will receive Super Bowl-style rings to commemorate their victories, but this was far from a championship performance from WWE.

Here are five takeaways from Crown Jewel.

Fragmented family

There was so much beauty in the story that unfolded in the Bloodline six-man tag match, and it should force Roman Reigns to take a hard look in the mirror.

Solo Sikoa pinned Reigns – along with Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso during his Tribe Chief era. Sikoa used three Samoan Spikes to complete the task. This makes the move even more significant and gives Sikoa a legitimate claim to head of the family. Being the one to lose the match should force Reigns to leave his arrogance behind – he's mortal now.

Sikoa's group began beating up Reigns, Jimmy and Jey Uso, which led to Sami Zayn coming out. After Zayn's meeting with Sikoa earlier this week, there were doubts as to which side he was on, but he eventually outsmarted the current tribal chief.

However, there was no happy ending.

Zayn and Reigns both charged at Sikoa in the middle of the ring – the Usos surrounded him in the other corners. The once honorable Uso clipped Reigns with a Helluva Kick while Sikoa dodged a Superman Punch. This caused Jimmy to kick Zayn in the face and he had to be pulled away from Jey.

Reigns' group is splintered and needs to bring them together before Survivor Series.

Same old stories

The Crown Jewel Women's Championship match between Liv Morgan and Nia Jax was, unfortunately, just a summary of their repeated storylines. The match between the heels was as good as it could be and at times showed how far both have come as top performers.

A sunset flip powerbomb from Morgan to Jax left both of them in the ring and caused Tiffany Stratton to try to cash in on her Money in the Bank contract – which never came close. Jax reprimanded her as always and almost lost the match when she was distracted by Raquel Rodriguez before Morgan hit a good looking Codebreaker from the top rope.

Jax kicked out and brought Dominik Mysterio to the ring. After defeating Stratton and Morgan with a clothesline from the outside, Jax prepared to deliver an Annihilator to the Women's World Champion. But Mysterio distracted the referee by pushing the MITB briefcase into the ring while Rodriguez kicked Jax off the top rope. Morgan delivered Oblivion for the win.

The only thing this match did was hopefully get Jax so angry at Stratton for costing her the match that it will finally get her enough courage to cash in on the WWE Women's Champion.

Golden boy

Cody Rhodes remains untouchable in the WWE and as much as I felt Gunther's victory would have been more impactful, there is nothing wrong with keeping him spotless since winning the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania 40.

And the way they did it protected Gunther as best they could in defeat when Rhodes tried Cody Cutter on the top rope but Gunther caught him in a sleeper. But before Gunther could hold him a second time and put his opponent to sleep as he had promised, Rhodes fought back – à la Bret Hart – and pinned Gunther's shoulders to the mat. The two shook hands afterwards, with Gunther's frustration clearly visible.

The match felt straight out of Brock Lesnar's heel playbook as Guenther slowly wore Rhodes down with strikes, suplexes, chops and submissions. Both men looked strong as Rhodes fired Gunther's finishing powerbomb and The Ring General shouldered Rhodes up after a cross.

This feels like the start of a years-long feud.

Fancy a fight

Kevin Owens made sure the bell never rang by attacking Orton from behind with a chair before the match, making good on Triple H's warning that he was another version of the Prize Fighter.

Owens, clearly wanting a match for a match, delivered a stunner to the referee after grabbing the chair and attempting to catch the match starter. Orton later hit Raw General Manager Adam Pierce with an RKO after WWE officials came out and tried to restore order.

Orton and Owens eventually took the match into the crowd. Owens, feeling like Orton and Rhodes had betrayed him, laid his opponent on a table and performed an elbow drop from the railing to end the carnage. Will Orton return and cost Owens a match with Rhdoes, there are far more questions than simple answers as to where this goes next.

Triple treat

LA Knight, Andrade Carmelo Hayes really gave it his all in one of the best matches of the night, taking full advantage of his triple threat. There were a lot of fast-paced, creative counter sequences where you weren't quite sure who would land the final attack.

This included the closing sequence where Hayes pulled Andrade off the top rope and got his spinning front facelock off the ropes. But before he could finish it, Knight came in and hit both men with a BFT before pinning Hayes to secure the victory.

Knight could easily break up with both men here, but Hayes has felt so close so often that he may get a more direct feud with the Mega Star.

Other games

Seth Rollins over Bronson Reed

It took a stomp, a stomp onto the steel steps, and finally a super stomp off the top rope to keep Reed far enough away from Rollins to win the match. He didn't stay down long, as Rollins had a look of disbelief on his face when he saw a damned Reed – who had his best chance at the start of the match due to a tsunami, but briefly got greedy – standing in the ring as he made his way to the Ramp. This match was fast-paced and explosive. Both men looked good when it was over. Will Rollins jump straight back into the world heavyweight championship after this?

Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair over Chelsea Green and Piper Nevin, Iyo Sky and Kairi Sane and Lash Legend and Jackson to retain the Women's Tag Team Championship.

The women's tag team match didn't always go perfectly, but that had to happen with the pace they kept while trying to pack as much into the match as possible. The best scene occurred when Chelsea Green fought her way down from the top rope to the apron, afraid to attempt a moonsault, before jumping straight into the arms of parter Piper Nevins on the outside.

What followed was Kairi giving Sane Green and Nevin an in-Sane elbow, Iyo Sky flying to the outside, and Jakaa Jackson jumping off Lash Legend's shoulders onto them all. The goal was for Nevin to accidentally splash Green. Cargill lifted Nevin onto her shoulders so she could keep a cool looking Doomsday Device.

At the moment the games in the division have been solid, but there isn't a team that feels like it can really threaten Belair and Cargill.

Biggest Winner: Solo Sikoa
Biggest losers: Carmelo Hayes and Andrade
Best Match: Cody Rhodes vs. Gunther
Degree: b