WWE Crown Jewel 2026 Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights

Crown Jewel 2026 promised to determine WWE's top champions and settle a longstanding rivalry at the ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Could Sami Zayn upset Roman Reigns? Would Chelsea Green prove she could compete at Liv Morgan's level? How would the rivalry between Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton end in their Last Man Standing match?

Check out the live grades and highlights for WWE's latest premium live event.

Last Man Standing: Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton

Last Time in Action: Cody Rhodes defeated Baron Corbin by disqualification (SmackDown, October 16); Randy Orton alongside Rey Fénix lost to Trick Williams in a Money in the Bank qualifier (SmackDown, September 18).

This fight quickly spilled outside into the crowd then to the stage where Orton sent Rhodes through a table for the first long count.

The two went back and forth for a while until The Viper countered the Bionic Elbow into an RKO for another near-10 count.

The American Nightmare tried to send The Viper through the announce table with a Diving Elbow off a ladder, but Orton ducked it, nearly winning the match.

Orton went for the Punt, but Rhodes ducked it, hitting a Cody Cutter and Cross Rhodes for nine. The American Nightmare threatened to blast The Viper with a steel chair on the steps, but Orton caught him with a Low Blow.

Rhodes caught The Viper with a trifecta of Cross Rhodes, cutting open Orton with the steel steps on the last impact. The American Nightmare stopped referee Charles Robinson's count to hit Orton with a Punt to win.

For the final stage of a personal rivalry, this was a flat performance from both men. While Orton typically works at this methodical pace, Rhodes did nothing to speed it up.

This did little to engage an audience that was surprisingly flat for a battle of two top WWE stars, even throwing "You suck!" chants at Rhodes.

Compared to their WrestleMania 42 match, this had less intensity beyond a possibly inadvertent head shot into the steel steps late.

If this had led to an American Nightmare turn, it would have been better received, but it left Rhodes in the cliché regretful face spot after choosing to Punt Orton.

Once an exciting possibility, the Rhodes vs. Orton feud ends with a whimper, leaving the question of why WWE spent three years building this as a major rivalry.

The crowd did not get the memo that Orton was the heel in this match, cheering him more than Rhodes throughout.

Rhodes delivered an Orton-like Draping DDT to the delight of Corey Graves who threw a "Vintage Rhodes" at Michael Cole.

The fastest Orton moved all match was when he had to sell a dramatic near-10 count.

Afterward, Rhodes sat on the apron, selling that he regretted what he did to Orton.

World Tag Championships: Bron Breakker & Austin Theory (w/ Maxxine Dupri) vs. Penta & Je'Von Evans

Last Time in Action: Austin Theory and Bron Breakker alongside Bronson Reed defeated Penta and Je'Von Evans alongside Dragon Lee (Raw, October 2).

After a hot start, The Vision isolated Penta for a while. When Je'Von Evans got the hot tag, he started to push the pace.

The Vision struggled to contain the athletic challengers, who almost picked up the win off a Frog Splash.

Maxxine Dupri saved Theory from the near-fall, then Bronson Reed arrived to take out Penta and Evans to turn the tide.

This brought out Oba Femi, who tossed Auszilla through a table off the stage. Penta took out Breakker on the floor, then the luchador and Evans finished Theory with a Mexican Destroyer–OG Cutter combination.

This was one of the best tag team matches WWE has put on all year. The action was fast and dynamic, and the crowd was loud and engaged.

The twists and turns followed the story The Vision had set up over the past year, finally delivering an emphatic answer to the stable's numbers advantage.

All four men were great throughout, though The Young OG especially drove the crowd into a frenzy when he was fighting back.

Oba's arrival was the emotional climax of the contest and made the most of The Ruler as the top babyface on Raw right now.

While Penta and Evans are not an established tag team, they looked great together and showed why they can carry a struggling division forward.

These two should defend the titles regularly on TV against the underused stars of Raw, and it will become appointment television.

Evans and Penta def. Breakker and Theory by pinfall to become the new world tag team champions.

The crowd was hotter for Penta in The Vision's beatdown segment than anything from the opener.

The Young OG ran to the corner at one point to tag in Penta, not realizing he was down on the floor, leading to a funny turnaround into both champs.

The Ruler held up the hands of the new tag team champions on the stage, selling this as a unified force against The Vision. Give them a stable name!

Women's Crown Jewel Championship: Liv Morgan vs. Chelsea Green

Last Time in Action: Liv Morgan alongside Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez defeated Chelsea Green alongside Tiffany Stratton and Iyo Sky (Raw, November 2).

Liv taunted Green from the opening bell, causing her to doubt herself. Even after a strong slap from the WWE women's champion to the Women's world champion, Liv kept control.

Green's second slap to Liv on the top rope turned the tide, followed by a Superplex. Liv teased an Unpretty-Her on Green, but the WWE women's champion countered into a Rough Ryder near-fall.

After a pair of Topes to the floor, Green countered an ObLivion into an Unpretty-Her, but Liv got her foot on the bottom rope.

Raquel and Roxanne arrived to help Liv, but the Women's world champion promised she could win alone. Liv went for another ObLivion, but Green grabbed the ropes then stacked up Liv for the three count.

Afterward, Triple H came out to give Green the Crown Jewel Championship. Green talked up finally proving herself, but Liv attacked.

Stratton arrived to cash in. Green helped take out The Judgment Day, only for Stratton to blast her with the briefcase and cash in on her friend. Tiffy pinned Green after the Prettiest Moonsault.

Liv and Green do not have much chemistry, but they told a strong consistent story throughout this contest.

Liv played the annoying confident heel well, goading Green into fully believing in herself down the stretch. It is a shame though that the actual win was just a basic win, not more definitive.

The aftermath was the expected payoff after weeks of repeating the same cash-in set-up every week. Stratton was always going to turn on Green, not take down Liv.

That said, the actual execution did not make sense for the story to this point. Why have The Judgment Day not play a factor in Stratton's decision to take out Green instead of Liv?

The way this played out, it hardly even mattered that Liv was there at all, which undermines the entire point of this specific build-up.

Still, WWE should have a strong storyline for SmackDown's women's division going forward after this cash-in.

Stratton vs. Green is immediately the hottest angle in the women's division, which was desperately needed.

Green def. Morgan by pinfall to become the 2026 women's Crown Jewel champion; Stratton def. Green by pinfall to become the new WWE women's champion.

One enthused fan screamed out "I love you, Liv Morgan!" multiple times.

The cameras caught some great shots early juxtaposing Liv's cockiness and Green's struggles to sell the story.

Corey Graves multiple times countered the obvious story playing out in the ring by trying to sell Green's demeanor as inconsistent.

Green plays the sympathetic babyface well but needs to work on her strikes to make her comebacks look more fluid.

Men's Crown Jewel Championship: Roman Reigns vs. Sami Zayn

Last Time in Action: Sami Zayn defeated Trick Williams to retain the Undisputed WWE Championship (SmackDown, October 30); Roman Reigns defeated LA Knight to retain the World Heavyweight Championship (Money in the Bank, October 10).

Zayn carried the crowd reaction early, fighting with explosive power. Reigns wore him down with strong offense, but The Last Real Good Guy would not stay down.

Zayn ducked a Superman Punch into a Blue Thunder Bomb for a near-fall. Zayn went for the Helluva Kick, but Reigns ducked it and landed a Superman Punch for a near-fall.

The OTC avoided another Helluva Kick then landed a second Superman Punch. When Reigns called for the Spear though, The Last Real Good Guy finally caught him with the Helluva Kick for a close near-fall.

Zayn teased a Superman Punch. Reigns avoided it then accidentally caught the referee Chad Patton with a Superman Punch.

Zayn caught Reigns with an Exploder into a second Helluva Kick. Charles Robinson ran down to finally count, and Reigns kicked out.

Zayn took out Robinson in anger with a Helluva Kick then grabbed the WWE Championship. The OTC ducked it and hit the Rebound Spear, but a slow count from a recovering Patton allowed Zayn to kick out.

The two champions exchanged strikes that left Reigns standing tall. He hit a Superman Punch. Zayn countered a second into an Exploder but then ran into a Superman Punch.

Zayn responded with his own Superman Punch, but when The Last Real Good Guy teased his own Spear, he ran into a Spear from Reigns. Another Rebound Spear finally kept Zayn down.

Afterward, The Last Real Good Guy demanded a handshake, but Reigns gave him a family hug instead and called him an Uso.

The OTC then ended the show by calling for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to acknowledge him.

A match like this was always going to go a bit over-the-top, verging on indulgent, but Reigns and Zayn have so much chemistry that it worked.

Much like the Knight match at MITB, Reigns faced a game competitor that gained his respect, even if they could not quite keep The OTC down.

While he fell short, Zayn looked better against Reigns than he has against any recent opponents. He did not need shortcuts to almost take down The OTC.

Arguably, The Last Real Good Guy got much more out of this than The OTC did. The win just further sells that WWE will not let Reigns lose any steam until he collides with Oba Femi.

Reigns and Zayn seemingly reconciling could lead to The Last Real Good Guy helping The Bloodline in the fight against The 946, but it is not directly necessary since Zayn has enough going on on SmackDown as it is.

Hopefully, WWE does not go right back to having Zayn rely on shortcuts to retain his title after he showed he could hold his own against Reigns.

Reigns def. Zayn by pinfall to become the 2026 men's Crown Jewel champion.

Saudi Arabia remains a rare pro-Zayn crowd during his heel run.

Zayn was immediately disrespectful to Reigns, gloating in his face during the introductions and throwing his jacket at The OTC.

After the Rebound Spear kick-out, Reigns told Zayn he respected his fight but promised to finish him off.

Triple H once again appeared afterward to give over the Crown Jewel Championship, though it did not lead to a MITB cash-in.

Crown Jewel did not look like a good show on paper. The Crown Jewel Championship still does not matter to WWE as a whole, and the tag title match came off as filler.

The talent absolutely over-delivered on the potential of this card, particularly the World Tag Team Championships and men's Crown Jewel Championship matches.

Even Chelsea Green vs. Liv Morgan, despite some awkward booking, played out better than expected.

The only downer was the lackluster Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton, but at least this should be the end of a rivalry that has mostly held SmackDown back in 2026.

Beyond the tag title win and Money in the Bank cash-in, not much is likely to come from this show long term, but it was one of WWE's more complete nights of pure action in 2026.