Thursday, March 28, 2024
EditorialSuperstars Missing from WWE Crown Jewel 2018 Card

Superstars Missing from WWE Crown Jewel 2018 Card

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With 2018 Crown Jewel coming up this Sunday night, the go-home shows for Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live have given us an indication of what talent is booked for the pay-per-view and who are not currently scheduled.

As always, there is a chance any kind of alterations can be made to the lineup, as the card is always subject to change, but at the moment, the men and women in this breakdown are not being promoted as taking part in this event.

In some cases, this may be justified, but in others, it might seem ridiculous. That is up to you to decide as we take a look at which superstars from the red brand are sitting this show out.

From the Raw Men’s Singles Division

— Baron Corbin: Corbin lost his chance at the World Cup to Kurt Angle, dressed as The Conquistador. You can bet your ass Corbin is going to interfere at some point in this tournament in order to cost Angle his match against someone, whether it’s the finals or earlier than that. If that doesn’t happen, I’ll be utterly stunned.

— Bray Wyatt: The Eater of Worlds hasn’t been seen at all on television since Matt Hardy’s retirement.

— Curt Hawkins: Jobber Status, plus an injury. It’s a rule of thumb he’s not on any events, for the most part, save for maybe a Royal Rumble appearance or the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Everything else is an obvious no-go.

— Dean Ambrose: So now, Ambrose is a co-champion with Rollins, but also his adversary. I have no idea how WWE is going to balance this all out and I wonder if this is a matter of them not booking for the card, but thinking Crown Jewel doesn’t matter in the context of storylines and just avoiding having Ambrose on this card entirely. Or, he’ll cost Rollins a match by interfering, maybe.

— Drew McIntyre: It would have been useful for him to represent another country in the World Cup tournament, but sure, let’s just have him on the sidelines instead. Maybe he’ll be interfering in the Universal Championship match, but I sincerely hope he doesn’t cost Braun Strowman the title. I’ll be beyond annoyed if that happens.

— Elias: There always exists the possibility Elias is penciled in for a musical performance as a bumper segment, although the skeptic in me doesn’t think there’s much of a chance he talks trash about Saudi Arabia…

— Finn Balor: It really, really surprises me Finn Balor was passed over for the World Cup. I thought he would have been one of the easiest people to implement, since he struggles more with promos than with in-ring action, and this didn’t require feuds to be set up. Very curious why he’s sitting this out.

— Goldust: Injured. No timetable for his return, if it even does happen at all.

— Jason Jordan: Injured. No timetable for his return, if it even does happen at all.

— Jinder Mahal: Jobber status. Remember when he was holding the WWE Championship? That sure helped him, didn’t it? What a waste.

— John Cena: Cena was originally scheduled for the World Cup tournament, but refused to appear, due to the political situation going on. Whether this is a strong stance for ethics and morality or just a PR move, the end result is that Cena was replaced by Bobby Lashley nevertheless.

— Kevin Owens: Injured. No definitive timetable for his return, but it’s rumored he’ll be out several months. I wouldn’t expect him back until maybe WrestleMania or even after that, possibly.

— Mojo Rawley: Jobber status.

— No Way Jose: Jobber status.

— Roman Reigns: If you’ve been living under a rock, Roman sadly announced that he is suffering from leukemia and relinquished the Universal Championship. This is something nobody knows the return time for, if at all. Here’s hoping it’s very soon.

— Sami Zayn: Injured. No set timetable for his return, but it won’t be for months at least.

— Zack Ryder: Jobber status, unfortunately. Rumors suggest he may be dropping weight in order to go to the 205 Live roster, but nothing of the sort has been alluded to in any official capacity.

The Entire Raw AND SmackDown Women’s Division

Since Crown Jewel is in Saudi Arabia, it is unfortunately another event that will not feature a single female superstars in any capacity, just as the Greatest Royal Rumble pay-per-view was completely devoid of any women.

For those counting, this means (at least as far as the main roster goes): Alexa Bliss, Alexa Bliss, Asuka, Bayley, Becky Lynch, The Bella Twins, Carmella, Charlotte Flair, Dana Brooke, Ember Moon, The IIconics, Lana, Mandy Rose, Mickie James, Natalya, Nia Jax, Ronda Rousey, The Riott Squad, Sasha Banks, Sonya Deville, Tamina, and Zelina Vega

From the Raw Tag Team Division

— The Ascension: Konnor’s gotten some wins recently, but it still doesn’t mean all that much. He’s still quite firmly stuck under the jobber status category.

— The Authors of Pain: WWE is taking AOP on the slow, slow, slow journey to the tag titles, by which I mean they clearly don’t just want to have them win the belts yet and are dragging things out as long as possible until that point, even though they don’t have a firm idea of what to do with them in the meantime.

— The B-Team: Jobber status. That tag title reign was just a fluke for the lulz and they’re back to being losers, but it was fun while it lasted, right?

— Breezango: Fandango remains injured, while Tyler Breeze has been wrestling as a singles jobber for Raw, Main Event and even NXT at times.

— Chad Gable and Bobby Roode: If these guys can’t even beat The Ascension, how are they supposed to be worthy of a pay-per-view spot? They don’t even have a tag team name. They might as well be Gablorious.

— Heath Slater and Rhyno: They fall under the jobber status definition.

— The Revival: WWE never gives them any proper momentum, so they’re not anywhere near in the mix for any of the matches on this card.

— Titus Worldwide: Is this even a tag team anymore? Apollo Crews seems to be in the midst of a singles push of sorts, Dana Brooke hasn’t been around either of them for a spell and Titus O’Neil hasn’t been doing non-wrestling stuff for a few weeks.

From the SmackDown Men’s Singles Division

— Aiden English / Rusev: These two are feuding, but due to the timing of these pay-per-views, this is seemingly going to stick to a television-only program, rather than something that carries over into a live event like Crown Jewel. At least Rusev had a few seconds to potentially qualify for the World Cup, if you’re trying to look on the optimistic side of things, even if it’s a stretch.

— Andrade “Cien” Almas: Very disappointed Almas wasn’t given a spot in the World Cup tournament, as I think it could have been a great thing for him to win to give him a boost of credibility that he could use to carry him into 2019.

— Daniel Bryan: With everything that has been going on about Bryan not wanting to go to Saudi Arabia and WWE putting his match against AJ Styles on SmackDown instead, I can only assume Bryan is off this card. I can’t really fault him, but it would have been good for Bryan/Styles to have a bigger venue and feel more special than what it was on TV.

— R-Truth: Sometimes, R-Truth has traveling problems. Even if that isn’t the case, he’s a side character more than someone who is taking priority. Plus, let’s admit it, this is the proper event for him to get that SmackDown Women’s Championship shot against Carmella.

— Shelton Benjamin: The Gold Standard only recently came back into the mix after what was something like a three month absence, but he still doesn’t have the momentum to carry him onto this card, even in the World Cup tournament. He’s a supplemental player for them and not someone they seem too focused on.

— Shinsuke Nakamura: How is this a regular thing?? Nakamura has the United States Championship and he’s missed Hell in a Cell, Super Show-Down, and now this one, too? Why did they even put the belt on him if he’s not going to do anything? He could have even competed in the World Cup if they didn’t want him in a title feud. Crazy.

— Sin Cara: Injured. No set timetable has been given for his return that I’m aware of.

— Tye Dillinger: The Perfect 10 is always passed over. You’d think being on a smaller brand would allow for him to have more opportunities, but it seems like he’s never quite on the list of people they want to put any stock in. He hasn’t been part of anything noteworthy recently and wasn’t even given a chance to qualify for the World Cup. Tweeting out his frustrations that he isn’t being used probably didn’t help him in the slightest bit, either. Then, when he finally caught a break and was scheduled to face Shinsuke Nakamura for the United States Championship on SmackDown, he suffered a hand injury at a live event and will have to undergo surgery.

From the SmackDown Tag Team Division

— SAnitY: Can we all just admit by now that WWE brought these guys up with absolutely no idea in mind what to do with them, and the longer it goes without them having any purpose, the worse they’re looking? Crown Jewel was never going to be a spotlight for them, but still.

— The Bludgeon Brothers: Erick Rowan is still injured, so Luke Harper has equally just been sitting at home. Curious when WWE is just going to send Bray Wyatt over to SmackDown and reform The Wyatt Family again or something out of not having any other ideas in mind.

— The Colons: Jobber status.

— The Good Brothers: I hate to say it, but they’re in the jobber status category, too. Clearly, WWE doesn’t value them. It’s sad. I didn’t have any faith they’d be on this card, but I really hate feeling that way for every single event over and over again.

— The Usos: Jimmy and Jey are starting to build themselves back up after two wins over AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan, and I’d assume they’d get a tag title shot at Survivor Series or TLC, but Crown Jewel has no room for the championship to begin with, let alone the guys who aren’t the No. 1 contenders.

Do you think these men and women or any others not on this list should have been booked on the card in some fashion? How would you have utilized them if given the opportunity? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!

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