WWE Crown Jewel 2024 results: Cody Rhodes defeats Gunther

WWE Champion Cody Rhodes scored a huge victory over Gunther at Crown Jewel 2024 – just barely.

In a battle to be crowned the first-ever Crown Jewel Champion, the longtime WWE titleholder defeated World Heavyweight Champion Guenther with a nifty pin to win one of the most anticipated matches of the year. Although Rhodes and Gunther engaged in a back-and-forth battle between WWE's top two champions, Rhodes emerged with the victory and the momentum that came with it.

With WWE in trouble by having its two top champions clash, the creative team had to find a way to protect the loser of the match. That's exactly what happened, and Günther certainly wasn't hurt, even if Günther only suffered a narrow defeat.

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To make Crown Jewel a notable event, WWE surprisingly chose the show as the stage for the first-ever match between Rhodes and Gunther, a bout worthy of the WrestleMania stage. The problem is that WWE is just four weeks away from one of its most important shows, Survivor Series, which will likely serve as the stage for not one, but two massive world title fights.

The expected headliners for Survivor Series: WarGames in Toronto are Gunther vs. CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship and Rhodes vs. Kevin Owens, although the latter could be saved for the highly anticipated return of Main event on Saturday evening in December. Regardless of where this fight takes place, however, the reality is that Gunther vs. Rhodes – regardless of how big the match is on paper – was a makeshift duel that should give Crown Jewel a spectacle to build on.

Unsurprisingly, Gunther vs. Rhodes met high expectations in terms of gameplay quality, but the tangible stakes of the fight were essentially non-existent. There's little reason for fans to care about the Crown Jewel Championship, which will only take place once a year due to WWE's contentious relationship with Saudi Arabia.

WWE has often relied heavily on gimmicks in Saudi Arabia since its contract began in 2018, building shows around rather pointless titles like the King of the Ring tournament and the Greatest Royal Rumble. A lot more effort has been put into Crown Jewel 2024, with major storylines for The Bloodline, Owens, Rhodes and others.

From top to bottom, the Crown Jewel card was one of the best match lineups WWE has ever hosted in Saudi Arabia, showing that WWE remains committed to booking strong cards on its international shows. Additionally, WWE has actually also booked some major storyline developments for some of its biggest stars.

One of the biggest criticisms of Triple H's creative regime is that he sometimes waits to They long to book big moments rather than drag them out so long that they often lose the impact they otherwise would have had. WWE could have fallen into this trap with Crown Jewel, as shows in Saudi Arabia often lacked significant plot developments, and a match for a relatively meaningless title could have continued that trend.

Instead, Crown Jewel introduced important developments for The Bloodline, while Rhodes vs. Gunther served exactly the purpose it was intended to: ensure that neither Rhodes nor Gunther loses momentum.

Gunther suffered a rare defeat, Owens' rivalry with Randy Orton is even more heated and now WWE has a huge storyline for Survivor Series and Saturday Night's main event. Overall, it was an effective way to bookend the show and give fans a clean finish to a dream game with nothing of substance at stake.

Now, however, Rhodes can focus on the WWE title again, while Gunther should have a new challenger in Raw.