On Saturday morning, WWE crowned its 2025 Crown Jewel champions. However, while it was another momentous occasion for the winners, the company missed a black and golden opportunity to make the title matches better and help the promotion as a whole.
WWE Crown Jewel has become a staple of the company's yearly premium live event schedule . The event is the jewel (pun intended) of their long-term relationship with the government of Saudi Arabia. However, last year, they looked to elevate the yearly spectacle beyond just being another PLE between the tentpole events.
They did that by creating their gaudy Crown Jewel title and having the top men's and women's champions from WWE Raw and SmackDown face off for the belt and the trophy ring that comes with it. In 2024, we got major matchups between Cody Rhodes and Gunther , and Nia Jax taking on Liv Morgan .
Despite the event being in Australia instead of Saudi Arabia this year, the company continued the tradition, and this weekend's card was headlined by Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins and Tiffany Stratton vs. Stephanie Vaquer . Both this year's and last year's matches were highly entertaining. But the company has made one major mistake in the title matches: Not involving the NXT champs.
Credit: WWE
NXT is as popular as the days when Shinsuke Nakamura, Samoa Joe, Kevin Owens , and Sami Zayn were leading the brand. With WWE icon Shawn Michaels running the brand, they have gone back to mixing developmental talent from the Performance Center with veterans from outside the company. Furthermore, their working relationship with TNA has only strengthened the brand's overall product.
But one thing that could really help put NXT on an equal level with SmackDown and Raw — which WWE would prefer so they can make even more TV money from it — would be to include the NXT men's and women's champions in the annual Crown Jewel title matches.
There is already a great deal of crossover between the three brands. The WWE Women's Tag titles are defended against contenders from all three shows, and we have seen main roster talent go down and win gold in NXT. With the black and gold brand's roster as strong as it's been in years — especially the women's division — now would be a good time to have NXT talent show up more on WWE Raw and SmackDown and hold their own.
A perfect way to set that all up would be to have the NXT champions mix it up with the best of the best from the top two brands in the company. Furthermore, adding that third star benefits the company in a lot of ways creatively.
Credit: WWE
While it is fun to see the two champions of SmackDown and WWE Raw face off, it has to be a bit of a booking nightmare for the creative team. The male and female stars involved are the faces of those shows. Keeping them strong is a priority, and taking a loss in a non-title match isn't helpful. Especially if they are a talent that recently became a champion and needs to get on a roll to prove they deserve that spot.
Well, with an NXT champ in the match, it is an easy out for creative to protect the WWE Raw or SmackDown titlist by having the champ from NXT get pinned. Just being in the match is a huge coup for the champions of NXT. They are almost expected to lose, so being pinned doesn't hurt their development.
Beyond that, WWE's rules for a triple threat are no-disqualification. In that case, if you still want to protect certain talent and not hang the loss on the NXT wrestler, a triple threat makes it easier to legally have outside interference. Plus, it opens more long-term storytelling opportunities for all three brands. Benefitting all involved.
With this match being a one-off that doesn't have any true importance for long-term storytelling, WWE has nothing to lose by adding NXT talent to make the Crown Jewel match a true showcase of the best versus the best from ALL of WWE.
Imagine just how much more interesting this year's men's match could have been with Ricky Saints added and his history with Cody Rhodes. Or Jacy Jayne trying to cap off a monster year by potentially beating both the champions of SmackDown and Raw? It is an idea the company should consider in 2026.
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