WWE Crown Jewel preview, predictions & odds: This should go better for John Cena
John Cena looks like a lock in Perth this weekend, but the rest of Saturday’s WWE Crown Jewel (8 AM Eastern start time on ESPN/Netflix) is harder to call.
The men’s and women’s Crown Jewel Championship matches both have close odds.
According to the betting world, Seth Rollins and Stephanie Vaquer are slight favorites, but far from the enormous odds we sometimes see in wrestling.
Meanwhile, John Cena is a heavy favorite to defeat AJ Styles although when the line first came out, oddsmakers were not as confident as they appear to be now. Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY are also heavy favorites to beat The Kabuki Warriors.
The final match added to the card, Bronson Reed vs. Roman Reigns in an Australian street fight, is hard to predict for a few reasons discussed below.
Below are previews and predictions for each match at WWE Crown Jewel 2025.
John Cena vs. AJ Styles
Cena is a -1600 favorite to beat Styles (+600) in Perth this weekend.
Ever since Wrestlepalooza, the grumblings from unhappy fans regarding Cena’s retirement tour have started to grow louder. The whole story with him at Crown Jewel appears to be trying to appease those fans by creating the impression that the match against Styles wouldn’t have happened if fans hadn’t demanded it (even though it would have).
While Cena was a slight favorite heading into Wrestlepalooza against Brock Lesnar, WWE had motivation to keep Lesnar strong that they don’t have with Styles who has said he’ll retire next year as well. There was a good reason to put Lesnar over Cena, but there isn’t that with Styles. Barring a mid-match injury, Cena will pick up the feel-good win.
Prediction: John Cena
Women’s Crown Jewel Championship: Stephanie Vaquer vs. Tiffany Stratton
Vaquer is a -280 favorite to defeat Stratton (+180) in the Women’s Crown Jewel Championship match and she probably will, but this is a tough one.
WWE has booked itself into a corner here. They’ve got two heavily protected babyfaces going against each other. The likelihood that they find some way not to do an actual finish seems very strong. Perhaps Vaquer and Stratton end up uniting to fight off some invading heels.
However, somebody needs to win the Crown Jewel title and I think Vaquer is the stronger candidate. A possible finish here is interference from Nia Jax or perhaps a heel-turning Jade Cargill to cost Stratton the match and set up the next big feud on SmackDown.
Prediction: Stephanie Vaquer
Australian Street Fight: Bronson Reed vs. Roman Reigns
Reigns is a -350 favorite to beat Reed (+225), but there are a few reasons to believe Reed has a shot.
If WWE wants to move Reed up a level, they can do it here, but I’m not sure if they will. Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez discussed Roman vs. Reed on a recent Wrestling Observer Radio and their disagreement, I think, sums up what’s interesting about this match.
Alvarez noted that it’s in Reed’s home country and the street fight rules allow for interference, giving Reed a path to win without hurting Reigns. But Meltzer was hesitant to agree, noting that WWE doesn’t have Reigns lose often. Where you land on this most likely depends on how much you want to see Reed as a top guy.
A big part of me agrees with Meltzer. Reigns is where the money is, not Reed. But Reigns is already up 1-0 in the feud, and a Reed win will set up a rubber match for later. I don’t feel very confident in it, but I’m going to take Reed to get the win after House of Torture-level interference from The Vision.
Prediction: Bronson Reed
Men’s Crown Jewel Championship: Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins
Rollins is a -400 favorite heading into the Men’s Crown Jewel Championship match against Rhodes (+250), but I would give him better odds than that.
Rollins’ interactions with Paul Heyman on Raw this week regarding his need to win in Perth kind of made it so that he has to win in Perth. Since Rhodes won the Crown Jewel Championship last year, the only reason to have him win it again here is to keep the title/ring as something only the top guy in the company ever wins, building it as the ultimate prize to fight over every year. But I don’t know if that’s what they want to do.
Winning the Crown Jewel title gives Rollins something to brag about for a year, whereas with Rhodes, he already won it and barely mentioned it for the next 365 days. Winning it again isn’t going to do much for him.
Either one of or both Rollins and Reed will win their matches via interference from The Vision. The easy answer is that it will be both.
Prediction: Seth Rollins
Rhea Ripley & IYO SKY vs. The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane)
Ripley and SKY are heavy favorites (-1500) to beat the Kabuki Warriors (+600).
Normally, a freshly-turned heel such as Asuka would be the favorite heading into their first big match with an updated character. In this case, however, with it being Ripley wrestling in Australia, and fans expecting a very hesitant-to-go-along-with-things Sane to stand up for herself eventually, the babyfaces are the heavy favorites.
Over the past few weeks, Sane has possibly been the most conflicted character in the entire history of pro wrestling. When Asuka tells her to attack SKY, Sane looks so torn that it sometimes seems like her left arm is trying to physically stop her right from striking her old teammate. This poor woman wants to hold onto her family so deeply that it might literally tear her into two pieces. Sad.
I think she needs to let go and join Ripley and SKY on the good guy team and will help Ripley and SKY win if she does so at Crown Jewel.
Prediction: Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY
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Ian Carey is a writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, whose work has been featured in NOW Magazine, The Huffington Post, and more. A lifelong wrestling aficionado born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, he has covered the industry for a decade and a half. He joined the f4wonline.com team in 2019.