WWE Crown Jewel 2024: Sitting down with the Superstars
Tickets are still on sale…
Everyone’s favourite fight night is returning to the capital tonight, promising to bring by an enthralling showdown to our stage in mere hours. Ahead of WWE Crown Jewel 2024, we sat down with the biggest stars the event is going to feature.
The extravaganza will be featuring everything for the first time ever, fights between WWE Champion vs World Champion for both men and women, with one winner crowned The Crown Jewel Champion. So, it’s safe to say, we’re in for a treat.
Here are the conversations we had with the stars.
What’s On: What’s your dream all-star match, past, present, anything goes?
Bronson Reed: “If I could choose a dream opponent it would be Shawn Michaels. Obviously he’s retired now, but right time, right place. that would be my dream match.”
Carmelo Hayes: “Shawn Michaels, another one with Eddie Guerrero, obviously he’s passed on, but that would be an all-star match for me. In the present day, it would have to be Seth Rollins and Romans Reigns.”
Raquel Rodriguez: “Oh, I always have said that I dreamt of wrestling Chyna, she was such a pioneer for me as a bigger, stronger woman or of course, Beth Phoenix. She also was an idol for me, I absolutely love her, and I try to emulate a lot of her characteristics when it comes to being a strong, powerful woman, it’s something I aspire to be, like as good a role model as her.”
WO: What’s your favourite match to date that you’ve ever done?
LA Knight: “Well I mean the easy answer would be Summer Slam when I won the US championship, it’s gotta be that. That’s the biggest achievement so far in my career. If you check with me in about a year, that might change, cause as achievements grow, so does that answer”
Liv Morgan: “I think my favourite match that I’ve been a part of is Summer Slam when I beat Rhea Ripley and when Dominic chose me over her.
WO: What’s the one match you’d show somebody who wants to get into wrestling?
Carmelo Hayes: “I told the story of Wrestlemania where Cody finished his story, I think that’s just such a beautiful moment, if you weren’t able to see the full journey, but just that feeling of that he won, if you look at the crowd, if you look at the moments that happened in that match with The Rock and The Bloodine and everything, the first thing I would show people is Cody finishing that story.”
Bronson Reed: “I would show them myself, I don’t wanna boast too much. I’ll show them the tsunami, it’s my finishing move where I jump off the top and it always astounds people, and to get to see it live.”
WO: Out of everyone in the locker room, who would you say is your mentor?
Carmelo Hayes: “I mean Shawn Michaels is one of the guys that you know, he runs NXT brand, and I was there for so long, and he gave me so many good bits of advice and navigated me, but right there are so many, Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, I’m able to get a lot from Triple H” (Paul Levesque).
Bronson Reed: “I mean for me, it’s obviously Triple H, you know, he’s obviously running the show now, but I had a good relationship with in NXT, and I’ve learnt a lot from him one-on-one. So he’s probably the person I look to most for advice.”
WO: What’s your favourite Wrestlemania event?
Carmelo Hayes: “I mean it’s a toss up, Wrestlemania 17 was such a great Wrestlemania, also I mean Kofimania was great when Kofi won, it was a huge moment. There are just a lot of great moments that I remember even as a fan, even before I was in the business.”
WO: What’s something you would tell yourself when you were young and just getting into the business?
Carmelo Hayes: “I don’t know if I’d tell myself anything, you know, there’s a lot of things that I went left in when I should’ve gone right, and somehow it got me here. I wouldn’t change anything, I wouldn’t give myself any sort of different advice, I think I’d just ride it out how I did it and here we are anyway, like you know what I mean?”
Bronson Reed: “I think the biggest thing for me, I’d tell my younger version to just keep going, I think a lot of wrestlers when they first start, there’s a lot of doubt, but you kind of have to enjoy that journey and experience to get to where you want to be.”
Dominik Mysterio: “I would tell my younger self, I don’t know, keep doing what you’re doing, dude. Keep doing what you’re doing, dude.”
WO: How are you finding the country/city so far?
Bronson Reed: “I mean I’ve just gotten to Riyadh yesterday, but so far, it’s been really cool, and last time the experience that I had with the people was really great. I think they bring a lot of energy to shows that we do.”
Raquel Rodriguez: “This is my second time in Riyadh, I was here last November, I had a fatal four-way I believe, and even from then, you can see the changes are still happening. Every time WWE comes to to Saudi, even if I’m not a part of the event, I notice the changes for women and how much more expansive everything is getting. It’s more open to women being in this position and in this spotlight and on this pedestal. I think the city is beautiful, and I think this is an amazing opportunity for us to come and experience the culture and to bring WWE to a different culture that doesn’t get it very often.”
WO: How do you find the change in Saudi Arabia?
LA Knight: “I don’t have enough of a feet-on-the-ground view on how things have changed that much but I can say from an outsider’s perspective, just even the way WWE has evolved in the confines of Saudi Arabia, like the women performing on the show on a much greater level, that’s an amazing change to see. On top of that, there’s also a specfic perception, I think even I might have had it coming in. But, to be in the city, whether it’s Riyadh or Jeddah, to be able to see it first-hand and experience it, everyone’s so hospitable, it’s been great being over here and doing all the fun touristy kind of things. It’s just a completely different thing than you expect, so it’s been cool.”
WO: How do you feel knowing that you’re one of the pioneers of this sort of thing for women in the Kingdom?
Raquel Rodriguez: “It’s such an honour for me as well to even be in this position representing women in another country where the rules are just a little bit different for all of us, but it’s definitely something special for us to come out here, and present that to them and show what women can do, and showcasing them for a pedestal that’s usually predominantly men. I think it’s an amazing opportunity for me and I really feel blessed to be in this situation, in this position.”
WO: How are you preparing for the fight tonight? What’s the game plan?
Raquel Rodriguez: “I mean I’m here supporting my woman’s champion, Liv Morgan, so the game plan tomorrow is to do what she’s already done which is to beat Nia Jax, she’s already beaten Nia Jax once. I definitely believe in her, she’s definitely going to do it again, Liv always has a plan. Nia Jax is a tough opponent, but I don’t think she can handle us.”
WO: On a scale of 1-10, how excited are you for the match tomorrow?
LA Knight: “Well, right now, I’m probably at a five, but that’s only because I’m just here you know, by the time we get to tomorrow you it will probably be a nine or a 10.”
Liv Morgan: “Is 10 the most excited? Well, I’m very, very, very excited to have two titles to my name. So, a 10, because I’m going to be your new first ever Women’s Grand Slam Champion.”
WO: What is a piece of advice that you would give young wrestlers?
Raquel Rodriguez: “I would say, you know, go after your dreams. If that’s what you want to do, do it. And do it with everything you have. But just be careful if you’re, like, planning on coming after Liv and I, because we don’t take that.”
Dominik Mysterio: “The advice I would give to someone trying to become a wrestler, I would say don’t follow in my footsteps. Don’t be anything like Dirty Dom because I’m one of a kind.”
WWE Crown Jewel. Sat No 2, webook.com