The event aired via pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming and featured wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions.

In what was Raw's main match, Seth "Freakin" Rollins defeated Drew McIntyre to retain the World Heavyweight Championship, which was also the opening bout.

In another prominent match, Logan Paul defeated Rey Mysterio to win SmackDown's WWE United States Championship.

[4][5] The event aired on pay-per-view worldwide and was available to livestream on Peacock in the United States and the WWE Network in most international markets, and it featured wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brand divisions.

[6][7] The 2023 Crown Jewel was first promoted by Saudi Arabia's Riyadh Season in September, which advertised John Cena for the event.

It was also reported that WWE would have other attractions along with Crown Jewel, including a theme park dark ride and an Undertaker-themed walk-through, among other things.

[11] On the October 9 episode of Raw, while Seth "Freakin" Rollins was celebrating his successful World Heavyweight Championship defense at Fastlane, he was confronted by Drew McIntyre, who wanted a title match.

[12] These eruptions would come to a head during the season premiere of Raw on October 16, as following another brawl between the women which also involved Stark, Raw General Manager Adam Pearce announced that Ripley would defend the Women's World Championship against Jax, Baszler, Stark, and Rodriguez in a fatal five-way match at Crown Jewel.

[16] After endorsing LA Knight at Payback,[13] and then teaming with him at Fastlane to defeat The Bloodline (Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa),[17] John Cena opened the season premiere of SmackDown on October 13; however, he was interrupted by Sikoa, Paul Heyman, and the return of Bloodline leader and the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion, Roman Reigns, who had taken a vacation shortly after SummerSlam in August.

[19][20] On SmackDown that night, after realizing he had not won a televised singles match since April 2018 and teasing retirement, Cena called out anyone to face him, which prompted Sikoa to come out and a brawl ensued.

[21] For months, Cody Rhodes had been at odds with The Judgment Day (Finn Bálor, Damian Priest, "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio, and Rhea Ripley), and their accomplice, JD McDonagh.

[21] The following week, Belair announced that after talking with SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis, she would get her rematch for the WWE Women's Championship against Sky at Crown Jewel.

[28] Since mid-July, Sami Zayn would also be embroiled in a rivalry against The Judgment Day (Finn Bálor, Damian Priest, "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio, and Rhea Ripley) and their accomplice, JD McDonagh.

During this time, Zayn and Kevin Owens would lose the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship to Bálor and Priest at Payback,[13] and failed to regain them in a rematch.

On the October 30 episode of Raw, as Ripley, Mysterio, and McDonagh were in the ring, Zayn interrupted and stated that despite the fact that he was alone, he would continue to fight The Judgment Day until the group ended.

In the end, Zayn delivered a corner exploder suplex, the Helluva Kick, and a Blue Thunder Bomb on McDonagh to win the match.

[31] The actual pay-per-view opened with Seth "Freakin" Rollins defending the World Heavyweight Championship against Drew McIntyre.

[31] Next, Rhea Ripley defended the Women's World Championship against Shayna Baszler, Nia Jax, Raquel Rodriguez, and Zoey Stark in a fatal five-way match.

Following the match, the crowd gave Cena a standing ovation as he emotionally walked to the backstage area, further teasing a retirement.

Belair then delivered the Glam Slam, but as she went for the pin, Sky's Damage CTRL stablemate Bayley came out and distracted referee Jessika Carr.

Finn Bálor and JD McDonagh then came out and distracted the referee, allowing Priest to deliver the South of Heaven to Rhodes for a two count.

[31] In the main event, Roman Reigns (accompanied by Paul Heyman) defended the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against LA Knight.

Reigns then delivered an Uranage, but as he attempted a Superman Punch, Knight caught him and hit a fireman's carry neckbreaker.

He then invited Sami Zayn to the ring to thank him for preventing Damian Priest from cashing in his Money in the Bank contract at Crown Jewel.

After Rollins retained the title, a brawl ensued with The Judgment Day (Priest, Finn Bálor, and "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio) and JD McDonagh, which also brought out Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso, subsequently leading to Raw General Manager Adam Pearce scheduling a WarGames match at Survivor Series: WarGames, pitting the team of Rollins, Rhodes, Uso, and Zayn against The Judgment Day and McDonagh.

[33] The following week, McDonagh was made an official member of The Judgment Day and later that night, McIntyre assisted Bálor and Priest in retaining the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship in a rematch against Rhodes and Uso, turning heel for the first time since 2020.

[33] On the following SmackDown, LA Knight addressed his loss to Roman Reigns and claimed that had it not been for Jimmy Uso, he would have become the new Undisputed WWE Universal Champion.

[37] Rey Mysterio, along with his LWO stablemates, claimed that had Logan Paul not cheated and used brass knuckles during their match, he would still be the United States Champion.

Fellow LWO stablemate Carlito interrupted and blamed Santos Escobar as he had left the brass knuckles on the ring apron.

WWE Women's Champion Iyo Sky and Dakota Kai claimed that they brought Sane in to make their group stronger.