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WWE Crown Jewel 2021: Start times, full card, how to watch on Peacock

It's a battle of the Paul Heyman Guys as Brock Lesnar challenges Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship.

Daniel Van Boom Senior Writer
Daniel Van Boom is an award-winning Senior Writer based in Sydney, Australia. Daniel Van Boom covers cryptocurrency, NFTs, culture and global issues. When not writing, Daniel Van Boom practices Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, reads as much as he can, and speaks about himself in the third person.
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Daniel Van Boom
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WWE

WWE is going back to Saudi Arabia. The morally-dubious-but-extremely-lucrative Crown Jewel takes place on Thursday, Oct. 12. That's an unusual day for a WWE pay-per-view, and the time of the show is even weirder: 9am PT or midday ET. If you're able to tune in, you'll see arguably the biggest match of the year so far: Roman Reigns defending his Unversal Championship against Brock Lesnar.

Reigns and Lesnar have a storied history, having main evented two WrestleManias together. They last wrestled at SummerSlam 2018, where Reigns finally defeated Lesnar and was crowned Universal Champion. This time is completely different though. Back then, Reigns was the work-in-progress top good guy of WWE. Now, he's a bonafide star -- and a heel. And then there's the question of Paul Heyman: Who is he aligned with?

In addition to that headlining bout, Goldberg will return to the ring to face Bobby Lashley in a SummerSlam rematch, Big E will defend his WWE Championship against Drew McIntyre, and Edge will wrestle Seth Rollins inside a Hell in a Cell cage. 

The company's shows in Saudi Arabia are mixed bags: The crowd is often unresponsive and flat, but the match cards are often insane. Remember: Saudi Arabia paid WWE so much money that Shawn Michaels came out of retirement in 2018. Apart from the matches above, Becky Lynch will also put her SmackDown Women's Championship on the line in a triple threat match against Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair. 

Start times 

With Crown Jewel broadcasting from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, start times will be different than normal. The show will air 9 a.m. PT/12 p.m. ET on Oct. 21. That's 5 p.m. UK time, which is a treat for people in the region who usually have to wait until midnight to get their grappling fix. This time it's the Australians who have it the hardest: Crown Jewel airs at 3 a.m. AEDT

How to watch: Peacock, WWE Network

As you probably know by now, Peacock is the new home of WWE's pay-per-views. The WWE Network has in essence migrated to NBC's Peacock streaming service, and that's where you'll go to watch Crown Jewel 2021. Peacock has three tiers: Free, Premium and Premium Plus. To watch WWE content, you'll need a Premium subscription. The good news is that'll set you back $5 a month, less than the $10 for WWE Network. 

If you're outside of the US, you'll watch Crown Jewel 2021 on the WWE Network as usual. 

Match card

  • Universal Championship: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Brock Lesnar.
  • WWE Championship: Big E (c) vs. Drew McIntyre. 
  • No Holds Barred: Goldberg vs. Bobby Lashley. 
  • Hell in a Cell: Edge vs. Seth Rollins.
  • SmackDown Women's Championship: Becky Lynch (c) vs. Sasha Banks vs. Bianca Belair.
  • Raw Tag Team Championship: Randy Orton and Riddle (c) vs. AJ Styles and Omos. 
  • King of the Ring finals: Finn Balor vs. Xavier Woods.
  • Queen of the Ring finals: Doudrop vs. Zelina Vega.
  • Mansoor vs. Mustafa Ali.
  • Kickoff Show: The Usos vs. The Hurt Business. 

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