Logan Paul to face Roman Reigns at WWE’s Crown Jewel

He’s professional wrestling’s rookie of the year. Logan Paul has shown an ability well beyond having his debut match only five months ago. He clearly has the work ethic to be a good wrestler, and Paul has the fan base on his own to make any WWE interaction newsworthy. To think the soon-to-be-official world title bout against Roman Reigns isn’t to prop him up in an environment where it wouldn’t be wasted, and therefore make a bunch of money, is foolish. The biggest rules that dictate professional wrestling are what puts asses in seats and makes those on the roster and in charge the most money. Everything else is secondary.

Yes, this is Paul’s third professional wrestling match ever. A win would in-cannon make him the top guy in the world’s biggest wrestling company. There isn’t a shot in any universe where Paul wins this match. With all the momentum WWE has put behind Roman Reigns, dropping the world titles to Paul, who’s barely shifted away from his moniker as just a glorified YouTube star, would show Paul “Triple H” Levesque doesn’t have the knowledge to run WWE. And what signs has “The Game” shown to not be up for the gig?

The Reigns vs. Paul match will take place at Crown Jewel on Nov. 5 in Saudi Arabia. The Vince McMahon-era decision to run shows in the uber-controversial Middle Eastern country can be talked down a ton, but with current contracts to run shows in Riyadh through 2028, WWE might as well take advantage of things it can’t change. Even though the company has booked a world-championship title change at a previous Saudi show, it was dumb then and even more bizarre now. It’s a showcase meant for unique matchups like the 50-person Royal Rumble and Undertaker vs. Goldberg.

Knowing it’s a throw-away show for Reigns’ legacy, why not give us a fresh matchup? If Paul getting a main event match in bout No. 3 is your reservation, reference what I said earlier. The possibility of Paul winning a world title will draw plenty of eyes to the company, not to mention distract from the whole Saudi Arabia treating women like shit and murdering a Washington Post journalist thing. Both can co-exist and should when WWE runs this show. Giving Paul an opportunity to draw eyes to the company is a good thing. Saudi Arabia is still a country with ass-backward standards.

The possibility of this match first started when Reigns was a guest on Paul’s podcast and showed just how charismatic “The Tribal Chief” is. Reigns seems like a cool, personable dude when he’s not playing the role of a come-to-life villainous boss you must beat to finish a video game. Then, an exchange of tweets happened — and that’s all you need to tease a match. Paul, alongside one of WWE’s best talkers and promoters Paul Heyman, did a great job of building a storyline around the match on Friday’s Smackdown! and giving viewers a reason to turn in other than to see Paul’s shoulder getting pinned. There was a Floyd Mayweather mention, how Jake Paul’s upcoming fight against MMA legend Anderson Silva and more to bring in the world of combat sports. A press conference was scheduled for Saturday in Las Vegas with plenty of media in town for Canelo vs. GGG III.

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Paul’s character needs long-term work. His music is bland, his ring attire should be spiced up a bit for a celebrity guest, and Paul possesses all the general green-ness of a professional-wrestling rookie (“Greener than goose shit,” to quote wrestling legend “Stone Cold” Steve Austin). None of that should prevent him from a good match and clean loss to Reigns in Saudi Arabia. Better Paul takes the pin after a spear than an actual credible threat to his near-750-day run as world champion. Legitimate challengers can return at the next show. Just enjoy the spectacle of Paul getting punched in November.