The much-talked-about WWE World Cup tournament “to crown the best in the world” kicked off Friday’s WWE Crown Jewel pay-per-view in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with four straight first round matches.
The high-flying Rey Mysterio knocked off Randy Orton to get the night started, but “The Viper” left his opponent laying with an RKO and a brutal post-match assault. The Miz then picked up something of an upset over the “Charismatic Enigma” Jeff Hardy to advance to the semifinal round.
On the “red brand” side of things, Intercontinental Champion and Raw Tag Team Champion Seth Rollins scored a huge win over Bobby Lashley, who was a last-minute replacement in the tournament for John Cena. Dolph Ziggler then managed to defeat WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle, in the Olympic gold medalists first WWE singles match since 2006.