Worst in the World: Tyson Fury vs Braun Strowman-Crown Jewel 2019

(NOTE: Merry Christmas everyone! Now, obviously, this is a week late and not what I had teased in the last post. I had a lot of schoolwork that needed to be done and things kind of got away from me. At the same time, I wasn't able to sign up for Impact Plus (the payment wouldn't go through, for some reason) so I decided to change course until I get that sorted out. Once I can figure that out, that match will be covered here. But as a make-up for missing an entire week, I'll be uploading another entry tomorrow as well. So, with that said, onto the post!)

The bar for celebrity wrestling matches has gone up considerably in the last few years. Once a pretty blatant piece of publicity that would contribute decent at best and horrible at worst (I'm looking at you, Jenna Morasca), the last few years have seen some non-wrestlers step in the ring and put on some legitimately good matches. Whether they be fun watches like Johnny Knoxville vs Sami Zayn or Shaquille O'Neal teaming up with Jade Cargill to face Cody Rhodes & Red Velvet, some standout performances from Bad Bunny and Pat McAfee (his match with Vince McMahon being the exception), or Logan Paul being annoyingly fantastic at this, celebrity wrestling has come a long way from guys like Dennis Rodman stinking up the joint. That being said, there's still been some bad matches involving people famous outside of wrestling, and the 2019 edition of Crown Jewel might have had the worst in recent memory.

WWE's fourth pay-per-view held as part of their 10-year deal with Saudi Arabia actually featured not one, but two of these kinds of matches. Granted, Cain Velasquez, who wrestled Brock Lesnar, had begun a career in professional wrestling after retiring from MMA and before he signed with WWE, but even in 2019, Velasquez was definitely still more well-known for his 13-year MMA career than his two matches in Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide. I've already covered that match, so for this entry, let's venture three matches down the card to the other celebrity match, which saw Braun Strowman take on undefeated boxer Tyson Fury. The match came about on the 20th-anniversary episode of SmackDown (also the show's premiere on Fox.) Fury, who was seated at ringside, had a confrontation with Strowman, who tossed Dolph Ziggler into the barricade where he was seated and knocked him down. Fury would hop the barricade to go after Strowman after the match, but security prevented a fight. The two would brawl on the following episode of Raw before a match between the two was set for Crown Jewel.

This was a big get for WWE from a publicity standpoint, as while boxing has taken a noticeable backseat to MMA in terms of popularity amongst combat sports, boxing is still a big draw, and Fury is one of the most prominent names in the sport currently. However, from an in-ring standpoint, the match fell very flat. Celebrity matches work best when the person in the ring with them can get the most out of a limited opponent. I don't think Braun Strowman is horrible in the ring, but in terms of actually leading someone inexperienced in Fury, he's not that guy. As such, the match earned a DUD (zero stars) rating from Dave Meltzer, and holds just a 0.43 out of 10 rating on Cagematch.net, putting it at #10 on the worst-rated matches on the site. Is it really that bad? Let's take a look.

Tyson Fury has one of the most comedically over-the-top entrances you will ever see on a wrestling show. He gets nearly a minute and a half of pyro, laser lights, a lift from under the stage, and even a song change before he's even started walking down the ramp. It's insane. The match starts with a lock-up, which Strowman pushes out of. Another lock-up sees Strowman push Fury into the corner before shoving him. Another lock-up is broken when Strowman tries to throw punches at Fury, who dodges each one before landing two body shots. Yet another lock-up, but Strowman quickly turns it into a wristlock. Fury rolls out of it before doing a kip-up that Strowman is helping a lot with and slapping on a headlock. Strowman pushes out, but Fury comes back with a shoulder block. Strowman stumbles back into the ropes, rebounds off them, and knocks Fury off his feet with a big boot. Strowman stomps & clubs away at Fury before hitting a headbutt. Strowman drags Fury into the corner, beating him down with shoulder blocks before running to the opposite corner to hit a running shoulder block. Fury, however, runs out of the way, sending Strowman through the ropes to the outside.

Fury follows Strowman out of the ring, only for Strowman to ram him into the ring apron before clocking him with a right hand. Strowman does a full lap around the ring as he goes for a shoulder block, but Fury catches him with a dropkick. Fury throws Strowman back into the ring and goes for a right hand, but Strowman dodges it and picks him up for the running powerslam. Fury slips out, however, and sends Strowman into the ropes with a drop toe-hold. Fury follows up with a pretty nice big boot and goes for the cover, but Strowman kicks out at two. Strowman regains control, rushing Fury into the corner before clubbing him to the ground. Tyson Fury then does the Undertaker sit-up for some reason, but Strowman quickly boots him back down. Fury stumbles up the corner as Strowman charges him again, only for Fury to catch him with a boot of his own. Fury goes for a crossbody, but Strowman catches him and slams him down, causing Fury to roll out of the ring. Strowman calls for the charging shoulder block and hits it, knocking Fury down. Strowman, clearly forgetting about the rule of threes, rolls Fury back into the ring, only for Fury to pop up and clock him with a right hand as he gets on the apron. Strowman stumbles and can't get into the ring as the referee counts him out, giving Fury the win. After the match, Strowman quickly lays out Fury with a powerslam, which Fury sells for about 13 seconds before popping right back up. He got paid $15 million to do that.

The Verdict

Nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be or as the rating suggests, this is really just a mediocre match. Fury is far from the worst celebrity wrestler I've ever seen, but outside of a few nice spots, he really didn't do much. It's still a far better match than the Lesnar-Velasquez match from earlier in the show, but this is still not really worth watching.

The Rankings (Best to Worst)

1. Tommy Dreamer vs Bully Ray-Victory Road 2011
2. Corporal Cajun & Lt. Loco vs The Perfect Event-Halloween Havoc 2000
3. Triple H vs Kevin Nash-TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs 2011
4. Wrath vs Glacier-World War 3 1998
5. Rick Rude vs Jake Roberts-WrestleMania IV
6. Too Much vs Al Snow & Head-King of the Ring 1998
7. Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns-Greatest Royal Rumble
8. Ernest Miller vs Norman Smiley-Fall Brawl 1998
9. The Concrete Crypt Match-The Great American Bash 2004
10. Shane McMahon vs Eric Bischoff-SummerSlam 2003
11. Mordecai vs Hardcore Holly-The Great American Bash 2004
12. Luther Reigns vs Charlie Haas-The Great American Bash 2004
13. The Tag Team Gauntlet-Extreme Rules 2010
14. The Gimmick Battle Royal-WrestleMania X-Seven
15. Hernandez vs Matt Morgan-Victory Road 2011
16. Randy Orton vs Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 33
17. Vampiro vs Sting-Great American Bash 2000
18. T&A vs Head Cheese-WrestleMania 2000
19. David Arquette & Diamond Dallas Page vs Jeff Jarrett & Eric Bischoff
20. Tyson Fury vs Braun Strowman-Crown Jewel 2019
21. The Women's Tag Team Turmoil-WrestleMania 37 (Night 1)
22. Triple H vs Sgt. Slaughter-D-Generation X: In Your House
23. Konnan vs One Man Gang-SuperBrawl VI
24. Ultimate Warrior vs Hercules-WrestleMania IV
25. Rick Rude vs Hawk-Clash of the Champions XXV
26. Shelton Benjamin vs Viscera-New Year's Revolution 2006
27. Steve McMichael vs Reggie White-Slamboree 1997
28. General Rection vs Lance Storm & Jim Duggan-Halloween Havoc 2000
29. Chyna vs Ivory-WrestleMania X-Seven
30. Lars Sullivan vs Lucha House Party-Super Showdown 2019
31. Alexa Bliss vs Bayley-Extreme Rules 2017
32. The Tag Team Fatal 4-Way Match-WrestleMania 13
33. The Barbed Wire Christmas Tree Match-TNA iMPACT (12/20/2007)
34. Tag Team Battle Royal-WrestleMania XIV
35. EVIL vs Tomohiro Ishii-Wrestle Kingdom 16 (Day 1)
36. The Chamber of Horrors-Halloween Havoc 1991
37. Toru Yano vs Great O-Khan-New Japan Cup 2021 (Day 6)
38. Glacier vs Wrath-The Great American Bash 1997
39. The Natural Disasters vs Money Inc.-WrestleMania VIII
40. Ivan Koloff vs Paul Jones-Clash of the Champions IV
41. ODB, Taylor Wilde, and Roxxi vs The Kongtourage-Genesis 2009
42. Rachel Evers vs Marti Belle-Mae Young Classic (Episode 2)
43. Kazushi Sakuraba & Yuji Nagata vs Daniel & Rolles Gracie-Wrestle Kingdom 8
44. Ivory vs Tori-SummerSlam 1999
45. Giant Baba vs Bulldog Bob Brown-WrestleRock
46. The Reverse Battle Royal-Impact! (10/26/2006)
47. The Undertaker vs King Mabel-In Your House 5: Season's Beatings
48. Savio Vega vs Rocky Maivia-In Your House 14: Revenge of the Taker
49. Jerry Blackwell vs Boris Zhukov-SuperClash II
50. Nikita Koloff vs Bobby Eaton-Bunkhouse Stampede
51. Alex Wright vs Steve McMichael-Halloween Havoc 1997
52. The Great Khali vs Kane-WrestleMania 23
53. Savio Vega vs Crush vs Faarooq-Ground Zero: In Your House
54. The Shockmaster vs Awesome/King Kong-Starrcade 1993
55. Total Divas vs Other Divas-Survivor Series 2013
56. The Intercontinental Championship Elimination Chamber-Elimination Chamber 2015
57. The Oddities vs Kaientai-SummerSlam 1998
58. Team RAW vs Team SmackDown Men's Elimination Match-Survivor Series 2017
59. Hulk Hogan vs Sid Justice-WrestleMania VIII
60. Paul Ellering vs Teddy Long-Capital Combat
61. Dusty Rhodes vs Big Boss Man-Saturday Night's Main Event (10/31/1989)
62. The First Blood DNA Match-Halloween Havoc 2000
63. Konnan vs Scott Hall-Fall Brawl 1998
64. Damian Priest vs The Miz-WrestleMania Backlash
65. Tyson Tomko vs Stevie Richards-Unforgiven 2004
66. Kane vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2009
67. The 2022 Women's Royal Rumble
68. Rick Steiner vs Scott Steiner-Fall Brawl 1998
69. The Extreme Elimination Chamber-December to Dismember 2006
70. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Hog Wild
71. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Souled Out 1997
72. Dustin Rhodes & King Kong vs Awesome Kong & The Equalizer-Battlebowl
73. Finlay & Little Bastard vs The Boogeyman & Little Boogeyman-No Way Out 2007
74. Mr. Anderson vs Rob Van Dam-Victory Road 2011
75. Jake Roberts vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania V
76. El Gigante vs Nailz-G1 Climax 1994 (Day 1)
77. Yokozuna vs King Mabel-In Your House 4
78. Dusty Rhodes vs The Honky Tonk Man-SummerSlam 1989
79. Sting & Hawk vs Meng & Kurasawa-Clash of the Champions XXXI
80. The Hurt Business vs RETRIBUTION-WWE Monday Night RAW (10/26/2020)
81. Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage-Uncensored 1998
82. Santino Marella vs Heath Slater-WWE Friday Night SmackDown (9/27/2013)
83. Al Snow vs Big Boss Man-Unforgiven 1999
84. Vince Russo vs Ric Flair-WCW Monday Nitro (6/5/2000)
85. Allie vs Leva Bates-Fyter Fest 2019
86. Mickie James vs Ashley-Royal Rumble 2006
87. Antonio Inoki vs The Great Antonio-NJPW Sumo Hall Show (12/8/1977)
88. Christy Hemme vs Big Fat Oily Guy-Against All Odds 2007
89. Kenzo Suzuki vs Billy Gunn-The Great American Bash 2004
90. The Big Show vs Erick Rowan-TLC: Tables, Ladders, Chairs 2014
91. British Bulldog & Jim Neidhart vs The Dancing Fools-Fall Brawl 1998
92. Stevie Ray vs Konnan-World War 3 1998
93. Vampiro vs The KISS Demon-Bash at the Beach 2000
94. Team WCW vs nWo Wolfpac vs nWo Hollywood-Fall Brawl 1998
95. Vampiro vs Oklahoma-Starrcade 1999
96. Diesel vs King Mabel-SummerSlam 1995
97. Big Swole vs Penelope Ford, Rebel, and Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D.-AEW Dynamite (8/27/2020)
98. Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania III
99. Jinder Mahal vs Randy Orton-Battleground 2017
100. Van Hammer vs Terrance Taylor-Clash of the Champions XVI
101. Goldberg vs KroniK-Halloween Havoc 2000
102. Junkyard Dog vs Moondog Spot-Wrestling Classic
103. The New Blood Gauntlet-WCW Monday Nitro (6/5/2000)
104. Chris Jericho vs "Goldberg"-Fall Brawl 1998
105. Hulk Hogan vs Kevin Nash-WCW Monday Nitro (1/4/1999)
106. Sting vs Hulk Hogan-Halloween Havoc 1999
107. Hulk Hogan vs Jeff Jarrett-Bash at the Beach 2000
108. Kazuchika Okada & Toru Yano vs EVIL & Dick Togo-The New Beginning in Hiroshima 2021 (Day 2)
109. Glacier vs Mortis-Slamboree 1997
110. Michael Nakazawa vs Alex Jebailey-Fyter Fest 2019
111. The 1997 World War 3 Match
112. The 2022 Men's Royal Rumble
113. Roman Reigns vs The Undertaker-WrestleMania 33
114. Konnan vs Stevie Ray-Slamboree 1999
115. The 1998 World War 3
116. The Undertaker vs Goldberg-Super ShowDown 2019
117. Hiroshi Wajima vs Tom Magee-All Japan Pro Wrestling 1988
118. Jim Duggan vs Big Boss Man-Royal Rumble 1990
119. Meng vs Jim Duggan-Uncensored 1995
120. Jim Steele vs The Equalizer-SuperBrawl IV
121. The Golden Truth vs Breezango-Money in the Bank 2016
122. The Undertaker vs Giant González-WrestleMania IX
123. Sting vs Tony Palmore-Battle 7
124. D-Generation X vs Brothers of Destruction-Crown Jewel
125. Wendi Richter vs Leilani Kai-WrestleMania
126. Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar-WrestleMania XX
127. Hornswoggle vs Chavo Guerrero-WWE Monday Night Raw (7/20/2009)
128. Edge vs Triple H vs Vladimir Kozlov-Survivor Series 2008
129. Rosita & Sarita vs Angelina Love & Winter-Victory Road 2011
130. Kevin Sullivan vs Dave Sullivan-SuperBrawl V
131. Steve McMichael vs Brian Adams-Road Wild 1998
132. Scott Hall vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl IX
133. Boris Zhukov vs Paul Samson-Beach Brawl
134. Roddy Piper vs Hollywood Hogan-Halloween Havoc 1997
135. Kane vs The Great Khali-Breaking Point
136. Hollywood Hogan & Dennis Rodman vs Diamond Dallas Page & Karl Malone-Bash at the Beach 1998
137. PN News & Bobby Eaton vs Steve Austin & Terrance Taylor-Great American Bash 1991
138. Scott Steiner vs Sid Vicious vs Jeff Jarrett vs Road Warrior Animal-Sin
139. Hollywood Hogan vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl 1997
140. The 2015 Royal Rumble Match
141. Kazuchika Okada vs Gedo-New Japan Cup 2020 (Day 2)
142. Batista vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2007
143. Sting vs Hollywood Hogan-Starrcade 1997
144.  Sable vs Tori-WrestleMania XV
145. Super Invader vs Todd Champion-WrestleWar 1992
146. Brock Lesnar vs Cain Velasquez-Crown Jewel 2019
147. King Kong Bundy & Jim Neidhart vs Yokozuna & Jake Roberts-Heroes of Wrestling
148. Sid Vicious vs The Nightstalker-Clash of the Champions XIII
149. Mabel vs Savio Vega-King of the Ring 1995
150. Monty Brown vs Trytan-Destination X 2005
151. The 8-Divas Tag Match-Survivor Series 1999
152. The Fabulous Freebirds vs The Renegade Warriors-Halloween Havoc 1990
153. The Knockouts Gauntlet-One Night Only: Live! 2016
154. AJ Styles vs Frank Trigg-No Surrender 2008
155. Rick Rude vs Masahiro Chono-Halloween Havoc 1992
156. Mike Awesome vs Vampiro-Halloween Havoc 2000
157. Bray Wyatt vs John Cena-Extreme Rules 2014
158. Brothers of Destruction vs KroniK-Unforgiven 2001
159. The Miss WrestleMania Battle Royal-WrestleMania 25
160. Mabel vs The Undertaker-King of the Ring 1995
161. Wendi Richter vs The Fabulous Moolah-The Brawl to End it All
162. David Flair vs Kimberly Page-Mayhem 1999
163. The Truth Commission vs The Disciples of Apocolypse-Survivor Series 1997
164. Daffney vs Miss Hancock-Bash at the Beach 2000
165. The Bushwhacker vs The Fabulous Rougeaus-WrestleMania V
166. Randy Orton vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 37 (Night 2)
167. Lex Luger vs Sting-WWA The Retribution
168. The Beverly Brothers vs The Bushwhackers-Royal Rumble 1992
169. Savio Vega vs Rocky Maivia-WWF Monday Night Raw (4/14/1997)
170. Teddy Long vs Eric Bischoff-Survivor Series 2005
171. Mike Sanders vs Ernest Miller-Halloween Havoc 2000
172. Savio Vega vs Rocky Maivia-WWF Shotgun Saturday Night (1/25/1997)
173. Greg Valentine vs George Steele-Heroes of Wrestling
174. Abdullah the Butcher vs One Man Gang-Heroes of Wrestling
175. Major Gunns vs Miss Hancock-New Blood Rising
176. Vince Russo vs Booker T-WCW Monday Nitro (9/25/2000)
177. Bradshaw & Trish Stratus vs Christopher Nowinski & Jackie Gayda-WWE Monday Night RAW (7/8/2002)
178. The Countdown to Armageddon Match-WCW Thunder (10/18/2000)
179. Triple H vs Scott Steiner-Royal Rumble 2003
180. Goldberg vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Super ShowDown 2020
181. Mr. McMahon vs Pat McAfee-WrestleMania 38 (Night 2)
182. Santina Marella vs Vickie & Chavo Guerrero-Extreme Rules 2009
183. Kevin Nash vs Scott Steiner vs Goldberg-New Blood Rising
184. Brock Lesnar vs The Undertaker-WrestleMania XXX
185. Hollywood Hogan vs The Warrior-Halloween Havoc 1998
186. Mr. T vs Roddy Piper-WrestleMania 2
187. The Royal Family vs Clowns R' Us-Survivor Series 1994
188. The House of Horrors Match-Payback 2017
189. The Blacktop Bully vs Dustin Rhodes-Uncensored 1995
190. Team Dos Caras vs Team El Canek-Leyendas Mexicanas 2017
191. Pat Patterson vs Gerald Brisco-King of the Ring 2000
192. The Wyatt Swamp Fight-The Horror Show at Extreme Rules
193. The Four Doinks vs Team Bigelow-Survivor Series 1993
194. Sting vs Jeff Hardy-Victory Road 2011
195. Bret Hart vs Mr. McMahon-WrestleMania XVI
196. WarGames 2000: Russo's Revenge-WCW Monday Nitro (9/4/2000)
197. Oz vs Tim Parker-SuperBrawl
198. Brock Lesnar vs Braun Strowman-Crown Jewel 2018
199. Brock Lesnar vs Ricochet-Super ShowDown 2020
200. Toru Yano vs KENTA-G1 Climax 2021 (Day 1)
201. Konnan & Tygress vs Shane Douglas & Torrie Wilson-Halloween Havoc 2000
202. The Fabulous Moolah vs Ivory-No Mercy 1999
203. New Jack vs Vic Grimes-Living Dangerously 2000
204. The Mighty Maccabee vs The Iron Sheik-Maccabiah Mania II: Shekel Slam
205. Van Hammer vs Doug Somers-Halloween Havoc 1991
206. Eddy Steinblock vs One Warrior Nation-DWA Wrestling Legends Tour 2010 (Day 2)
207. Ultimate Warrior vs Andre the Giant-Saturday Night's Main Event (11/25/1989)
208. Jeff Jarrett vs Sting-Halloween Havoc 2000
209. The Doomsday Cage Match-Uncensored 1996
210. "Donald Trump" vs "Rosie O'Donnell"-WWE Monday Night RAW (1/8/2007)
211. Kane vs The Undertaker-Judgement Day 1998
212. Toru Yano vs Jado-New Japan Cup 2020 (Day 1)
213. Rebel vs Shelly Martinez-One Night Only: Knockouts Knockdown
214. Sable vs Torrie Wilson-The Great American Bash 2004
215. The Evening Gown Pool Match-Armageddon 1999
216. Kaitlyn vs Maxine-NXT (10/19/2010)
217. Sabu vs The Sandman-November to Remember 1997
218. The 1996 World War 3 Match
219. Seth Rollins vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Hell in a Cell 2019
220. Michael Cole vs Jerry Lawler-WrestleMania XXVII
221. The Bushwhackers vs Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff-Heroes of Wrestling
222. James Storm vs Chris Harris-Lockdown 2007
223. John Laurinaitis vs John Cena-Over the Limit 2012
224. Hulk Hogan vs The Giant-Halloween Havoc 1995
225. Ultimate Warrior vs Goldust-In Your House 7
226. Los Villanos vs Los Psycho Circus-Triplemania XXIII
227. Jenna Morasca vs Sharmell-Victory Road 2009
228. Akira Maeda vs Andre the Giant-NJPW Big Fighter Series 1986 (Day 15)
229. The 1995 World War 3 Match
230. New Jack vs Vic Grimes-XPW Freefall

Thanks for reading! Be sure to share if you enjoyed and leave any suggestions for matches you'd like to see covered on the Worst in the World in the comments. Tomorrow, I'll be going back to 1976 and taking look at one of the worst steel cage match variations of all-time. Stay tuned.