WWE had a completely different match planned for Crown Jewel 2026 before deciding to shake things up. Instead of the World Tag Team Championship match that saw Penta and Je’Von Evans walk away with the gold, the company originally wanted a huge six-man tag team showdown involving Oba Femi.
According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, WWE initially planned to have Oba Femi team up with Penta and Je’Von Evans against Bron Breakker, Austin Theory and Bronson Reed at the November 7 event in Saudi Arabia.
But those plans got thrown out when WWE came up with another idea. The company decided it would be better to have Penta and Evans challenge Breakker and Theory for the World Tag Team Championships, with Femi getting involved to help cause the title change. Meltzer explained why WWE decided to change the match.
“The decision was changed because of the feeling that it was better to have Femi cause a title change to get him into the angle and it’s expected to lead to that trios match soon.”
And that’s exactly how things played out. During the World Tag Team Championship match, Bronson Reed got involved and attacked the challengers, putting Penta and Evans in serious trouble. However, Reed wasn’t expecting Oba Femi to show up.
Femi made a surprise appearance and took out Reed, preventing him from continuing to interfere. That opened the door for Penta and Evans to finish the job and defeat Breakker and Theory to become the new World Tag Team Champions.
The title change gave Penta and Evans their biggest moment as a team while also bringing Femi directly into the ongoing issues with The Vision. And there’s another twist to all of this. WWE apparently hasn’t abandoned the original six-man tag team match. According to Meltzer, the company is still expected to book Femi, Penta and Evans against Breakker, Theory and Reed in the near future. That means Crown Jewel may have simply been the setup for the bigger six-man confrontation WWE originally wanted.
With Breakker and Theory now without their championships, the situation has only gotten worse for The Vision. Reed also has unfinished business with Femi after getting taken out during the title match. WWE ended up getting a surprise championship change and a new rivalry involving Oba Femi out of the Crown Jewel match. Now the original six-man tag team showdown is still on the table, only this time Penta and Je’Von Evans would enter the match as champions. That’s a pretty big difference from what WWE initially had planned.
What do you think about WWE scrapping the original six-man tag match to give Penta and Je’Von Evans the World Tag Team Championships? Was the title change the better decision, or would you have preferred the original match? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
