This Saturday marks the 39th annual WWE Survivor Series, a show that once featured super fun 5-on-5 elimination matches and has since 2022 been repurposed as WWE WarGames, where the company trots out the exact same sterilized, trash can/kendo stick double cage matches every year.
Man, these WarGames matches are damn near indistinguishable from each other. I say it every year but the old elimination format would make for exponentially more combinations and outcomes. WarGames is inherently a repetitious gimmick match thanks to its convoluted rules. Even AEW's version Blood and Guts (though infinitely superior to this PG-rated shite) has reached a point where it doesn't need to be an annual event. The match layout is simply too limiting. I dunno why WWE even keeps the Survivor Series name; it's got literally nothing to do with what this event has become.
Anyway, this lineup looks like another pretty skippable one (which is good since I ain't paying thirty bucks to see it), with the men's babyface WarGames team being exactly the same as last year except for Cody replacing Sami Zayn. Boy, that OG Bloodline reunion last year did nothing for Sami, did it? The heel team has some new blood at least, though you know Brock Lesnar's gonna be the last man in so he doesn't have to work more than ten minutes. On the women's side they're once again going with Nia Jax for some reason; is she gonna work the whole match again? Elsewhere on the card we have two singles title matches, one of which involves John Cena in his final PPV bout, the other involves Nikki Bella because WWE inexplicably thinks its audience is nostalgic for the early 2010s. I'm really interested to see what WWE's ticket sales look like when John's no longer there.....
Let's take a closer look....
Women's World Championship: Stephanie Vaquer vs. Nikki Bella
Seriously guys, 2013 wasn't a good creative period for WWE, why are we bringing back names and matches from that era instead of looking forward? Stephanie is great, Nikki has never been great, so this match should be.....fine? Steph ain't losing the title yet.
Pick: Stephanie retains
Intercontinental Championship: John Cena vs. Dominik Mysterio
Why did Cena need to win a secondary title on his way out? He'd already had his honorary title reign earlier this year during that delightful heel run everyone was so fond of. What is the point of this? So Gunther can be downgraded back to a midcard champion instead of still being in the main event picture? I guess his work was much better as I-C Champ, so maybe they're just trying to recapture the lightning?
Pick: Cena retains
Women's WarGames: Rhea Ripley/Iyo Sky/Charlotte Flair/AJ Lee/Alexa Bliss vs. Becky Lynch/Nia Jax/Lash Legend/Kabuki Warriors
Well there's a least a lot of talent in this one; Rhea, Iyo, Charlotte, Becky, Asuka and Kairi. Hard to go wrong with them. Unfortunately Nia's in this too. This company can't seem to get away from her. Lash Legend finally has a proper main roster match, so hopefully they'll give her stuff to do. Should be better than last year's women's match anyway.
Pick: Team Ripley
Men's WarGames: CM Punk/Cody Rhodes/Roman Reigns/Usos vs. Brock Lesnar/Bron Breakker/Bronson Reed/Drew McIntyre/Logan Paul
Jesus, Cody Rhodes has not felt less important to this company since returning in 2022, and he's the top champion. The feud with Cena absolutely porked him as a top guy. It didn't help that after beating Roman for the title in 2024 they had no meaningful feuds for him UNTIL Cena turned on him, but this second title run he's just been some dude with a championship. On this team he's the third-ranked guy behind Punk and Roman. This match should be a vehicle to get Breakker ready to step up to the main event scene, but I have a feeling Brock is gonna be the main heel focus. I suppose it's possible they set up Brock vs. Bron here though.
Pick: The Heels
Both WarGames matches will no doubt well overstay their welcome and be weapons-heavy shit shows instead of the bloodbaths they ought to be. Maybe Phil will be allowed to blood capsule. It'll be "A Show" once again, virtually indistinguishable from last year's.
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