WWE Survivor Series WarGames review: I hope you like weapons

WarGames has entered the WWE main roster. And the results are mixed.

Neither match was bad, let’s point that out to begin with. Everyone worked hard, and both matches had some cool spots. The men’s match had a dramatic ending that worked really well. But I see these matches and think about the WarGames matches from the past, particularly in WCW in the early 90s. These matches were paced much better, had blood, and had an intensity that these matches just didn’t have. 

Both matches at Survivor Series on Saturday at times felt like they were doing the same exact match, just with different weapons. It doesn’t help that I’ve seen so many weapons matches in the last couple of months, all with the same weapons, the question I had after watching both matches is why is simple: why should I care about weapons in a cage match when I saw them not in a cage match last month? Or the month before? These matches are meant to feel special, and all it really felt like was the same WWE weapons match, but there were two rings instead of one. 

The men headlined Survivor Series this year, and while the match was perfectly fine, the highlight of the show (and this match) were the interactions between Roman Reigns, Jey Uso, Sami Zayn, and the Bloodline in general. This storyline is clearly the hottest thing in the company right now, and each step they take is very well done. The show-long storyline of Reigns questioning whether or not Zayn could be trusted, and the eventual Zayn betrayal of Owens, officially cementing himself as a ride or die Bloodline member, was very well done. It saved what otherwise was a pretty mediocre show.

Women’s WarGames had some cool spots, and some cool teases (when will they do Rhea Ripley and Becky Lynch?) but my thoughts on both matches are pretty much the same: well worked, cool spots, not bad by any means, but nothing that made me feel like I was watching something special.

Best match of the night would be the three-way match between Seth Rollins, Austin Theory, and Bobby Lashley for the United States title. It was a well-executed match with a crowd (who was largely uninterested in a lot of this show) reacting well to Seth Rollins, who probably is in line for a babyface run, if he isn’t a babyface already. The finish was very clever, with Rollins being pinned by Theory after Lashley speared Rollins as he was going for the falcon arrow. Theory is getting Triple H’s push now as opposed to Vince McMahon’s push, so the rehab continues.

AJ Styles and Finn Balor wrestled a match that was so memorable I forgot to put it in the first draft of this review, and only was reminded about it after double-checking the card. Not to say this was a bad match, as it was well worked between two guys who are excellent pro wrestlers. But that’s the problem: these two wrestlers are capable of having a way better match than what went down at Survivor Series. They wrestled for what felt like a long time in front of a dead crowd, then AJ won. They’ve had way better matches in the past, so to say this match was a disappointment would be an understatement.

The only other non-WarGames match on the show was Ronda Rousey successfully defending the title against Shotzi. Nothing about this match worked. The build was just pathetic, hardly making Shotzi look like a worthwhile opponent to Rousey. Then the match went down, where a lot of the stuff they did looked bad in front of a very disinterested crowd. The most notable moment of the match, in fact, was probably when fans started to chant for Sasha Banks, which was immediately drowned out by the WWE production crew. I am hoping there are better ideas for the SmackDown women’s division going forward as this Rousey run so far is hardly setting the world on fire.

As far as the main roster goes, we’re going to go two months (!) without a major event, with Royal Rumble taking place on January 28. By then, we’ll get a clearer picture of what WrestleMania look like. Will we get Bianca vs. Charlotte and Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch? My guess is yes. How about The Rock vs. Roman Reigns? Seems unlikely, but maybe! We will see in two month’s time.