Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of WWE Survivor Series: WarGames.
In recent years, the annual event has become home to the double-ring cage match, and Saturday saw us get a double dose with a men's and women's bout.
Here's a look at the card from this year's PLE:
- Bron Breakker vs. Ludwig Kaiser vs. Sheamus (Intercontinental Championship)
- LA Knight vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (United States Championship)
- Gunther vs. Damian Priest (World Heavyweight Championship)
- Naomi, Bayley, Bianca Belair, Iyo Sky and Rhea Ripley vs. Liv Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez, Nia Jax, Candice LeRae and Tiffany Stratton (WarGames)
- Roman Reigns, CM Punk, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso and Sami Zayn vs. Solo Sikoa, Jacob Fatu, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa and Bronson Reed (WarGames)
Let's take a look at everything that happened at Survivor Series 2024.
Women's WarGames Match
After a long series of intro videos and backstage shots, the women's WarGames match kicked off the show. Bayley and Jax began for their teams.
Here is the order of entry for the remaining competitors
- Naomi
- LeRae
- Belair
- Stratton
- Sky
- Rodriguez
- Ripley
- Morgan
Bayley and Jax put each other through the wringer before anyone else even made it to the ring, but all they were doing was softening each other up since nobody could win until everyone was in the ring.
The match followed the usual WarGames pattern of each side taking control whenever a new team member entered the ring. This means the first 30 minutes of the match was just a series of weapon spots designed to fill time before everyone was in the ring.
When it was Morgan's turn, she brought her signature baseball bat to the ring. The heels held Ripley while Morgan hit her several times in the body.
This match had many cool individual moments, but that was the most it had going for it. There were awkward and disjointed moments when people were waiting for their next spot. This is not uncommon in WarGames matches, but it was especially noticeable here.
This was a great effort by all 10 women. Even if it had some slow moments, the exciting things we saw made up for it. Ripley won for her team by hitting Riptide on Morgan through a table. This was fun but may have benefitted from being a bit shorter.
Result: Team Ripley defeated Team Morgan
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
- For some reason, WWE included two different shots of Liv's team walking as a group before the match.
- Saturday was Naomi's birthday and she had a little hat on to celebrate during her entrance.
- Bayley used a leather sleeve she was wearing as a weapon, but Jax also used it against her.
- Sky had a special purple and yellow trash can she tied to her body before climbing into the cage.
- Rodriguez spent some time looking for a weapon before she decided to just get in the ring without one.
- Ripley wore an awesome mask instead of the usual protector she had been wearing.
- The moonsault from Sky, who had the trashcan on her head, and the swanton from Stratton off the top of the cage at (almost) the same time looked awesome.
LA Knight vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
The second match on the card saw Knight put the men's U.S. title on the line against Nakamura.
The King of Strong Style took the upper hand right away, but Knight turned the tables on him after a couple of minutes and started controlling the pace.
It's always difficult when a card is bookended by two big stipulation matches. Whatever goes on second is going to have a tough time getting the crowd excited after it just witnessed a ton of mayhem.
They did their best to make this a competitive bout with a good pace. On any other card, this would have been a highlight, but on a night like WarGames, it almost felt like an afterthought before it even started.
That being said, this was a solid effort from both men. It certainly picked up in the second half. After hitting a reverse DDT on the steel plate between the two rings, Nakamura hit a Kinshasa to pick up the win and earn his third U.S. title.
Result: Nakamura defeated Knight
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
- Nakamura's new entrance is great for PLEs.
- Knight dropped his belt during his entrance and the announcers called attention to it and tried to claim it was because he was intimidated.
- Nakamura connected with a back elbow a bit more than intended, but Knight took it like a champ.
- Nakamura's reverse superplex almost dropped Knight on his face.
Bron Breakker vs. Sheamus vs. Ludwig Kaiser
Breakker put the IC title on the line in a triple threat against Sheamus and Kaiser in the third match on the Survivor Series card.
Kaiser took a bit of a breather at ringside while Sheamus and Breakker fought. He tried to bring a chair into the ring, but Breakker laid him out before he could use it.
For a little while, The Celtic Warrior and United States champion teamed up to beat on Mr. A+ Everything, but Breakker quickly turned on Sheamus.
The lack of disqualifications and countouts in a triple threat helped this bout, but they didn't rely too heavily on weapons, which was actually to its benefit because they were never going to outdo what we saw in the women's WarGames match.
This bout relied more on the power and intensity of all three competitors to make it fun to watch. Sheamus is a living legend, Breakker is a future world champion, and Kaiser is one of the most reliable hands in WWE. They meshed well to put on a physical contest.
Kaiser narrowly managed to stop Sheamus from winning by pulling the ref out of the ring during a pin. The crowd chanted "This is awesome" as all three men traded near-falls, but in the end, it was Breakker who got the win with a Spear to retain his title. This was tons of fun, especially during the last 10 minutes.
Result: Breakker defeated Sheamus and Kaiser
Grade: B+
Notable Moments and Observations
- Sheamus had his shillelagh with him for the first time in a while.
- Breakker had on a classic Steiner design for his gear.
- Kaiser hit a nice running dropkick while Breakker was draped over the middle turnbuckle.
- Breakker lept from the apron to hit a clothesline that sent both opponents over the announce desk.
Gunther vs. Damian Priest
The third and final title match took place next when Gunther defended the World Heavyweight Championship against the man he defeated to win the belt, Priest.
The Ring General took his time locking up and appeared a little hesitant, which the announcers played up quite a bit.
After some initial weariness, Gunther began to turn up the aggression and dish out the kind of punishment we are used to seeing from him.
The crowd was a bit quiet at times due to the slower pace, but it woke up a bit whenever they did something big. Gunther's first chop got an especially loud reaction.
As expected, they picked up the pace in the second half and made the fight feel more intense, but it was missing something their previous encounter had and it's tough to pinpoint exactly what it is.
As Priest was recovering at ringside from a bad fall, Finn Balor hit him with a Coup de Grace out of nowhere. Gunther took out Balor and then brought Priest back in for a powerbomb and a sleeper to win the match.
Result: Gunther defeated Priest
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
- They found a good way to make Priest's entrance great with a much smaller set than usual.
- Priest hit a shoulder tackle and immediately started favoring his shoulder. It looked like he legitimately tweaked something until Gunther began focusing on it.
- Anyone who studies any kind of martial art will know that Priest used the absolute worst way to apply a triangle choke. In fact, it doesn't even qualify as being that hold at all.
The New Bloodline vs. OG Bloodline
The main event was the men's WarGames match between the new and OG versions of The Bloodline. Tama and Jey started the match for their teams.
Here is the order of entry for the other competitors:
- Reed
- Jimmy
- Fatu
- Zayn
- Loa
- Punk
- Sikoa
- Reigns
Jey and Tama took a moment to size each other up before engaging in a fistfight. Reed entering the match turned it into a two-on-one fight, but Jey's brother entered a few minutes later to even the odds.
Fatu gave the New Bloodline the advantage again by decimating both Usos as soon as he got to the ring. Reigns stopped Punk from going in third so Zayn could go instead.
When it looked like Reigns would enter the match, Punk walked past him and got into the cage. He grabbed a toolbox from under the ring and used it to fight off all four men on the opposing team.
Sikoa and Reigns entered last for their respective teams, but the ref no longer had the key, so Reigns had to climb over the top to get inside the cage. Paul Heyman showed up and tried to ensure Punk and Reigns stayed on the same page.
Punk helped Reigns avoid Reed's splash from the top of the cage and it seemed to solidify them a bit. The OG Bloodline surrounded Solo and took turns hitting him with various signature moves that ended with Reigns hitting a Spear for the win.
Punk got hugs from everyone on his team except The OTC. Reigns offered his hand and Punk shook it as a pleased Heyman looked on from the steps.
Result: The OG Bloodline defeated The New Bloodline
Grade: B+
Notable Moments and Observations
- The old sports-style intros for the Superstars were funny but felt out of place for this match.
- Having Punk come out between the two Usos for entrances was an interesting choice.
- Reigns side-eyeing Punk in the cage was a nice touch.
- Zayn sold being dropped on the top turnbuckle by Loa in the funniest way possible.
- Fatu was the star of this match. The crowd went nuts every time he no-sold something.
- The new Bloodline waiting for Reigns to hit a dive onto all five of them felt a bit too contrived.
- Fatu tripped trying to perform a moonsault and immediately started grabbing his knee.
The Final Word
Survivor Series is WWE's second-longest-running event, but it's no longer the show it once was. Instead of focusing on multi-person elimination matches, it's all about WarGames.
WWE has scaled back events based on specific stipulations over the past couple of years, but keeping WarGames a Survivor Series exclusive seems likely to stay.
While both WarGames matches delivered many fun moments, they illustrated why an event built around an opening and closing stipulation can have trouble keeping the crowd engaged for the other matches.
The U.S., IC, and world title bouts were all great and would have been well-received on any other card, but when they are wedged between two bouts designed to give fans as many high-risk moments and weapons spots as possible, they will feel like an afterthought.
That being said, this was an entertaining show for the most part. Lots of strong performances and Nakamura winning the U.S. title was a definite highlight, but the WarGames matches stole the show.
Even with everything we saw, the two WarGames matches didn't feel like anything was settled. These were simply stops along the way to future singles matches for some of the featured feuds.
Survivor Series was a fun few hours, but it likely won't be anyone's top PPV of the year.
Grade: B
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