Tag: survivor series

WarGames makes its WWE main roster debut as Survivor Series takes place at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts tonight.

Two WarGames matches are set for the pay-per-view. The men’s WarGames match will feature all five members of The Bloodline (Roman Reigns, The Usos, Solo Sikoa & Sami Zayn) taking on Sheamus, Ridge Holland, Butch, Drew McIntyre, and Kevin Owens. Team Brutes have the man-up advantage after Sheamus & McIntyre defeated The Usos on SmackDown.

Bianca Belair, Alexa Bliss, Asuka, Mia Yim & Becky Lynch vs. Bayley, Dakota Kai, IYO SKY, Nikki Cross & Rhea Ripley is the women’s WarGames match. Team Damage CTRL have the advantage in the bout.

Two title matches have been announced for the PPV. Ronda Rousey defends her SmackDown Women’s Championship against Shotzi. The United States title will be up for grabs in a triple threat between Seth Rollins, Bobby Lashley, and Austin Theory.

Plus, AJ Styles faces off with Finn Balor in a singles match for just the second time ever.

Tonight’s PPV streams live on Peacock/WWE Network at 8 p.m. Eastern time. There will also be a pre-show starting at 7 p.m. 

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Show Recap —

KICK-OFF SHOW

The pre-show panel was Kayla Braxton, Jerry Lawler, Booker T, Kevin Patrick and Peter Rosenberg.

They ran down the card, played a WarGames video package and spoke about the women’s WarGames match. After Braxton explained the WarGames rules, Booker said, “In other words, it’s going to be a long night!” 

They spoke in excruciating detail about the US Title match and played a video for Ronda Rousey vs. Shotzi. Shotzi was shown arriving to the building with Raquel Rodriguez who had a heavy-duty brace on her arm.

Megan Morant interviewed Rousey and Shayna Baszler. They mocked Shotzi and Rodriguez and bragged about what they did. They also waxed poetic about how it felt to snap somebody’s limb.

They plugged AJ Styles vs. Finn Bálor.

They aired the video of Dominik Mysterio and Rhea Ripley inviting themselves into Rey Mysterio’s house and beating him up in front of the family. (The person they brought with them to tape this on their camera did so in portrait mode.) 

The women’s WarGames match will open the show.

(The regime may have changed but the pre-show is as pointless as ever.)

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SURVIVOR SERIES MAIN SHOW 

Ozzy Osbourne welcomed us to WarGames in the intro video. Michael Cole announced a sold-out crowd of 15,609. Cole mentioned that Dusty Rhodes created the match and told us about the wrestlers in the very first one.

It appears they’ve settled on “Michin” as a nickname for Mia Yim (instead of replacing her name).

WarGames Match: Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair, Becky Lynch, Asuka, Alexa Bliss & Mia Yim defeated Rhea Ripley, Bayley, Nikki Cross & Tag Team Champions Dakota Kai & IYO SKY (39:38)

Belair and Kai started the match. They had a back-and-forth exchange but Belair got the advantage moments before SKY entered. Belair gave them a double vertical suplex but they managed to work her over until Asuka entered.

Asuka beat up both women (and looked great in doing so) long enough for Belair to recover and even the odds. Kai has already been driven into the side of the cage a bunch of times.

Cross entered next and brought kendo sticks and trash can lids in with her. She also slammed the door on Asuka’s head. The heels were in control until Bliss entered and ran wild.

Everyone hit each other with kendo sticks as Cross climbed to the top of the cage and brought everyone down with a diving crossbody.

Bayley entered next and brought ladders and tables into the ring. Her team used weapons to regain the advantage.

Yim entered next and brought more stuff into the ring. She teed off on Kai before spiking her onto a trash can lid.

The women paired off into different corners of the ring. Belair superplexed Bayley, Yim superplexed Kai, Bliss superplexed Cross, and Asuka superplexed SKY.

Ripley entered and wiped out all the babyfaces allowing her team to take over again. SKY dropkicked Asuka’s head as Ripley held in her a standing cloverleaf. Yim tried mounting a comeback but Bayley caught her in the ropes and SKY hit her repeatedly with the lid.

Lynch entered last and the match officially “started” at the 27:44 mark.

Lynch handed out kicks and dodged an attack by Cross who hit SKY with a trash can by mistake. With SKY covered in the trash can, Lynch gave her a diving leg drop.

Lynch faced off with Bayley which I think was meant to get a big reaction but it didn’t really. Lynch easily disposed of Bayley before she was confronted by Ripley (which did get a reaction). Bayley got in the way so Ripley gave Lynch a Riptide for two.

Asuka sprayed mist in Ripley’s face and Lynch spiked her with a DDT but Bayley got in the way before they could make a cover. Bayley gave Lynch a Roseplant onto the steal plate (in between the two rings) but the cover was broken up.

Belair tried to bring down six women with a tower of doom spot but Cross hit her with a kendo stick before she could do it.

Everyone traded moves which led to SKY wiping out Belair and Yim with a moonsault off the top of the cage. The crowd was pretty quiet up to this point but they broke out a “holy sh*t” and “this is awesome” chant after that.

Cross handcuffed her old pal Bliss so Bliss handcuffed herself to Cross and hit an electric chair drop onto a trash can. (It looked like Bliss could just slip her hand out of the cuff.) Asuka gave Ripley a Codebreaker before Ripley drove her into the cage. Yim went after Ripley but Ripley drove her into a ladder which snapped.

Lynch gave Kai a Man-handle Slam and Belair gave SKY a KOD. Belair took out Bayley with a KOD into the side of the cage.

The finish was insane. SKY and Kai were placed on two tables and Lynch put them through the tables with a leg drop off the top of the cage. Lynch pinned Kai for the win. This looked particularly painful for Kai who took a lot of big bumps in the match.

The crowd popped big for the finish. The match was really good once everyone was in.

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There was a commercial break/Brock Lesnar video package.

Jey Uso approached Roman Reigns. Jey said he warned them about Sami Zayn since day one. Zayn cost them the match last night and lied to his face about speaking to Kevin Owens. Jey said the only reason they didn’t go after him was that Reigns didn’t give the order.

Jey wanted to know what Reigns wanted to do. Reigns told him to go out there and be the right-hand man. Reigns said he would look Zayn in the eye and would know where he stood. Reigns told Paul Heyman to bring him Zayn.

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AJ Styles (w/Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson) defeated Finn Bálor (w/Dominik Mysterio & Damian Priest) (18:24)

Cole spoke about Styles’ time in Japan as well as the history of these two men in the (Bullet) Club and Corey Graves remarked, “you love when Twitter is nice to you.”

Seven minutes into the match, a distraction by Priest allowed Dominik to trip Styles on the apron so Gallows and Anderson went after Dominik. Priest jumped in and they brawled through the crowd. Styles made sure to get a shot in on Dom before they scampered off.

They traded moves until Styles no-sold a few of Bálor’s kicks and fired back but Bálor cut him off with a headlock elbow drop. Bálor set up for a Styles Clash but Styles slipped out of it before Bálor nailed a Pelé Kick.

Styles tried mounting some offence but Bálor cut him off again, this time with a gutbuster and his own fireman’s carry neckbreaker. Styles did a backflip into a headlock elbow drop for two. Bálor missed a Coup de Grace and Styles applied the Calf Crusher but Bálor countered by slamming Styles’ head into the mat.

They traded a few counters until Styles hit a Phenomenal Forearm for the pinfall win.

Pretty good match. 

(There are two rings side-by-side because of WarGames but they kept the action to one ring.) 

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There was a commercial break/Liv Morgan video package.

Ozzy Osbourne told the WWE universe to buy his album.

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Cole said Raquel Rodriguez wouldn’t be at ringside thanks to her broken elbow which will keep her out of action for 4-6 weeks.

Shotzi pointed to the sky during her entrance and Cole said she has dedicated the match to her father who recently passed away.

Ronda Rousey (w/Shayna Baszler) defeated Shotzi to retain the Smackdown Women’s Championship (7:13)

Shotzi went for a suicide dive but Baszler pushed Rousey out of the way and took the move instead. Shotzi shoved Rousey into the steel steps and knocked down Baszler again. Shotzi tried a high cross but Rousey countered into a slam.

Rousey toyed with Shotzi and mocked her while she did as a brief “we want Sasha” chant broke out. Shotzi tried a tornado DDT onto the apron but the spot didn’t work and Rousey just sort of fell over.

Shotzi chucked Rousey and Baszler into the crowd and knocked them down with a dive off the barricade. They all fell over into three or four fans (plants) in the front row.

Shotzi went to the top but Rousey brought her down with a judo throw and followed with Piper’s Pit. Rousey applied an armbar and Shotzi quickly tapped. Rousey retains.

This match will not be remembered fondly.

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There was a commercial break/Cody Rhodes video package. (These packages are aired in place of commercials depending on how you’re watching and so far all of the videos have been for people not on tonight’s show.)

Zayn approached Reigns in his locker room. Reigns asked if he spoke with Kevin Owens last night. Zayn said yes. Reigns asked why he lied to Jey. Zayn didn’t want to put too much on Jey’s plate before his big match. Zayn also said that he didn’t really speak to Owens, Owens did all the talking.

Reigns wanted to know what Owens said and Zayn told him that Owens wanted him to turn on the Bloodline before they turn on him. Reigns knew that Owens was his friend but they (Bloodline) weren’t just family — they were blood.

Reigns needed to know where he stood. Zayn was completely on Reigns’ side. He knew that only five people were allowed to enter Reigns’ locker room and it meant everything to him that he was one of those people. “I’m with the Bloodline.”

Reigns stared him dead in the eyes. Reigns then smirked and said, “let’s do it.” The crowd cheered and they hugged. Reigns’ face turned serious as they hugged (so Zayn didn’t see). This was good.

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Triple Threat Match: Austin Theory defeated Seth Rollins and Bobby Lashley to win the United States Championship (14:51)

They had a really fun match and Theory won the US title on a fluke.

Lashley dominated early but Theory prevented him from potentially winning by pulling the referee out of the ring on a pin attempt (which is how Lashley cost Theory the title on his cash-in). They fought outside the ring and Theory dropped Lashley with the steel steps.

Theory worked over Rollins until he came back with chops, clotheslines and a thrust kick. Rollins handed out suicide dives to each guy before wiping out both men with a flip dive. Rollins tried a stomp but Lashley yanked Theory out of the way and put Rollins in a Hurt Lock. Theory put Lashley in a sleeper until he had to let go of Rollins.

Lashley dumped Theory from the ring and Rollins gave Lashley a Pedigree for two. Theory dumped Rollins from the ring and gave Lashley a rolling blockbuster. Lashley slipped out of an A-Town Down attempt and applied a Hurt Lock. Theory used the Bret Hart kick off the ropes counter into a pin but Rollins broke that up with a frog splash on Lashley for a nearfall.

Rollins and Theory traded counters until Lashley managed to put them both in the Hurt Lock at once but they quickly got out of it. Theory and Lashley were hunched over so Rollins stepped off Theory’s back and gave Lashley a curb stomp.

Theory prevented a cover so Rollins gave him a superplex. Rollins was going to transition into a falcon arrow but Lashley speared Rollins. As a result, Theory fell on top of Rollins and pinned him to win the title. (Lashley couldn’t get up in time to break it up.)

(The finish didn’t quite land the way they wanted but it still worked for the story they’re going for.)

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There was a commercial break/Miz video package. New Day plugged WWE Shop.

Jey approached Reigns and asked if Zayn lied to him too. Reigns said he saw everything he needed to see in Zayn’s eye. Jey seemed content.

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Owens wore a Dusty Rhodes t-shirt. Rhodes has a red elbow pad on in the picture and Owens wore a matching elbow pad.

WarGames Match: WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, Sami Zayn, Solo Sikoa & Tag Team Champions Jey & Jimmy Uso (w/Paul Heyman) defeated Kevin Owens, Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, Ridge Holland & Butch (38:32)

Butch and Jey Uso started. Jey had the upper hand but Holland entered next and they beat the crap out of Jey for three minutes.

Jimmy was going to enter next to save his brother but Reigns stopped him and sent Zayn out instead (forcing him to save Jey and team with him). The crowd chanted “Sami Uso.” Zayn ran wild on Holland but Butch wiped out Zayn and Jey with a dive after they got into a light argument. Holland was about to squish Jey into the cage but Zayn saved him.

McIntyre entered next and tossed around Jey and Sami with suplexes. McIntyre setup Jey for a superplex but Sami saved him again. Holland wiped out Zayn and McIntyre suplexed Jey before giving Zayn a DDT.

Jimmy entered next and brought tables into the ring. Jey and Sami argued over who would set up the table and they got into a shoving match as Jimmy tried breaking it up. Reigns shook his head watching this. They eventually did work together to fend off the other team.

McIntyre fought them off as Owens entered next. Owens brought steel chairs in with him and used one on both Usos before hitting Jey with a Swanton.

Zayn and Owens faced off but Holland attacked Zayn before anything could happen. Owens put Jimmy through a table as his teammates beat up Zayn (Owens was down as this was happening).

Sikoa entered next and ran wild on the Brutes. Owens drove him into the cage and superkicked him twice but Sikoa no-sold it. Owens tried a powerbomb but Sikoa backdropped him onto the steel. Reigns was impressed. Sikoa dropped McIntyre with a superkick but McIntyre came back with a running headbutt.

Sheamus entered next and tossed the Bloodline around. Sheamus rallied his buddies and they put the boots to everyone. Reigns was looking at his feet as his team was getting beat up.

Reigns entered last and the match was “official” at the 28:00 mark. Each team stood tall and they squared off. Reigns handed out right hands and gave Sheamus a superman punch. Sheamus blocked a spear with a knee strike.

The good guys each grabbed a member of the Bloodline in the ropes and they all did ten beats of the Bodhrán to the delight of the crowd.

Sheamus setup Reigns for a Brogue Kick but Sikoa took the move instead — saving Reigns. Reigns followed with a spear but Holland broke up the cover.

Jey went for a superkick on Butch but he ducked and Jey nailed Sami. Jey seemed unbothered and the crowd booed and chanted “asshole.” The Usos gave Butch a 1D but Holland broke up the cover. The Usos superkicked Holland and Reigns speared him through the table.

Sikoa saved Reigns again and gave McIntyre a Spinning Solo through a table. Owens gave Sikoa a stunner but Reigns broke up the cover.

Owens slapped Reigns and they traded fists. Reigns gave Owens a superman punch but Owens came back with a superkick and pop-up powerbomb. Owens hit a stunner and seemed to have it won but Zayn blocked the referee from counting.

Owens and Zayn stared at each other before Owens yelled at him and the crowd loudly chanted “Sami Uso.” Owens blocked a Jimmy superkick and Zayn gave Owens a low blow. Zayn looked at Reigns before giving Owens a Helluva Kick.

Jey saw what he did and followed with a splash on Owens for the pinfall win.

Reigns hugged Sami and the crowd popped. Jey gave Sami a big hug and the crowd popped even louder.

The Bloodline posed together.

The match itself was good but was really just a backdrop for the Bloodline story stuff — which was really well done. The payoff at the end was terrific.