WWE returned to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Saturday for Survivor Series, headlined by The Bloodline vs. the OG Bloodline in a five-on-five WarGames match.
The show will also feature a women’s WarGames match with teams headed up by blood rivals Liv Morgan and Rhea Ripley.
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Gunther will defend the title against former champion Damian Priest while U.S. Champion LA Knight defends against Shinsuke Nakamura, and Intercontinental Champion Bron Breakker defends against Ludwig Kaiser and Sheamus in a three-way.
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Date: November 30, 2024
Location: Rogers Arena in Vancouver, BC
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Show Recap —
COUNTDOWN SHOW —
A large crowd was outside Rogers Arena watching the preshow despite the chilly weather and light rain. Michael Cole, Big E, and Wade Barrett hosted the first portion of the preshow.
There was a long history of WarGames video package.
They started counting down the top 10 Survivor Series moments. Number 10 was Shawn Michaels winning the world title in the first Elimination Chamber match in 2002.
To kill more time, they aired a video of male wrestlers reacting to their WarGames match from last year.
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Gunther & Ludwig Kaiser interview
Cathy Kelley interviewed Gunther and Ludwig Kaiser. Kelley said people were questioning Gunther’s confidence. Gunther said it would be up to him to show them. Gunther quickly moved on and was happy that Kaiser had an IC title match. Kaiser called it a special night for both of them. The title has lost all prestige since Gunther lost it and it would be up to Kaiser to restore it.
Bron Breakker interview
Jackie Redmond interviewed Bron Breakker (wearing a Scott Steiner t-shirt). Bron respected both of his opponents. However, Bron warned Kaiser that he wasn’t the one he should be trying to prove himself against.
Meanwhile, Sheamus bought into false hope he read online that made it seem like he should just be given the IC title because he’s never won it before. It didn’t work like that. Bron played for the Baltimore Ravens and never won a Super Bowl but that didn’t mean he should just be given a ring. Bron told Sheamus to go to the retirement home.
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The number 9 Survivor Series moment was Iyo Sky hitting a dive while in a trash can at WarGames last year. Number 8 was Steve Austin being run over by a car in 1999.
The announcers spoke about their favourite Survivor Series moments. I only bring this up because Cole said he always thinks of the Montreal Screwjob. This, of course, got booed because they’re in Canada. His actual favourite was the debut of the Shield, specifically mentioning Dean Ambrose along Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins. He noted the impact they’ve had and where they are now in their careers.
They aired the backstage footage of CM Punk’s return last year.
They did a feature on a fan from Victoria, BC who has been campaigning for years to bring WrestleMania to Vancouver.
The number 7 Survivor Series moment was the “Rocky” debut of Rocky Maivia. Number 6 was WWF defeating The Alliance in 2001. (Vince McMahon was not shown.) Number 5 was Becky Lynch beating Charlotte Flair in a champion vs. champion match in 2021. Number 4 was The Rock and John Cena beating Miz and R-Truth in 2011.
To kill even more time, there were videos throughout the show of Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods hanging out at WWE HQ.
Kelley interviewed William Regal. He put over WarGames and was happy to be part of it tonight.
The number 3 Survivor Series moment was The Shield debuting to help Punk retain the title over Cena and Ryback. Number 2 was Punk’s return last year. Number 1 was the debut of the Undertaker in 1990.
Women’s WarGames will open the show.
WWE SURVIVOR SERIES 2024 —
Michael Cole and Corey Graves are tonight’s announcers.
Vancouver Canucks anthem singer Elizabeth Irving sang the American and Canadian national anthems.
The two women’s teams, LA Knight, the new Bloodline, Paul Heyman (wearing a suit and tie), CM Punk, Sami Zayn and Jey Uso, and Roman Reigns and Jimmy Uso were shown arriving at the arena.
After the show intro, Cole ran down the rules of WarGames.
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The women entered separately. The first entrance was at 6:08 pm and the match started at 6:16 pm.
Ripley wore a cool custom protective mask. Bayley had “WAR” shaved into the side of her head. The Smackdown heels wore matching white and black gear, while the Raw heels wore matching black and white.
Women’s WarGames: Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair, Iyo Sky, Naomi & Bayley defeated Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan, WWE Women’s Champion Nia Jax, Tiffany Stratton, Raquel Rodriguez & Candice LeRae (38:11)
Bayley and Jax started. They were even for the first five minutes but Jax drove Bayley into the cage with a hip attack right before Naomi entered.
Naomi used a colourful kendo stick (to match her gear). The crowd chanted “Happy birthday” to Naomi (she turned 37 today). Naomi had also brought a toilet seat in the ring and she placed it over Jax’s head and did the stink face.
Candice LeRae entered next. The crowd booed because they wanted Stratton. The babyface advantage made no difference because Jax fought off her opponents and was standing tall by the time LeRae entered. They placed Bayley on top of two upright chairs and LeRae gave her a springboard moonsault.
Belair entered next and she brought in a fire extinguisher and table, to the delight of the crowd. The babyfaces finally did gain control as Stratton entered next.
Stratton smashed Belair over the head with a trash can lid (a rare shot to the head in WWE these days, but Belair definitely got her hands up). It was 3-on-3 and the heels easily took over thanks to Stratton. Naomi targeted Jax and hit her as lightly as possible with a chair.
Sky entered next and she got a decent reaction. She grabbed a purple and gold trash can and immediately climbed up the side of the cage instead of entering the door. Sky placed the can on top of the cage but LeRae cut her off. Sky knocked her off the cage and hit a flying dropkick.
Rodriguez entered next. Everyone waited around as she looked for something under the ring but I don’t think she ever found what she was looking for. She helped her team gain the advantage, even though, again, the teams are even.
The crowd chanted “We want Mami,” as Jax and Rodriguez took a page out of AOP’s book by powerbombing Sky and Naomi into each other before powerbombing them onto Belair and Bayley.
Ripley entered next. She went after Rodriguez but Stratton made the save. The heels had control even though the babyfaces had the numbers advantage. Naomi made a save for Ripley.
With everyone down, it was time for the crowd to chant, “This is awesome.” (Objectively, this match has been poor so far.)
Everyone traded moves which included the toilet seat and Belair’s braid being used as a weapon. Ripley used her face mask to headbutt Jax.
Ripley stood tall and awaited Morgan who was the final entrant. Morgan marched to the back to grab a baseball bat. Morgan entered the match “officially” started 27 minutes in.
Ripley removed her face mask and attacked Morgan but Jax saved her from a Rip-tide. Heels held down Ripley, and Morgan whaled her repeatedly in the mid-section with the bat. Everyone traded moves again until Jax hit Bayley with a Samoan drop for two.
Sky climbed the right side of the cage even though nobody was in that ring. Stratton climbed the other side as the remaining eight wrestlers split into groups of four. They brawled with each other and awaited the biggest spot of the match. Sky placed the garbage can over her body and wiped out one group with a moonsault off the cage, while Stratton wiped out the other group with a senton bomb.
Stratton seemingly looked for a weapon but pulled out her MITB briefcase instead, which got a big pop. Stratton seemed unsure which champion to cash-in on. Rodriquez screamed at her until Sky sprayed them both with the fire extinguisher. Ripley handcuffed Rodriguez to the top rope.
Former Damage CTRL teammates Bayley and Sky argued until Jax knocked them both down. Belair and Naomi drove Jax through a table with a double powerbomb but Morgan broke up the cover with a bat shot on Naomi.
Morgan gave Bayley an Oblivion with a chair but Ripley broke up the cover. Ripley set up Morgan for Rip-tide but Rodriguez was still able to break it up even though she was handcuffed. Morgan hit Ripley with a chair-assisted Codebreaker.
Morgan and Ripley battled atop the top rope until Ripley hit an avalanche Rip-tide through a table for the pinfall win. The crowd was happy. The winning team posed together atop the cage.
(If you missed this, you can just watch from the 28 minute mark after everyone enters. Even then, this wasn’t much of a match outside of two or three big spots.)
Cole announced a sold-out crowd of 17,828. This is the largest WWE arena gate in Canadian history.
(They also plugged Elimination Chamber in Toronto, a show I will attempt to attend.)
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They used the noise meter graphic for LA Knight’s entrance. They put it up before his entrance but the meter didn’t go up the way they expected when his music hit (even though he did get a good reaction) so they quickly took it down.
Nakamura wore all black.
Shinsuke Nakamura defeated LA Knight to win the United States Championship (9:43)
Knight had the advantage for the first four minutes until Nakamura hit a back elbow. Knight came back with a safe version of a burning hammer. Knight tried a leaping superplex but Nakamura saw it coming and hit an avalanche reverse exploder for two.
Knight avoided a Kinshasa and hit a flying elbow drop. Instead of going for a cover, he set up for BFT but Nakamura rolled in between the two rings, onto the metal plate joining the rings.
Knight went after him but Nakamura raked his eyes and hit a reverse DDT onto the metal plate. Nakamura followed with a Kinshasa for the pinfall win. Nakamura is a three-time US Champion.
The crowd was quiet for the match but popped for the surprise win.
(On the preshow, Redmond said a WWE title has never changed hands in Vancouver, so this would be a first if that’s true.)
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There was a sponsored segment where Maxxine Dupri and Akira Tozawa gave Otis a new t-shirt to try on. Otis put it on and loved the shirt but was wearing nothing below the waist. He walked bare-assed down the hallway (this was blurred.)
Belal Muhammed was shown in the crowd.
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Cole said Kaiser has had an incredible year. In 2024, he has a 8-16 record on TV, 7-7 in singles matches.
Triple Threat Match: Bron Breakker defeated Sheamus and Ludwig Kaiser to retain the Intercontinental Championship (14:25)
Kaiser attacked Sheamus outside the ring until Bron hit him with an incredible leaping shoulder tackle. Bron took control over Sheamus in the ring and took time to do some push-ups. Sheamus and Kaiser wound up fighting outside the ring until Bron wiped them both out with a leaping clothesline over the announce table.
Sheamus was dumped into the crowd but he wound up hitting ten beats of the Bodhrán to both guys over the barricade. Kaiser grabbed Sheamus’ shillelagh but Sheamus took it away and knocked him over the barricade with it.
Bron invited ‘old man’ Sheamus back into the ring so Sheamus hit him with a Celtic Cross for a nearfall. Bron came back with a Frankensteiner. He went for a spear but Sheamus dodged it and Bron crashed into a chair that was wedged between the ropes.
Sheamus followed with a Brogue Kick and had it won but Kaiser yanked the referee out of the ring right before the potential three count. The crowd booed. Kaiser hammered away at Sheamus with the shillelagh. Kaiser was proud of himself until Sheamus nailed a knee strike for a nearfall. The crowd chanted, “This is awesome.”
Kaiser hit Sheamus with a Finlay/Kaiser roll and DDT but Bron killed Kaiser with a spear. Bron followed with a spear to Sheamus for the pinfall win.
(This was good. The crowd was into Sheamus and Bron but it seemed like they wanted to see Sheamus finally win the title.)
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(So much time passed between the last match and this one that I got logged out of WordPress due to inactivity.)
Gunther defeated Damian Priest to retain the World Heavyweight Championship (19:18)
Priest hit a shoulder tackle early on and appeared to hurt his shoulder. The ref checked on him but Priest immediately waived him off. Gunther was out of the ring and smiled when he saw this.
They kept wrestling but after Priest hit a slam, he started selling his shoulder again. As the ref checked on Priest, Gunther took advantage and booted his shoulder. Gunther targeted Priest’s shoulder from there until Priest eventually hit an enziguri.
The crowd was quiet but they woke up a bit as Priest fired up for his comeback. He hit a flatliner for two. Priest tried for a Razor’s Edge but he couldn’t do it because of his shoulder. Priest instead applied a triangle choke but Gunther escaped and applied a sleeper before hitting a powerbomb for two.
Priest hit a hurricanrana off the top and finally hit the Razor’s Edge for two. Priest failed twice to hit a chokeslam thanks to his shoulder and Gunther responded with a Kimura but Priest got a rope break. (The Kimura was the second reference to Brock Lesnar on WWE programming this week.)
Gunther played to the crowd as he repeatedly clotheslined Priest. Priest came back with a lariat for two.
They battled on the top rope until Priest shoved Gunther into the ring but Priest fell to the outside as a result. (A few idiots chanted “You f*cked up,” not realizing this was the planned spot. And it’s a dumb chant anyway.)
The ref checked on Priest but Priest told him to give him a second. As the ref checked on Gunther, Finn Bálor ran down and gave Priest a Coup de Grace off the steel steps. The ref saw Bálor but didn’t think anything of it.
Gunther booted Bálor for fun before giving Priest a powerbomb. Gunther applied a sleeper until Priest passed out. Gunther retained.
Cole said Gunther was pissed at Bálor because he wanted to prove he could win on his own.
(This was pretty good but not great. I’m not sure weeks of making Gunther act like a wimp really helped. They could go to another rematch based on this so Gunther can finally prove himself. In this build to this match, Priest called himself the king of the streets, so they could do a street fight.)
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The new Bloodline and Bronson Reed entered together, wearing all black. The original Bloodline entered separately (as the women did earlier), wearing red and black.
Zayn, Jimmy, Punk, Reigns and Jey enter in that order. The crowd assumed Jey would entered after Jimmy but he didn’t (they began chanting “Yeet” after Jimmy’s entrance). Jey entered last, in part because he was starting the match. But he also entered last at the previous PPV.
After Sikoa’s team was already in their cage on the stage, Punk shoved one of them from the outside to rile them up. Punk and Reigns awkwardly entered their cage together, along with Jimmy and Sami.
Men’s WarGames: Roman Reigns, Sami Zayn, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso & CM Punk defeated Solo Sikoa, Jacob Fatu, Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa & Bronson Reed (41:53)
Jey started against Tama Tonga. Tama got the heat on Jey and went for a cover, but of course, there are no falls until everyone enters. The crowd chanted, “You f*cked up.”
Jey fought back just in time for Bronson Reed to enter. Reed, who has killed people with his finishing move, decided to grab a bunch of chairs and toss them in the ring. Jey chucked the chairs at Reed but Reed ran him over with a body block. The heels worked over Jey as the crowd took turns lightly chanting for Zayn and Punk.
Jimmy entered next and wiped out both heels on his own before helping Jey to his feet. The Usos worked well together and took control.
Tonga Loa was about to enter next to the dismay of the crowd, but Sikoa held him back and Jacob Fatu entered instead. Jey gave him a Samoan drop but Fatu popped right up and knocked him down. The heels took over.
Punk was about to enter next but Reigns blocked the door. Reigns nodded at Zayn who entered instead. Punk stared a hole through Reigns.
The crowd chanted “Olé” for Zayn who ran wild on the heels. Fatu caught him out of the air but Jimmy superkicked Fatu. Zayn and Jimmy did their special handshake before putting the boots to Fatu.
The heels took over anyway as they often do and Tonga Loa entered next. It’s like they knew he wouldn’t get a reaction because the first thing he did was grab a table. This normally gets a big pop — Raquel Rodriguez got a pop earlier before putting the table away — but poor Tonga Loa didn’t get a reaction.
The heels took over and you can skip the three minutes of action. The clock ran down and Reigns was about to enter next, but because he moves so slowly, Punk ran by him and entered instead.
Punk teased that he wouldn’t get in the ring, but instead grabbed a tool box (like the one that busted open Drew McIntyre) and used it as a weapon against the heels.
Punk took out everyone and gave Fatu a bulldog onto the toolbox but Fatu popped right up and knocked him down.
Sikoa entered next with the new Bloodline firmly in control. Fatu gave The Usos (who were stacked up) a moonsault and Reed gave Zayn a Tsunami. Punk tried to fight back but they swarmed him.
Sikoa brought his own chain and lock and locked the door. Reigns entered 15 seconds later but he couldn’t get in the ring. I guess they didn’t watch the women’s match earlier when Iyo Sky climbed the cage voluntarily. Reigns did that here and it didn’t get much of a reaction because we saw it already.
Reigns wiped out the heels with a cross body off the ropes and the match “officially” began about 29 minutes in. Reigns helped his friends up to their feet—except Punk. Punk got up on his own and got in Reigns’ face. Paul Heyman entered ringside and tried to rally his guys.
The two teams stood tall in each ring, 30 minutes into the match, and faced off.
After some stalling, there was a spot where Reigns went for a spear on Sikoa but he moved and Reigns speared Punk by accident (as Punk set up Fatu for a GTS). This wasn’t timed well so it didn’t look good at all. Sikoa gave Reigns the Samoan Spike for a nearfall.
Fatu went for a step-up moonsault but he tripped and began tending to his leg. Reigns speared Fatu moments later.
Reed placed Reigns on a table and climbed all the way to the top of the cage. He went for Tsunami but Punk pulled Reigns to safety and Reed crashed through the table. The crowd chanted for Punk. Reigns helped Punk to his feet and the crowd popped but Fatu attacked them both.
Sikoa gave Reigns the Spike but the Usos superkicked him. The Usos gave Fatu a 1D. Jey speared Loa, Zayn gave Tonga a Blue Thunder Bomb, and Jimmy splashed Fatu through a table off the top of the cage.
Zayn helped Jimmy, Jey and Punk to their feet, while the Usos helped Reigns to his feet. The new Bloodline was down as Sikoa got to his feet. Sikoa was on his own against the originals.
Sikoa ate superkicks by the Usos, a Zayn Helluva Kick, a Punk GTS, and a Reigns spear. Reigns pinned Sikoa for the win.
— Reigns, Zayn, Jey and Jimmy hugged as Punk looked on. Punk embraced Jimmy, Jey and Zayn individually. Reigns offered Punk a handshake and Punk obliged. Punk hugged Heyman and told him that when he’s owed a favour, he was coming for it.
Reigns put his arm around Heyman for a moment but did not hug him and kind of moved on quickly.
Punk initially left on his own but came back out. The babyfaces posed together with Heyman.
(This came to a nice conclusion, I guess, but I wouldn’t call it a good match. Like the opening match, you can skip everything that happened before the final competitors entered. The two WarGames matches totalled 80 minutes and you could skip a full 60. That’s not a good thing.)
