WWE SURVIVOR SERIES

 

Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois

BECKY LYNCH, CHARLOTTE FLAIR, BIANCA BELAIR & SHOTZI vs. DAMAGE CTRL (ASUKA, BAYLEY, IYO SKY & KAIRI SANE) "WAR GAMES MATCH" (33:36): The big news coming out of this show was the return of CM Punk. Since this show was in Chicago (I guess Rosemont is a suburb or something), that makes sense to debut him here. It was a surprise that his return wasn't leaked. The big surprise, at least to me, is that the WWE even brought him back. In AEW, he was in two backstage fights in less than a year. He was suspended for the first fight and fired for the second one. Why would a wrestling company hire a guy who was just reprimanded for being in two fights backstage with other wrestlers in another wrestling company? CM Punk is a big star, so you could get bigger ratings, more merchandise sales, and higher attendance from bringing him in...but the WWE is already "hot" and making tons of money, so they don't really need any of those things right now. Is bringing in a problem wrestler worth that? The other surprise is that CM Punk quit the company because he disliked working there. Later on, the WWE sued him when he went on Colt Cabana's podcast and disparaged a WWE doctor. Supposedly, the WWE sent him the paper work about suing him on his wedding day. So it's a little strange that he would even want to come back. I guess with Vince McMahon mostly out of the picture, plus them probably giving him a huge contract, he felt it was okay to return. There was also probably him wanting to get revenge on AEW because they fired him. Going to a rival company was perhaps his way to stick it to AEW. Anyway, it'll be interesting to see how this all works out...as he seemingly made enemies in AEW with a ton of people for, honestly, no good reason. CM Punk seems to be just a bitter old asshole these days, unable to work with people that don't see his way and try to work with people instead of against them. The other thing is...he had two major injuries in AEW that sidelined him for long periods of time. Will his brittle body even stand up for a long run? They're probably paying him a ton of money...what happens when he gets injured and is gone for Wrestlemania or whatever big program they've got planned? It certainly makes things interesting...which I guess is why they made the gamble to bring him in. As for this show and this match? Wait, there was a show and matches? The show was mostly entertaining, though nothing special. That seems to be the norm these days with the WWE, which is why I'm totally baffled as to why it's so "hot" and so popular now. I mean...when was the last time they put on a match as good as 'Hangman' Adam Page vs. Swerve Strickland from last weekend? It's been a while. Are their storylines any good? The Bloodline storyline seems to have grown stale and run its course. These WWE crowds love mediocrity, though. Case in point: the fans feverishly chanting for The Miz when he was getting near falls against Gunther. Why, God, why? At least it's pretty hard to mess up a War Games match. I kind of wish they had separated War Games and Survivor Series. Calling the PPV both names makes no sense. Survivor Series kind of fell apart anyway, and became more just a name of a show more than anything. The 4 on 4 elimination matches have been totally forgotten. When done well, those usually work. For a while they were doing Smackdown vs. RAW matches, which was never a good idea, especially because the wrestlers all wore those stupid blue and red t-shirts. Plus...who the fuck cares about RAW vs. Smackdown? It's the same company. This show also didn't feature either championship on the show, nor was Roman Reigns there. I actually probably enjoyed this women's War Games match better than the men's. One reason is that the spot of the night was Iyo Skye putting a trash can on her head and jumping from the top rope down onto everybody. The other reason is that one War Games match is enough. There's really nothing more to see after you've already watched one. This match was sloppy in spots, plus the babyface team made no logical sense in terms of cohesion. Aren't Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair rivals? Usually, War Games is 5 on 5. This was 4 on 4 even though Damage CTRL's Dakota Kai was at ringside. They couldn't have just thrown another babyface in the match and have it 5 on 5? The one thing good about this show, at least early on, was the super hot crowd. Chicago is always an awesome wrestling PPV crowd. They chanted like this was the match of the century. They also booed when wrestlers were pulling Singapore canes and chairs from under the ring instead of tables. This was an entertaining match. **1/2

GUNTHER vs. THE MIZ (12:20): This was an entertaining match because it was back and forth instead of a beat down. Granted, it should have been a beat down, though. Why is The Miz going toe to toe with the monster? That makes no sense. And why is The Miz a good guy now? He's been a prick for years...why are they cheering him? Is the WWE audience that dumb? I mean...they cheer for LA Knight, too, so there's your answer. And why wasn't he on this show? Isn't he their big star these days? The Miz kicked Gunther in the balls at one point when the ref wasn't looking. The Miz got a near fall after that which got the crowd in a frenzy. The crowd was so hot for this match it definitely made this better. Gunther is also one of, if not the, best wrestlers in the WWE, so that helped. They do have to get someone to beat him for the IC title eventually. You would think they would do that by getting a new guy to beat him to make him a star. Someone like...Dragon Lee. Wait...he lost the next match. **1/2

SANTOS ESCOBAR vs. DRAGON LEE (8:20): Carlito was supposed to be in this match. Dragon Lee replaced him for no apparent reason. Supposedly, Dragon Lee had an awesome match on Smackdown last week. They said that the WWE actually let him be, shock, Dragon Lee, and because of that the match was awesome. Well way to go with his push, as he lost fairly quickly and easily here. Dragon Lee did get to do his famous Hurricanrana to Santos off the apron to the floor. He definitely is a watered down version of the Dragon Lee we all used to love, though. And why wasn't Ricochet in the War Games match? Hell, why wasn't Dragon Lee? You should put your best high fliers in that match. Santos is a heel now and set up to feud with Mysterio, so that's why he had to win. Oh, well. **

RHEA RIPLEY vs. ZOEY STARK (9:15): This was the one complete dud on the show. Even the super hot crowd went silent for this bore. They did a top rope arm drag spot that looked botched. After that, Zoey looked woozy and looked like she injured her arm. Rhea has been the champ since 'Mania. Has she even had one good feud or one good match during her reign? Give her something besides babysitting Dominik. -No Stars-

CODY RHODES, JEY USO, RANDY ORTON, SAMI ZAYN & SETH ROLLINS vs. DREW McINTYRE & THE JUDGMENT DAY (DOMINIK MYSTERIO, FINN BALOR, DAMIAN PRIEST & JD McDONAGH) "WAR GAMES MATCH" (34:22): They're still playing up the fact that Jey Uso was a heel forever. That's why Drew McIntyre joined the heel team, to get revenge on Jey who cost him the title in...wait for it...August 2022. And when Randy Orton entered the match he was about to go after Jey when Jey super kicked someone about to attack Orton. Orton has been injured for over a year. They set it up where he didn't show up for the match until a few minutes after he would be the last man to enter the cage. Before Orton returned, Rhea Ripley ran out with the MITB contract case. Apparently, Damian Priest was going to use it to beat Seth Rollins for the title. This was after the heels put Rollins through a table. Orton's music hit and the MITB contract wasn't used. As for the rest of this match...it was a typical War Games match. They didn't do anything new or unique...unlike AEW, which this year used a bed of nails in their Blood & Guts match (which is, technically, a real War Games match because there's a roof to the cage). Granted, the WWE isn't allowed to do any kind of blood or real violence, so they're stuck with using canes and chairs and trash cans, which can get old and has. Cody Rhodes pulled out a bull rope, which I guess was something new, though not particularly something exciting. Nobody jumped off the cage, though they did throw JD McDonagh off the top of the cage and down in front of Randy Orton who gave him a mid-air RKO. The crowd loved that spot. Sami was very over in the match, which just made me sad considering they didn't give him the title earlier this year when it made all the sense in the world. The good guys won this match then CM Punk's music hit. CM Punk didn't do anything but stand there for a while until the show ended. That was kind of odd. I guess they just want to save his first mic work for RAW. I would say it'd be funny if he ends up getting some boo's when he's not in Chicago...but these WWE crowds haven't really done that sort of thing lately. They're safe, contained. And that's how the WWE feels these days. That edge is missing, that hint of danger, of excitement. Now it just feels like a corporate shell, which it is. Will adding the semi-crazy, backstage brawling, wildcard CM Punk change that? I hope so. Maybe I'll actually start loving this product again. **1/2