Petco Park, San Diego
AJ LEE, ALEXA BLISS, CHARLOTTE FLAIR, IYO SKY & RHEA RIPLEY vs. BECKY LYNCH, LASH LEGEND, NIA JAX & THE KABUKI WARRIORS (ASUKA & KAIRI SANE) "WAR GAMES" (40:50): I'd rather see two War Games matches on a PPV than whatever the hell they used to do at Survivor Series (before this they were doing RAW vs. Smackdown matches and champion vs. champion matches...originally it was 5 vs. 5 elimination matches), but I still don't like that they're still calling it Survivor Series when the title is meaningless. My idea is to call the RAW before Thanksgiving "Survivor Series" and do the traditional 5 vs. 5 matches there and just call this PPV War Games. Either way, this felt like a big show because it was held outside at San Diego's baseball stadium. I guess because the WWE can fill up a baseball stadium they think that, creatively, they don't have to even try very hard. This match only had 4 matches. While it was semi-entertaining, it was also just typical WWE: i.e. not that exciting, by-the-numbers, safe, stale, predictable, fairly forgettable. If you read the reviews on the Cage Match website you would think this was a horrible show. It wasn't. It was the same thing the WWE has been for years. If you're really into War Games matches, it was kind of hard to even watch this show considering AEW just put on two War Games matches that had buckets of blood, glass, fire, a bed of nails, and thumbtacks. This felt, obviously, tame in comparison. The highlight of this match was Iyo Sky putting a trashcan over her head and jumping off the top of the cage. AJ Lee got a giant pop and looked good in there for a brief time. Rhea Ripley wore a mask that was based on Art the Clown from the Terrifier movies. Those movies are basically rated X for the extreme gore. Considering how PG most of the WWE is these days, I'm surprised that mask was even allowed. What does TKO have to do with the Terrifier movies? Obviously something. This match was at least somewhat entertaining because it was a double cage match with some weapons and thus not entirely boring. **1/2
DOMINIK MYSTERIO vs. JOHN CENA (16:48): Cena's retirement year has to go down in the history as the worst booked retirement ever. The first half of the year he was a heel, which makes no sense considering he should be going out as a fan-favorite, crowd-cheering hero. After he turned back into a babyface they quickly had Brock Lesnar squash him and beat him. Now they're having him lose again to Dominik. Wh-wh-what? Who the fuck is okaying this booking? Cena should be winning every match on his way out to make the fans happy. Dominik cheated to win back the IC title, which he lost to Cena a few weeks ago on RAW in Boston. Dominik faked an injury so a few members of The Judgment Day could beat up Cena when the ref wasn't looking. Then JD and Finn ran out to interfere again when Cena inadvertently knocked out the ref. Match was fine but having Cena lose on his last PPV is blasphemous. **
STEPHANIE VAQUER vs. NIKKI BELLA (12:22): There wasn't much to this. Did anyone think Nikki was going to win the women's championship? Stephanie gave Nikki the Devil's Kiss move on the announce table. Nikki still looks good at her age, but this was pretty monotonous. *1/2
BROCK LESNAR, DREW McINTYRE & THE VISION (BRON BREAKKER, BRONSON REED & LOGAN PAUL) vs. CM PUNK, CODY RHODES, ROMAN REIGNS & THE USO'S (JEY & JIMMY) "WAR GAMES" (39:25): This match was pretty entertaining. The ending was fairly lame, as they had a masked figure enter the cage, give CM Punk a stomp which led to Bron pinning him. The masked figure is apparently Austin Theory, though they didn't reveal that yet. Brock got a big cheer when he came out to destroy everyone. I guess nobody cares that he's still involved in Vince's sex trafficking lawsuit. Jey Uso stopped mid-match to climb the cage and "yeet" with the fans. Logan didn't do any big moves so I'm not sure why he was even there (isn't that his thing?). Bronson came in and did a bunch of top rope jumps onto everyone. CM Punk and Cody were both slightly bleeding. Roman did a spear through a table onto Brock who had Jey on his shoulders. Brock put Roman through the announce table before the match officially started. While this show wasn't fantastic or anything, this is the WWE these days. This is exactly what I expected. I don't see anything changing. It's mildly entertaining, predictable, & entrance-focused. If you want great wrestling or something wild and exciting, go watch something else. **1/2
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