As a service to fans who are generally interested in WWE but may not have watched a match in months, we are pleased to provide this FAQ as a guide to Survivor Series: WarGames on Saturday at 7:00 pm ET at Petco Park in San Diego. Premium Live Event (PLE) will be broadcast exclusively in the US for fans with ESPN Unlimited plan subscription — either directly or through a traditional pay-TV package — on the ESPN app.
What kind of WarGames match is this?
We've come a long way from the humble beginnings of Survivor Series. Back in the day, it was all about multi-wrestler tag team elimination matches with mismatched partners and wacky team names like “Roddy Bullies” and “The Clowns Are Us.” Want to see the team of Lex Luger and The Undertaker against a team of “foreigners” that included Roman Reigns' cousin, Yokozuna? That's what the Survivor series is for.!
Since 2022, Survivor Series has featured men's and women's WarGames matches played between two rings surrounded by a giant roofless steel cage. The lack of a ceiling signifies the difference between a “cage” and a “cage” in WWE parlance. Two participants from each team of five start the match. A new competitor from each team enters the match at set intervals until all competitors are in the ring and the match officially begins. A match can only be won by pinfall or submission. Things tend to get violent pretty quickly.
Last year's match saw Roman Reigns team with his cousins Jimmy and Jey Uso, while forming a tenuous alliance with CM Punk, against a team that included Bronson Reed. In this year's match… Reigns teamed with his cousins Jimmy and Jey Uso, while forming a fragile alliance with Punk, against a team that included Bronson Reed. But much more!
Who is fighting in the men's WarGames match?
In addition to Uso and Punk, the fifth member of Reigns' team this year will be WWE Undisputed Champion Cody Rhodes. By this we mean “Team Rhodes.” Or is it the team of World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk? As usual, galaxy-sized egos are trying to coexist for the greater good, but Reigns has made it clear that he wouldn't mind challenging either Rhodes or Punk for the title when things are done with WarGames.
In this case, the “greater good” is beating the snot out of The Vision, a faction led by the evil Paul Heyman. Let us remind you that The Vision is a group founded by Seth Rollins. after his epic heel turn against Reigns and Punk at WrestleMania 41. The Vision is now Bron Breaker and Reed, who joined forces with Rollins only to turn on him a few months later, writing him off television for at least six months after a reported shoulder injury suffered at Crown Jewel. (Though after this turn on crutches, we deviate from the Rollins injury timeline.)
What's the point of having nefarious antagonists if Logan Paul isn't part of the team, right? Heat Magnet hit Punk with brass knuckles on a recent episode of Raw. joining Heyman's group. Paul and Vision later attacked Punk, while Rhodes and Jey Uso arrived to protect him from their rivals. Punk challenged to a WarGames match, telling Heyman to find his team. Next guy he found technically were not allowed to fight.
Drew McIntyre was suspended by SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis for assaulting a referee. But Heyman, what a wise man he is, found a loophole in his contract with WarGames: he was allowed to choose any member of the WWE roster to join Team Vision. McIntyre, although suspended, is still a member of the roster, so he was on the team and participated in the attack on Uso, Rhodes and Punk.
November 17 Heyman's team added a formidable fifth part: Brock Lesnar, who came into the Raw ring and gave Punk and Rhodes an all-expenses-paid trip to Suplex City. But just as Lesnar was congratulating Heyman at ringside, Reigns' music shocked the crowd. One Superman punch later on Lesnar and it was clear the odds were even.
(Lesnar later light up the internet in the Raw episode “Go Home”, he slipped and fell during his pyro intro. But we give him big props for the Simone Biles-style flip that undermined his failure.)
Although a year ago half of the participants in this WarGames match were hitting the cages, this is far from a repeat. Heyman was linked to Punk and Reigns in 2024, but not so much now. Last year's match was the last gasp of The Bloodline's feud; The Vision, and especially Breakker, have become more popular this year. And due respect to Sami Zayn, who was the fifth member of Punk-Reigns last year, but any WarGames are more interesting with Rhodes inside the cages, considering his father, the late Dusty Rhodes, was the inventor of the format.
What about the women's WarGames match?
This match sparks a lot of simmering rivalries, but the most interesting figure is a former Women's Champion who hadn't been seen in WWE for nearly a decade until this year: AJ Lee.
About two months ago, Punk feuded with WWE power couple Rollins and Becky Lynch, who attacked Punk during a match against Rollins. at Clash in Paris. As Lynch and Punk fought on the microphone after the attack, fans began chanting “AJ Lee!” in reference to Punk's real-life wife. Eventually Lynch snapped, “She doesn’t work here!” … until Lee started working there again in September, popping out from behind like it was 2013 all over again, to Lynch's shock.
This led to a mixed tag team match between two couples at Wrestlepaloozawhere Lee forced Lynch to submit to Black Widow. Then came the ultimate humiliation as Lee distracted Lynch in the title match at Madison Square Garden, allowing Maxine Dupree to end “The Man's” reign at the Intercontinental Championship in a record 163 days.
The defeat sent Lynch into a stalemate. She accused referee Jessica Carr of being a “dishonest” CM Punk fan. She threatened legal action, calling Lee an unlicensed ringside manager and claiming the match was “rigged.”
Another feud in the women's WarGames match is between the Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane) and their former teammate Iyo Sky. The Warriors didn't like that Skye wanted to team up with Rhea Ripley, which ultimately led to them turning on Skye and attacking Skye and Ripley.
Meanwhile, Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss are rivals of the best, having won the Women's Tag Team Championship. at SummerSlam in August – were involved in a feud with Nia Jax and eventually Lash Legend being called up to NXT. Legend, a former WNBA player, attacked Bliss during a match between Flair and Jax, and later helped Jax cost them the titles in a match against the Kabuki Warriors, the new champions. Sky and Ripley returned from injury to save Bliss and Flair from a four-on-two beatdown, led by a masked Ripley. after breaking her nose in a match last month – to challenge WarGames.
Fleur initially refused to play Ripley's games with the reindeer, citing their long history as rivals as a reason to not trust her. But thanks to the wooden table, dramatic music and mood lighting, the two made a truce after Ripley said that there is no one she would rather fight. Which admittedly sounded a little confrontational, so she followed it up with, “There's no one I'd rather stand side by side with” in war.
Anyway, Flair responded, “Okay,” because flattery will get you anywhere.
This match features a ton of talent, ambitious and strong wrestlers. But it's hard not to think that Lynch and Lee will play a decisive role in this WarGames match.
What about the Women's World Cup?
WWE Women's Champion Jade Cargill is not on the Survivor Series card, although she could have some dealings with United States Women's Champion Chelsea Green on the horizon. Women's world title holder Stephanie Wacker, representative scary ram hornsdefends her title against former ally Nikki Bella at Survivor Series.
Wacker and Bella were a tag team feuding with Roxanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez from Judgment Day. Wacker hid the fact that she was teaming with a Divas Revolution legend. As they say, never form a temporary team with your idols. Bella pounced on Wacker, attacked her with the title belt, and then took off her red shirt, revealing an EVIL BLACK SHIRT underneath, like she went from nWo WolfPac to Hollywood in an instant!
Who would have seen such betrayal from Nikki Bella? You know, besides her twin sister Bree?
What's new about John Cena's retirement tour?
Survivor Series is Cena's final PLE before his retirement match on December 13 at the Saturday Night Main Event in Washington, DC. Fun fact: He first appeared on a WWE pay-per-view over 23 years ago, defeating Chris Jericho at Vengeance 2002.
Cena competes in Survivor Series as a Grand Slam champion after winning the Intercontinental Championship over Dominik Mysterio on November 10, winning every tag team and singles championship in his WWE career. This victory came in Bostonnear Sina's hometown of West Newbury. He agreed to give “The Dirty House” a rematch in Mysterio's hometown of San Diego at Survivor Series.
As you'd expect, Mysterio had fun trolling Cena ahead of the title rematch. Witness his shenanigans on “Raw” on Monday when he wowed the crowd by playing Cena's theme song, only to see a Micro Wrestling Federation wrestler. dressed like Cena come out from behind. When “little” John went off script in the ring, Dom kicked him in the chest. In case you were worried, the House couldn't get any more disgusting.
While Cena defends his title at Survivor Series, the “Last Time Is Now” tournament continues in WWE to determine who will face “The Last True Champion” in his retirement match.
Did you know that Gunther, who is in the final four of the tournament, is the longest-tenured Intercontinental Champion of all time and has never faced Cena in a match before? Ha, imagine that.
What's the most fun thing to watch at Survivor Series?
What's worth watching this Saturday is what's always made Survivor Series matches intriguing: “Can they coexist?”
This applies not only to Flair and Ripley in a women's match, but also to the holy trinity of egos that is Rhodes, Punk and Reigns – three wrestlers united by a common enemy and potentially divided by their own interests. At the end of the day, the real survivors are the ones who can check their egos at the cage door. And it is obvious that not all participants in these war games will survive them.
