Women’s WarGames Match: Damage CTRL VS Becky Lynch, Bianca Belair, Charlotte Flair, and Shotzi
This year’s Survivor Series kicked off inside WarGames as Damage CTRL’s Bayley, Asuka, Kairi Sane, and the WWE Women’s Champion Iyo Sky took on the team of Becky Lynch, Bianca Belair, Charlotte Flair, and Shotzi. Becky and Bayley started off the match for their respective teams before Dakota Kai appeared to hit Lynch with a kendo stick (from the outside of the ring). Shotzi was then the first woman to enter from a cage before Iyo, Bianca, Kairi, Charlotte, and Asuka all followed. I personally enjoyed this match quite a lot, I thought the spots were really good and Damage CTRL looked proper badass. In my opinion, Bayley and Iyo Sky were the two MVPs for Damage Control whilst Becky Lynch was the star of the Babyfaces’ team (Shotzi does deserve some praise as well). Lots of weapons were also used in this contest and we saw both Sky and Flair jump off the cage at one point (Iyo did it whilst wearing a bin)! In the end, after Bayley took a Spear from Charlotte for Kairi Sane, Becky Lynch sent The Role Model through a table to pick up the victory. Whilst I feel like Damage CTRL should’ve won this match, I’m not too annoyed about it as long as this leads to Bayley becoming Champion at WrestleMania.
Grade: B
Intercontinental Championship: Gunther VS The Miz
The Intercontinental Championship was the first Title on the line at this year’s Survivor Series as The Miz looked to become a 9-time IC Champ at the expense of “The Ring General” Gunther. I actually thought this was a decent-to-good match between these two which is a testament to both guys’ ability. It was obvious that Gunther was going to retain his Championship, but The Miz hitting a low blow followed by a Skull-Crushing Finale was a good near-fall. In the end, though, Miz was forced to tap out thanks to a nasty-looking submission at the hands of “The Greatest Intercontinental Champion of All Time.”
Grade: B-
Dragon Lee VS Santos Escobar
The next match saw Dragon Lee and Santos Escobar go one-on-one and I thought this was pretty cool. To think that Dragon Lee’s first Main Roster Premium Live Event match is on one of WWE’s biggest shows of the year shows just how bright of a career Mr. Lee has whilst Santos Escobar is a terrific Heel. Some of the moves here were really good and I felt like the best thing about this match was it wasn’t at all clear who was going to win. I still expected Lee to win though so I was a little surprised when Escobar dropped Dragon with the Phantom Driver for the 3 count. Personally, I think having Santos win was definitely the right decision as it really paints a picture of just how good and dangerous The Emperor of Lucha Libre really is.
Grade: B-
Women’s World Championship: Rhea Ripley VS Zoey Stark
In the second and final Championship match of the night, Rhea Ripley put her Women’s World Championship on the line against Zoey Stark. For me, this was the weakest match of the night, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it was bad. There were still some good moments here including Zoey showing heart and passion against the dominant Champion. Unfortunately for Stark, Rhea is a dominant Champion and she showed it here as after a headbutt, Ripley dropped Zoey with the Riptide to get the victory.
Grade: C+
Men's WarGames Match: Seth “Freakin” Rollins, Cody Rhodes, Jey Uso, Sami Zayn, and Randy Orton VS Drew McIntyre and The Judgment Day
In the Main Event of Survivor Series: WarGames 2023, Drew McIntyre and The Judgment Day aligned to take on the team of Seth “Freakin” Rollins, Cody Rhodes, Jey Uso, Sami Zayn, and Randy Orton. The World Heavyweight Champion and Finn Balor started off the match for their respective teams before JD McDonagh joined the fray. Jey Uso was then the next man out for the Babyfaces (to the delight of the WWE Universe) and this clearly angered Drew McIntyre who wanted to get his hands on “Main Event” Jey. However, Damian Priest told him to “stick to the plan” which is why he was the next man into the fray before Sami Zayn followed 3 minutes later. I thought the stuff between all of those 6 guys were really good, but the best part of the match (in my opinion) came when Drew got released out of the cage and absolutely destroyed everyone. Cody Rhodes was then in next to even the odds before the NXT North American Champion Dominik Mysterio entered to the disgust of the Chicago crowd. The clock then ticked down for the final time of the night, but instead of Randy Orton making an appearance, it was Rhea Ripley who ran down in an attempt to cash in Damian Priest’s Money in the Bank Briefcase. However, The Viper’s music then did hit to a deafening sound before Orton hit all of his big moves including a ridiculous RKO onto JD McDonagh (who was thrown from the top of the cage). Randy then left it to Cody Rhodes who dropped Priest with the Cross Rhodes to give the Babyfaces the big victory. I enjoyed this match, I thought there were some really good spots, but I can’t really understand why Drew and The Judgment Day lost this match. I don’t know, but it feels like a massive missed opportunity to properly turn them into a fully dominant faction. Anyway, CM Punk then just showed up so who the hell knows what’s going on anymore?!
It’s clobberin‘ time!!