Survivor Series ended the WWE main roster show in 2023. In terms of the total time of the main part, it turned out to be one of the shortest, but in terms of events, perhaps the best.
We present you a review of all the matches from the last event.
Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, Shotzi and Bianca Belair vs. Damage CTRL (Bayley, Asuka, Iyo Sky and Kairi Sane). Match according to War Games rules
The Survivor Series show opened with the first of two matches scheduled under War Games rules. We tell you what they mean. Instead of one traditional ring, two connected in parallel to the sand are used. They are closed by a cage in which one of the participants from both teams starts the match. After five minutes, the second participant comes out (which team is determined by a match of this right in the weeklies or by fan voting). The next team members leave one by one after three minutes. When all the wrestlers are in the ring, the gong rings, meaning that grapples and submissions are now allowed in the match. Only then can one of the teams win the battle.
Let’s go back to the women’s game. It was started by Lynch and Bayley, who have years of fighting for championship belts under their belts. The girls exchanged throws from their rivals into the cage, blows to the face to the roar of approval from the crowd, and various techniques executed. At one point in the fight, Dakota Kai, an injured Damage CTRL participant, intervened. She shoved a kendo streak into the cage and hit Lynch. While Becky was distracted by Kai, Bayley managed to get to her feet and take the lead in the match.
Dakota Kai hits Becky Lynch in the back
Photo: wwe.com
However, Shotzi then entered the ring, taking a trash can and several chairs with him. There are no disqualifications in the match, opponents can take whatever they want. Shotzi immediately began using chairs on Bayley and increased his team’s disadvantage. Lynch and his partner performed several joint actions in the ring against Bayley, and then the current WWE Women’s Champion Iyo Sky appeared in the ring.
The Japanese woman carried a large metal chain with her, with which she hit her opponents several times and then performed techniques with it. The appearance of Sky equalized the teams and the match began to look more like a traditional one. Everything changed when Bianca Belair appeared in the ring.
The owner of the longest braid in the world of wrestling decided to divide it in two and, after entering the ring, hit her opponents with her hair. She did not take out any objects from under her ring, wearing only her characteristic hairstyle. A funny moment occurred when Bailey tried to take out Bianca several times with a chair, but she fought back with her hair.
The sixth participant in the ring was Kairi Sane. Another Japanese woman in this match brought a garbage can lid with her to the ring, with which she immediately hit her opponents several times. Sane broke into the ring more actively due to her plasticity and athleticism, adding speed and techniques to the match.
Multiple-time WWE Champion Charlotte Flair entered the battle in seventh place. The athlete enjoyed a height advantage over her rivals. She performed several dominant techniques and blows (it’s hard to find another word for her advantage), and then the teams exchanged advantages in battle with equal speed.
The best moment of the fight came from Sky, who climbed to the top of the cage, put on a trash can, and jumped on all the fight participants below her. She looked impressive and added extreme excitement to the match.
Iyo Sky jumps over female wrestlers while using a trash can
Photo: wwe.com
The last participant in the fight, Asuka, took the most items to the ring. She grabbed sticks, a table and a fire extinguisher. The members of the Khil group started hitting their rivals with these sticks. Another interesting moment was when Lynch and Belair were chained in the ring, and all four members of the other team kicked them at the same time.
As the match progressed, Team Faces managed to gain the upper hand in the match, and the culmination of this turn of events was a moonsault that Flair performed on his opponents from the top of the cage. Afterwards, all the elements were used, including a fire extinguisher, and Lynch gave the victory to his team, who performed a signature move on Bayley on the table.
Qualification: 4.0/5.0
Result: A good women’s match that features some of the best performers in WWE. Thanks to the special rules, it was interesting to follow the fight, because every few minutes a new participant appeared in the ring and the speed of the fight increased, which at that time could have become slower due to the banal fatigue of the fighters. There were many good and extreme techniques, the use of various objects. In general, everything that most people love to fight for.
The Miz against Gunther. Intercontinental Championship Match
Gunther has the longest title reign in WWE history, and The Miz, who has held the championship eight times, is looking to capture it for the ninth time and set the record for total title reigns.
In the first few minutes, the opponents looked at each other closely, and then Miz, who weighs 35 kilograms less than his opponent, began to work on Gunther’s sore leg, giving himself at least a few opportunities in this match. However, the Ring General managed to take the initiative and performed several blows and techniques on Miz.
As the match progressed, Miz could have snatched the victory when he distracted the referee and delivered two blows to Gunther’s groin, in addition to his signature move, but the reigning champion managed to escape. This episode added speed to a rather slow match, and Gunter won it, forcing Miz to submit after a painful submission.
Gunther jumps off the ropes towards Miz.
Photo: wwe.com
Qualification: 2.75/5.0
Result: It was the most predictable and sometimes uninteresting match on the part of all sides. Everyone understood how Miz would act, they knew what Gunther would do. The Miz gave his opponent some problems when he worked on his bad leg, but now he is no match for Gunter. The current champion needs a heavier, more interesting opponent, and Miz is not back to that state yet.
Dragon Lee vs Santos Escobar
Santos Escobar betrayed the Mexican group LWO and began to have conflicts with its leader, Rey Mysterio. He injured the wrestling veteran (to allow Rey to undergo surgery) and began to have conflicts with another member of the group, Carlito, with whom he was supposed to have a match at Survivor Series. He attacked him on the last SmackDown and the match was canceled. However, another wrestler, Dragon Lee, volunteered to replace Carlito, for whom this match was his first on a major WWE main roster show.
The first minutes began with an advantage for Escobar, who surpassed his rival. And then Lee’s techniques, which the wrestlers are famous for, came into play: lots of jumping and technique. However, Santos once again took the initiative and, after a series of techniques, contained his opponent.
Dragon Lee flies towards Santos Escobar standing outside the ring
Photo: wwe.com
Qualification: 3.0/5.0
Result: This fight is definitely more interesting to watch than the previous one, at least due to the fact that the opponents were equal to each other and almost the entire fight, which turned out to be quite short, did not stop performing techniques. The speed of the match was the main surprise from him, but the whole show turned out to be short, so there is nothing to be surprised about.
Rhea Ripley vs. Zoe Stark. Fight for the WWE Women’s World Championship
Zoe Stark quickly broke into the WWE main roster. Having begun her career there as an assistant to Trish Stratus, Stark quickly established herself in singles wrestler status and for the second show in a row she claimed Ripley’s belt.
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Stark began this fight more actively, showing that he is not ashamed of the status of his rival, perhaps the main wrestler in WWE at the moment. However, as the match progressed, Ripley began to justify the title to him, leading him to victory.
Zoe Stark slaps Rhea Ripley
Photo: wwe.com
Qualification: 2.75/5.0
Result: This match, while a little more dynamic and interesting than the fight between Miz and Gunter, actually played out in a similar fashion. Ripley shouldn’t lose the title to a newcomer to the company, and WWE, in fact, still doesn’t have a wrestler who can compete with Riya. Stark is gradually reaching this state and it is likely that he has not had his last fight against Ripley.
Seth Rollins, Sami Zayn, Jey Uso, Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton vs. Judgment Day (Finn Balor, JD McDonagh, Damien Priest, Dominik Mysterio) and Drew McIntyre. Match according to War Games rules
Drew McIntyre couldn’t forgive Jey Uso for interfering in his fights in years past, so he interfered in their fight himself and turned to the dark side. The Goodies needed a fifth member, and Cody Rhodes announced it would be Randy Orton, a wrestling legend who hasn’t appeared in WWE since May 2022. However, the team entered the match without him.
Rollins and Balor started the fight first. Rollins, who defended his title against Balor earlier, immediately turned on his opponent and the two began exchanging blows. Then McDonagh, who had just been accepted into The Judgment Day, appeared in the ring. JD actively helped Balor beat Rollins, but Uso came to Seth’s aid, evening the teams and temporarily returning the match to normal rules.
Damien Priest performs a technique from the ropes
Photo: wwe.com
The fifth participant in the battle was Priest. Damien, who is rumored to be actively preparing for a serious promotion, skillfully began to scatter his opponents around the cage, showing who is in charge.
To the delight of the crowd, Zane, who knows the fans’ great love for tables, appeared in the ring. Sami dragged one of them to the scene of the fight and helped his team catch their breath a little. Temporarily. Until McIntyre, the greatest fighter in the fight, appeared. McIntyre immediately attacked Uso, which is why he basically became the heel.
Rhodes and Mysterio then appeared alternately in the ring and, frankly, did not bring anything new to the match, as all the spectators were waiting for one thing: the sound of Orton’s musical song and his return. Before their appearance, the healing team had an advantage, so they actively defeated their opponents.
The return of Randy Orton
Photo: wwe.com
Three minutes passed and Orton still did not appear in the ring. At that moment Rhea Ripley’s song played, and she took out a suitcase with Priest’s contract. Damien wanted to use it on Rollins and win the title, but at that exact moment Orton appeared on the ramp and everything else in the match fell by the wayside. Randy entered the ring and began beating his opponents one by one. Several trademark RKOs, one of which was against McDonagh flying off the cage. Rhodes then performed his signature move on Priest and held, giving his team the victory.
CM Punk returns to WWE
Photo: wwe.com
But all this fades even more with what happened next. Almost 10 years later, CM Punk returned to WWE, who all this time actively scolded (use any other powerful dirty word here) the company and in every possible way hinted that he no longer wanted to be involved with it in any way.
Since then, he spent time with the UFC, the AEW wrestling promotion, and returned to WWE in his hometown of Chicago. Did the room explode when Orton came out? Forget about that reaction, because after Punk showed up, the whole city didn’t sleep.
Match classification: 4.5/5.0
Result: The men’s War Games were no worse than the women’s, but it is worth understanding that throughout the match the audience was waiting for one thing: the appearance of Randy Orton. The match was largely built towards his return, and you could say that Randy lived up to all the expectations. He missed about a year and a half and returned to wrestling in incredible shape.
Overall Show Rating: Frankly, as far as matches go, this was an average WWE show. There were some good and bad matches, but after the events at the end of Survivor Series, I don’t want to spend a lot of time describing the matches. Because in this show, oddly enough, they weren’t the main ones. The return of Orton and Punk, and especially Punk, is a great springboard for the WWE creative studio ahead of the 40th anniversary of Wrestlemania. Orton is a legend of world wrestling, Punk, despite all his controversial behavior, is a legend of world wrestling. Imagine if Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo returned to the football field at the same time after a long time. They would return to a team that could build, thanks to them, something more than a simple football game.
Orton and Punk aren’t just about wrestling matches. It is, first of all, everything that leads them, what surrounds them. Imagine the most unexpected event you can imagine in your life. Punk’s return is from this episode. About Orton they said that after his injuries he might not return to wrestling, in particular, his father spoke about this recommendation of the doctors. But he is back in shape, which is arguably even better than his days as an active member of the company. An incredible year awaits us.
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