Anthony Sulla-Heffinger
WWE Survivor Series WarGames 2024 results: Winners, grades, analysis as OG Bloodline, Rhea Ripley reign supreme
Bookended by the titular matches, Survivor Series WarGames was a strong card top-to-bottom
Survivor Series WarGames, one of the "Big Four" events on the WWE calendar, took place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on Saturday night. It was the third year in a row that WWE dropped the traditional five-on-five, elimination-style Survivor Series match in favor of the far more chaotic and destructive WarGames spectacle.
The show opened up with the women's WarGames match, with the babyface team of Bianca Belair, Iyo Sky, Naomi, Rhea Ripley and Bayley defeating the heel team of WWE Women's Champion Nia Jax, Women's World Champion Liv Morgan, Tiffany Stratton, Candice LeRae and Raquel Rodriguez. Sky, who has competed in every women's WarGames match ever, shined, as did Tiffany Stratton. Ultimately, the biggest feud within the match was what determined the outcome, as Ripley pinned Morgan after an Avalanche Riptide through a table.
In between the two WarGames matches there were three championship contests. Bron Breakker retained the Intercontinental Championship in a violent triple-threat match against Sheamus and Ludwig Kaiser, Gunther defeated Damian Priest (with some unsolicited help) to remain World Heavyweight Champion, and, in the only title change of the night, Shinsuke Nakamura dethroned LA Knight to win the United States Championship.
The night was capped off with the very personal Bloodline Civil War. After some teased inner turmoil, the OG Bloodline and CM Punk defeated Solo Sikoa's New Bloodline and Bronson Reed. It was yet another impressive entry in the ongoing Bloodline saga, which will ultimately define a generation of WWE.
Survivor Series WarGames results:
Bianca Belair, Iyo Sky, Naomi, Rhea Ripley and Bayley def. Nia Jax, Liv Morgan, Tiffany Stratton, Candice LeRae and Raquel Rodriguez in 38:10.
Grade: A-
Best spot: Stratton and Sky’s tandem leaps off top of the cage
🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯#SurvivorSeries #WarGames pic.twitter.com/tnIfCn7cZ3
— WWE (@WWE) November 30, 2024
Analysis: Although this didn't necessarily have the same heft behind it from a storytelling standpoint as the men's WarGames match, it was a very strong showing to open the event. Sky should be in every WarGames match she wants and I'll never get tired of her garbage can moonsault off the top of the cage. Apart from being mentioned above in our "best spot," Stratton's incredible rookie year on WWE's main roster continued in this match. Despite getting the pinfall win, Ripley admitted after the show that Sky is the No. 1 contender for Morgan's Women's World Championship, so unless this was the ending of the Dirty Dom Drama, we'll have to wait for the ultimate payoff.
Shinsuke Nakamura defeats LA Knight in 9:41 to win the United States Championship.
Grade: B
Best spot: Nakamura’s avalanche belly-to-back suplex
SCARY INVERTED SUPLEX FROM NAKAMURA 🤯#SurvivorSeries pic.twitter.com/U8VH0qORnR
— The Movement - Pro Wrestling (@TheMovementXx) December 1, 2024
Analysis: While this fell somewhat short of my "off the wall" Horsemen prediction of a Nakamura squash win, it was a dominant showing from the newly repackaged star. This wasn't the strongest in-ring performance from either star, but Knight was somewhat protected by getting misted less than 24 hours before the match. Knight will remain one of the more popular stars on the SmackDown roster and Nakamura's win and overall presentation feel like they are just the first step in a major push toward the top of the card.
Bron Breakker def. Sheamus and Ludwig Kaiser in 14:26 to retain the Intercontinental Championship.
Grade: A-
Best spot: Breakker’s leaping clothesline from the ring apron
THIS IS AWE-SOME!#ICTitle #SurvivorSeries pic.twitter.com/907iNywRKy
— WWE (@WWE) December 1, 2024
Analysis: It was fast, it was violent, it was absolutely everything we expected. Sheamus remains one title reign shy of being a Grand Slam Champion and ate the pin here, but there’s still plenty of time to get him his Intercontinental Championship. Breakker continues to impress and is a future WWE Champion, so keeping the IC title on him was the right move here. Kaiser looked solid and didn’t take the pin, so he conceivably could make another run at Breakker in the near future in an abbreviated singles program.
Gunther def. Damian Priest in 19:17 to retain the World Heavyweight Championship.
Grade: B+
Best spot: Gunther smirking after Priest injures his shoulder
Analysis: I understand why Finn Balor was involved here — protecting Priest is smart because he's a very credible threat to Gunther — but it doesn't mean I like how it was executed. This match was well on its way to an A rating, but Gunther has been such a dominant force for his entire time under the WWE umbrella, so even factoring in his attack of Balor after the interference, it still feels a bit off-putting. It's possible the Judgment Day attacks Priest on Raw, Gunther makes the save and we get either a triple-threat (Priest, Balor, Gunther) or a Balor-Gunther program in the coming weeks.
The OG Bloodline and CM Punk def. the New Bloodline and Bronson Reed in 41:53.
Grade: A+
Best spot: Bronson Reed's Tsunami off the cage
CM PUNK SALVA A ROMAN REIGNS DEL TSUNAMI DESDE LO ALTO DE BRONSON REED #SURVIVORSERIES pic.twitter.com/knRHm8cvd0
— LuigiWrestling (@LuigiWrestling) December 1, 2024
Analysis: What more can I say than perfection? Despite my "Moana" quip there, we did not get an appearance from Maui aka The Final Boss aka The Rock on Saturday night. Instead, we got yet another remarkable entry in the defining wrestling storyline of our generation. This match had all of the stakes, presentation, action and storytelling you could have wanted from a WarGames main event. Jacob Fatu continues to be the breakout star of WWE in 2024, Reed leapt off the top of the cage, and we now get to wonder for the next few weeks/months what "favor" Punk is owed from Paul Heyman. From here, we're undeniably on a crash course for a rubber match between Reigns and Sikoa, each having scored pinfall victories over one another in November, perhaps one-on-one for the Ula Fala. Just like last year when WWE faked us out by running the credits bug before Punk's return, we got an extra-long, post-match celebration and shot at the top of the ramp, seemingly teasing the aforementioned return of the Brahma Bull. (Seriously, Dwayne Johnson has more nicknames than Apollo Creed.)
For full match breakdown and analysis, check out the recaps from Uncrowned's coverage below.
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