I wasn’t feeling Survivor Series this year. Rather than make you get to the bottom of this recap or sort your way through it, I figured why not cut to the chase. That doesn’t mean the night gave nothing interesting, just that it didn’t reach the levels reserved for an event almost 40-years old.
Both WarGames matches felt anticlimactic and crescendoed far too early. We got teaspoons worth of the individual beefs and stories within the larger thing, but only a bit. Well, except for Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar, which became the main set piece for the men’s match. And that made sense; these two hate each other and I wholesale buy the idea that not even two steel cages can contain that hatred. They briefly resisted Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch in the women’s match, while also giving time to everything going on between IYO SKY, Asuka, & Kairi Sane. The buildup worked against both matches. WWE billed the men’s match as an all-star (War)game and it had that feel for the most part: light, loose, nothing really on the line, and hastily put together on the strength of seeing these cats together rather than bringing any dramatic heft to the proceedings. All that tension previewed before the men’s match? Mostly meh. Cody Rhodes and CM Punk almost got into it when the former accidentally elbowed the latter early on but it never went anywhere. The same goes for the women’s match, which wasn’t the worst thing considering we didn’t need both matches featuring imploding teams.
Charlotte showed up for Alexa and truly meant it when she buried the hatchet with Rhea. At least for one night. The most drama in the women’s match came when Becky hilariously did everything in her power to stop AJ Lee from entering the match. This is my favorite iteration of Becky. She so understands the assignment and never wastes a moment.
And this match came back to this dynamic, clearly setting up a larger battle between Becky and AJ.
To the point about Becky, of course she tried bowing out when it was her against the world. That went back to her appointing herself captain of the team despite being the most cowardly person in the ring. AJ made her tap, and fittingly, Jessika Carr made that call. Becky’s already crying foul, so I hope we follow up on this.
The men’s match actually took time out to have Jey Uso run it back for the fans. I know I sound like an old man complaining about that, and Brock’s appearance undercutting the Yeet fest was a good look, but that one moment felt indicative of the match as a whole. Like I said, all-star game to a tee.
But the big thing from the match is the masked hooded assailant who gave Team Vision a huge assist for their W. My guess is Austin Theory, which I base on all the dirty sheet reports for the past several weeks. That moment rarely got any room to breathe before we got the prelude to Cody vs. Roman:
Roman made peace with Punk but there’s still something about Cody that he can’t shake. I get it. If I shared the ring with a guy whose catchphrase is, “What do you want to talk about?” I’d be in my feelings too.
I don’t know if WWE can or even wants to top the build from the last time these two fought at a WrestleMania, so I’m curious what they do to at least make it compelling beyond “Roman wants his title back.”
There wasn’t much positive here to latch onto when looking at the whole. The narrative and pacing of both matches never clicked. Paul E. said on the four letter network that this match is merely a preview for WrestleMania. After what I saw tonight, I couldn’t agree more. This was an unsatisfying teaser trailer for WWE’s spring blowout. That’s great for 2026 in Las Vegas but a disservice to 2025 in San Diego.
- Liv Morgan is back! That’s the major headline from John Cena vs. Dirty Dom. This match carried multiple shenanigans because, as someone I know predicted, John couldn’t fairly lose his last PLE match but he couldn’t defeat Dom either. They smartly booked everything around Dom faking an injury from a nasty bump outside the ring that looked like a botched Hurancanrana spot. Johnny looked on after the match stopped in its tracks, which left him open for attacks from Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez. Dom’s ailments miraculously healed themselves and the Dirty one jumped in the ring for a 619 and Frog Splash. But yeah, not enough. Then the rest of the Judgment Day interfered only for John to take them out too. Then came Liv Morgan, who, for a moment, looked like a woman scorned. Did she finally dump Dom for seemingly dissing her while injured? Nah. It was all a set up for the now former Intercontinental Champion. Dom & Liv are happily joined at the hip again, while the Intercontinental title is back in the Judgment Day clubhouse. This was fun and the best possible outcome/booking for the match at this point in John’s career. Plus it gives him a little pathos going into his final match. And Cena should go out on his back. They made the right call here making Dom and Liv even bigger deals than they were before the match started.
- Stephanie Vaquer & Nikki Bella were in a tough spot. Their match followed Liv’s big return, which was a part of John’s last PLE match, and came before the men’s main event War Games match. Talk about a thankless gig. The crowd came alive for certain spots, AKA the Devil’s Kiss on the announce table or any Devil’s Kiss attempt, but the match seemed out of sorts from jump. I felt Nikki was very solid in her heel role and loved her attacking Stephanie from behind when the bell rang. Steph is always the babyface but it’s rare that she gets dominated in the ring the way Nikki did during the early minutes here. I always say seeing a babyface be vulnerable is a good test; not everyone can get the crowd on their side simply through absorbing punishment. Not everyone can sustain a title reign by towering over their competition, so props to the territory for showing La Primera isn’t solely an unstoppable force like Clubber Lang in the first 2/3 of Rocky III. Of course she still won, but it felt like a comeback victory. Ultimately, this just needed a different environment to thrive and not feel disjointed as a match and as part of the larger card.
- I love that Rhea loves Terrifier. I’m a horror geek but that whole franchise misses me. I get it but just can’t feel it. But I salute my fellow horror nerd and her joy. Rhea the Clown might be just enough to make me a fan. Might.
There’s a Ren & Stimpy gag with a horse that came to mind when the credits rolled on Survivor Series. If you know the show and read to this point, you know exactly what I’m talking about.
Fittingly, John Cena’s last PLE match was the lone bright spot. This was a mediocre showing that never asserted itself as worth the time investment on Thanksgiving weekend. Here’s hoping that when the show turns 40, it celebrates in style rather than whatever this was.
What say you, Cagesiders? Who was that masked man?