It's The Let's Watch Some Wrestling WWE Survivor Series/ WarGames Preview!

 

Good Morning!

It’s Friday morning as I’m sitting down to write this. The house is still asleep since my wife had to stop in to the emergency animal hospital she helps manage, and I slept in after cooking a massive Thanksgiving meal for the two of us and our buddy. So, leftovers for the next week or so it is! And not just any leftovers: the best idea from one of my favorite TV shows of all time, interpreted by one of my favorite YouTube cooks. It’s Thanksgiving Balls!

That’s right. As Shawn Spencer says, “It is an entire meal of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, string beans, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, and an Andes mint rolled into a ball, battered, and deep fried.” A whole-ass Thanksgiving dinner, deconstructed and re-constructed into a handy little ball. And while Psych had a tendency to make up some outlandish foods without giving the viewer much background -- quatro quesos dos fritas, for example -- this is one that the internet was nice enough to prepare a recipe for. I’ve made them in the past, and I’ll be sure to post some pics of the glorious final product.

As for the week, I understand that many folks have a tough relationship with Turkey Day. It can be hard to deal with family for any number of reasons, and pressure to do what one is “supposed to” can really wreak havoc on the nerves. I ain’t here for all that! We run a low-key household, where we welcome anybody to eat and watch Mystery Science Theater and generally just relax. It’s been especially cool to have friends who just moved out here get to enjoy a meal or two with us before they gain a foothold and establish their own traditions, whether that’s with their own families or chosen ones. I just like cooking, eating, and watching robots make fun of movies on Thanksgiving. I’m a simple man that way.

The WWE Survivor Series/ WarGames Preview!

First things first here: I don’t really like the whole “Survivor Series as WarGames” gimmick. WWE went through all the trouble of getting rid of the contrived Hell in a Cell pay-per-view only to do the same thing with WarGames -- force a narrative so that a pair of big matches have to happen for a gimmick match at a gimmick show. And don't get me wrong, Survivor Series was that same thing before it was turned into Triple H’s new baby. But it at least made a little more sense, as teams were generally like-minded individuals, and the matches weren’t of the Blood and Guts variety.

The Fed considers Survivor Series to be one of its “Big Four” shows, although I would say that we hadn’t had many consequences for this big show for years, until recently. Before WarGames, the tacky “Raw vs SmackDown” storyline popped up every November, with superstars briefly becoming incredibly loyal to the brand they wrestled on, just long enough to squeeze a few matches out. But it was the format that I liked! Sole survivors, multi-person tag team elimination format, loose alliances with cool team names. 

Give me that over lousy builds for matches that are way too high-stakes for the storylines. I get it for the Bloodline vs Bloodline thing, that’s just an ongoing feud where every match at this point seems like it’s worth adding a stipulation. But the women’s WarGames match this year stands out for its slapdash construction. And yeah, WWE had to pivot away from Jade Cargill when she got injured, slowing the breakup of our women’s tag team champs. But it’s still a very flimsy set of good guys, teaming up to bring down the champs of both main shows plus some flunkies. And there’s no real stakes, either. You win, you celebrate, you move on. No championships or number-one contenderships are on the line…although there is still a Money in the Bank briefcase in play. We’ll get to that in a bit.

But I digress! The women assembled for this year’s WarGames match include some of the best in recent WarGames history, IYO SKY and Candice LaRae in particular. Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley are top-tier superstars, and if this match somehow leads to a match between the two of them while Cargill heals up, all the better. And Bayley, well…we love Bayley. I’ve heard some talk that folks would like to see her turn heel again, but I think it’s too soon for that. She had a bummer of a championship run this year, and her theme music and character motivations are crap, but she’s still great in the ring. I just don’t feel like giving up on one of the greatest babyfaces in recent history for a quick bump in crowd noise is necessary -- at least not yet.

So let’s get into this preview. Aside from the two big WarGames matches, we’ve got three championships on the line on Saturday night as well. And since I enjoyed doing it, we’ll do the WWE 2K24 simulations alongside my own predictions. There’s a little hiccup in that the game can only handle eight wrestlers in the ring at a time, meaning our Survivor Series matches will have to lose a member of each team. I tried to pick the person who will have the least impact for their team in terms of outcome and storyline. 

I benched Candice LaRae for Team Evil - Women’s Division, because even though she’s probably going to have a bonkers spot in the real life match, I think she’s the least likely to influence the finish of the match. She also threw off the balance between champs and pals, so she’s out. For Team Good (no relation) I pulled Naomi simply because she isn’t in the game, and I forgot to download her when I was assembling this roster. Sorry, Naomi, although I do see stuff happening with you down the road!

For the men’s match, I had to employ different logic for who to sit. With a tag team on each team, it made more sense to bench the member who’s less likely to affect both this match, and upcoming storylines. So Jimmy Uso and Tonga Loa both were pulled for this one, and non-family members CM Punk and Bronson Reed were allowed to stay.

Bianca Belair, Bayley, Naomi, IYO SKY, and Rhea Ripley versus Liv Morgan, Raquelle Rodriguez, Nia Jax, Tiffany Stratton, and Candice LaRae in a WarGames match

As I said earlier, this match is kind of a slapped-together bit of business. Part of that is due to Jade Cargill being replaced by Bayley, but the whole bad guy team is basically together because the good guys needed people to fight, and those championship rivalries were already established. 

Aside from the constant threat of Tiffany Stratton cashing in her title opportunity, there hasn’t been a lot of excitement from the WWE women’s division. Rhea came back from an injury to resume her feud with Liv Morgan, got injured again, came back again, and just resumed that rivalry. Nia Jax has been dominant as champ, and the assembly of a team of mean girls to help her retain that title has been good for getting other talent on TV, but never really feels necessary, you know? Nia’s not a cowardly heel, she’s a powerhouse that doesn’t need to fall back on the generic tropes that most bad guys in a group use.

So what do we have? A couple champs and their pals, one of whom is worth keeping an eye on throughout this match, as Stratton cashing in is always a possibility. On the other side, we’ve got Bianca Belair learning to trust Bayley, whom IYO SKY turned on earlier this year before turning face herself. Rhea we talked about. That leaves Naomi as kind of a wild card on the good guy team. I think we’ve seen some hints that she could turn heel, as her position as the third wheel to tag champs Belair and Cargill might have birthed a little jealousy. She is a former world champion, why is she relegated to helping the tag champs retain their titles? For that matter, why was she put into a group at all? 

I kind of like the idea of Stratton cashing in mid-match. Inject some fun chaos into this women’s division. While we’re at it, let’s turn Naomi soon, too. Hell, folks have been fantasy booking her into the Bloodline for a while now. Why not bring some women into that whole storyline, too? 

My Pick: The good guys win, Bianca looks strong, some new stories begin

These matches are LONG in real life, and watching the video game version of them felt like it would be a little daunting. But the downtime between entrants is shorter, and the health bars at the bottom of the screen give enough extra information to help navigate downtime. I ran this one after the men’s, and as such plotted entries a little better. Bianca and Tiffy started things off, as I imagined Bianca wanted to show her teammates why she’s the de facto leader of their side, and Nia would want Stratton a little run down early, just in case she decides to try to cash in again. 

A regular back-and-forth between those two was ended when Raquel Rodriguez, with sledgehammer, entered the brawl. Bianca took a helluva beating until IYO ran in to help her out, but her missed dropkick to Rodriguez led to both the good guys taking extended bludgeonings from the baddies. Bianca eventually recovered, tossing Stratton into the other ring and resuming their match for a while. Raquel beat poor IYO up even more before swapping rings to help Tiffy out, and by the time Nia Jax joined in everybody was in the right ring. 

Crowding in that ring did the bad guys no favors, as Raquel “accidentally” whaled on Jax with her sledgehammer a number of times while Bayley made her way to the cage. Bianca and Tiffy really stayed paired up for the better part of the match, which feels like a programming issue but also made me want more of that matchup in a real ring. Bayley separated Rodriguez from the rest of the group, but IYO SKY’s penchant for trash can offense in real WarGames matches came true in the game, and she accidentally took Bayley out after 3 finishers would have ended the match. Nia hit a pinfall on IYO shortly afterward, and that was that. 

2k24 says: Bad guys win due to miscommunication!

L.A. Knight © versus Shinsuke Nakamura for the United States  Championship

Shinsuke is a weird guy. And I don’t just mean, like, his whole aura. I mean he’s hard to figure out. Does he still care about wrestling? His matches aren’t great, and haven’t been for some time. When he hasn’t been injured, there have been long stretches where WWE just hasn’t used him. I wonder if it’s just a case of mutual burnout -- Shin isn’t used, doesn’t like that, doesn’t put his all into his work. WWE sees that, isn’t in any hurry to use him again, doesn’t book him into anything too consequential. 

That brings us to this match, which could be viewed as filler in Knight’s championship run. Since winning the title from Logan Paul at SummerSlam in early August, Knight has defended against Santos Escobar, Ludwig Kaiser, Andrade, and Carmelo Hayes. While those matches haven’t been bad, I’ve never felt like any of his challengers have really had a chance. It’s weird to pick against better wrestlers simply because a guy says YEAUH and the crowd loses their minds, but that’s where we’re at with LA Knight. He’s still super over, despite his ring work being average at best. Plus, look at how happy he looks in the game!

But what if he does lose here? What if Shinsuke feels like proving himself and we get a longer feud and some good matches out of this budding rivalry? Nakamura has only been back for a few weeks now, and it would be a bit weird to have him lose immediately after re-introducing him. And he’s made some good points about LA Knight in his promos: if the US title is Knight’s identity, a decent story could be built around Knight needing to win it back, maybe even turning heelish to do so. It’s more interesting than Knight being the lesser guy in rivalries with guys who always seem to have better matchups floating around while they’re also engaged with Knight. So why not? Let’s be bold here.

My Pick: Shinsuke Nakamura wins, even if only to drop the title back to LA Knight in the near future.

2k24 says:

LA Knight retains, which is probably more likely even if it is a little boring. 

Bronn Breakker © versus Sheamus versus Ludwig Kaiser for the Intercontinental Championship

Sheamus and Kaiser have gone back and forth for weeks now, interfering in each others’ matches when they aren’t fighting directly. So it makes sense to just toss them into a match with Bronn together, although I don’t get why Breakker gets punished for these other guys being idiots. 

Regardless, I can’t imagine this plays out any differently than it has for the buildup to this match -- Sheamus and Ludwig negate each other, and neither walks away with a championship. Bronn should be able to have some fun with the double-ring setup that WarGames provides, though. Maybe all that extra running room results in a super spear for the ages? Who’s to say!

My Pick: Bronn retains, and Sheamus and Kaiser continue their feud.

2k24 says:

Shockingly, Ludwig Kaiser! The little guy managed to sneak a win by taking advantage of Bronn Breakker’s hubris. Bronn laid Kaiser out inside the ring before annihilating Sheamus with a spear near the announce table, but then the champ decided to pose and clear off the table for a big finish. While he was doing that, Sheamus recovered and slid into the ring, right into a possum pin for the quick 1-2-3. Bronn was locked in an animation, and wasn’t able to slide back into the ring to try to break up the pin until it was too late, and his elbow drop to kaiser was just a second too slow. Unlikely, but that’s why we sim the games!

GUNTHER © versus Damien Priest for the World Heavyweight Championship

I think WWE has done a good job with this feud despite it feeling really predictable. Priest isn’t winning here -- I think we can all agree on that. But when the former leader of the Judgment Day (non-Ripley division) won the match that scored him this title shot, I know a lot of us sighed and just figured we were killing time until GUNTHER gets into a real program with a real big deal superstar. However, the narrative of the champ questioning himself, and seeing what happens to his confidence as a result, has made for a few weeks of interesting TV. At least they’re trying.

Priest is always improving, which is a little weird to say for a guy that has been wrestling as long as he has. I think he’s got a lot going for him, too -- the whole “bisexual Undertaker” label is a little much, but he’s definitely got a rockstar vibe working for him. People seem to want to cheer for him, but putting him back into a feud with GUNTHER this soon doesn’t really help him. We know he’s not winning, and while the TV has been good, it’s had less to do with Damien and more to do with GUNTHER and, to a lesser extent, Ludwig Kaiser.

I’m interested to see where both of these guys go after this show. GUNTHER has a number of challengers waiting in the wings, and Priest’s solo face run should get some more time before anyone declares it a success or a failure. But for the purposes of this preview, decent match, GUNTHER wins, we move on.

My Pick: GUNTHER retains

2k24 says:

The same! HOWEVER, it should be noted that Ludwig Kaiser was manager for this match. I didn’t know that when you pick Kaiser to manage GUNTHER, there’s a lengthy cutscene with Ludwig doing the ring announcing for the champ! It’s a cool little Easter egg in a game full of them. Ludwig also directly contributed to the win, distracting Priest several times throughout the match. After hitting a Razor’s Edge that could have won him the match, Damien got into a shouting match with Kaiser that allowed GUNTHER to lock a sleeper hold in, allowing him to retain in a much closer match than I think we’ll see on Saturday.

Roman Reigns, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, Sami Zayn, and CM Punk versus Solo Sikoa, Jacob Fatu, Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa, and Bronson Reed in a WarGames match

This match has been so, so well set up that I am willing to forgive the whole forced nature of WarGames for it. Of course, when you have a single narrative that’s been running for the better part of three years, weaving its members into any kind of match isn’t too difficult. However, the addition of CM Punk and Bronson Reed, and by extension Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre and Paul Heyman, has really put the outcome of this WarGames, and the direction of the story to come, into question. I legit have no idea if there’s a turn coming, although I did notice that Paulie was looking a little like a Solo Sikoa tribute in his red shirt and black jacket the other night. I haven’t seen spoilers for the taped SmackDown that airs tonight, and while I can’t imagine too much will happen before the PLE, you never know what little bread crumbs might be dropped.

I’ll say the bad guys win because there’s never not drama among Triple H’s good guys. It almost feels like the faces he writes are just waiting for their turn to, well, turn, because bad guys are just cooler. I don’t necessarily agree with that, but it has made for a compelling story so far. 

There are just too many moving parts on the OG Bloodline team for me to think that everything will go smoothly. Punk brings the baggage of a Drew McIntyre storyline that hasn’t necessarily finished up. Seth Rollins can say he was really thinking about joining up after being attacked, and Punk is just taking yet another opportunity from him. Heyman may still be holding a grudge against both Punk and/or Roman Reigns, and maybe he’s got another Paul Heyman guy or two waiting for revenge. Sami Zayn and Jimmy Uso aren’t even necessarily on the same page, and that doesn’t even begin to get into Sami’s forever rival/brother Kevin Owens, or KO’s relationship with Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes, too. And Roman, while playing nice for now, is only recently removed from a reign of terror that saw every show and every story revolve around his whims. On top of all that, there’s a nonzero chance that the Final Boss himself, the Rock himself, could make an appearance!

My Pick: As Dark Helmet said, “Evil will always triumph, because good is dumb.”

Solo and Roman started things off, because I didn’t realize that the entrants aren’t randomized. Whoops! That’s fine, though -- let the respective heads of the tables battle it out before their subordinates jump into the fray on their behalf. After some back and forth, Solo nailed Reigns with a spike before Jacob Fatu came into the cage. Roman made a bit of a comeback before the New Bloodliners realized they didn’t have to take turns attacking, and he was at the mercy of the two until Jey Uso popped in to even things out. Jey went right after Solo, giving me the pairing of Jacob and Roman that I really hope plays out on Saturday. 

Tama Tonga was the first to bring a weapon with him into the match, tossing a stop sign and a table in before joining. Sami Zayn took that as inspiration, tossing a steel chair and sledgehammer in, too. Things started to spread out a little more now, with Zayn and Reigns teaming up against Solo in one ring, and Fatu and Loa getting more than they could handle with Jey in the other. The addition of Bronson Reed moved everyone into the right side ring, but crowding started to make things awkward -- twice, Reed tried to put Zayn through a table only for janky pathfinding to force him to abort the attack. 

CM Punk came in last, and Bronson Reed immediately put the veteran through a table for his troubles. That victory was short-lived, though. While that was going on, Roman found Solo Sikoa once again, and locked in a submission that resulted in Solo tapping out and Roman picking up the win for the good guys.

2k24 says: OG Bloodline, with Roman choking out Solo Sikoa.

And that’s it!

Survivor Series, for all its flaws, has become the beginning of the road to WrestleMania. While the Royal Rumble is where it gets going in earnest, I think we learn a lot about who WWE thinks is “main event material” on this show. I’m hoping for strong showings for several of the participants in the matches on this show, as I really do like a lot of the talent involved. Tiffany Stratton is a superstar in waiting. Ludwig Kaiser may have lost his biggest proponent in Samantha Irving’s announcing, but he’s shown a lot of character development to go with his in-ring acumen. Priest and GUNTHER have worked together enough to maybe surprise us with some new wrinkles in their work, and Bronn Breakker could steal the show with some insane spot. 

On top of the non-WarGames matches, that main event is really going to show us where the next few months will lead. Challengers for both GUNTHER and Cody Rhodes may materialize, and undercard titles will also start to have some direction. It’s an exciting time to be a fan, and I can’t wait to see where we are after this weekend! We’ve also got Collision and Rampage on Saturday for the AEW sickos, so I’ll try to make time to watch those before putting together a weekend review of everything for the early part of next week.

Thank you so much for reading. If you liked what you saw, consider telling your friends, mentioning Let’s Watch Some Wrestling on social media, or even buying me a hot cup of coffee using the Ko-Fi button. Have a great week, and I’ll see you back here next time, dear reader. Until then, Let’s Watch Some Wrestling!

2024 Predictions

WWE Royal Rumble 2/4

NXT Vengeance Day 1/6

WWE Elimination Chamber Perth 4/4

AEW Revolution 9/11

NXT Roadblock 4/6

NXT Stand and Deliver 5/7

WWE WrestleMania Night One 4.5/7

WWE WrestleMania Night Two 4/6

AEW Dynasty 11/12

WWE Backlash 5/5

WWE King and Queen of the Ring (SSM XIV) 6/6

AEW Double or Nothing 9/12

NXT Battleground 4/6

WWE Money in the Bank 2/5

NXT Heatwave 3/6

AEW All In 6/10

WWE Bash in Berlin 3/5

NXT No Mercy 3/6

AEW Full Gear 8/9

Total Correct/Total Predictions 93.5/133

2K Predictions

AEW Full Gear 4/9

The BLACK FRIDAY Twofer: AEW Full Gear Recap and WWE Survivor Series Preview

Image Credit: WWE.com

Good morning! So AEW Full Gear happened and it was great! Apparently the whole internet is divided about it, but since the whole internet is divided about everything, it’s hard to put too much stock in that. I’m probably more negative until I’ve stewed on things, but once my poor goldfish brain has time to remember storylines and, you know, the past, I remember how nice it is to like things and just move on from the things one can criticize. You want criticism, there’s any number of podcasts and Twitter users who have those takes. I’ll just gloss over stuff that didn’t do it for me, because I’m not everybody and plenty of people like stuff I don’t. I mean, somebody is watching The Bachelor, and it ain’t me.

But I digress! I really enjoyed the show, and despite my concerns about rising costs for us fans, I’m not gonna stop watching AEW PPVs anytime soon, lest I miss a match with the amount of blood they used in Evil Dead 2. My predictions went pretty damn well, too. So let’s crack into our…

AEW Full Gear Recap

Surprise new signing: “Will Ospreay seems like the most obvious choice – he’s been working with the company for years now, and he’s probably comfortable enough to stick around.” Sure, I had Ronda Rousey in there as a backup, but we’re calling this a win.

Devil prediction: Doesn’t matter, we didn’t resolve that one! The internet seems to be leaning towards Jack Perry now, but I’m gonna remain steadfast in my Dr. Britt Baker, DMD guess.

Zero Hour Predictions: Eddie Kingston, Claudio Castignoli, and the team of MJF and Samoa Joe all win. Three for three! The Joe indifference after the retention of the Ring of Honor tag belts is something we’ll get back to for the main event.

Sting, Darby Allin, and Adam Copeland versus Christian Cage, Luchasaurus, and Nick Wayne

“Good guys win, bad guys lose.” And they did! The good guys, non-Copeland division, have already moved apart Avengers-style, with Sting likely preparing for a handful of group matches before his retirement at Revolution. Darby Allin has begun preparations to climb Mount Everest, so his availability is probably a little limited going forth. But Copeland, he and Christian Cage will still have things to discuss after Cage ran away the whole match, and continued to do so Wednesday on Dynamite.

Orange Cassidy © versus Jon Moxley for the AEW International Championship

“...I’d like Cassidy to win, Mox and Orange to shake hands, and Mox to walk away from both the International Championship scene and the Blackpool Combat Club…” So look, it wasn’t exactly what I wanted, but it was enough. Our battered champion retained. As Wheeler Yuta pointed out on Wednesday, it took about a dozen Orange Punches, a Beach Break, and an exposed turnbuckle, but in the end Orange got the job done. Mox didn’t do the handshake thing, but he did move on by entering the Continental Classic tournament, where he defeated the beloved Mark Briscoe in a good Dynamite main event. The BCC remains, though, with Yuta setting up future matches against Shibata, HOOK, basically anybody he can get on camera with.

Hikaru Shida © versus Timeless Toni Storm for the AEW Women’s World Championship

“...Hikaru deserves a long reign with more great matches…I’d prefer that Shida retains here.” Ah, well, can’t be right all the time. I mean, I WOULD still prefer that Shida was champ, instead of feeling like every reign she gets is transitional, but whatever. Storm is super-popular right now, her gimmick is fantastic, and the addition of an understudy that might have given us more than just championship storylines for the women’s division has now become, well, the story of the women’s division. Unless you count the budding romance between Ruby Soho and Cool Hand Ang. 

The match itself was great, hard-hitting stuff, and Storm’s creative use of the steel serving plate as butt armor paid off in a knockout Sweet Cheeks Music – a move that looks pretty vicious normally – and a title change. 

Ricky Starks and Big Bill © versus La Faccion Ingobernable versus FTR versus Kings of the Black Throne for the AEW World Tag Team Championship in a Ladder Match

“Starks and Bill retain via shenanigans…” Hey, I was right! This match was bonkers, and if you haven’t watched it and have the means, this match and the two that follow are the best parts of the night. There were a ton of brutal and unique spots, but one in particular I’d like to point out was when a ladder was resting on the ropes next to Malakai Black. It's at 2:13 in the video below, although if you didn't get to see the show this whole video is worth a watch:

Kris Statlander © versus Julia Hart versus Skye Blue for the AEW TBS Championship

“...Statlander retains…” No, she doesn’t! Julia Hart is our surprise new champ, starting some kind of spooky alliance with the now metal-AF Skye Blue. No more cheeky baseball cap, Blue wears a crown of blue roses and thorns (I think) and gets some super aggressive entrance music. I think all three of these women have improved dramatically over the last year, with Statlander in particular becoming the bar for match quality. Now that I think about it, I was really only wrong about both women’s matches because I wanted to get more storylines, and having baddies lose but still follow a narrative while faces retain and follow new challenges was really never realistic. We’re only ever gonna get one women’s match and maybe one segment per weekly show. 

Hangman Adam Page versus Swerve Strickland in a Texas Death Match

…”Hangman wins, but in such a way as to necessitate a rubber match.” JESUS CHRIST I hope not. These two set out to kill each other and they likely came close. Industrial staplers, 450 splashes onto bottles, barbed wire, chains…this was a match so bloody that Hangman had to stop for a drink and chose to slide under a crawling Swerve and drink his blood before emulating a vampire Triple H and spitting it out. So I was wrong, and I’m sure there’s a third match down the road, but for now Swerve is in the Continental Classic and Hangman is likely regrouping, and hopefully installing better home security and hiring a nanny. Those Ring cameras are probably on sale for Black Friday, buddy.

The Golden Jets versus The Young Bucks

“They cheated to win on Wednesday, and the Young Bucks will cheat again to win on Saturday.” They did cheat to win, but it did not result in a win. It did, however, result in a temper tantrum after the Bucks lost, and a subsequent statement that they’ll be taking some time off – likely to get ready for another fun heel run. So Jericho and Omega are number one contenders to Starks and Big Bill’s AEW tag belts, and the Young Bucks will take a breather before coming back, hopefully revitalized and ready for a run as some of wrestling’s best douchebags (in character, of course).

MJF © versus Switchblade Jay White for the AEW World Championship

“...a clean MJF victory…” Past Oso, it was anything but. This match had online folks screaming about the WWE-ification of their main event, as a night of vignettes built up to a main event that, for a while, looked like it might be a one-legged Adam Cole defending MJF’s title against Switchblade. After the post match attack on Max after his Zero Hour title defense, MJF was driven away in an ambulance and Cole took it upon himself to defend his pal’s title.

Right before the main event, MJF arrived driving what we can assume is a stolen ambulance to fight instead. So after weeks of stealing and defeating the champ, we ended up with a shmozz match in which Jay White couldn’t defeat the proverbial one-legged man in an ass kicking contest. I don’t feel like White is finished – he’s already got a win in the Continental Classic – it sure does look like he’s fine with just moving on. But, it’s wrestling, and smarter people than me have already booked things. I’m just here to watch my stories and enjoy some fights.

So that’s *does math* seven of eleven. That’s not too shabby! And with the Continental Classic tournament already in motion, we should be getting a lot of good wrestling in the coming weeks. 

WWE Survivor Series Preview

Speaking of good wrestling coming up…we’ve got Survivor Series this weekend! The WWE’s Thanksgiving tradition continues with a fun-looking card, and I’m gonna preview that, well, now!

WarGames, Men’s Division: The Judgment Day (Dominik Mysterio, JD McDonagh, Finn Balor, Damian Priest) and pal Drew McIntyre versus the RAW SuperFriends (Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins, Sami Zayn, Jey Uso, and Randy Orton (probably))

WWE is continuing the new version of Survivor Series, in which it’s still technically a Survivor Series match because there’s 4-5 participants per team, except that it’s in a cage, with a set of rules developed when Triple H was running NXT. Oh, and one pinfall wins, it’s not elimination-style. 

But these matches have been good-to-great over the last few years, and the teams set for this Saturday night should be able to meet those standards.

With Drew siding with the Judgment Day in his quest for revenge against Jey and, I assume, every other Uso or Reigns or Sikoa, the good guys seem to have their work cut out for them. But this good guy team all but announced Randy Orton at the end of Monday’s Raw. It feels like WWE trying to avoid CM Punk chants – and disappointment when he isn’t there – while still trying to surprise fans with Randy’s return. Orton will get a good pop regardless, and the good guys will get the win, adding more tension to the Judgment Day’s already tenuous relationship.

WarGames, Women’s Division: Damage CTRL expanded edition (Kairi Sane, Asuka, IYO SKY, and Bayley) versus SmackDown SuperGroup (Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Bianca Belair, and Shotzi)

Bayley’s hold on Damage CTRL seems to be slipping by the day, and the addition of Asuka and Kairi Sane have made her seem like the odd woman out, especially after indirectly causing the team loss after loss. I’m not sure where King Kota (Dakota Kai) falls, as she’s more of a mascot because of injury, but Damage CTRL:Oceania doesn’t need Bayley and maybe it’s time for the side-pony and wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube men to return? I’m going with the good guys for this one too, although with a little less confidence – I mean, Damage CTRL could win and still kick Bayley out.

Also, remember when Charlotte dropped her belt when Becky went to grab it during their title exchange after the 2021 Draft? It's at 1:20 here:

Looks like they learned how to get along…although we’ll see how things go. Oh, one more thing – Jade Cargill is still around, and a big multi-person match like this in a ravenous building like the Allstate Arena (it’ll always be the Rosemont Horizon in my heart) would be a perfect time to let her debut…maybe one of the good guys gets jumped in the arena? Xia Li is still wandering around…

Carlito versus Santos Escobar

Escobar really escalated his heel game after his turn on Rey Mysterio and WWE-mandated “Why I Did It” promo afterward. He’s clearly more comfortable in this role, and he’s gonna have a good, short, dominant match against the recently-returned Carlito. Escobar will win, and his former pals will likely get involved, but with Rey out it’s not too difficult to see the LWO just going heel entirely, or maybe Escobar recruiting his own version of the LWO…Wolfpac? 

Gunther © versus The Miz for the Intercontinental Championship

It is shocking how easily The Miz has slipped into the good guy role here. A guy who is just hated by online fans and those in attendance, Miz has nonetheless managed to get himself over by using the one thing American wrestling fans will always bite on – jingoism! Good old fashioned USA chants were quickly dismissed by Gunther during Monday’s promo battle, but you can’t deny that Miz can worm his way into your heart every once in a while. Miz is gonna get murdered here, obviously, but I don’t think it goes full squash, especially since I feel like Escobar’s match will take that spot. Miz has enough tenure to talk his way into a respectable underdog match, and while he’s not gonna win any awards for match of the year, Miz might pull off a hope spot that has even the most jaded of us catching our breath, if only for a second.

Or Gunther will just go full Jason Voorhees on that rooftop in part 8. Either way we’re gonna have a good time, right?

Rhea Ripley © versus Zoey Stark for the Women’s World Championship

Zoey got this opportunity after a surprisingly good battle royal a few weeks back. Her intensity and strength should be showcased here against a game opponent in Rhea Ripley, who’s looking for some decent competition lately. Zoey is good in the ring, and equally not as good on the mike, but I like her and really hope she gets better. If only WWE had a developmental brand where performers could practice rather than trying to win viewers over with a lesser product.

*Old man rant incoming* Used to be, NXT was a developmental brand where talent could develop, improving on weaknesses while building up strengths. Now it’s a cartoony “third brand” but only when it’s convenient for WWE to mention it in ratings battles with AEW. 

Sorry, that’s like my third digression. This should be the main event, and Rhea will win, but she’ll likely show shock at just how close Starks comes to taking the belt off her. Maybe this is where we will see Jade Cargill make an appearance slash challenge to close the show if my previous prediction doesn’t come to pass. I just want some Jade on my TV, is that too much to ask?

Wrapping Up For the Week

I know I started a template and I fully intend to run with that next weekend, now that we’ve gotten out of this chunk of PPVs…although we’ve got NXT’s DEADLINE coming soon too! Well, you know, work in progress, etc etc. I assure you, a schedule that involves writing for fun (this) and for profit (SlashGear and, hopefully, this in the future) as well as my house cholo duties and maybe some physical activity are all part of my New Year’s resolution. But for now, we’ll focus on a little less sodium, a little more wrestling writing, and working towards some goals. We’ll see you here next week. For now, let’s watch some wrestling!