One of the most talked-about and hyped shows of the year, Survivor Series 2023 began with Team Belair taking on DMG CTRL in a War Games match. The WWE's versions of War Games are far tamer than the original brawls of the NWA and WCW, but that's not to say they don't get wild and tend to feature some crazy spots. This match, though, was a touch different because of all the histories being woven together as this match had more star power than any Women's War Games match I can recall. While ostensibly led by Bianca Belair, the big story coming into the match for Team Belair was whether or not Charlotte and Becky Lynch, sometimes friends/longtime rivals, could co-exist. Meanwhile, DMG CTRL also had potential fireworks in their future as Bayley has slowly been getting edged out of the squad by new member Kairi Sane. As the match wore on, those stories all got progressed in interesting ways without having any needless heel-or-face turns that would contradict the action. Bright moments included Kairi Sane delivering a wicked running forearm into the cage on a dazed Belair (or was it Becky?), an overall excellent performance out of Bayley (who started the match with Lynch but, unlike Lynch, never seemed to "disappear"), an excellent series of double teams by Lynch and Flair and then a big "moment" as the two embraced (whether it was "for real" or for the cameras, I'd be curious to know where these two are in terms of personal relationship as time tends to heal wounds), and IYO Sky launching herself off the top of the cage while wearing a trash can - which was a cool visual but a bit too convoluted to me. I really liked the finish too, as Bayley basically got destroyed by all 4 members of the opposing side. I'm guessing this will lead to her being dropped by everyone from DMG CTRL save for maybe Dakota Kai? Could this be how they reintroduce Sasha Banks? Regardless of where things are headed, I thought this was a real fun opener. (3.5/5)
GUNTHER defended his Intercontinental Championship in the next bout against The Miz. I liked the story going into this and the way the commentary played up the "Wrestler vs. Sports-Entertainer" aspect while still giving plenty of credit to The Miz for his various in-ring accomplishments. This was about one every might've expected - GUNTHER controlled much of the match, The Miz took a heck of a beating, and all of it worked. GUNTHER is a terrific worker whose offense always looks great, but sometimes one forgets just how good of a seller he is too. The Miz has never been the smoothest worker, but he's gotten better and better at the small stuff that often matters more - facial expressions, playing to the crowd, bumping and selling - and this match worked not because it was filled with a dazzling array of maneuvers or complicated sequences, but because they kept it simple. Not a match I'd revisit or consider a classic or anything, but not bad at all. (2.5/5)
I was less into the somewhat staid Santos Escobar vs. Dragon Lee match. What was weird about this match was that, while Escobar is the guy that the company is clearly pushing towards a big feud with Rey Mysterio, Dragon Lee is also something of a newcomer who needed to shine. Because the match was fought 50/50 - and also because anyone who watches AEW has likely seen at least a half-dozen more outrageous and ridiculous lucha-style matches in the past month - neither guy really left much of an impression. There were good moments, to be sure, but I didn't get the feeling like Escobar was something truly special to behold and nothing Dragon Lee was really fresh or innovative. Underwhelming when it could've really been special had they maybe been given the marching orders to blow people away rather than just serve as filler? (2/5)
Zoey Stark challenged Rhea Ripley for the RAW Women's Championship next. Ripley shined - as usual - and had the crowd support behind her despite being the heel, but Stark's offense looked terrific and, while there were a few hiccups (the one glaring botch off the top, but also some awkward telegraphing and overacting by Starks), this felt like a big step up for her as a singles competitor. They lost the crowd at one point, moreso due to the match going a few minutes too long than for it not being particularly boring, but I liked the physicality quite a bit and Stark looked more confident and capable than most of the other NXT call-ups I've seen over the past few years, male or female. (3/5)
Main event time - with the babyface team of Rollins, Cody Rhodes, Jey Uso, and Sami Zayn still wondering if their 5th member, Randy Orton, would show up, they headed into battle against the The Judgment Day with Drew McIntyre. Rollins and Balor opened things up and, with Orton not yet appearing, the crowd started chanting for CM Punk around minute 3. JD McDonough came in second for his team and grabbed kendo sticks...which got a yawn out of me after seeing so many kendo sticks in the opener. Uso came in to a huge pop, the crowds went wild "yeeting" his offense, and McIntyre looked miserable waiting for the buzzer to go off so he could get some revenge against the ex-Bloodline member. Speaking of the Bloodline, Cole and Graves didn't talk too much about Roman on this show and I'm guessing the reason for that was not to remind folks that he wasn't on the show. When the buzzer sounded for the 3rd time (is my math right?), Priest came in, denying McIntyre the chance to get at Uso. Priest used a metal baton to gain control of the match, but the middle of this War Games was all about Sami Zayn, who had an incredible run after coming in 3rd for his team and taking out all of Judgment Day single-handedly. McIntyre came in next for his squad and hit a series of big maneuvers, at one point Alabama Slamming Rollins onto Zayn before isolating Jey Uso in the 2nd ring. Jey went toe-to-toe with Drew but got cut down by a neckbreaker and then flung into the cage wall. Cody came in next and pulled out a bullrope, which resulted in a fun spot where they used it to hit a low-blow on Balor. Dominik Mysterio came in last for his team and got a huge amount of boos from the Chicago crowd. Mysterio looked like he had things under control for a moment but soon enough the babyfaces all beat him down. I like that Mysterio was treated as the weak link, which made the idea that it was 5-on-4 but still relatively even make sense. As the clock ticked, the Chicago crowd started to chant for "Randy" but then changed gears to chanting for "CM Punk" instead. McIntyre and Priest hit triple chokeslams and then Mysterio, McDonough, and Finn all hit big top rope maneuvers in a neat sequence. With the clock winding down, Rhea Ripley ran down the aisle and attempted to cash-in the briefcase for Priest...until Randy Orton made his return, looking like a million bucks. Orton got a massive ovation, big enough to convince anyone that thought the crowd might reject him in favor of CM Punk, that their worries were unfounded. Orton powerslammed Mysterio and then JD before hitting his trademark Hangman DDT onto Balor. Orton, who looked massive here, stared down McIntyre, but his focus on Drew allowed the heels to regroup and beat him down in the corner. Rhodes, Rollins, Zayn, and Uso came fighting back, though, the match now basically being fought in the center of the ring. All 5 of the babyfaces hit Hangman DDTs on their opponents, which led Cole to describe the scene as "Vintage War Games" even though it was not at all that. Orton hit an RKO on Dom, Rollins std somebody, Cody hit the Cutter, Uso hit a splash on Drew, Zayn hit a Helluva - it was a symphony of babyface finishers that left JD as the last man standing for his team. JD climbed to the top of the cage but was sent down into an RKO by Rollins and Zayn in an absolutely awesome spot. Rhodes hit the Cross Rhodes on Priest and this one was all over. This one had its ups-and-downs, but the final few minutes were really, really great, even if this was the furthest thing possible from what a classic War Games match was. (3.5/5)
And, from there, it seemed like the show had ended. The babyfaces celebrated in the ring together. The video highlights played. The WWE's copyright tag was shown on screen. Michael Cole signed off.
But as the camera zoomed out, the familiar sound of Living Colour blasted and out came CM Punk in a plain white tee-shirt and a fresh haircut. Punk looked towards the ring but didn't say much of anything. It was a goosebumps-inducing return, even if you knew it was coming (as I did after having his return spoiled earlier in the day via social media). (+1)
While the wrestling on this show was good overall and there were a handful of individual performers who really shined in the spotlight - Orton looked incredible in his return, Zayn stole the Men's War Game match for several minutes, Stark looked good, and Bayley once again proved that she might be the "glue" that has been holding together a somewhat-shaky WWE Women's Division for the past year - this show will likely be most remembered for the final 60 seconds of its near-3 hour runtime. With a respectable 3.10-out-of-5 Kwang Score, this show may not be worth checking out every minute of, but there's at least one "can't miss" moment worth checking out and a whole lot of other good action for fans of modern WWE.
FINAL RATING - Watch It...With Remote in Hand
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