The show began, after hearing "War Pigs" soundtrack a lengthy video package, with the Women's War Games match: Bianca Belair, Bayley, Naomi, IYO SKY, and Rhea RIpley vs. Liv Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez, Nia Jax, Candice Lerae, and Tiffany Stratton. Bayley and Nia started things off, the crowd fully behind Bayley. The babyfaces had the advantage when Naomi came in and we got a fun spot involving a toilet seat (and then a somewhat scarier one as Naomi and Bayley could barely get Jax up for a double back body drop). Candice Lerae came in next and wisely brought some weapons in with her, including a chair (which led to a pretty eye-rolling "botch" as Nia and Naomi paused the action to make sure Nia didn't brain her with the chair and instead essentially "tapped" her with it on the thigh). Belair came in next and brought in a trash can, a fire extinguisher, and also a table (to a huge pop). Issues with telegraphing continued as Belair and Nia had an awkward exchange. The live crowd didn't seem to catch of it, but on camera, it was very obvious how much cooperation was happening between the opponents. Stratton came in next and...also brought in a trash can. Stratton came in with a ton of fire, taking out Belair and Naomi, and then, in another example of mistiming involving Jax, catapulting Bayley into an awkward Nia Jax clothesline. Honestly, you could've probably helped this match's presentation a whole ton by just keeping the camera off of Jax for minutes at a time as her work was noticeably bad (and I say this as someone who is generally "higher" on Jax's ability than others). In came IYO who...also brought in a trash can (this one painted and featuring a chain that allowed her to climb into the War Games cage with it). Remember when the War Games cage would be famously covered? I do. Anyway, Lerae met her at the top of the cage and tried to suplex her off the cage, but instead nearly got sunset flip powerbombed off of it. I'm not sure if they were going for that spot and opted not to do it or what, but IYO settled for a missile dropkick. A great sequence between IYO and Stratton followed, though I'd also argue that it was somewhat emblematic of the match overall: the best moments of IYO's flurry were the wrestling and character work, not the clumsy chair shots. For another example, minutes later, we saw Nia and Rodriguez hit Super Collider stereo powerbombs that sent two babyfaces onto the backs of two others and it looked much better than 90% of the weapon shots in the match. Ripley came in next, but the heels were able to cut her off rather quickly. The babyfaces were able to regroup and Ripley smashed the toilet seat over the back of Rodriguez, the match really picking up with Rhea's entrance. With Ripley as the last woman standing in the ring, the cage opened and Liv Morgan...went to the back to grab a baseball bat. I wasn't a huge fan of having all 8 of the other women either selling on the mat or just standing around to give the spotlight to Liv and Rhea, but, hey, its the WWE. Ripley went for a Riptide but got beaten down by the heels. Morgan delivered a brutal series of baseball bat shots to the ribs and back that looked incredible. I'm guessing the bat was hollow or something because, if it were a real bat, I'm not sure how she wouldn't have cracked some of Rhea's ribs. Insane Stratton double-stomp on IYO as we got one of those rapid fire sequences where every participant hits one of their signatures. Really well-executed. Wow. This match didn't start great, but it has picked up big time over the past 5 minutes. Both Stratton and IYO (covered in a trash can) came off the top of the cage and, again, while I really dislike the amount of obvious choreography that goes into a spot like that, it was an undeniably awesome visual and a huge crowd-pleasing moment. Stratton then busted out the Money in the Bank briefcase, which was a brilliant tease as she stood above both Morgan and Jax. Rodriguez interrupted the moment, but then IYO emptied the fire extinguisher! In all this confusion, Rhea managed to handcuff Rodriguez to the top rope. Minutes later, Jax went for an Annihilator on Belair through a table but got interrupted by Naomi, who, with Belair's assistance, powerbombed Jax through the table instead. Morgan broke up the pin to save things for the heels. The focus of the match returned to Rhea and Liv Morgan, as it needed to, for the finishing stretch with Ripley hitting an awesome Riptide from the top rope that sent Morgan through a table to get the win. Its hard to rate a match like this because the first 10 minutes featured some really awkward moments, obvious telegraphing, and weak weapon shots, but then, the match got better and better to the point that I'd consider it one of the best War Games matches in quite some time. Also, just as a side note, I loved the matching heel outfits and the fact that Rhea didn't wrestle the whole match in the mask she wore to protect her injured orbital bone. (3.5/5)
It wasn't a Match of the Year candidate or anything, but Shinsuke Nakamura vs. LA Knight for Knight's US Championship was a solid, above-average match with good work by both men and a great finishing stretch that saw Nakamura hit Knight with a devastating reverse DDT on the steel that attached the two rings set up for the War Games matches and then pinned him clean with the Kinchasa. As the commentators noted, this was a "must win" for Nakamura, who has been a non-factor in the company for a few years now, a former Royal Rumble winner whose last notable storyline was against Seth Rollins in a fairly one-sided series of matches. I predict LA Knight will be regaining the title sometime in the next few months, but whose to say? Knight has often struck me as an overachiever in the same category as Zack Ryder, a guy who has gotten more over than the bigwigs expected and, because of this, has seemingly been "cooled off" at times to "prove a point." At the same time, I don't buy LA Knight as a real main eventer in a field that includes Cody, Roman, CM Punk, Drew McIntyre, a soon-to-be-retired-but-still John Cena, Rollins, Orton, and potentially The Rock. Anyway, enough extra-editorializing - this was a good match. (3/5)
The Intercontinental Championship was on the line next as Sheamus and Ludwig Kaiser challenged Bron Breakker. Kaiser's mannerisms, expressions, and skills remind me of all the things Austin Theory isn't. I also loved how Kaiser brought in a chair right at the very start, a move that was legal due to Triple Threat rules, but you rarely see anyone do. Kaiser continued to impress throughout the match, putting on a wonderful heel performance that mixed chickenshit coward with just enough legitimate menace that he felt like a real threat that the two larger opponents couldn't ignore. Comparatively, Breakker's "tweener" act didn't do as much for me. I loved Sheamus hitting both Kaiser and Bron with his signature forearms from behind the guardrail (as did the crowd) and the "Chekhov's Gun" element of Bron eating the chair in the corner towards the end. A great false finish followed as Kaiser pulled the ref out just as Sheamus was about to get the W. Kaiser then went to work on Sheamus with the Shillelagh he had brought ringside but Sheamus was able to cut him off back in the ring with a huge knee. The finish sequence was terrific too with Bron hitting an "out of nowhere" spear on Kaiser and then an additional one on Sheamus that didn't look quite as good but was still an effective finish. This was what the kids would call a "banger" and while I'm still not sold on Bron Breakker as being "the future" of the company, I might be convinced that Kaiser is. (4/5)
GUNTHER defended his World Heavyweight Championship against Damien Priest in the next match-up. The outcome of this match was never really in question, but that didn't prevent these two from beating the hell out of each other and delivering a solid title fight. Much of the match was built around Priest suffering damage to his left arm early and struggling throughout the contest. I liked seeing Priest bust out some moves I'm not sure he's utilized before including a Deadman-inspired Triangular Choke and a hurricanrana that would've looked more impressive had we not just seen Bron Breakker deliver the move 15 minutes earlier. Priest eventually hit the Razor's Edge but it still wasn't enough as GUNTHER kicked out at 2. Priest went for the South of Heaven but couldn't pull it off due to the injury to his arm and GUNTHER was able to lock in a Kimura in the center of the ring. Priest was able to make it to the ropes, breaking the hold and inspiring the crowd to chant "Let's Go Priest." GUNTHER hit a series of short-arm clotheslines before getting hit by one himself and then another big clothesline from Priest for 2. GUNTHER went for a superplex, but he got shoved to the mat while Priest took a nasty fall to the outside, selling damage to his other arm. This led to Finn Balor running in from the crowd and hitting a double stomp on Priest on the floor. GUNTHER chased Balor off and then brought Priest back into the ring where he hit him with a powerbomb and then choked him out. A very good match that might've been a touch overbooked and overlong. I'm also not a huge fan of how long this Priest/Balor storyline has been going at this point as the whole show - top-to-bottom - seems to be revolving around the same feuds that we've had since the spring (if not earlier). (3/5)
Main event time - Bloodline vs. Bloodline in the night's second War Games match as Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, Jacob Fatu, Tanga Loa, and Bronson Reed vs. Roman Reigns, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, Sami Zayn, and CM Punk. Before the match could begin, Tama Spiderman-ed his way around the cage, putting the count of "Cool Things I've Seen Tama Tonga Do" up to a grand total of 1. Jey Uso was the first man in for the babyfaces. He and Tama took their time to lock up, really milking the moment before finally coming to blows. It was a loooong 5 minutes from there, unsurprising considering how unremarkable Tama's WWE run and Jey's unfortunate habit of shrinking in the spotlight over the course of his own singles run. Bronson Reed came in next and tossed a whole bunch of chairs in the ring for no apparent reason considering he and Tama were about to have a 2-on-1 advantage. Jimmy Uso came into the match to even the sides and the crowd popped huge for the reunion, but the action barely picked up. Jacob Fatu came in next and managed to take out both Usos. Fatu was the clear all-star of this match, though the most dramatic moments involved CM Punk and Roman Reigns as they one-upped each other trying to assert dominance over their team. The first big moment occurred when Reigns prevented Punk from entering the match next, instead signaling Sami to do go ahead. Speaking of Sami, in terms of in-ring performance, he was the MVP for the babyface squad, the only guy who really came in and "went off," bringing high energy and simple-but-effective execution to his spotlight minutes. The rest of the heel side came in and then, once it came down to whether Punk or Roman would go in next, it was Punk's turn to take the lead, stepping ahead of the Tribal Chief. When War Games officially began, we got a classic stand-off, a "moment" that feels perfunctory at this point, but not before Roman and Punk once again teased tension as Roman helped up his OG Bloodline brothers but left Punk lying on the mat to dust himself off. The next big twist came as Roman accidentally speared Punk, but it was Punk saving Roman from a Tsunami through a table that was the biggest spot of the match. With the rest of the New Bloodline beaten down, Solo ate everyone's finish to end a match that was heavy on drama but light on brutality. Not necessarily a disappointment as much as a match that didn't exceed expectations. (3/5)
With a solid 3.3-out-of-5 Kwang Score, Survivor Series 2024 was a good show with hints of greatness. The Women's War Games match started off rocky, but picked up very nicely and ended up being the better of the two War Games matches. The match of the night was the Intercontinental Championship bout thanks in no small part to the excellent character work of Ludwig Kaiser and Sheamus delivering the kind of performance that reminds you of how good he is/can be. The biggest disappointment of the evening may have been the main event, which leaned heavily towards sports-entertainment as opposed to delivering the brutality and violence that one would hope for in a War Games match. Still, overall, one of the better and more enjoyable shows of the year for the WWE.
FINAL RATING - Watch It...With Remote in Hand
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