WWE Survivor Series results (2024) and commentary from Danny Damage!
Previously On…
Yeah, I didn’t check in with WWE Blood Money Crown Jewel earlier in the month, so there was no review/recap of the three-hour love affair between WWE’s marketing department and the Saudi tourism board. However, I’m back on the case for the WWE Survivor Series results, so fear not!
Alicia Taylor is on the main roster doing the ring announcing and I’m all for it. When Samantha Irvine first irritated some of us with her Aubrey Edwards-level intense spotlight-stealing, I was scratching my head because Taylor was overlooked. Alicia has the power and the presence without needing to violently launch her skeleton out of her mouth. I hope she remembers that and doesn’t try to play the same game Irvine got over.
As per every PLE with a gimmick match in the name, we can’t just have one instance of the match type and keep it special. No, we have to slog through the path of forced outcomes and dirty ourselves with this silly blind equity game, ignoring merit and the equality of opportunity. By this, I’m obviously grumbling at the women’s roster being gifted the chance to put on their tribute act of the main event, before the main event, reducing the impact the WarGames match will have; not to mention wearing out the crowd with all the high-spots and
For a deeper look at how this mentality has helped nobody between the time Stephanie McMahon invented women’s wrestling and what we’re left with today, please enjoy this article (later on, of course):
For now, let’s crack on with what we came here to do.
Oh yeah, the intro to the show was a nice touch. I know they’ve shown people arriving at the venue before, but I feel the enhancement is worth mentioning again.
WWE Survivor Series Results (2024)
Women’s WarGames Match
Winners: Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair, Bayley, Naomi & IYO SKY (pinfall)
As per my comment about gimmick PLEs in the intro, this match did nothing but reduce the impact of the main event and leave the entire mid-card stuck for things to do. I mean, what was left after the first of two War Games matches?
If WWE really wanted to give the lasses their own thing, instead of just patting them on the head and handing them a tribute act slot, they should remember the lack of traditional Survivor Series matches in recent years. Since the Battle of the Bloodlines feud called for War Games, why not have the women settle their issue in a different way and make use of the other trademark in the PLE’s name?
Visual presentation-wise, Raquel Rodriguez looked like a badass and she was somewhere in between a masculine Damian Priest and a feminine Nyla Rose.
For the first time ever, Nia Jax was the least sloppy participant in a match. Don’t get me wrong, she didn’t put on the performance of her career or anything. What helped her tonight was the fact that everyone else in the match did at least one spot they had no business attempting. Nia avoided getting too big for her boots and she kept it very simple, remaining considerably consistent.
I made more notes for the WWE Survivor Series results than I’m willing to relive/type up, but that’s the fault of War Games as a concept. Due to the ruling that the match doesn’t properly start until the last entrant is in the ring, the 30+ minutes beforehand is nothing but a convoluted clusterfuck of car crash spots with no way of establishing an outcome.
This point is really driven home when both teams stand in opposing rings and “soft reset” the bout, further defeating the purpose of the prior half-hour of exhaustion.
At the end of the battle, Rhea Ripley “needed” to put Super Saiyan God Mode Liv Morgan through a table from the top rope whilst using her Rip Tide finisher.
LA Knight vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (US Title)
Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura (pinfall)
Hooray! A straightforward match on a card of chaos.
The returning and repackaged Shinsuke Nakamura has a new look and a new version of his theme song. Shinsuke spent most of the match with the upper hand, proving that his recent stalking and psychoanalysis of LA Knight has been time well spent.
As Knight built momentum and was setting up his finisher, Nakamura rolled out of the ring. When Knight tried to drag him back into the ring, Shinsuke raked the eyes and dropped him head-first onto the metallic beam that held the two rings together.
That was enough to turn over the remainder of the match to Nakamura, who cracked Knight in the back of the skull with a Kinshasa and became the new US Champion.
Despite being presented as the obviously shady heel, Nakamura had a noticeable amount of support. Sadly, LA Knight appears to have cooled off a bit as WWE has had other stars to push.
Bron Breakker vs. Sheamus vs. Ludwig Kaiser (Intercontinental Title)
Winner: Bron Breakker (pinfall)
I wouldn’t usually say this about a triple-threat match, but this was my favourite fight of the night. As everyone involved had people in the crowd cheering them on, it made it so much more fun.
Yes, I’m aware that I’m usually the first to dismiss contests with more than two competitors/teams, but when the show’s opened and closed with two gimmick matches that make three-ways look as sensible as a singles scrap, my measuring stick may change.
The audience got into it in a way that complimented the match, unlike in both War Games where there’s already carnage in front of them, but their sanitised, over-exposed brains decide to chant for tables anyway.
People cheered for Kaiser as he has loads of potential and got to show the world what he could do. Sheamus’ supporters appreciate the time and commitment he’s given to the business while hoping he finally wins the only WWE belt that’s eluded him. Breakker, well, he’s got that same unpredictable energy that early Brock Lesnar had, throwing himself around with reckless abandon and having a degree of athleticism that makes it difficult to dislike him.
The finish for this one came after Sheamus looked to have everything under control and he had Bron down for the count. That was until Kaiser disrupted the pin at the 2.9-second mark. Sheamus went outside to get revenge on Kaiser, but the latter revealed the former’s shillelagh and went to town on him with it.
When a smug Ludwig rolled back into the ring, Breakker murdered him with a spear. Sheamus groggily chased Kaiser into the ring, but he was also destroyed by a spear, which kept him down for the three-count.
Gunther vs. Damian Priest (World Heavyweight Title)
Winner: Gunther (TKO)
Another simple one-on-one encounter that attempted to balance out a wild and whacky gimmick PLE. I would have gotten into this more if Gunther was defending against someone who could convince me they’re actually tough. Unfortunately, Gunther was fighting Big Camp Tatanka Damian Priest, so there was no chance of that.
Watching the hype package quickly reminded me why Dami-yawn still puts me off, primarily because I’d always said he’d been pushed way harder than he was ready for. While he was in NXT, this showed through his not-so-accurate placement of opponents and still getting the methodical thumbs up from management. Tonight, seeing his forced and fake tough-guy schtick screamed Roman Reigns’ “suffering succotash” era bland goofiness hiding under the WWE machine’s marketing and video editing departments.
I know that some will sulk at that and this, but WWE wants Priest to be much, much bigger than his personality and skillset will allow him to be. I think we were also supposed to get Kane vibes from his outfit tonight.
That aside, the start of the match saw Priest getting the better of Gunther after shaking the champion’s confidence in the build-up towards their meeting. However, Gunther was simply biding his time and weathering the storm until Damian presented a weakness. This appeared in the form of a damaged shoulder, which Gunther instantly honed in on.
For the remainder, Gunther tried to pull Priest’s arm out of his socket and off of his torso. This gave the challenger the chance to fight from underneath and reverse/kick out of everything Gunther threw at him.
There was even one point where Damian Lesnar was ensnared in a keylock with head scissors keeping him trapped and grounded, but he still managed to break free within moments.
The beginning of the end came about when Priest blocked a super-plex attempt and tumbled to the outside. Finn Balor appeared and hit Damian with a Coup de Grace before Gunther sent the little Lego lover flying.
Although Gunther didn’t realise he had outside help, he made Priest pass out to his smothering sleeper-hold. Damian obviously didn’t tap out to this, as it’s everyone’s goal to make him look really strong.
Men’s WarGames Match
Winners: Roman Reigns, Sami Zayn, The Usos & CM Punk (pinfall)
vs. Solo Sikoa, Jacob Fatu, Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa & “Big” Bronson Reed
Everything said about the concept/rules/presentation of the women’s tribute War Games match can be applied to this one, including the fact that it’s another case of the angle being built around the match type and not the other way around. These scenarios wouldn’t be as predictable if we didn’t have PLEs named after the big match stipulations, other than the Royal Rumble.
Anyway, we had a few moments of key storytelling amidst 30+ minutes of buffer and the congested climax of “Ten Guys with Toys”, so I’ll try and cover of much of that as I can.
The main takeaways from the second War Games of the night were that CM Punk had to prove himself to Roman Reigns, they managed to get on the same page after a rocky start, Punk pulled Reigns out of harm’s way, Paul Heyman did some cheer-leading/peace-keeping, and Punk reminded Heyman after the match that he now owes him a favour.
The conclusion saw all the faces put Solo Sikoa down with their respective finishers, leaving Roman and his spear to take it home.
Post-match, Zayn and the Usos had no problem shaking hands with Punk and celebrating with him, despite Roman needing a little encouragement to be as accepting.
And Another Thing…
Twice the wrestling rings, twice the advertising, but that doesn’t stop them from plastering other brands all over the arena.
However, it seems someone has heard my criticisms in the past and WWE has found a bit of a compromise. By keeping a WWE logo and the PLE logo on the signage ALONGSIDE the current match’s sponsor, the scenery/theming is retained considerably more than when they remove all of their own identifying graphics to prioritise the highest bidder. Some improvement is better than no improvement.
Although WWE is enjoying the current hot streak and the hours they can spend swimming around in their Scrooge McDuck gold coin-filled pool, there undoubtedly will be a time when they can’t have their 63rd sell-out of the year, charge an arm and a leg for a ticket, and consistently do so with over 17,000 fans or so.
Congratulations and all, but stay humble and be prepared for the day when you can’t keep endlessly raising your ticket prices.
– OLDER PPV RESULTS –
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