SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
Entering its 38th year, the Survivor Series is WWE’s second longest-running annual PLE. The format features teams of four or five wrestlers teaming up, often wrestlers who do not typically associate with one another in storyline. This need to craft a justification for groups to team up creates a yearly booking challenge that often misses the mark.
For many years, wrestlers were thrown together into face or heel teams in a random and awkward manner. Occasionally heel teams were united in a faction or under a shared manager, but more often the pairings seemed random and awkward, such as when Yokozuna, Owen Hart, Razor Ramon, and Dean Douglas teamed up in 1995.
From 2016 to 2021, the problem was solved by introducing “brand loyalty” competitions in which Raw competed against Smackdown, with NXT thrown into the mix in 2019. While this alignment provided a reason for teams to assemble, it forced heels and faces to work together in an uncharacteristic way that was more often annoying than fun, and fans lacked investment in either team.
In 2022, the event was rebranded as Survivor Series: WarGames, casting aside traditional Survivor Series match-ups in favor of a match type made famous in 1980s WCW and abandoned for decades. The match required only one wrestler to take a pin as opposed to the multiple eliminations required by traditional Survivor Series match-ups, and so has less risk of “defining down” wrestlers with excessive losses.
Inside a double-ring with a steel cage enclosure, WarGames has a more brutal feel than traditional Survivor Series matches and fits best with intense blood feuds, especially those involving a powerful heel faction facing off with a coalition of faces. The original Bloodline, Judgement Day, and New Bloodline factions have formed the basis of the heel team in recent years.
In 2025, the build to WarGames feels weaker than in previous years. The Vision fits the bill for a dominant heel faction with a number of face enemies, but following the loss of Seth Rollins to injury, the group was down to only two wrestlers: a far cry from the five needed to fill out a team. The addition of Brock Lesnar to the group seems fairly natural given his shared affiliation with Paul Heyman, but Drew McIntyre and Logan Paul have no such connection to the group and feel like strange bedfellows.
The women’s WarGames match feels even more random, hearkening back to many of the old Survivor Series matches. Although the Kabuki Warriors had a longstanding feud with Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky, the remaining members of each team seem to have been hastily assembled with little pretext.
The rapid build has framed some wrestlers in strong roles; others seem somewhat diminished. As with every week, we’ll look at both and start with the positives.
Rising Star of the Week: Roman Reigns
Teaming with the world champions of Smackdown and Raw might risk making Roman Reigns seem inferior, but the reality couldn’t be further from the truth. While Cody Rhodes and C.M. Punk appear to be lobbying for the role of team captain, Reigns outshines both. Despite being added to the team last, Reigns’s long history with the Usos and Heyman makes him the natural nucleus of the group.
Appearing infrequently on TV makes Reigns seem more special than either Cody or Punk. Cody has been a bit cold recently, seemingly spinning his wheels in an extended lukewarm feud with Drew McIntyre. Recent weeks have seen cheers for “The American Nightmare” diminish, overshadowed by chants for the OTC. Winning the title has given Punk more momentum, although this is partly undermined by the unsatisfying abrupt end to his feud with Seth Rollins and his lackluster title win over Jey Uso.
Reigns holds himself with a gravitas and cool factor that neither champion can match. When the three interact, the Original Tribal Chief comes off as the alpha.
The script frames him this way as well. Reigns remarked “that championship would look better on me” before leaving Rhodes and Punk to puzzle over who he was referring to. In any case, neither appeared eager to take him on. Look for Reigns to return to the main event and challenge for one title or the other at WrestleMania.
Runner-up: Lash Legend
In her four-year stint on NXT, Legend often appeared on television but was rarely a featured talent. Her ring work started out poor and was slow to progress, and her mic work wasn’t much better. She never headlined a PLE and captured no championships.
Her introduction to the main roster, in contrast, has framed her as a top-level talent.
Legend’s inherent value lies in her size and athleticism, which makes her a natural fit for a powerhouse wrestler, the type who is in short supply in the Raw and Smackdown women’s divisions.
Perhaps this is why the former NXT mid-carder was immediately paired with perennial championship contender Nia Jax, who treats Legend as an equal. Being included in the Women’s WarGames match, a rare honor for a main roster rookie, was even more surprising.
This is far and away the most high-profile program Legend has ever enjoyed. In a PLE match alongside six former world champions, Legend is being presented as a star and will have every chance to capitalize. However, the WarGames match type has a lot of moving parts and will be an unprecedented challenge for Legend.
Will the Boujee Bully rise to the occasion? Her future in WWE may hinge on her performance this Saturday.
Second Runner-up: A.J. Lee
Although Rhea Ripley continues to get the strongest reactions of any woman on the roster, A.J. Lee has been framed as the special attraction on the women’s babyface team, much in the same manner Reigns has been on the men’s. She delivered a solid go-home promo for her team on Raw, a counter to Becky Lynch’s excellent heel rant.
Coming off a high-profile mixed tag match with Lynch and en route to a promising blowoff match, Lee continues to be framed like a star, and her promos take full advantage.
Her husband’s middle-aged career resurgence has been nothing short of remarkable. If Lee can elevate her ring work to perform near the level expected of today’s roster, her own late-career comeback story may eclipse even his.
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
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Fading Star of the Week: Iyo Sky
In contrast to her superstar look and phenomenal athleticism and technical skill, Iyo Sky comes off like a lovable dork. Her overenthusiastic, excessively cheerful performance was the key to her surprising success story in 2025, allowing her to connect with fans as never before.
Too much, however, is too much.
In recent weeks, Sky has doubled down on her exuberance to a ludicrous degree. When Ripley threatens bloody vengeance and commits the duo to the dreaded WarGames match, Sky jumped up and down, clasping her hands like a little girl who just received a pony for Christmas. Sky’s reaction strained credulity and undermined what would have otherwise been a dramatic moment.
Sky must tone it down and act more like the grown woman she is.
Similarly puzzling has been Sky’s apparently amorous relationship with Ripley. Romantic vibes between the two, while never explicitly stated, are too obvious to be unintentional. To what end? That’s anyone’s guess.
First Runner-Up: Brock Lesnar
It’s hard to look like an unstoppable monster when you’re flat on your rear.
Brock Lesnar’s role in the buildup to WarGames was going well. After a dominant win over Cena, Lesnar was absent for a few weeks before returning in dramatic fashion to fill out Heyman’s WarGames team on last week’s Raw, trashing the opposing team in the process.
The climax of Lesnar’s entrance routine involves an exaggerated stomp accompanied by pyro. On this week’s Raw, Lesnar attempted his usual stomp with particular gusto, but lifted his leg too high, lost his balance, and toppled over backwards. Although he rolled through and stood up immediately with a sheepish grin, a full recovery was impossible.
For a moment, Lesnar looked more like a bumbling idiot, ruining the world-beater vibe he was projecting. This incident recalls Brock’s ripped pants embarrassment in September – only worse.
On the Raw Post-Show, Wade Keller referred to Lesnar’s fumble as no less than a “Shockmaster moment.”
Falling Star applies both literally and figuratively.
Second Runner-Up: Kairi Sane
Much like Sky, the Kabuki Warriors have also greatly overacted in recent weeks, an apparent compensation for their limits expressing themselves in English. Asuka seems to somehow pull it off, as it feels more natural and aligned with her personality.
Kairi’s behavior has been every bit as cartoonish and off-putting as Sky’s, but lacking the latter’s connection with fans or main event status, the stakes for the Pirate Princess are higher.
After six years on the main roster mid-card, WarGames is Sane’s highest-profile program to date and a chance to redefine herself. Sane’s overacting has done nothing to help and has brought down the gravitas of the entire program.
Let’s hope her in-ring performance may yet redeem her.
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