WWE Survivor Series: War Games Recap (11-30-24)

By: Xavier Jones

Headline Photo Credit: WWE 

On Saturday, November 30th, WWE comes to you live from Vancouver, Canada for Survivor Series: War Game. This Premium Live Event was jammed pack with some hard-hitting action, OMG moments, and we also saw a new champion crowned after returning from his hiatus back in April. The men’s and women’s War Games matches were delivered, along with every match on the card. Throughout this PLE, potential seeds were planted for future rivalries and storylines to unfold. The matches for Survivor Series: War Games are of the following:

Women’s War Games match:

Bianca Belair, Rhea Ripley, Naomi, Bayley & Iyo Sky v Liv Morgan, Nia Jax, Raquel Rodriguez, Candace Lerae & Tiffany Stratton

U.S. Championship match:

LA Knight (c) v Shinsuke Nakamura

Intercontinental Championship Triple Threat match:

Bron Breakker (c) v Sheamus v Ludwig Kaiser

World Heavyweight Championship match:

Gunther (c) v Damien Priest

Men’s War Games match:

OG Bloodline v Bloodline 2.0

Roman Reigns, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, Sami Zayn & CM Punk v Solo Sikoa, Jacob Fatu, Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa & Bronson Reed

Women’s War Games match: Winners—Bianca Belair, Rhea Ripley, Naomi, Bayley & Iyo Sky

To kick the show off, the women’s War Games match was the first matchup on the card. As expected, the women delivered in their match. Nia Jax and Bayley started things off for their respective teams, and each superstar that followed brought something unique to the match. Everything from chairs to a toilet seat was used as a weapon during the match. The most anticipated matchup that everyone wanted to see was between Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan. At one point during the match, Tiffany Stratton seemed to think about cashing in her Money in the Bank contract on either champion as they were laid out in the ring. However, nothing materialized from the tease, and Rhea managed to connect with a Riptide from the top rope through a table on Liv Morgan to secure the win for her team.

U.S. Championship match: Winner—Shinsuke Nakamura

After returning from his hiatus back in April, Shinsuke has been obsessed with the U.S. champion, LA Knight. Every step of the way it seemed like Nakamara has always been one step ahead of LA Knight. Before their matchup on Saturday, Shinsuke would spit a mist into the eyes of Knight on Smackdown. Since then, LA Knight seemed to be off his game and it started during his entrance when he accidentally dropped the U.S. title while climbing into the ring. From there LA Knight looked to be a half step slower than his opponent. The champ’s moves were fluent or as smooth as they normally would be. The mind games that Nakamura plagued Knight with got the best of him most importantly because of the final result. Shinsuke would connect with Kinshasa to become the new U.S. champion.

Intercontinental Championship triple threat match: Winner—Bron Breakker

The champ, Bron Breakker, found himself taking on two worthy competitors for his Intercontinental Championship in Sheamus and Ludwig Kaiser. Sheamus was looking to capture this elusive title because it would make him a Grand Slam champion, while Ludwig Kaiser was looking for his first title win. All men have a history with each other and now they are shifting their focus on capturing the IC championship. This matchup was hard-hitting and each challenger wanted to punish the champ and slow him down. They each tried to take advantage of their one-on-one matchup when the opportunity showed itself. However, Bron Breakker was too much for the challengers, and managed to retain his IC championship when the odds were stacked against him.

World Heavyweight Championship match: Winner—Gunther

In a rematch from Summer Slam, Gunther would put his World Heavyweight championship on the line against Damien Priest. If you remember, Gunther didn’t beat Priest clean due to outside interference from Finn Balor. During the build-up of this rematch, Priest looked poised to regain the championship that he lost in the summer. However, Gunther is looking to get back in the win column after losing the Crown Jewel Championship match to Cody Rhodes. Not sure if the loss weighed heavy on the champion, but everyone could tell that he hadn’t been the same since the loss. So losing this matchup to Damien Priest would be detrimental to Gunther. Gunther and Priest would go back and forth in the match until the challenger hurt his shoulder during an exchange with the champ. The Ring General went on to target the shoulder area with big chops and submission moves causing more damage to the shoulder area. Priest fought his way back into the matchup and gave it his all. Damien connected with a Razor’s Edge and South of Heaven but to no avail. While down on the outside of the ring, Finn Balor would show up to run interference on Priest. After the interference from Balor, Gunther kicked him in the face for that interference. Gunther would cause Priest to pass out while in a submission move to win the match and retain his World Heavyweight championship.

Men’s War Games match: Winner—OG Bloodline w/ CM Punk

This anticipated battle between the OG Bloodline and the Bloodline 2.0 lived up to the billing. This match had tables, chairs, and a toolbox used as weapons to subdue their opponents. We saw an alliance that the fans thought we would never see again with Roman Reigns and CM Punk being on the same team. In the beginning, it didn’t seem like this unlikely pair would be able to get along. That was until Paul Heyman made his way to the ring to plead with guys to put their differences aside for the betterment of the team. Not wanting to disappoint the Wiseman, they did it and went on to take the fight to the Bloodline 2.0. It wouldn’t be easy or simple because Solo and his Bloodline were bringing the fight to the OGs. An OMG moment occurred when Bronson Reed missed a Tsunami from the top of the cage and went through a table when CM Punk pulled Roman off of the table. However, Jimmy Uso would connect with a Uso Splash from the top of the cage onto Jacob Fatu through another table. With the remaining members of the Bloodline 2.0 down and out, Solo found himself surrounded by the OGs and CM Punk. Jey and Jimmy Uso would connect with a pair of Superkicks to Solo, then Sami hit a Helluva on him, and CM Punk hits his Go-To-Sleep, which set him up for a Spear by Roman Reigns for the three count. Roman Reigns, CM Punk, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, and Sami Zayn stand tall at the top of the stage with Paul Heyman to end the show.

The next Premium Live Event for WWE is Saturday Night Main Event on December 14th in Uniondale, New York.