Why Vince McMahon Really Abandoned WWE Survivor Series Concept

WarGames is now the preserve of WWE’s Survivor Series but just why did the company abandon the show’s original concept?

Roman Reigns scored a huge win for The OG Bloodline in WarGames as he pinned Solo Sikoa to assert his dominance once again. That came after Rhea Ripley led her side to victory as she picked up another win over Liv Morgan as she sets her sights on regaining the Women’s World Championship.

2024 marked the third year in a row that WarGames took place at Survivor Series as Paul Levesque sought to put his own mark on the event as he took over the creative reins of WWE from Vince McMahon.

Survivor Series itself started as an act of war in 1987 as Vince McMahon sought to put pressure on the NWA’s Starrcade as McMahon decided to air his new pay-per-view on the same night. McMahon warned PPV providers that if they chose to air Starrcade they would not get the rights to show WrestleMania the following year with WrestleMania 3 proving to be a huge box office success for WWE.

In the early days of Survivor Series, it was all about “teams of five thrive to survive” but not in the confines of a double-ring cage match. Instead, ten or eight-man elimination tag team matches took place with the focus on surviving and picking up bragging rights with a victory.

Why Did Vince McMahon Give Up On WWE Survivor Series Theme?

By 1991, however, the WWE Championship was in the main event of the show for the first time and under Vince McMahon’s watch, the tag team element of Survivor Series waned at times before being brought back in earnest with a seemingly endless run of “Raw vs. SmackDown” themed shows.

Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer explained exactly why the popular tag team matches of Survivor Series were abandoned and why the same thing would spell the end for WarGames too:

I don’t see them back off WarGames. I’ll tell you what would see them back off from WarGames is if it doesn’t draw. That’s why they backed off Survivor Series, then they went back to it when they were hot, it did a little bit better.

Vince stopped Survivor Series because it stopped drawing, so if it stops drawing Paul will stop doing WarGames. That’s what decisions are made on, what works.

TKO boss Mark Shapiro has opened the door for two-night premium live events becoming a norm in WWE and that could see one WarGames match take place per show if Survivor Series gets the full weekend treatment in the future.

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