TJRWrestling WWE Survivor Series 2024 Preview
It’s WWE Survivor Series featuring two WarGames matches, plus three titles on the line.
The WarGames format is back for WWE Survivor Series yet again with a Women’s and Men’s WarGames match set to take place on the show. Those matches are what most fans care about the most due to all of the twists and turns that can happen. The rest of the card is decent with three title matches.
I find it a bit peculiar that the WWE Champion Cody Rhodes isn’t on a major show like this. I know Cody is defending the WWE Title against Kevin Owens in two weeks on Saturday Night’s Main Event on NBC and that’s great. I just think it’s a bit of a surprise to not have the WWE Champion on this show. However, I think back to last year when Roman Reigns missed a lot of PLEs including this one last year, so I guess it’s okay. The WWE roster is so deep right now that they can afford to leave some top stars off.
As a reminder, you can watch Survivor Series: WarGames on Saturday, November 30, streaming live at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT on Peacock in the United States and on WWE Network everywhere else. The early start time is interesting, but I think WWE’s owners TKO Group like it, so that might be a permanent thing moving forward.
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Women’s WarGames Match: Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair, Bayley, Naomi & Iyo Sky vs. Liv Morgan, Nia Jax, Raquel Rodriguez, Candice LeRae & Tiffany Stratton
The Women’s WarGames Match should be a fun one with a lot of talented performers involved. Iyo Sky may as well be called Miss WarGames since there have been six Women’s Wargames matches in WWE (including NXT when she was Io Shirai) and she’s been in all of them. I think it’s likely that we’ll see Sky do her leap off the top of the cage again although maybe Naomi will be the risk taker on that team. Belair is always great in big matches while Ripley is back quickly from the orbital bone injury, so that’s great to see and then Bayley offers a veteran presence. Bayley is back with Iyo Sky on the same team while Bayley had past issues with Belair, which could lead to miscommunication in the match. I like how in this era of Triple H booking, they do acknowledge the past for things like that and Bayley isn’t immediately friends with Belair just because they are both babyfaces.
On the heel side, they have a strong team with two champions since Liv Morgan is Women’s World Champion and Jax is WWE Women’s Champion. Raquel Rodriguez adds power to the team along with Jax while LeRae is getting more TV time of late, which is cool to see. Tiffany Stratton is a bit of a wildcard as Miss Money in the Bank and what happens if she cashes in on her own teammates during WarGames? I don’t see it happening, but it’s a nice twist if WWE ever wanted to do it. I think Stratton is probably cashing on Jax on the first Raw on Netflix if they are on that although that’s obviously not a lock. It’s just a prediction.
The babyface women won last year’s WarGames match and the 2022 WarGames match, so that makes me think the heels should pick up the victory. The problem with that is I like the idea of the champions Jax & Morgan losing because it gives momentum to the challengers on the other side. I also think Candice LeRae is likely going to be the woman who loses if that team loses. Despite my reasons for the heels to lose, I think they might get the win just to be different from the last two years. I also believe it would be wise to have Tiffany Stratton win to give her momentum as the Money in the Bank holder. I’ll go with Stratton beating Naomi for the win.
Winners by pinfall: Liv Morgan, Nia Jax, Raquel Rodriguez, Candice LeRae & Tiffany Stratton
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United States Championship: LA Knight vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
This one is the match I’m anticipating the least just because it has less of a story than the other matches. I’m happy to see Nakamura back after being off for several months. I don’t know if he was hurt, or if WWE just wanted to give a veteran wrestler like Shinsuke a break. The way they’ve brought Nakamura back has been cool because he’s got a darker look, he’s not really showing off the charisma he used to have and instead, he comes off as more of an assassin type of character. I like the change.
LA Knight’s title reign has been okay since his SummerSlam title win. At that point, he needed a title due to all of the momentum he had. As the champion, he’s wrestled guys like Andrade, Carmelo Hayes and Santos Escobar multiple times, but I wouldn’t say he’s had an interesting title reign. Maybe a heel like Nakamura should win the title to change things up a bit. I’ll go with Knight retaining, but it wouldn’t shock me if there was a title change just to offer up something different.
Winner: LA Knight
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Intercontinental Championship: Bron Breakker (c) vs. Sheamus vs. Ludwig Kaiser
The match makes sense for a PLE since Bron had his match with Sheamus ruined by Kaiser and then Sheamus ruined Bron’s match with Kaiser, so that set them up for a triple threat. Sometimes that kind of booking is overdone, and I don’t like it all the time. In this case, I don’t mind it because I think Bron has chemistry with both guys and I’m happy that Kaiser is in a spot like this while Sheamus can obviously still put on a great show. At least there’s a story going into it rather than saying this guy is a contender. The story works.
Speaking of stories, I think the story of Sheamus finally winning the Intercontinental Title after 15+ years in WWE will be a good one when it happens. With that said, I don’t see it happening here. The champion Breakker should retain the IC Title in this match.
Winner: Bron Breakker
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World Heavyweight Championship: Gunther (c) vs. Damian Priest
When Gunther beat Priest for the World Title at SummerSlam, he did so in part because of interference from Finn Balor, who turned on Priest. That led to Priest complaining about how he didn’t lose cleanly. Priest also earned this title shot by winning a four-way, so the build has been solid. Priest has continually outsmarted Gunther during every interaction they have had, which has led to the idea that maybe Priest has figured out how to beat Gunther in this match.
With all of that said, I would be very surprised if Gunther lost the title in this match. I think Gunther’s reign has been solid over the last four months, but I wouldn’t call it spectacular or anything like that. I keep thinking about the future and how he’s probably going to hold it until WrestleMania next year unless he drops it to somebody like CM Punk at the Royal Rumble or somebody else. Maybe there’s going to be a title change on the Raw debut on Netflix. I’m not sure when that might happen, but I think Gunther will hold the title until at least the start of 2025. After that, I don’t know. Anyway, it should be a pretty good match between two athletic guys who are familiar with eachother.
Winner: Gunther
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Men’s WarGames Match: The Original Bloodline – Roman Reigns, Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso, Sami Zayn & CM Punk vs. The Bloodline – Solo Sikoa, Jacob Fatu, Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa & Bronson Reed
I am looking forward to this match. There are a lot of ways it can go. There’s a part of me that thinks the babyfaces are going to win by beating Tonga Loa and they’ll celebrate to end the show. That’s it. But when it comes to this story, shouldn’t we expect more? So yeah, I am picking the babyfaces to win although I think there will be some interesting moments throughout the match.
CM Punk being on the babyface team with Roman Reigns, The Usos and CM Punk is obviously intriguing. Punk and Reigns have a long history, but they didn’t interact since Punk came back to WWE one year ago, so they can certainly build to something in the future that leads to a big match. On the final Smackdown before Survivor Series, Punk said that he was doing this for Heyman, not Reigns. Punk also said that Heyman owes him a favor and when Reigns asked what favor, Heyman said they can talk about it after WarGames. I think The Usos working together will be cool to see again although I think Jey having issues with Roman should happen. I also think Sami not trusting Roman could be pushed too.
The addition of Bronson Reed to The Bloodline’s Solo Sikoa, Jacob Fatu, Tama Tonga & Tonga Loa is a good fit. Not only does Reed look the part, but he has a lot of momentum since he won his last match over Seth Rollins thanks to Solo Sikoa getting involved. I also think that Seth showing up to attack Reed is a possibility, but I’m not saying it’s an official prediction.
Anyway, I’m going with the OG Bloodline aka Roman’s team for the win. I think Reigns will beat Tonga Loa for the win.
Winners: The Original Bloodline – Roman Reigns, Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso, Sami Zayn & CM Punk
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BONUS TOPICS FOR WWE SURVIVOR SERIES
The Match I’m Looking Forward To The Most
Men’s WarGames Match.
The Match I Care About The Least
LA Knight vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Longest Match
Men’s WarGames Match going around 40 minutes.
Shortest Match
LA Knight vs. Shinsuke Nakamura around 12 minutes.
Excitement Level on a Scale of 1-10 (1 being low, 10 being high)
I’m at 7.5 out of 10 for this show. I like the WarGames matches and I think both of them will be great. Regarding the other matches, I think if they were stronger then I’d probably be around 8 out of 10 for this show, but the non-WarGames matches are mostly predictable. The selling point is WarGames, though, and those matches will deliver.
I also expect a vocal crowd in Vancouver, so shoutout to my fellow Canadians on the west coast. I think they’ll do a great job.
I’ll be back with a review of WWE Survivor Series on TJRWrestling.net on Saturday, so check that out live or after it’s over. You can also tweet me on X/Twitter at @johnreport as well.
If you want to send an email, send it to me at mrjohncanton@gmail.com. Thanks for reading.