Well, it was WarGames. In name only.
When the women’s WarGames match kicked off the show and was on the tamer side of things, but good enough, I figured that “hey, they needed to hold some spots and moments back” in order to make sure there was enough juice for the main event.
Somehow, the Men’s WarGames match was even more tame and had a lame element to it that the women’s match avoided. Survivor Series is built around WarGames and when those don’t deliver, the show suffers.
Here are my Brass Ring Ratings for the event and here’s how they work … I call it like I see it and grade accordingly. Period.
Women’s WarGames Match: Charlotte Flair, AJ Lee, Iyo Sky, Rhea Ripley, and Alexa Bliss vs. Becky Lynch, Asuka, Kairi Sane, Nia Jax, and Lash Legend
This was a relatively simple WarGames match, but it worked very well for that reason. The idea was straightforward — get some heat on the heels, have the babyfaces do some cool WarGames style spots, and then have the biggest heel in the match tap out. All of that happened. Iyo Sky got the big off the top of the cage spot with an insane Swanton Bomb while in a garbage can. Then, AJ Lee got Becky Lynch to submit with the Black Widow. The crowd ate it up and it was all executed smoothly. I can’t talk about this match without talking about Lash Legend. She didn’t have a ton to do, but in the spots in the match that were designed to make her a monster, she delivered. Legend has a ways to go before she can become a top star in the division, but the pieces are there for sure.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OO 3/4
John Cena vs. Dominik Mysterio - WWE Men’s Intercontinental Championship
Exactly what it needed to be, but not as good as the Raw match in Boston from a couple weeks ago. Dominik cheated like Dominik does and Cena was able to overcome nearly all of it, but the Liv Morgan plot got him in the end. I could see Liv and Dom hatching up a plan like that, so it was all logical enough. I don’t say this much about wrestling matches, but I think this needed five more minutes. There wasn’t ever a crescendo moment for Cena and with a little more time they could have gotten to one. Would have made the heel finish land even more than it did.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOO
Stephanie Vaquer vs. Nikki Bella - WWE Women’s World Heavyweight Championship
Nikki Bella is a pro. She put a lot of effort into this one and it paid off. Things felt like a fight out there and Bella took quite a bit of punishment. Vaquer was the definitive winner after two Devils Kiss maneuvers and a Spiral Tap. This was about adding a title defense over a Hall of Famer to Vaquer’s record and it worked to that end. I’m glad they didn’t try anything cute. Let the bigger and more important star get a clean win and move on. Good stuff.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OO 1/2
Men’s War Games Match: Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes, CM Punk, and The Usos vs. Brock Lesnar, Bron Breakker, Bronson Reed, Logan Paul, and Drew McIntyre
A terribly tame match given the hype. The brawl on Raw from two weeks ago had significantly more drama and energy than this match did. Rather than lean into the star power available, it felt like the match rested on that fact. Not much happened. Oh, aside from the Yeet Entrance for Jey Uso that took place IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MATCH! WWE can’t have things both ways and shouldn’t want it both ways. Either WarGames is the one of the most violent matches ever, or it isn’t. If it is, there is no excuse for doing that entrance in the middle of it because it ruins the entire tone and tenor of concept. An awful call and the match really didn’t recover from that moment on. As for the whodunit angle? Big whoop. Bron Breakker pinning CM Punk was the right finish and that’s probably the most positive thing that could be said about this one.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - O 1/2
What did you think of WWE Survivor Series 2025? Let us know in the comments!
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