WWE Survivor Series: War Games 2023 Live Coverage - November 25th, 2023

[Kemo]

Survivor Series 2023

WarGames returns to Survivor Series!





Date:
November 25, 2023 8:00 pm

Location:
Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois

Available on:
Peacock, WWE Network (outside of the U.S.)

Card

WWE Intercontinental Championship Match
Gunther (c) vs. The Miz

Women's World Championship Match
Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Zoey Stark

Men's WarGames Match
Cody Rhodes, Seth "Freakin" Rollins, Jey Uso, and Sami Zayn vs. The Judgment Day (Damian Priest, Finn Bálor, "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio, and JD McDonagh)

Women's WarGames Match
Bianca Belair, Charlotte Flair, Shotzi, and Becky Lynch vs. Damage CTRL (Bayley, Asuka, Iyo Sky, and Kairi Sane)

Carlito vs. Santos Escobar

– We are live outside AllState Arena where Kayla Braxton welcomes us to the WWE Survivor Series Kickoff Show.

Braxton introduces her co-hosts, who are all bundled up because it's cold outside. Included on the pre-show panel for the Kickoff Show is Braxton, Jackie Redmond, Booker T, Wade Barrett and Peter Rosenberg. There's a small crowd behind them as well making a ton of noise.

There is already an incredibly loud and very clearly audible "CM Punk! CM Punk!" chant spreading throughout the fans behind the pre-show panel. The panelists start running down tonight's lineup as the official match graphics flash across the screen.

From there, we head into our first of many pre-match video packages that tells the story leading up to a specific match on tonight's card. First up we get a look at the road to tonight's Women's WarGames bout. The panelists give their thoughts on the bout, with Booker and Wade picking Damage CTRL and Rosenberg going with the Lynch team.

After a quick commercial time out, we return into some quick talk about the Santos Escobar vs. Dragon Lee match scheduled for tonight that was just added on last night's WWE Friday Night SmackDown show on FS1. The pre-show video package for the Escobar-Dragon Lee bout airs now.

The video packsge wraps up and then we shoot backstage at the AllState Arena live where Byron Saxton is joined by his guest at this time, Santos Escobar. Saxton asks about him attacking Rey Mysterio and Carlito. Escobar claims he delivered justice.

He calls Rey and Carlito gatekeepers that he got out of the way. He says Dragon Lee has talent but not the will to do what it takes. He says he's also got the talent, but he's got the will to do anything it takes and tonight, Dragon Lee will be an example. He says something in Spanish and walks off.

When we return to the panelists area, we once again hear loud "CM Punk! CM Punk!" chants from the fans hanging around in the background. The panelists march on and ignore the chants, continuing to talk about the Escobar-Dragon Lee tilt scheduled for tonight. A lengthy Bobby Lashley video package airs next.

From there, we see the video package for the WWE Women's World Championship showdown between Rhea Ripley and Zoey Stark. When it wraps up, we return to the panelists area where Greg Miller joins the gang to bring some energy into the mix. They give their thoughts on the Ripley-Starks bout.

Barrett picks Ripley, but Booker goes with Stark and heavily mocks Greg Miller for kissing Ripley's ass. Rosenberg predicts Ripley to retain as well. Braxton thanks Miller for joining them and then begins the shift to discuss The Miz vs. GUNTHER showdown tonight for the WWE Intercontinental Championship. The Miz-GUNTHER package airs.

A quick Cricket Wireless ad airs and then we return to the panelists, who weigh-in with their thoughts on the I-C title bout. Barrett picks GUNTHER to win. Booker T in his "Shucky Ducky Quack Quack" moment of the night picks Miz to win. Peter Rosenberg then goes with GUNTHER.

We are told the results of the Ruffles Fan Vote for Women's WarGames. The team of Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, Bianca Belair and Shotzi will have the advantage for their Women's WarGames showdown against Damage CTRL. We then shift to the Men's WarGames package and the panelists give their thoughts on that one and wrap things up.

– The cold open video package for tonight's PLE airs and then we shoot live inside of a jam-packed crowd inside AllState Arena in Rosemont, Ill. as Michael Cole welcomes us to the show on commentary. We then get ready for our opener, which will be the Women's WarGames match.

Women's WarGames Match: Damage CTRL vs. Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, Bianca Belair & Shotzi

Damage CTRL make their way out, as does the team of Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, Bianca Belair and Shotzi. Lynch and Bayley of Damage CTRL will kick things off for their respective teams. As noted during the Ruffles Fan Vote results on the Kickoff Show, Lynch's team will jump off to the early advantage after the initial five minute opening interval.

Bayley takes it to Lynch early on, establishing the early offensive lead as the fans in Chi-Town boo. Lynch fights back as things end up in the corner, where we see a new, unique camera angle from a shot above the cage. Bayley and Lynch trade shots in the middle as fans chant "Boo!" and "Yay!" depending on who lands.

Lynch gets her Dis-Arm-Her on Bayley, but Dakota Kai uses a kendo stick through the cage to break it up. The clock ticks down and Shotzi comes in next. Lynch and Shotzi spend the next few minutes double-teaming Bayley. The clock strikes and IYO SKY comes in for the Damage CTRL team to even things up.

The WWE Women's Champion hits the ring like a bat out of hell and uses a chain as a weapon to help Damage CTRL fight back into competitive form. She and Bayley beat down Lynch and Shotzi for a while but then the baby faces fight back and take over. The clock strikes and in comes Bianca Belair swinging her ponytail as the third member of her team.

They enjoy a 3-to-2 advantage for a while until IYO SKY and Bayley use Belair's ponytail against her. Belair fights back and hits a double suplex on IYO and Bayley at the same time. Lynch comes off the top-rope with a leg drop and Shotzi comes off the top-rope with a big splash. The crowd goes wild as Belair's team pulls ahead once again.

Now the clock strikes again and when the fans finish counting it down, the shark cage opens and out comes Kairi Sane marching to the ring to even the odds for Damage CTRL. She takes her sweet time before getting into the rings. She actually climbs under the ring and comes out with an enormous trash can lid. The fans boo and then she heads into the ring with it.

Damage CTRL takes over and after a bunch of chairs are brought into the mix, Shotzi is buried under the pile of chairs. IYO SKY slams Kairi Sane onto the pile of chairs, which she splashes onto with a massive flying elbow. The fans boo as Damage CTRL are now very comfortably in the lead. The clock strikes again and out comes Charlotte Flair as the final member of her team.

Flair hits a blockbuster off the top-rope onto Bayley and another member of Damage CTRL. She helps her team regain the offensive lead until she and Lynch stare each other down. That brief distraction allows Damage CTRL to take back over control of the offense. Charlotte climbs to the top-rope with IYO on her shoulders holding a chain.

IYO knocks her off and continues climbing. She drops the chain down to Dakota Kai at ringside. Kai pulls out a trash can and ties the chain around the handle of it. IYO uses the chain to pull the trash can up. She gets it in her hands and drops the chain in the ring.

She stands up on the tip-top of the cage with the trash can, which she puts over herself before leaping off and splashing onto a pile of bodies down below for an enormous pop and follow-up "Holy sh*t!" chant. That was insane! The clock strikes and out comes Asuka as the final member of the Damage CTRL team and the final member not in the match in general.

Asuka immediately grabs two big kendo sticks from under the ring. She reaches under and pulls out more and brings them all into the ring. She also pulls out a table for a big pop. Kai helps Asuka put all of those weapons into the ring before Asuka comes in with a fire extinguisher as well. The bell sounds and the WarGames - The Match Beyond now begins. The first team to get a pin or submission wins.

Lynch and Belair are tied together with the chain and beat down. Asuka sprays mist in the eyes of Shotzi on the top-rope. Charlotte fights back and hits an insane moonsault off the tip-top of the cage. She and Lynch work together for double-team spots and double-loud pops. Lynch gets the Dis-Arm-Her on Sane, but Bayley hits a running knee to break it up.

Belair uses the fire extinguisher moments later to prevent the match from ending. Bayley dives in front of her teammate, saving Kairi Sane and taking the spear from Charlotte. Shotzi comes off the top-rope with a senton and then Belair hits the KOD on Bayley. Charlotte and Shotzi set a table up in the ring. Lynch sits on the middle ropes and Belair feeds Bayley to her. Lynch puts Bayley through the table with a Man-Handle Slam for the win. Awesome opener.

Winners: Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, Bianca Belair & Shotzi

– Up next in our second PLE match of the evening will be "The Ring General" GUNTHER going one-on-one against "The A-Lister" The Miz with his WWE Intercontinental Championship on-the-line.

– First we see a Ruffles segment with Otis and Pretty Deadly arguing about whether they're called "chips" or "crisps." R-Truth also appears as a surprise cameo. We also see a backstage segment with Jey Uso and Sami Zayn being nervous because Randy Orton isn't here yet. That prompts "CM Punk!" chants from the Chi-Town fans in the background.

– The pre-match video package airs to tell the story leading up to tonight's showdown between The Miz and GUNTHER. When it wraps up

WWE Intercontinental Championship Match:GUNTHER (C) vs. The Miz

We return inside AllState Arena where The Miz's theme hits and "The A-Lister" makes his way to the ring.

He settles inside and his entrance tune wraps up. Now the Imperium theme plays and out comes the longest-reigning WWE Intercontinental Champion in the history of the company. He settles inside the squared circle as well as the commentators sing his praises.

The ring announcer handles the formal pre-match ring introductions for this, our first of two title bouts scheduled for tonight's show. The bell then sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one. GUNTHER dominates the action early on, but then Miz goes to work on the leg of GUNTHER, even putting him in the figure-four leg lock with his leg wrapped around the ring post.

GUNTHER recovers and starts to dominate for several minutes. Miz tries to go to work on his leg again but GUNTHER avoids it and takes back over until Miz distracts the ref by pulling the turnbuckle off the top in the corner. While the ref was dealing with that, Miz blatantly low-blows GUNTHER twice and hits his Skull Crushing Finale for a super close near fall. Moments later GUNTHER taps out Miz for the win to retain.

Winner and STILL WWE Intercontinental Champion: GUNTHER

– After another quick commercial break, we return to a brief backstage segment with The Judgment Day. They talk about tonight's Men's WarGames main event and then we shoot to another commercial time out before the pre-match video package airs to tell the story leading up to our next match, which features Santos Escobar going one-on-one against Dragon Lee.

Santos Escobar vs. Dragon Lee

The video package wraps up and then we return live inside AllState Arena where Santos Escobar's theme hits and the former LWO member makes his way down to the ring to a ton of boos from the Chicago crowd. Michael Cole talks about Escobar with disgust after his attacks of Rey Mysterio and Carlito in recent weeks.

Dragon Lee's theme hits next and out comes the masked fan-favorite with a big blue cape on. He makes his way to the ring to a big pop and settles inside the squared circle ready for our next match of the evening. The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one. Santos dominates from the word go and controls the offense for the first few minutes.

Lee shifts things in his favor after hitting a big flipping splash over the top onto Santos on the floor. Back in the ring, he hits a double stomp off the ropes onto Santos and then goes for a sit-down power bomb. He nearly drops Santos on his head so he stops and adjusts twice and then connects with the move for a close near fall. Santos kicks out and moments later hits his Phantom Driver for the win.

Winner: Santos Escobar

– We go to our second sponsored segment of the evening, as Slim Jim is the sponsor for our co-main event of the evening coming up next. With that said, we see a Slim Jim commercial with LA Knight and then we shoot to The New Day honking the horn in a Slim Jim car pulling up to the building. They pop out, eat some Slim Jims and walk off.

– Now the pre-match video package airs to tell the story leading up to our WWE Women's World Championship showdown tonight between Rhea Ripley of The Judgment Day and former WWE NXT Superstar Zoey Stark.

WWE Women's World Championship Match: Rhea Ripley (C) vs. Zoey Stark

After the pre-match package wraps up, Zoey Stark's theme hits and out she comes with her face painted up a bit. Michael Cole mentions how Stark won a women's battle royal to earn this title opportunity here tonight. Stark settles in the ring and her theme dies down.

Out comes Rhea Ripley with her hair looking quite different than usual. She's also got her black lipstick smeared in similar fashion to The Joker or Harley Quinn or something. She looks different than usual would be the takeaway from this point. "Mami" settles in the ring and gets ready to finish on top as always, or lose her title trying.

The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one. Stark and Ripley go face-to-face with their unique hair and paint jobs and talk trash before trading hard slaps to each others faces and finally getting after it as the crowd comes to life in the background inside AllState Arena.

Stark jumps into the early offensive lead, double-leg diving Ripley and dumping her on the mat and unloading with ground and pound. Ripley rolls to the floor to re-group but Stark dives out and splashes onto her. Back in the ring, Stark connects with a missile drop kick off the ropes but then Ripley connects with a vicious head butt that shifts the offensive momentum in her favor.

Ripley and Stark trade shots on the ring apron outside of the ring ropes. Stark DDTs Ripley face-first into the hard part of the apron. Back in the ring, Stark springboards into the ring with a corkscrew moonsault for another close near fall. Again we see Ripley roll out to the floor to regroup. Ripley slams Stark face-first into the apron from the floor and then the ring post. Back in the ring, Ripley connects with Rip-Tide for the win to retain.

Winner and STILL WWE Women's World Champion: Rhea Ripley

– Backstage we see Seth Rollins, Jey Uso and Sami Zayn freaking out because Randy Orton still hasn't showed up. Again we hear Jey Uso try and blame it on himself, saying he and The Bloodline put Orton on the shelf in the past.

Cody Rhodes walks in with his ring gear on as well and as they all walk off, Sami Zayn tells Cody they trusted him. He looks disappointed. They all walk off. Cody looks upset. Now the pre-match video airs to tell the story leading up to tonight's Men's WarGames main event here at WWE Survivor Series 2023 at AllState Arena in Rosemont, Ill.

Men's WarGames Match: Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins, Jey Uso, Sami Zayn vs. The Judgment Day & Drew McIntyre

The commentators talk us through the rules for WarGames as the official match graphic is shown on the screen. The theme for Drew McIntyre hits and out comes "The Scottish Warrior" by himself. He stops and then his music dies down.

The Judgment Day's theme hits and out comes Damian Priest, Finn Balor, JD McDonagh and Dominik Mysterio. Drew and Damian stare each other down for what seems like forever. Cody Rhodes' theme hits next and out comes "The American Nightmare."

He takes his camo-colored weight belt off and kisses it while staring down his opposition in the shark cage at the top of the entrance ramp. Jey Uso's theme hits next and out he comes. Sami Zayn is out next. Seth Rollins makes his way out after them and the fans loudly sing along with his music.

Only one man still left ... if he's coming.

It looks like it will be Finn Balor and Seth Rollins kicking things off for their respective teams as the two starting things off inside the WarGames match. Cody, Sami and Jey head into the shark cage. Still no mention of Randy Orton.

The commentators briefly bring up how Orton has reportedly not even arrived to the building yet. Rollins immediately hits a suicide dive from one ring to the other on Balor to get this started as the bell sounds. Balor takes over and starts slamming Seth into the steel fencing.

We hear incredibly, incredibly loud "CM Punk!" chants once again as Rollins finally starts to shift the offensive momentum in his favor after blasting Balor running at him with a super kick. Balor slams Rollins on the metal connecting the two rings by the aprons. Ouch. Rollins hits sling blade as he fights back.

Rollins is dominating the action when the countdown clock appears. The fans help count down the final ten seconds and then The Judgment Day shark cage opens and out comes the newest member of the group, JD McDonagh. He sprints down to the ring but Rollins kicks him as he tries coming through the door.

JD recovers and brings some kendo sticks in the ring. Balor has Rollins down and out and now Rollins finds himself in a one-on-two situation where the two guys not only have the numbers advantage, but they each have kendo sticks as weapons as well. JD and Finn beat Rollins down with the kendo sticks as the fans boo.

After the clock appears and counts down again, we see "Main Event" Jey Uso emerge from the shark cage for the baby face team led by Cody Rhodes. He helps shift the offensive momentum back into the favor of he and Rollins, who take it to McDonagh and Balor during this three minute period where it's even at two versus two.

Again we hear very loud "CM Punk! CM Punk!" chants. How did WWE not see this coming with a show long angle about Randy Orton not being there and the baby face team being one man short in Chicago of all places?! The clock strikes again and when The Judgment Day shark cage opens, we see Drew get ready to emerge.

Priest stops him and says we're sticking to the plan. Drew says the plan just changed. Priest tells him to trust him. Priest exits the cage and heads down to the ring with caution, as Jey and Seth are both waiting for him with JD and Finn down. He has a weapon and he cleans house.

The Judgment Day has everyone down when the clock strikes and counts down. The buzzer sounds and out comes Sami Zayn for his team. He heads to the ring where The Judgment Day are waiting for him. He intercepts a kendo stick shot from one of them and gets the stick. He pulls a table out from under the ring for the biggest pop of the night.

Fans chant "Thank you Sami!" as he pulls the chant out and "Ucey! Ucey!" before shifting into the "Ole! Ole!" chants as he helps his team take over on offense inside the massive cage-enclosed double ring set up. The clock appears again and when it counts down, out comes Drew McIntyre for The Judgment Day team.

"The Scottish Warrior" hits the ring and immediately beats everyone down to help The Judgment Day take back over. He stalks his prey, a wounded Jey Uso, who is down and out in the second of the two rings by himself. McIntyre heads over after him and the two immediately start trading shots as the crowd roars and chants "Yeet!" as each shot lands.

Drew beats Jey down and is overheard yelling at Jey to acknowledge what he did to him and apologize for it. He slams him face-first into the fencing over and over again as he continues to shout this. The clock strikes and out next comes Cody Rhodes. He grabs a cow bell and rope and Seth remembers Hell In A Cell and grabs the other end.

Cody and Seth have words but Cody reminds him they only have to get along for one night. They low blow Finn with the rope and beat everyone down with it. Dominik Mysterio is out next as the clock expires for The Judgment Day's final member. He runs to the ring to enormously loud boos. He helps regain the lead for his team but then all four members of the opposing team surround him.

The fans come to life and then they explode as they all beat "Dirty" Dom down. The countdown clock appears again and fans chant "Randy! Randy!" but those chants quickly change to "CM Punk! CM Punk!" Rhea Ripley's theme hits instead and she runs down with the Money In The Bank briefcase just as Rollins is put through the table Sami brought in earlier.

She goes to cash the briefcase in on Priest's behalf as the crowd goes bonkers, but then out of nowhere, Randy Orton's theme hits and the crowd erupts. "The Viper" comes out super pumped up and looking in incredible shape. He hits the ring and starts taking out everyone in sight as fans chant "Randy! Randy!" He hits his trademark spots such as the draping DDT off the ropes.

Orton and McIntyre are the only two left standing in opposing rings. Fans chant "Holy sh*t!" as the two slowly close in on each other. They start trading shots but Priest jumps Orton from behind and now Priest and McIntyre beat Orton down in the corner of the ring as the rest of The Judgment Day members start to come to life. The rest of Orton's team recovers as well and now all ten men are brawling.

We see all five guys on the baby face team hit Orton's trademark draping DDT spot at the same time for a thunderous pop. Orton drops down in Viper mode and starts pounding the mat. He turns and looks at his own teammate in Jey Uso. The commentators talk about how Jey and The Bloodline took Orton out. Priest looks to attack from behind but Jey makes the save for Orton with an RKO.

Orton hits an RKO on the next guy that comes over. Cody hits a Cody Kick and Cross Rhodes. Uso hits Uso Splash. JD McDonagh is the last man standing. They chase him up the cage to the very tip-top and then they push him off and Orton catches him on the way down with an RKO. Orton tells Cody to finish it off. Cody hits a Cross Rhodes and scores the pin. Cody and Orton hug as the Men's WarGames match wraps up.

Winners: Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins, Jey Uso & Sami Zayn

– As the show is about to go off the air, Cody Rhodes' theme stops and The Cult of Personality song hits. Out comes the "Best in the World" himself to insanely loud "CM Punk!" chants from his hometown Chicago crowd.

He's got a new haircut and he comes out and kneels down and does the "CLOBBERING TIME" watch check. He pops back up and stares at the ring with a smirk on his face as the sustained roar from the crowd continues.

He collapses into the arms of his beloved fans in the crowd and continues to soak up the moment running from one side to the other to embrace the fans that can reach him over the guard rail. The show goes off the air.

[Kemo]