WWE Survivor Series: WarGames 2024 Retro Review: Every Match Rated and Revisited
WWE Survivor Series: WarGames 2024 took place on Saturday, November 30, 2024, at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia. The announced crowd was 17,828. It was the first Survivor Series in Vancouver and the third WarGames edition of the show. It streamed on Peacock in the United States and on the WWE Network in most other countries, the last main roster PLE on the old Network before WWE moved to Netflix in January 2025. Michael Cole and Corey Graves called it.
The show was built around one idea: Roman Reigns and CM Punk on the same team. The two had never got along, and Paul Heyman put them together to take on Solo Sikoa's new Bloodline. Around that main event were a women's WarGames match, three title matches and an Intercontinental Championship triple threat that a lot of people still talk about. Here is how it holds up.
The build
- Men's WarGames: Solo Sikoa had taken over The Bloodline, thrown out Jimmy Uso and Heyman, and added Jacob Fatu, Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa. Reigns came back at SummerSlam, Jimmy at Bad Blood, and Sami Zayn joined them after an accidental Helluva Kick on Reigns at Crown Jewel. Sikoa added Bronson Reed. Heyman then revealed CM Punk as the fifth man for Reigns's side, and Punk said he was doing it for Heyman. Fatu beat Jey Uso the night before to win the advantage.
- Women's WarGames: Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair, Naomi, IYO SKY and Bayley against Liv Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez, Nia Jax, Tiffany Stratton and Candice LeRae. Morgan and Rodriguez had injured Ripley in a parking lot attack in October. Bayley came in after Jade Cargill was attacked and taken out.
- United States Championship: LA Knight against Shinsuke Nakamura, who had come back and attacked Knight two weeks in a row.
- Intercontinental Championship: Bron Breakker against Sheamus and Ludwig Kaiser, set up after Kaiser attacked Breakker during his title defense against Sheamus, and Sheamus then attacked Kaiser a week later.
- World Heavyweight Championship: Gunther against Damian Priest, a rematch of SummerSlam, where Gunther took the title.
Match by match
Women's WarGames: Team Ripley vs. Team Morgan
Nia Jax and Bayley started, and Jax used her size, with a Samoan drop for a near fall. The rest came in one at a time: Naomi, LeRae, Belair, Stratton, SKY, Rodriguez, Ripley and then Morgan. The biggest spot came when SKY, wearing a trash can, did a moonsault off one side of the cage while Stratton did a swanton off the other side at the same moment. Belair and Naomi powerbombed Jax through a table.
Morgan, who started the whole feud, got the last real run. She hit Oblivion on Bayley onto a chair for a near fall and used a chair for a Codebreaker on Ripley. Then she put Ripley on a table and climbed, and Ripley got up first and hit a Riptide from the top rope through the table to pin her at 38:15.
What worked: the ending. The whole match was about Ripley getting her hands on Morgan, and she did it in a big way. The double dive from both sides of the cage was a real moment, and Stratton, still new on the main roster, looked like a star in it.
What didn't: at more than 38 minutes, it was too long. There was a lot of standing around and a lot of weapons that did not lead anywhere, and with the babyfaces ahead most of the way, it was hard to believe the heels could win.
Our rating: ★★★
United States Championship: LA Knight vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Knight had most of the match. He hit his diving elbow for a near fall and set up Blunt Force Trauma, and Nakamura escaped to the steel floor between the rings. There he raked Knight's eyes, hit a reverse DDT on the steel, rolled him back in and finished him with the Kinshasa at 9:45. It was Nakamura's third United States Championship.
What worked: the finish. Nakamura won like a villain, with an eye rake and a DDT on the steel, and it was a surprise, which gave the title picture something new.
What didn't: under ten minutes was not enough time for it to feel like a big title match, and Nakamura had barely wrestled on TV before this.
Our rating: ★★½
Intercontinental Championship: Bron Breakker vs. Sheamus vs. Ludwig Kaiser
This was the surprise of the night. It moved fast from the start, with all three men involved and no one sitting outside for long. Kaiser hit Sheamus in the ribs with a shillelagh, and Sheamus wrestled hurt from there. He hit a High Cross on Breakker for a near fall, but when he went for the Brogue Kick, his ribs would not let him. Breakker speared Kaiser out of the ring, then speared Sheamus to keep his title at 14:25.
What worked: nearly everything. The near falls were believable, the timing was sharp, and the crowd was into every part of it. Breakker looked like a monster, and the Sheamus rib injury gave the finish a reason.
What didn't: very little. You could say Kaiser was mostly there to take the first spear, but he played his part well.
Our rating: ★★★★¼
World Heavyweight Championship: Gunther vs. Damian Priest
Priest came in with a bad shoulder, and Gunther went after it all match. Priest caught a triangle choke, and Gunther turned it into a pin that almost won. Priest tried the Razor's Edge and the South of Heaven chokeslam, and each time the arm gave out. Gunther then put on a kimura, and Priest got to the ropes. Finn Bálor came out and hit a Coup de Grâce on Priest off the steel steps, Gunther booted Bálor away, rolled Priest back in and choked him out with a sleeper at 19:20.
What worked: the arm story. Priest kept reaching for his big moves and could not finish them, and Gunther showed he can win in more than one way.
What didn't: the finish was too close to SummerSlam, where Bálor also got involved and Gunther also won. It felt like a repeat, and few expected the title to change hands.
Our rating: ★★★½
Men's WarGames: The OG Bloodline and CM Punk vs. The Bloodline and Bronson Reed
Jey Uso and Tama Tonga started. Reed, Jimmy and Fatu followed. When Reigns's team got their next turn, Reigns held Punk back and sent Zayn in. When it was time again, Punk pushed past Reigns and went in himself. Punk hit Fatu with a bulldog on a toolbox, and Fatu answered with a Samoan drop. Sikoa came in and locked the cage door so Reigns could not get in, and Reigns climbed over the top instead.
Reigns and Punk argued, and Heyman told them to work together or lose. Then Reigns went for a spear on Sikoa, Sikoa moved, and Reigns speared Punk. Sikoa hit the Samoan Spike on Reigns for a near fall. Reed went for a Tsunami on Reigns through a table, and Punk pulled Reigns out of the way, so Reed went through the table instead. Reigns helped Punk up. Jimmy did a splash off the top of the cage and put Fatu through a table. The Usos superkicked Sikoa, Zayn hit the Helluva Kick, Punk hit the Go to Sleep, and Reigns speared Sikoa and pinned him at 41:55.
What worked: the story inside the match. Every big moment was about Reigns and Punk learning to trust each other, from the argument over who goes in, to the accidental spear, to Punk saving Reigns from the Tsunami. Fatu was a standout, and Jimmy's cage splash and the finish with every member of the team hitting a move were both great to watch. After the match, Reigns and Punk shook hands, and Punk reminded Heyman that he still owed him a favor.
What didn't: like the women's match, it was long, and there was some waiting around in the middle. It was also a rough night for injuries: Reed broke his ankle, Tonga Loa tore his biceps and Jimmy broke a toe.
Our rating: ★★★★¼
Beyond the matches
- Punk and Heyman's favor: the main event ended with Punk telling Heyman he would collect his favor later. That line paid off at WrestleMania 41.
- The crowd: Vancouver was loud for the main event and the Intercontinental match, and quieter for the long opener.
- No Cody Rhodes: Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens were in the middle of their own feud and were only part of a video package.
The verdict: does it hold up today?
Mostly, yes. The main event has a clear story and a strong finish, and the Intercontinental triple threat is worth watching again on its own. The women's WarGames match ran long, the US title match was short, and the World title match felt like a repeat of SummerSlam, so the middle of the show is not as strong as its two ends.
- Best match: Men's WarGames and the Intercontinental Championship triple threat, both ★★★★¼
- Worst match: LA Knight vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
- Overall: 3.5 out of 5
Full results and our ratings
| Match | Result | Time | Our rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Women's WarGames | Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair, Naomi, IYO SKY and Bayley def. Liv Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez, Nia Jax, Tiffany Stratton and Candice LeRae | 38:15 | ★★★ |
| United States Championship | Shinsuke Nakamura def. LA Knight (c) | 9:45 | ★★½ |
| Intercontinental Championship | Bron Breakker (c) def. Sheamus and Ludwig Kaiser | 14:25 | ★★★★¼ |
| World Heavyweight Championship | Gunther (c) def. Damian Priest by technical submission | 19:20 | ★★★½ |
| Men's WarGames | Roman Reigns, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, Sami Zayn and CM Punk def. Solo Sikoa, Jacob Fatu, Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa and Bronson Reed | 41:55 | ★★★★¼ |
What happened next
- Reigns beat Sikoa in a Tribal Combat match on the first Raw on Netflix in January 2025 to take back the Ula Fala.
- Ripley beat Morgan for the Women's World Championship on the same Raw.
- Heyman's favor to Punk came due at WrestleMania 41, where Heyman turned on both Reigns and Punk and joined Seth Rollins. Read our WrestleMania 41 retro review.
- LA Knight won the United States Championship back from Nakamura in March 2025.
- Breakker kept the Intercontinental Championship into 2025 and beat Kaiser one-on-one on Raw in December.
More retro reviews
Other Survivor Series: WarGames shows we have revisited, rated out of 5:
- Survivor Series: WarGames 2023: ★★★★ (4 out of 5), Randy Orton's return and CM Punk's comeback in Chicago
- Survivor Series: WarGames 2022: ★★★★ (4 out of 5), Sami Zayn and The Bloodline's biggest cage fight
- Survivor Series: WarGames 2025: ★★★ (3 out of 5), the first stadium Survivor Series and John Cena's last PLE match
And a few more of our retro reviews:
- WrestleMania XL: ★★★★½ (4.5 out of 5), two nights in Philadelphia, The Rock and the end of the Bloodline story
- WrestleMania 39: ★★★★½ (4.5 out of 5), two nights in Hollywood and Reigns vs. Rhodes, part one
- SummerSlam 2025: ★★★★ (4 out of 5), the first two-night SummerSlam and John Cena's last one
- Crown Jewel 2025: ★★★★ (4 out of 5), Cena vs. AJ Styles in Perth
- WrestleMania 41: ★★★½ (3.5 out of 5), Cena's farewell year and a Heyman story in Las Vegas
- WrestlePalooza 2025: ★★★½ (3.5 out of 5), the first WWE show on ESPN, with Lesnar vs. Cena
See them all on our Retro Reviews page, and read our Survivor Series: WarGames 2026 guide.
