One of the my favorite premium live events being War Games Survivor Series, I’m here for that. To my slight annoyance, CM Punk and Roman Reigns have joined the Usos and Cody Rhodes to fight against the Vision, LP and Brock damn Lesnar! WHAT?! I didn’t know that happened, so I feel smacked in the face with a pan. The women’s match has Rhea Ripley, AJ Lee, Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss and Iyo Sky competing versus Becky Lynch, Lash Legend, Nia Jax, and the Kabuki Warriors, who are now the Women’s Tag Team Champions. I knew whatever Flair and Bliss were doing wasn’t going to last.
Stephanie Vaquer will be defending her World Women’s Championship against Nikki Bella, someone I’ve deeply missed. Let’s not forget another shock I wasn’t aware of, John Cena defends his Intercontinental Championship versus former holder Dominik Mysterio.
Jey Uso vs. Rusev – The Last Time is Now Tournament
Jey Uso has been keeping Rusev on his toes during the entire match, showing him that he’s dealt with big brutes like him before and won. Although the Samoan Drop was effective, it didn’t pin Rusev long enough for the three count. From the corner of the ring, Uso waited for Rusev to get back to his feet and speared him. Unfortunately, his opponent kicked out at one.
Just as Jey came down from the top attempting an Uso Splash, Rusev was up and delivered a Monster Kick to the side of Jey’s face. That nearly took him out. Since it didn’t, Rusev tried a different method, the Accolade. Jey tried to reach the bottom rope, but Rusev had it cinched in tight. So tightly that it took a while for Jey to finally grab the rope. Ha! Rusev was in shambles.
Later on, Rusev felt like mocking John Cena with the AA attempt, luckily, Jey slipped through the back, speared Rusev, and finished him off with the Uso Splash. Yay!! My man.
Winner: Jey Uso
Backstage while Nick Aldis was arranging competitors for the Last Time is Now Tournament, he was distracted by R-Truth to notice that The Miz had switched the name that was in the plastic sphere Aldis had in-hand with his name. Now, he got what he argued for,.. by cheating.
Next up, we have Chelsea Green celebrating her second term as Women’s US Champion. She was so caught up within her own ass, that she said that she’s the greatest Women’s Champion in the history of women’s wrestling. Green waited with anticipation of the “very expensive” pyrotechnics she ordered specifically for this moment, only to have them outshined by the Women’s Champion Jade Cargill. Oh, we got some pyrotechnics, all right. Just not yours, Chelsea.
Girl stomped her way out here to take out Green with Jaded. Simply as a reminder that “she’s that b*tch!”, and hearing Chelsea calling herself the greatest didn’t compute. Ha! Well, we’re both on the same page, then.
LA Knight vs. The Miz – The Last Time is Now Tournament
LA Knight whipped Miz into the corner to attempt something that was immediately thwarted then and there, but not for long, since he was able to deliver a superplex off the top turnbuckle. Since Miz was complaining about being put back into the Tournament, lucky for him, he kicked out in time.
Miz was going for the Skull Crashing Finale, only to be intercepted by a reverse DDT from LA Knight. Miz wasn’t able to do what wanted to do earlier, but he was successful the second time when Knight was coming from the top. And since we’ve been talking about Cena, Miz actually applied the STF on Knight. He might have had it well cinched in, but Knight managed to escape.
Later on, LA Knight was looking to apply his own STF, Miz countered with a sudden roll up that he tried to cheat his way into winning by placing his feet on the middle rope. Laughably, the referee caught him. Due to his foolish behavior, Knight performed a victorious BFT to advance.
Winner: LA Knight
Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka – WarGames Advantage match
Flair leaped from the air into a crossbody, however, Asuka rolled through into a cover that almost pinned Charlotte. Till this day, Asuka remains one of the most lethal strikers in the game as she caught Flair off guard numerous times with her quickness. Alas, with that patented big boot from Charlotte, that stopped Asuka mid-break.
Charlotte continued the best she could with a Moonsault, but that wasn’t enough to keep the Empress of Tomorrow down for three. Asuka was hoping to whip Flair over the commentary table, yet the Queen got her instead. As retaliation, Asuka sprayed her green mist… in the wrong person’s face. Charlotte managed to avoid that.
As we reenter the ring, Flair struggled but came out of the Asuka Lock and pinned her opponent for a brief moment. Asuka came swinging her leg for a kick, missed and fell victim to a triumphant Natural Selection.
Winner: Charlotte Flair
Shinsuke Nakamura, Sami Zayn, Rey Fenix & The Motor City Machine Guns vs. The MFTs – 5-on-5 Survivor Series Elimination match
Chris Sabin and Tama Tonga started this match off… or so I thought when Solo Sikoa tagged himself in. During a verbal tiff, Sikoa delivered a head shattering clothesline to Sabin, who looked completely out of sorts after that. Solo went and pounded away at the man’s head multiple times. He was giving Chris the beating of his life, it was scary to watch. Tonga Loa was now in the fray.
With the help of his Tag Team partner, with some difficulties at first, Sabin and Shelley were able to trip Loa down. At some point, Loa overpowered Alex to tag JC Mateo as they double team on their challenger. Now Sami Zayn, who’s had problems with the entire opposition was facing Mateo. The power of JC when he yanked Sami by the foot and turned it into a Tour of the Islands was absolutely incredible.
No matter what has happened thus far, Sami’s team seem to all be getting trapped in the corner of the MFTs. They kept running interference on Zayn while Tama Tonga kept the official’s gaze on him. The Tongas double teamed on Sami. Rey Fenix and Shinsuke Nakamura have yet to come in as we watch Sami get ploughed by Sikoa.
It took a bit, but Sami delivered a clothesline to Solo to force some separation. Once tagged, Shin went against Mateo. The Tongas tried to interfere, so Nakamura dealt with them. It wasn’t until he stared into the eyes of Talla Tonga that Mateo was able to ram him down. Shinsuke dusted himself off and performed that vintage sliding suplex on Mateo. He went for the pin, and Solo interrupted, so Sami blindsided him.
A couple of tussling later, Sabin and Shelley displayed a beautiful pinning combination I’ve yet to see from someone else to eliminate JC Mateo. The first elimination of the night. Bye, boy. Since they finally took someone out, the Machine Guns continue with their efforts to drag Tama as well. The cover didn’t earn anything, so Nakamura swooped in to play.
I think because of Solo venturing to harm Nakamura with the Samoan Spike that caused the King of Strong Style to lose to Tama’s Cutthroat ending. After the elimination, Rey Fenix finally entered the match. Rey was fast, but Tama was precise… especially with that DDT. Damn. Even more so when the Tongas bulldoze through Fenix so hard that it almost took him out without being present long enough. It didn’t look like a kick out, though, according to Loa. Since he was still here, Rey succeeded in pinning Loa.
Talla Tonga, the difference maker, has stepped into the fight. And boy, did he plant Rey down like turds. With the amount of force placed into slamming Fenix to the mat, Solo could come in and pick which bone to break into submission. He failed, though. But he left a heavy mark on Chris Sabin’s jaw. Shelley tagged himself in as he and Sabin double their attacks on Sikoa before punching Talla Tonga off the apron.
On the outside, Talla rammed Alex Shelley so far into the apron that he couldn’t get up. He was eliminated very swiftly. Talla turned around and bang, right in the face of Sabin, as he too joined his friend backstage. Fenix and Zayn are left against Solo, Tama and Talla. Zayn was about to enter the ring when Talla squashed him with his big boot. Rey was fighting his ass off. So amazing… but he wasn’t on the same level, or more when it came to the Cutthroat. Sami was left alone.
Frequent tags between the MFTs to reduce energy being spent by one singular person. It helps triple the assault on Sami as if there’s no end in sight. As a last minute surprise, Sami eliminated Tama with the Helluva Kick. Upon seeing their teammate taken out, Talla Tonga charged after Zayn while Solo watched. Just as Tonga went for a heavy kick, Sami ducked out of the way, causing Talla to land in the timekeeper’s area. That was a ploy to get rid of Talla by count out, and it worked.
Solo and Sami are the last ones from their team. Two Spinning Solos didn’t pin Zayn, to the shock of the attacker. A body splash failed as well. A body shift powerbomb from Sami nearly ended Solo. An exchange of hits came to a conclusion with a thunderous headbutt from Sikoa that sent Zayn backwards. To his surprise, Sami was up and performed an Exploder. Sikoa retaliated in kind with a Samoan Spike attempt, Sami dodged it and rolled him up for a strange near fall. Nevertheless, Sikoa reigned supreme with a jaw-breaking Spike.
Hot damn!
Following his victory as the sole survivor, Uncle Howdy destroyed Sikoa with a Sister Abigail out of nowhere. Happy weekend.
Winner: Solo Sikoa
TOP PHOTO: Sikoa delivers the Spinning Solo on Zayn. Courtesy of WWE
