5 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE Survivor Series: WarGames 2024 (Results & Review)

2. WWE WarGames Formula Failings

WWE Survivor Series WarGames 2024 Sami Zayn Bronson Reed Jey Uso Tama Tonga Roman Reigns Solo Sikoa CM Punk Jacob Fatu Jimmy Uso Tonga Loa
WWE

No one in their right mind would ever expect WWE to book a WarGames match like the old NWA ones, or even like AEW’s Blood & Guts, dripping with blood, but the sports entertainment version of WarGames is understandably not for everyone.

Both double cage matches suffered from lengthy, sanitized heat segments during the first 25 minutes that ultimately didn’t inform or factor into the conclusion of the match. It followed a rhythmic pattern that wasn’t bad, but it certainly wasn’t “war” either. Things didn’t escalate until all 10 wrestlers were in the cage.

There were flashes of intensity befitting WarGames, but too often it turned into methodical attacks that magically hit a mini-climax every three minutes, littered with weapon shots. CM Punk brought a toolbox into the cage and the box itself got used as a weapon (weakly), but it was never opened for its contents to be used.

Punk’s Hell in a Cell match against Drew McIntyre was miles above the two WarGames matches in terms of violence, intensity, and hatred. Shouldn’t the Bloodline Civil War match have at least come within striking distance of that cell match? It wasn’t even in the same league.

There’s a way to book a WWE version of WarGames, and neither match really threaded the needle. As a result, both matches can be rated measured successes in specific instances, but overall, they were letdowns from what was promised and what longtime fans would want from a match carrying the WarGames banner.

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Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.