WWE Survivor Series Gets Major Shakeup - Brand Supremacy Is Dead!
WarGames isn't the only change to this fall classic premium live event.
When Triple H assumed control of WWE operations this summer, fans wondered how long it would take before he made serious, wholesale changes to the product.
On Monday, he announced that Survivor Series would be home to two WarGames matches, the first time the caged double ring match has appeared on a main roster show. Prior to this announcement, WarGames had been solely the property of NXT.
But in addition to WarGames, Triple H announced two additional changes to the Big Four event, which is the second-longest running WWE PPV/PLE.
Speaking to The Ringer, Triple H announced that the WarGames match will not be a Raw versus SmackDown affair, a departure from the previous six years of Survivor Series elimination matches, which have been entirely rooted in the battle for brand supremacy. This means that the T-shirt wars, which had devolved into questions about whether either team could co-exist, will hopefully become a thing of the past.
Additionally, with two WarGames matches taking place, this year's Survivor Series will be only the third out of 36 editions to not feature a traditional 4-on-4 or 5-on-5 elimination match. The others were 1998, when WWF held a one-night tournament to crown a new WWF Champion, and 2002, which featured the first Elimination Chamber match.
All of this goes along with Triple H's decree that they are making Survivor Series "evolve." Really, Survivor Series had become superfluous as a premium live event, as the brand warfare didn't exactly inspire fans. There have been rumblings every few years that WWE might ditch the Survivor Series concept altogether, so incorporating WarGames into the current event might be the best solution.