Survivor Series was ok. Aside from the WarGames matches, it was pretty mid all around. Didn't like the US Title match at all. Nakamura has a dimes look now, which is great, but I'm not convinced he had to be put over this soon after coming back. LA Knight could have a massive program with Nakamura if given the chance, but I guess the booking committee doesn't see the potential? He'll be back in the championship picture soon enough.
The WHC match was probably the second best match of the night. Gunther is so great at storytelling through his in ring ability. The narrative that he's starting to lose his aura after Crown Jewel is definitely sticking and clearly is bothering our Ring Fuhrer. I think Damien did much better in this match than he did at SummerSlam. The selling of the shoulder injury was pretty spot on as well. I genuinely think he could have won it had Finn not interfered.
Best match of the night for me was the triple threat for the Intercontinental title. Bron is on a different level as it is, but man...he really pushed himself last night. I think having him share the ring with Sheamus and Ludwig was a great choice and all three men came out looking stronger than they did upon entering. 10/10, do it again.
The women's WarGames was...an interesting choice to open the show. I guess part of the reason why I wasn't entirely impressed with Survivor Series this year was the weird pacing. I was honestly thinking the US Title match would open the show and that the women's WarGames would be about halfway through the program. I think if they had changed the order of the card, the match would have felt more important than it ended up being. Rhea getting the pin on Liv felt predictable and I wasn't entirely pleased with anyone's performance. I was glad when it was over.
OG Bloodline vs New Bloodline was dimes all around. My biggest WTF came from the entrance order. Having the Solo Bloodline enter all at once was appropriate, but the OG Bloodline felt so...disassociated from each other. If they were that hard up on separate entrances, why have Jey come out last? Is Roman not the main draw in that faction? I get that Jey has been given a massive push this year, but this wasn't his moment. The entrance order should have been Punk, Sami, Jimmy & Jey, then Roman. Maybe I'm overthinking it, but the entrance section just felt like another Jey Uso push that no one asked for.
As far as that match is concerned, I loved it. The pacing was perfect, the storytelling was highly on point, and the attitude oozing from Roman, Solo, and Punk was so thick you could cut it with a knife. I especially enjoyed Punk rattling the cage of Solo's team and causing them to chimp out. Seeing Jacob stick his head out of the cage like a wild animal was fucking kino. Speaking of Jacob, this guy is going to be a great talent for WWE in the next few years. His presentation as a dangerous animal that will sooner disembowel you than give you the chance to ball your fist for a punch is great. The athleticism is so impressive for a guy his size and I'm glad they aren't overdoing the flippy shit he is prone to do from time to time. Overall, Jacob was the best performer in this match.
While I was fine with the ending, it still leaves me wanting more. Michael Cole said that Roman still does not have possession of the Ula Fala and that Solo, for all intents and purposes, is still the Tribal Chief. So what does Roman have to do to reclaim the throne? Do we see the potential of the Tongas and Jacob turning on Solo? How will the Rock figure into this? I imagine he comes back for the build up to Mania and faces Roman for the Ula Fala and the right to call themselves the real tribal chief. In the meantime, what will Punk do now? Is Heyman going to turn on Roman and become Punk's wiseman? Lots of possibilities here, but I'm definitely looking forward to the future Punk-Reigns feud.
