Triple H’s honeymoon phase had ended approximately a month ago but RAW and SmackDown still usually had a match worth watching at the very least, if not much more than that and The Bloodline. With a 5-match Survivor Series WarGames, it was up to those shows (and Crown Jewel I guess) to carry the weight.
1. WWE Intercontinental Title: Gunther [c] vs. Rey Mysterio (SmackDown 11/4/22)
There’s going to be some great big-and-tall wrestlers 20 years from now that wrestling fans will be sad they didn’t see Rey Mysterio wrestle, though I don’t know: maybe he’s still doing it. Somehow he stayed capable of greatness long enough for Gunther to become a big deal on SmackDown, delivering an awesome TV match where he stayed competitive using momentum, a chokehold and a few big counters that led to big near falls. Such good wrestlers were doing such good wrestling!!
2. Undisputed WWE Tag Team Title: The Usos [c] vs. The New Day (SmackDown 11/11/22)
The Usos’ went into this match about to break New Day’s record as longest reigning WWE tag champions, so the stakes were high for a great pairing of tag teams that have wrestled a lot of great matches together but hadn’t in a while. They opened SmackDown with a casually great one that didn’t reach the heights of their best but did have quality heat, double teams and near falls from two (four) of the era’s best.
3. Undisputed WWE Universal Title: Roman Reigns [c] w/ Paul Heyman vs. Logan Paul (Crown Jewel 11/5/22)
The WWE Celebrity Special was at it again with a few major spots to distract from anything else it might’ve been missing, though this one had the added benefit of the Celebrity resembling an actual wrestling prospect and a dominant champion actually capable of the balancing act required to sell for him.
4. WarGames: Bianca Belair, Becky Lynch, Asuka, Alexa Bliss & Mia Yim vs. Bayley, IYO SKY, Dakota Kai, Rhea Ripley & Nikki Cross (Survivor Series 11/26/22)
This felt overproduced and going nowhere until it was 5-on-5 for The Match Beyond, but once it got there it definitely got there. The big thing was the talent: Belair and Kai’s consistency from start to finish, IYO occasionally freaking everybody out, and Ripley and Lynch’s staredown and star power all helped make this the better of the two WarGames.
5. WarGames: Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, The Brawling Brutes & Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns, The Usos, Solo Sikoa & Sami Zayn (Survivor Series 11/26/22)
There is now a documented Sami Zayn WarGames and there’s some good in that. Otherwise this relied more on individual moments from the talent (Sami and Jey all match, Owens’ big run, Roman’s showdowns with Owens and Sheamus) over a complete great package.
6. WWE U.S. Title: Seth Rollins [c] vs. Finn Balor (RAW 11/14/22)
This was a stronger than usual RAW TV main event, with Balor going after Seth’s ribs to setup a hot finish filled with near falls, run-ins and continuous selling of those ribs. It was honestly better than both their Survivor Series matches.
7. Triple Threat Match – WWE U.S. Title: Seth Rollins [c] vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Austin Theory (Survivor Series 11/26/22)
For a little while this felt like any other Triple Threat but Rollins was a feature of one of the few Triple Threat matches anyone remembers (Royal Rumble 2015 with Brock and Cena) and I’m not saying this reached that level, but for 90-seconds or so it was approaching it: his comeback with a bunch of topes and tope con hilo woke the crowd up and his height and timing on a frog splash to break a pin was incredible.
8. SmackDown World Cup – Round 1: Ricochet vs. Mustafa Ali (SmackDown 11/18/22)
Ricochet and Mustafa Ali — around for a while — had their biggest and best match together here, with Ali selling his ribs big during the early matwork before they began popping off the spots.
9. NXT Title: Bron Breakker [c] vs. Von Wagner w/ Mr. Stone (NXT 11/15/22)
Two big fellas kept it moving, with Bron proving he can carry a match and Von proving he can have one. It was like if McMahon’s NXT 2.0 actually worked itself to a natural and enjoyable place.
10. NXT North American Title: Wes Lee [c] vs. Carmelo Hayes (NXT 11/22/22)
Too much good stuff here to write this off as any other NXT black-and-gold match, with Wes Lee delivering without a tag team or ladder to fall back on. Hayes is just biding time having fun matches before a call-up too.
Honorable Mentions: SmackDown World Cup – Round 1: Pete Dunne vs. Sami Zayn (SmackDown 11/18/22), Apollo Crews vs. JD McDonagh (NXT 11/15/22), Matt Riddle vs. Chad Gable (RAW 11/14/22), Matt Riddle & Elias vs. Alpha Academy (RAW 11/21/22), The New Day & Matt Riddle vs. The Usos & Solo Sikoa (RAW 11/7/22), No DQ Match: Liv Morgan vs. Sonya Deville (SmackDown 11/4/22)
Last Woman Standing – NXT Women’s Title: Mandy Rose [c] vs. Alba Fyre (NXT 11/15/22), AJ Styles, Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows & Mia Yim vs. Finn Balor, Damian Priest, Dominik Mysterio & Rhea Ripley (RAW 11/28/22), SmackDown World Cup – Round 1: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Santos Escobar (SmackDown 11/11/22), Axiom vs. JD McDonagh (NXT 11/8/22), Indus Sheer vs. Local Competitors (NXT 11/15/22), AJ Styles vs. Finn Balor (Survivor Series 11/26/22)
