The Man is back in town. After a surprise appearance on Friday’s SmackDown, Becky Lynch will make her in-ring return on Saturday’s Survivor Series WarGames, four months after injuring her shoulder at SummerSlam. Lynch will team with Bianca Belair, Alexa Bliss, Asuka and Mia Yim in one of Survivor Series’ two WarGames matches.
The other will see The Bloodline, led by Roman Reigns, take on the team of Sheamus, Kevin Owens, Drew McIntyre and The Brawling Brutes. How the match shakes out will likely determine who will be challenging for Roman Reigns’ WWE Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble in January.
The SmackDown Women’s Championship is on the line, with Shotzi challenging for Ronda Rousey’s gold. The highlight of the night could be the clash between AJ Styles and Finn Balor, two of the best wrestlers on the roster, who will both be backed by their respective O.C. and Judgement Day factions.
Come back to this page as the main show kicks off at 5 p.m. PT (8 p.m. ET), as I’ll be updating with results and analysis.
AJ Styles vs. Finn Balor
The battle of Bullet Club leaders is up next.
Becky Lynch wins WarGames for Team Bianca
Team Bianca wins.
WWE
Survivor Series 2022 kicked off with the women’s WarGames match. It pit the five-woman team of Bianca Belair, Becky Lynch, Asuka, Alexa Bliss and Mia Yim against Bayley, Dakota Kai, Iyo Sky, Rhea Ripley and Nikki Cross. Lynch, the returning hero, won WarGames for her team, pinning Kai after a spectacular Senton from the top of the cage through a table.
The rules of WarGames are as follows. WarGames matches see one contender from each team begin. After five minutes, a second woman from Team Bayley would joined. (Team Bayley won the advantage after Ripley beat Asuka on Raw.) After that, women from the alternating teams join the rings every three minutes, until all 10 women were in the rings. At that point, the bell rings and the first team to secure a pinfall or a submission wins.
WarGames is a hard match to work. Structurally, it’s like an Iron (Wo)Man match, where it’s often only the last 10% of the match that really matters. WarGames only actually “starts” when all ten participants are in the rings, but that takes 26 minutes to happen. It feels low-stakes until then.
There were some notable spots in the meantime, like Nikki Cross’ Cross Body dive from the top of the cage on the five women waiting below. But the first 26 minutes are mostly spent waiting.
Becky Lynch was the last woman to enter the cages, kicking off WarGames proper. By that time, Team Bayley was firmy in control. All four women of Team Bianca were down and out, while Lynch entered.
Lynch ran wild, obliterating Kai and Cross with a trash can, before running into Rhea Ripley. Thanks to a shot from behind by Bayley, Ripley was able to land a Riptide powerslam on Lynch for a nearfall, but it was broken up by Asuka. Moments later, Bayley hit a gnarly Rose Plant on the steel connecting the two rings for a false finish, broken up again by Asuka.
All the women fought on the turnbuckle, leading to Iyo Sky scaling the top of the cage and landing a Moonsault on Yim and Belair. That got a light “holy shit!” chant, followed by a more resolute “this is awesome!” Moments later, Yim locked a Sleeper Hold on Ripley, who fell into a ladder setup in a ringside corner, snapping the ladder in two and getting another faint “holy shit!” chant.
With much of the field down, Lynch and Belair had a facedown with Kai, Bayley and Sky. Lynch got a Manhandle Slam on Kai, and Belair took out Sky with a KOD. Lynch stacked Kai and Sky on the table — getting a huge pop from the Boston crowd — then landed a brutal senton from the top of the cage, pinning Kai for the win.
Rating: 3.5 stars. This was a flawed match. It was all over the place, with there often being three or four brawls going on at the same time. That made it hard to focus attention on any one thing, which led to a mostly quiet crowd. But the match built to a few notable and memorable spots, including a happy ending for the returning Becky Lynch.
While having Lynch secure the victory makes sense, it also deprives Bianca Belair of a new challenger for her Raw Women’s Championship. Team Bianca’s win also makes Bayley’s Damage CTRL faction feel more toothless than ever, having not won any significant matches against Bianca since returning in August. Where they go next, and who challenges Bianca next, is unclear.
