2023 Survivor Series Review

Last night’s Survivor Series certainly did not disappoint and gave us some surprises at end. With only 5 matches, which is certainly a nice change of pace from AEW’s rather lengthy shows but here’s my review on what happened last night.

Equality isn’t always necessary.

I am all for Women’s wrestling being what it is today compared to past incarnations and certainly some talent deserves the exact treatment as their male counterparts, but I have to admit having a Women’s wargames just is not needed. Same with certain other matches but this women’s wargames match could have been a traditional survivor series tag match that would be just good probably better.  

Becky and Charlotte squashed the beef and Bayley sacrificed a lot for Damage CTRL but is she on the way out? The match itself was fine considering the new template for what a wargames match is now but I would be more than ok if they pulled back on using excessive weapons and especially tables for a good while. Shotzi may be a good personality but not yet ready for these sort of matches, Kari Sane must be shaking off some rust but the stars definitely made the match a solid opener tonight.

Santos Escobar on the Rise

Sure, it was the match in the middle of this fun show but Santos Escobar’s match with Dragon Lee was very fun and certainly was the long-awaited launch pad for what is ahead for Escobar going forward especially breaking away from the LWO. Lucha is in good hands with Escobar and Lee obviously, but this run Escobar is gearing up for could be something huge for his career possibly sooner rather than later.

Men’s WarGames

The men’s wargames were great it had some vintage wargame vibes despite the new layout and template of it. The stories unfolding during the match from Drew McIntyre and Damian Priest power struggle to Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes rumblings about if Randy Orton was coming or not really made you invest in the match. Then Rhea Ripley runs out with Damian Priest Money in the Bank briefcase for potential cash in when Orton’s music hit and the place explodes, Orton looked well and was certainly refreshing to see him back in the ring after almost 2 years which lead to a victory for team Cody ending the event on a high note or so we thought.

No Tribal Chief, No LA Knight, NO PROBLEM!

One thing worth acknowledging was last night’s event and the buzz around is extremely exciting but this happened without our Tribal Chief Roman Reigns and anything bloodline related along with massive fan favorite LA Knight anywhere on the show. Surely some will say this is a bad thing but actually is a terrific thing as far as the depth of top-level stars they have to still put on a great without the two superstars on the show.

CM PUNK!

As the credits showed up on our screen all of a sudden static play and a very familiar song played which led to complete insanity, Cult of Personality played and out came the polarizing CM Punk in his hometown after being away from WWE for almost a decade reminding us to never say never. This return of course set the wrestling internet on fire with everything from happiness to resentment, but this move was a major flex and figurative F-U to Tony Khan and AEW considering that whole fiasco.

Punk returning to WWE was a long time coming and was the perfect time and place last night for it, going forward there are fresh matches that can happen from Seth Rollins to Cody Rhodes to possibly Roman Reigns can be nothing but exciting especially with the road to WrestleMania 40 around the corner.

With this shocking return, professional wrestling is in a good spot especially for WWE who is absolutely rolling right now and are clearly above every other promotion while AEW is certainly at a end pass as to what they want the promotion to truly be, but tonight perhaps reinforced that in some instances Kayfabe and not knowing everything can still happen in today’s wrestling world and be extremely exciting to where maybe just maybe listening to the Dave Meltzers, Sean Ross Sapps, Ryan Satin, and others of the like as gospel to look a certain way is finally dying down and hopefully will fade away.

Stop worrying about TV ratings, attendance numbers, and other things that a vast majority of wrestling fans are not qualified to even speak on or care about the way they do because a particular wrestling journalist used that to push his agenda and attempt to go back to enjoy the products when their good and rightfully calling out when it is bad but just simply enjoy what certain promotions can potentially give us going forward.

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