The 38th annual WWE Survivor Series event took place last night and was a show with some of the best WWE matches this year.
The main selling point of this event is no longer the traditional five-on-five tag team matches. The annual tradition has been replaced by the iconic War Games match, appearing for the third time in a row at Survivor Series.
The show featured two War Games matches. The first featured CM Punk and The OG Bloodline against Solo Sikoa’s Bloodline, with the winner the superior version of the iconic faction.
Meanwhile, the women’s War Games match was an all-star affair. All the top women in the division including Rhea Ripley, Liv Morgan and Bianca Belair competed inside the double-ringed steel cage in a vicious, all-out war.
Other matches included LA Knight defending his United States Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura, Damian Priest challenging Gunther for his World Heavyweight Championship and a three-way match for the Intercontinental title.
This page will detail Dave Meltzer’s Star Ratings for WWE Survivor Series 2024, looking at every match on the card. We will also detail the Cagematch rating for the event, as well as our own ratings on Wrestling Throwback.
War Games: Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair, Bayley, Naomi & IYO SKY vs. Liv Morgan, Nia Jax, Raquel Rodriguez, Tiffany Stratton & Candice LeRae
The Women’s War Games match opened the show and as usual, it was another brilliant iteration of the double-ring cage match.
Rhea Ripley won it for her team by pinning Liv Morgan, which is confusing because I thought War Games could only be won by one member of the team audibly submitting.
It is quite annoying that the feud between the two will be going on even longer, as this will inevitably lead to another match for the title for Ripley. Despite this it was a great match and a fine opening to the show, despite starting quite slowly and sloppily due to certain members of the roster.
- Dave Meltzer’s Star Rating: 3 Stars
- Cagematch Rating: 4.83
- Wrestling Classic Match Rating: 3 Stars
United States Championship: LA Knight vs Shinsuke Nakamura
The biggest surprise of the night was LA Knight losing his United States Championship to Shinsuke Nakamura, albeit a welcome one. LA Knight’s reign has been lacklustre at best so adding some jeopardy was a welcome addition.
The match was okay. LA Knight is not the best in-ring and Nakamura is nowhere near his New Japan peak, but the pair worked well together.
Hopefully this isn’t the end of the feud because Nakamura has been fun these last few weeks with his new “assassin” character.
- Dave Meltzer’s Star Rating: 2.25
- Cagematch Rating: 5.93
- Wrestling Classic Match Rating: 2.5 Stars
Intercontinental Championship: Bron Breakker vs Ludwig Kaiser vs Sheamus
Arguably the best match of the night saw Bron Breakker retain his Intercontinental Championship against Sheamus and Ludwig Kaiser.
It was an exciting sprint to the finish. Bron Breakker is turning into a great worker and demolished the pair with his power and speed to keep hold of his gold.
Sadly, Sheamus once again fails to win the belt. It is starting to look like he’s never become a grand slam champion so he needs to pull his socks off and win a big match for once.
- Dave Meltzer’s Star Rating: 4.25 Stars
- Cagematch Rating: 8.03
- Wrestling Classic Match Rating: 4 Stars
World Heavyweight Championship: Gunther vs Damian Priest
A solid match. Damian Priest still struggles to impress in these big matches, as he did during his time as champion.
Despite being one of the best workers in the world, Gunther struggles to make this anything better than simply “good”.
The pair failed to improve on their Summerslam performance, which itself wasn’t a great representation of what a world title match should be.
Fine, but not worth a rewatch any time soon.
- Dave Meltzer’s Star Rating: 3.75 Stars
- Cagematch Rating: 6.81
- Wrestling Classic Match Rating: 3 Stars
War Games: Roman Reigns, Sami Zayn, The Usos & CM Punk vs. Solo Sikoa, Jacob Fatu, Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa & “Big” Bronson Reed
The big match that the show was sold on did not disappoint with its all-star cast and heated rivalry. It told a predictable story that was executed well and had a gradual build-up that crescendoed by the finish.
The implications laid forth by the match make it more interesting, namely with the future of Paul Heyman and a feud between CM Punk and Roman Reigns. This is arguably the closest to a five-star match for Survivor Series 2024 and ended the show on a high note with a victory for the OG Bloodline.
- Dave Meltzer’s Star Rating: 4.25 Stars
- Cagematch Rating: 8.29
- Wrestling Classic Match Rating: 4 Stars
