One other Survivor Collection has come and gone, and as in years previous, the present featured not one however two Battle Video games matches, a brand new WWE United States Champion, myriad accidents, and an virtually cash-in from Tiffany Stratton.
It is that point then, to interrupt down the Winners and the Losers of final evening’s present. As all the time, the literal wins and losses {of professional} wrestling do not matter right here, that is what our outcomes web page is for. As a substitute, it’ll deal with who appeared good, who appeared unhealthy, who’s on high of the mountain, and who’s acquired an extended, onerous highway to Calvary. Even on a present with solely 5 matches, there have been nonetheless loads of winners and loads of losers.
With out additional ado, the winners and losers of Survivor Collection: Battle Video games.
Winner: The Idea of Teamwork
Have a look at the workforce above, you will have two brothers who fought one another in April, the cousin who spent three years enjoying them towards one another, the Quebecer who has been both betrayed or attacked by all three of them, and eventually locker room struggle aficionado CM Punk. I spent a lot of the construct to Survivor Collection telling my co-workers that they have been loopy for believing these 5 guys may work collectively in any productive method. I used to be flawed. As the Stephen Schwartz tune says, “There could be miracles while you consider.”
It speaks to the unified aggression of The New Bloodline that 4 of WWE’s high stars and Jimmy Uso gave the impression to be the underdogs heading into Survivor Collection, however the males have been in a position to put their seemingly limitless baggage behind them and acquired the win over Solo Sikoa and his crew. Their communication wasn’t all the time good, and Punk and Reigns clearly bristled towards one another a number of occasions, however nonetheless “The Second Metropolis Saint” and “The Tribal Chief” stood victorious and united.
The Ladies’s Battle Video games was an equally inspirational exhibiting, with Bayley and her former Injury CTRL working mate Iyo Sky uniting alongside the motley crew of Rhea Ripley, Naomi, and Bianca Belair to beat a far-more divided workforce. Tiffany Stratton’s close to cash-in on Jax underlined simply how little belief there really was amongst the heels. Perhaps it is the hangover from the latest election, however it was good to see each Battle Video games matches be the story of disparate sides coming collectively towards a typical enemy.
Loser: Andrade
On Saturday, a weary husk of a former IWGP Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion who lit up the 2010s with depth defeated Knight, and no I’m not speaking about Andrade, I’m speaking about Shinsuke Nakamura. Nakamura’s win is a loss for Andrade, as he is so just like Nakamura that I can not assist however marvel the place he went flawed.
Andrade and Carmelo Hayes have been battling one another for a lot of 2024, having a highly-praised sequence of matches that led to them coming into the WWE United States Championship hunt. Neither man was in a position to finest Slim Jim spokesperson LA Knight, and for Hayes, it is not such a difficulty. He is a younger star who’s taking advantage of his begin on the primary roster. There is no such thing as a motive to consider that he will not recuperate from this and sometime maintain main-roster gold. I want the identical could possibly be mentioned for Andrade.
Andrade blew up his WWE profession to move to AEW after which blew up his AEW profession to move to WWE. Now he is coming into the waning days of his prime with no strong foothold. Exterior of a run with the WWE Pace Championship, it looks like Andrade is simply as misplaced within the shuffle in WWE as he was in AEW. It is potential he can re-enter the US Title hunt and re-ignite his decade-old feud with Nakamura, however that runs the danger of exhibiting audiences simply how far each males have fallen since then.
Winner: Paul Levesque
22 years in the past, Paul Levesque advised that WWE ought to make its personal model of Battle Video games. Often called “The Elimination Chamber,” the match debuted at Survivor Collection in WWE’s house venue of Madison Sq. Backyard. 22 years later, Levesque has his cake and is consuming it too.
Levesque, now now not compelled to recommend issues and let guys like Eric Bischoff take credit score for them, is now working WWE, and it’s a WWE that each makes use of his unique Elimination Chamber idea and in addition now formally runs the Battle Video games matches of his little WCW fan coronary heart. Purists would possibly take concern with WWE’s model of Battle Video games, however it would not change the truth that Levesque has revived a wrestling custom that clearly meant one thing to him.
I am not the largest fan of the working bit the place Levesque is proven as a lot as potential, sucking up the adulation of the WWE followers and the reward of content material creators within the post-show press conferences. It won’t be in good style, however it’s actually a win that his title is uttered as a lot as any important eventer of the occasions he places collectively. The WWE Universe is Paul Levesque’s universe and we’re merely residing in it.
Loser: Bronson Reed
The time period de jure in the meanwhile is “escalation.” All the pieces in wrestling proper now’s caught up in an limitless cycle of escalation. In the identical method, personal fairness should continuously preserve the beneficial properties coming in and the road going up, wrestling retains getting larger, quicker, and extra harmful, and guys like Adam Copeland, Braun Strowman, and now Bronson Reed are all paying the worth for this escalation. It’s now not “Go huge or go house,” however as a substitute “Go huge and go house (with an harm).”
Bronson Reed tousled one or each of his ankles from leaping off the highest of the Battle Video games cage and crashing by nothing greater than a skinny desk. The second was emotional, the self-serving Punk saving his teammate Roman Reigns from annihilation, however it would not change the truth that as of publication, Reed nonetheless was having bother strolling. Add him to the listing with Braun Strowman, who’s recovering from a groin harm suffered towards Reed. Adam Copeland was taken out of motion for months doing the same stunt earlier this 12 months, regardless of his superior age and harm historical past.
Reed is one other case of wrestlers clearly developing with one thing in a online game, and assuming that they have been as invincible as their digital avatars. Add in Jimmy Uso’s damaged toe, and Jacob Fatu’s near-miss on a Moonsault, and it felt like a very reckless match that claimed at the very least one sufferer. I usually discover myself saying to buddies and wrestlers alike, “Keep in mind that these are folks.” They’re flesh and blood, and it appears too many as of late have purchased into the kayfabe that they’re indestructible supermen.
