WWE Survivor Series WarGames 2025: Draws & Duds

WWE Survivor Series goes to war for the fourth straight year this Saturday, as San Diego plays host to the 2025 edition of WarGames! It's a show with a ton of star power, and not just in the men's and women's WarGames matches — Nikki Bella is wrestling in her first world title match since 2018 in an effort to dethrone Women's World Champion Stephanie Vaquer, while newly-crowned Grand Slam Champion John Cena defends his men's Intercontinental Championship against the man he took it from, AAA Mega Champion "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio.

So where the WINC staff's hype levels heading into Survivor Series? As always, it depends which match you're talking about — and as you'll see, we don't always agree amongst ourselves! Where are we at with the WarGames builds? How are we feeling about Dominik Mysterio getting two John Cena matches? And most importantly — no really, where are we at with the WarGames builds? These are our biggest draws and biggest duds for WWE Survivor Series: WarGames 2025!

The involvement of AJ Lee and Becky Lynch is enough to classify the Women's WarGames match as an outstanding Draw. Both heel and babyface WarGames teams are set, with the team of Lynch, Nia Jax, Lash Legend, and The Kabuki Warriors set to take on Lee, Rhea Ripley, IYO SKY, Alexa Bliss, and Charlotte Flair. The additions of Lee and Lynch to an already star-studded lineup takes this rom a shockingly middling match-up to one worthy of the main event.

This year's WarGames build has been a snoozefest. Sure, WWE attempted to add intrigue with Flair's WarGames "will-she-won't-she" angle, but otherwise, WarGames has been underwhelming — shocking, considering the talent involved. There just haven't been many exciting developments this year: the experienced SKY, Ripley, Flair, Asuka, and Bliss were write-ins for the match, and new faces Legend and Jax are just not big enough draws. Combine the "seen-it-before" line-up with "been-there-done-that" segments, and you have an underwhelming WarGames build.

Enter: Lee and Lynch. While Lynch is familiar with WarGames, Lee is braving the double-ring set-up for the first time, and this will be her first activity since her return and subsequent mixed tag match with CM Punk, Seth Rollins, and Lynch. The Lee/Lynch story is hot right now, and Survivor Series benefits massively from their combined participation, which spices up what would otherwise have been very much a can-miss WarGames match.

Written by Angeline Phu

It was one thing to spend one of John Cena's last appearances finally making him the Intercontinental Champion. That makes a ton of sense. Extending the feud with Dominik Mysterio and running a rematch at Survivor Series? Makes significantly less sense.

Beyond the fact that we're now giving two of Cena's last matches to Dirty Dom, let's consider the potential outcomes here. Door #1: Cena retains. I'd have two complaints — first that one of WWE's only promising young stars has now been served up to Cena twice in a row, second that the rematch was pointless apart from the San Diego of it all. And yet, I'd certainly call it the better of the two outcomes, because it leads to Cena defending (and presumably losing) the title at Saturday Night's Main Event in his last match.

However, I think it's far more likely Mysterio retakes the belt at Survivor Series, setting Cena up for a title-free last match that he could potentially win. If that's not happening, why book this match? Why not have Cena replace Jimmy Uso on the men's WarGames team? I don't see any reason to book the match other than to switch the title back, which is the real bummer of the thing. His brief run with the one belt he never held could have been a reasonably poetic story for Cena to go out on; if he loses the title, it was basically just another box to check, and he's free to win his retirement match if they want him to, which I always hate. And if he retains the title ... why was this match booked? Who was out there clamoring for Cena/Dom 2? Just have him lose the title in his last match to the winner of the tournament, which gives the tournament more prestige, and if you just had to give him a title defense between now and then, give the match to someone more interesting than "the previous champion." Cena/Dom 2 is a lose-lose scenario.

Written by Miles Schneiderman

It would be difficult to say that the Men's WarGames match, presumably the main event of this year's Survivor Series with that very tag line, is to be considered anything but a draw. Even if there are some very valid complaints and "Dude, seriously?" aspects to the match – namely the inclusion of Logan Paul and Brock Lesnar. Still, those complaints center around the immorality of booking people of their ilk – a subjective opinion, strokes and folks and all that – and it's not as though Paul jumping off of something tall or Lesnar throwing people around within the double steel cage doesn't come off as a fun time. It is just that, as I will stress for the last time, neither do they need to be in the match – argue all you want, they don't – nor are they objectively better than the array of talent WWE has at its disposal. 

Nevertheless, the match is still going to be a draw, because professional wrestling has never been one to reward good ethics. It's a WarGames match pitting CM Punk, the World Heavyweight Champion, Cody Rhodes, the WWE Champion, The Usos, one of the greatest tag teams of all time, and Roman Reigns, arguably the biggest name on the roster, against the team of Bronson Reed and Bron Breakker, the much-availed "Future of WWE," Logan Paul, a divisively controversial internet star, Drew McIntyre, the "Chosen One" who returned to take it all, and Brock Lesnar, legitimately a super athlete and, although marred for those with valid ethical objections, remains one of the most decorated names of all time. 

As it would turn out, stacking your top names in a match the event is named for ranks as a draw in this writer's opinion. Are there things I would do differently if I were in charge? Sure. Considering the names in the match, has the build been lacking? Absolutely. But for better or for worse, if you were to ask 100 WWE fans what they were looking forward to when all is said and done, it would likely be the men's WarGames match. And it will probably be fun in any case.

Written by Max Everett

The longer you think about the men's WarGames match, the less sense it makes, making this a clear dud for the show, despite how exciting it all may actually end up at the conclusion. The match was solidified with just under two weeks to go until the event, and it will be World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk teaming with Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes, Jimmy and Jey Uso, and a newly returned Roman Reigns to take on The Vision's Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed, Logan Paul, Drew McIntyre, and an also recently returned Brock Lesnar.

It was Lesnar to return first on the November 17 edition of "WWE Raw," and after "The Beast Incarnate" tore through some of the babyface team, it was Reigns to return to confront him. However, Reigns initially told The Usos back at Crown Jewel when he lost his match against Reed, he didn't want to see them "until Christmas." Perhaps Reigns got his holidays wrong, and really meant Thanksgiving. It's likely the storyline will be that Reigns couldn't watch his family get beaten down by Lesnar, and that's why he had to make his return, but with how dramatic the line about not seeing the Usos for awhile was, it doesn't make much sense. Reigns and Punk also have history, making this decision quite odd.

Jimmy's inclusion in the match also leaves a lot to be desired. He's teaming with a bunch of former and current world champions, and it feels like this spot on the "Avengers"-esque team should have gone to John Cena. While the argument could be made that WarGames may be too tough for Cena at this point, the star just won the Elimination Chamber earlier in the year, and he could easily be the last man in the WarGames cage to protect him.

McIntyre's inclusion just feels like it's for the sake of giving him something to do, as the poor guy can't get any victories when it comes to big matches these days, and he was just defeated by Rhodes at Saturday Night's Main Event. Paul also feels like he came out of nowhere, and his work with Punk where the champion actually trusted him for a minute wasn't WWE's best work and it made the World Heavyweight Champion seem stupid.

The men's WarGames match may be a dud in terms of leadup to the show, but at least the teams were solidified well before the premium live event, as the same can't exactly be said for the women's bout. There are a few gaping holes in the choices for participants that are pretty glaring when you think about their motivations, but at least the in-ring action will be interesting.

Written by Daisy Ruth