After a hopefully relaxing and enjoyable Thanksgiving, we hope you’re ready to join your pro wrestling family — the Uncrowned Horsemen — for a preview of this weekend’s Survivor Series: WarGames premium live event.
As always, Drake Riggs, Kel Dansby, Pen Shamrock and Anthony Sulla-Heffinger are going to be breaking down five of the biggest questions and themes ahead of Survivor Series: WarGames, including who is the MVP of the Bloodline saga as we enter the Civil War era of the story.
So pull up a chair, grab some grub and join us for a five-course meal of takes — and let’s all hope it doesn’t end up like the holiday dinner scene from “The Bear.” (We know that happened on Christmas Eve in the show, but never let the calendar get in the way of a good meme.)
Sulla-Heffinger: The stars on both sides of the Bloodline story are like WWE’s version of the 1927 New York Yankees — aka Murderers’ Row — and seemingly everyone brings something different to the table. For me, though, the MVP has to be Jey Uso, who has raised the emotional stakes of the Bloodline story and elevated himself into arguably the most over non-Roman Reigns or Cody Rhodes babyface in all of WWE. The storyline angle of him and Reigns being equals in the OG Bloodline is extremely believable, and after more than a decade of showing how talented of a tag star he is, Uso isn’t far off from a well-deserved Undisputed WWE Championship or World Heavyweight Championship run.
Riggs: Anthony’s choice of Jey Uso is the one that first pops to mind because this whole thing turned him into a star. Who are we kidding though? It’s the centerpiece and genesis of The Bloodline, the “Original Tribal Chief” Roman Reigns. This entire story does not exist without him. He is quite literally the definition of Most Valuable Player. Solo Sikoa wants to be this guy and that’s what they’re fighting now. Any other answer is wrong. Sorry, Anthony.
Shamrock: TLDR six-word sum up: Solo Sikoa is the Bloodline’s MVP.
While Roman Reigns’ star shines brightest and he’s expected to be the obvious choice here, but we’re Uncrowned, so I think it’s worth shining some light on the Bloodline’s unsung MVP, Solo Sikoa.
Momentarily remove the influence of merchandise sales and insane crowd pops from the forefront of criteria and consider the man who built a bridge that kept the Bloodline story prominently featured from Reigns’ post-Wrestlemania XL absence to his return. Just think, one of professional wrestling’s all-time great storylines could’ve cooled off and congealed into something unappealing and indigestible, but Sikoa (along with Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa and Jacob Fatu) ensured that the cooking never stopped and the pot’s contents never fell beneath a steady simmer.
While Jey Uso has been the most active in 2024 as far as wrestling matches, there were times he veered away from Bloodline-related activity to establish himself as a bonafide superstar (and an Intercontinental Champion). That’s paying dividends since he’s been prominently reinserted into Bloodline business as an even bigger star, but make no mistake, the main reason there’s a story to return to is because Sikoa kept the stovetop hot.
Thank you for powering through this food-prep analogy with me, blame it on Thanksgiving weekend.
Dansby: The Bloodline story began in August 2020. Let that sink in. We are almost five years into the saga of The Tribal Chief, Roman Reigns, but it’s hard to name him as the MVP. Instead, I’ll bend the rules and declare there are co-MVPs: Jey Uso and Sami Uso — well, Zayn.
Main Event Jey has become massively over, with his star rising as a singles superstar. Much of that can be attributed to his subplot with Zayn in the Bloodline. The “can we trust him?” angle from 2022, when Sami first joined, highlighted the chemistry between them and allowed Roman Reigns to take much of that summer off TV. Their recent reunion reminded everyone why these two are so good together, so I refuse to split them up when choosing an MVP.
Riggs: WarGames and it’s not close. Our readers should surely know by now that I love me some violence and a good old-fashioned wrestling car crash. WarGames is a consistent deliverer of both. The Survivor Series matches were ultimately pointless too. Battling for brand supremacy during the years of no roster split made zero sense. Why did wrestlers care when they weren’t exclusive to one show? Occasionally we’d get great things from it, of course. But more often than not it was for the sake of tradition and never a match planned with significance hanging in the balance.
Sulla-Heffinger: It has to be WarGames. There’s so much history behind it and it’s such a unique match that it’s very hard to sell a five-on-five elimination tag-team contest as being more entertaining or enjoyable. I would love to see WarGames and Survivor Series be separated, perhaps giving the former its own PLE akin to Hell in a Cell and Money in the Bank. Mostly, I enjoy WarGames because it’s evidence of the continued evolution of WWE. Having been revived in NXT and as so many of the stars from the Black and Gold era make their presence felt on the main roster, WarGames is another example of how integral NXT has been in shaping the WWE product for the past decade.
Dansby: Triple H bringing War Games from NXT to the main roster has revitalized the Survivor Series franchise. Survivor Series had become stale due to the brand split, with teams fighting for brand “respect” that never felt meaningful. That said, the original five-on-five Survivor Series format remains the best version.
There’s something nostalgic about five random babyfaces finding common ground and teaming up to thwart their foes each year. That format was a brilliant way to get a lot of talent in the ring simultaneously while pairing superstars who may not have crossed paths otherwise.
Shamrock: I always enjoyed the possibility of a sole survivor leading their team to a win, but WarGames is beautifully chaotic and overstimulating in the best way. With respect to the classic Survivor Series match, WarGames is cage-confined chaos and I’d never say no to that. Matter of fact, let’s WarGame-ify more stuff. Imagine a Royal Rumble: WarGames. Scooch two rings together and have 60 entrants battle it out.
Dansby: I’m not the biggest fan of the choices for the fifth person on either team. Bronson Reed’s look and demeanor fit perfectly with the new Bloodline, so he stays. CM Punk, while generating a massive pop, doesn’t offer long-term storytelling benefits in this context, and teasing a Roman feud feels premature. For that reason, Punk gets the boot.
Cody Rhodes should be feuding with a heel Randy Orton right now, which would free Kevin Owens to join the OG Bloodline as a favor to Zayn. Owens screwing them over and leaving Zayn hanging during the match would be a fun heel move, finally setting up the Owens vs. Zayn WrestleMania match fans have been craving.
Riggs: This is a tricky one for me because I think less would be more for both matches. The women should be a three-on-three and the men a four-on-four. I want to see lesser numbers experimented with eventually. If I had to pick one, I’m going to kick it old school and toss out CM Punk for Rikishi so he can join his kids for some throwback chaos. As long as he doesn’t get tossed off the top of the cage, everyone wins.
Shamrock: Nothing is going to top Drake’s Rikishi suggestion, but were the “Moana 2” press tour not ruining it, I’d have loved to replace CM Punk with The Rock for all that will-he-won’t-he heel-turn tension. I’m also shocked Cody Rhodes has no involvement, but I believe he’ll find his way to Survivor Series, as my off-the-wall prediction shall soon reflect.
Sulla-Heffinger: I would swap Bronson Reed for Kevin Owens. Reed may wind up stealing the show on Saturday night, especially if he lands a tsunami off the top of the cage, but without Seth Rollins joining up with the OG Bloodline, I am having a hard time buying into his involvement. Getting Owens involved really helps keep Cody Rhodes on the fringe of the current iteration of the Bloodline story. We are getting Rhodes and Owens at Saturday Night Main Event next month, having the latter involved in WarGames could leave the door open for the Undisputed WWE Champion to advance his secondary story as we push toward WrestleMania in five to six months.
Sulla-Heffinger: Incomplete is the fairly obvious answer here, but I am going to give Punk a solid B for his first year back in WWE. After suffering an injury in the Royal Rumble, Punk only wrestled three times, all against Drew McIntyre on PLEs. Granted, the matches were awesome, he still garners a huge pop and is a total pro with the microphone. I don’t think we’re ever going to see Punk wrestling every week again, but if the first year is any indication, quality is going to easily trump quantity.
Riggs: I’ll concede to Anthony on this one. He summarized it pretty perfectly. The inactivity has held Punk from an A-, at worst. His WrestleMania involvement in Damian Priest’s cash-in alone will stick with me forever. Wrestling moments like those are the things I love oh-so-much about this silly weekly spectacle. The Drew McIntyre feud was executed far better than I expected considering the circumstances it was dealt and length it required. It’s crazy that Punk still has this much to give, but what he’s giving is always good. We just need more.
Dansby: Punk’s first year in WWE earns an incomplete due to his bicep injury at the Royal Rumble in January, which caused him to miss WrestleMania. But playing along with the theme, I’ll give him a B.
His ability to build a feud with Drew McIntyre while injured was brilliant and showcased what Punk does best: Agitate. Getting involved in Drew’s WrestleMania title celebration and enabling Damian Priest’s cash-in was a great way to include him and set up their summer feud.
That feud had its ups and downs but culminated in one of the best Hell in a Cell matches in WWE history. So, why only a B? Because after that match, Punk took more time off. His year boils down to one feud and a surprise return to join the OG Bloodline. While solid, it’s not enough to warrant an A.
Shamrock: A+. Five stars. Two thumbs up. It’s been great. No notes.
Riggs: Ludwig Kaiser will miss-time a near Intercontinental title victory early in the night before the World Heavyweight Championship match. Frustrated with his shortcoming, Kaiser’s desire to keep proving himself as his own man leads him to ultimately turn on Gunther and cost “The Ring General” the title. A chop-filled ultra villain feud awaits!
Sulla-Heffinger: Shinsuke Nakamura squashes LA Knight. This isn’t exactly “off the wall,” considering that Pen hinted at a Nakamura win in his “Good, Bad and Ugly” column last week, but I do think it needs to be completely dominant. Knight has proven that he does not need a title to be among the biggest stars on “WWE SmackDown,” so throw some serious adversity in his way in the form of a nearly indestructible force in this new version of Nakamura.
Dansby: The New Bloodline winning War Games isn’t “off-the-wall,” so here’s something more shocking: We see a new Intercontinental Champion crowned at Survivor Series.
Ludwig Kaiser has been brilliant on TV and is overdue for a strong singles push. The addition of Sheamus allows Kaiser to pin someone other than Bron Breakker to win the title, which is key for keeping Bron strong heading into 2025. Kaiser and Gunther both showing up on “WWE Raw” wearing gold would be a spectacular sight.
Shamrock: “Wicked” tops “Moana 2” in this weekend’s box office.
OK, that’s probably too off the wall, but something wild I could see happening is The Rock momentarily stepping away from promoting a film that’s still undoubtedly going to make loads of money so he can pop up at the end of WarGames in a way that mirrors Punk’s return last year. Either The Rock’s entrance will distract Reigns, resulting in him losing, or he’ll come out after The Bloodline wins and deliver a People’s Eyebrow that we’ll dissect and debate the meaning of.
Sulla-Heffinger: Cranberry sauce. Almost every other Thanksgiving food is completely acceptable to eat at other times during the year, but if you break out cranberry sauce any other time than the fourth Thursday in November, you might be a psychopath. For this one weekend, though, I LOVE it.
Also, no disrespect to anyone who makes it from scratch, but it HAS to be from the can.
Shamrock: Taking advantage of Black Friday sales to buy a new appliance or electronic device. This year I might upgrade my TV. I know I’m probably part of this country/world’s consumerism problem, but think about how sick WarGames will look on a 65-inch OLED 4K UHD display.
Dansby: Thanksgiving food is an easy cop-out answer — no disrespect to those who choose it. The real treat of Thanksgiving weekend is dusting off old cleats and playing in the local Turkey Bowl football game.
Few things are better than seeing 30- and 40-year-olds attempt to recreate high-school feats, only to realize their bodies no longer cooperate. The Turkey Bowl brings a youthful joy to your life while humbling you for the next 364 days.
Riggs: I’m not going to lie to you guys. Thanksgiving food really is not great. I don’t think there are any standouts. Sure, a good ham can be a treat, but that’s still just ham. Gravy? You get excited to have gravy once a year? Nah, man. Couldn’t be me.
Spending time with your favorite people is objectively the best part about Thanksgiving, despite being something everyone should try to do regularly. Thankful for you all, I promise. Cheers!
Men’s WarGames match: Reigns/Uso/Uso/Zayn/Punk (Riggs, Shamrock) vs. Sikoa/Fatu/Tonga/Loa/Reed (Dansby, Sulla-Heffinger)
Women’s WarGames match: Belair/Sky/Naomi/Ripley/Bayley (Dansby, Riggs, Shamrock, Sulla-Heffinger) vs. Jax/Morgan/Stratton/LeRae/Rodriguez
World Heavyweight Championship match: Gunther (Dansby, Shamrock, Sulla-Heffinger) vs. Damian Priest (Riggs)
United States Championship match: LA Knight (Dansby, Riggs, Shamrock) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (Sulla-Heffinger)
Intercontinental Championship match: Bron Breakker (Shamrock) vs. Sheamus (Riggs, Sulla-Heffinger) vs. Ludwig Kaiser (Dansby)
Standings:
Dansby: 10-0
Riggs: 7-3
Shamrock: 7-3
Sulla-Heffinger: 6-4
