Joe Tessitore announced a sold-out crowd for Desert Diamond
Arena in Glendale. Bianca Belair and Naomi, Nia Jax and
Tiffany Stratton, Ludwig Kaiser, Bron Breakker, the War
Raiders, and Judgment Day arrived at the arena. Tessitore
said the other WarGames competitors would be banned from
ringside for the Belair vs. Jax advantage match.

Survivor Series on Saturday begins at 6 pm ET/3 pm PT.

Gunther and Damian Priest segment

Jackie Redmond interviewed Gunther in the ring. Redmond
aired a replay of Gunther’s failed blindside attack on
Damian Priest last week. Redmond said it feels like we’ve
seen a different side of Gunther since he lost to Cody
Rhodes and she reiterated the points made by Priest.

Gunther struggled to find the words and was interrupted by
Priest before he could respond. Redmond was about to leave,
but Priest asked her to hand her microphone to Gunther
first. Priest wanted to see if Gunther had grown a set over
the last week.


Priest figured Gunther wanted us to believe that the old
Gunther was back, but they both knew that wasn’t true. His
killer vibe was gone. Gunther used to say whatever he wanted
to anybody, and they wouldn’t dare make a move.

Gunther had accomplished a lot in his career but Priest knew
that his insecurities were because he had never had to face
a problem like Priest. Priest wondered what would happen to
the Ring General when he lost to a guy from the street.

Gunther still struggled to find the words. He turned his
back to leave but instead decked Priest with the mic.
Gunther hammered away at him and cleared the announce table
but Priest shoved him into the ring post and gave him a
Razor’s Edge through the table. Priest posed with the belt
and chucked it onto the fallen Gunther.


********

Bianca Belair told Naomi that Jade Cargill was banged up and
would be out for a while, but they would go after whoever
did it once they figured it out. Naomi said they first
needed to find a fifth member for WarGames.

Iyo Sky showed up and suggested Kairi Sane. Belair liked
Sane but wasn’t sure about adding more Damage CTRL. Naomi
suggested Bayley, but Belair liked that even less. Naomi and
Sky plead their cases until Rhea Ripley showed up.

Ripley didn’t care who their partner was as long as they
could hold their weight and stay out of her way (to go after
Liv Morgan). Belair sarcastically applauded her leadership.
Belair left and told them to figure it out.


********

Tornado tag team match: Julius & Brutus Creed defeated Rey
Mysterio & Dragon Lee (10:45)

LWO was on offence early, but when Dragon Lee went for a
double foot stomp off the ropes onto Brutus, Julius leaped
to the top rope and hit a superplex. Moments later, Rey went
for a 619, but Julius clobbered him with a clothesline.
After a break, Julius hit Rey with a 450, but Dragon Lee
broke up the cover and hit a tornado DDT but Brutus broke up
that cover.

The Creeds setup Dragon Lee for a superplex, but Rey tripped
them by hitting Julius with a 619. Lee followed with a
double foot stomp on both guys. Rey hit Brutus with a diving
splash but Julius blocked Lee’s dive and drove him into the
side of the ring. Rey set up Julius for a 619, but Brutus
got in his way.


Rey tossed Brutus toward the referee, and Brutus
accidentally on purpose distracted the ref. While the ref
was distracted, Gable appeared on the apron and twisted
Rey’s mask around so he couldn’t see. Julius put Rey in a
schoolboy for the pinfall win.

(If you haven’t been watching, they’ve been leaning in on
Brutus acting like a goof. He pointed and cackled at his
opponents several times during this match and after they
won. I suppose it’s telling that Julius got to hit most of
the flashy offence and got to pin Rey.)

*******

They aired the return of Paul Heyman and CM Punk on
SmackDown and focused on how many views the video received.

Cody Rhodes will be on Jimmy Fallon on November 28th.


********

Judgment Day met in the back. Liv Morgan seemed worried
about WarGames but Finn Bálor tried to cheer her up. R-Truth
showed up to agree with Bálor. Truth was hiding from
“Butch.” Bálor told him to get out. Truth was upset and said
Thanksgiving was off. He left.

Bálor was upset now. He told Morgan that her team needed to
get the advantage, considering their opponents in WarGames.
He was upset with Dom, too, but wanted to be positive. He
was happy that Dom and Carlito softened up the War Raiders
last week. They were good team players, and that teamwork
would help him and JD McDonagh remain tag champs. Morgan and
Rodriguez would win WarGames, and it would be a great week
for Judgment Day.


Bálor was about to say something about listening to him
leading to success but McDonagh cut him off to say they were
one big, happy family. Bálor agreed. (McDonagh likely cut
him off because he could tell Bálor was about to say
something the rest of Judgment Day wouldn’t like.)

*********

Non-title match: Ludgwig Kaiser defeated Intercontinental
Champion Bron Breakker via disqualification (8:56)

Bron was looking good early, but when he went for a running
spear around the ring, Kaiser dodged it, and Bron crashed
into the corner of the announce table at one hundred miles
an hour. After a break, the crowd chanted, “Let’s go, Bron,”
and he came back with a Frankensteiner. He went for a spear,
but Kaiser hit an enziguri.


Kaiser left the ring and was attacked from behind by Sheamus
for the DQ. Bron confronted Sheamus as officials ran down.
They began taking swings at each other and Kaiser joined in
as they went to break.

— All three men continued to brawl after the break. A
pissed-off Adam Pearce marched out to announce a triple
threat match for the title at Survivor Series.

(The crowd popped when he initially made the announcement
because it seemed like the match would be tonight, but he
mentioned Survivor Series at the end.)

********

[SECOND HOUR]

They aired a longer video recap of the Bloodline angle from
Smackdown.

Interview with Sami Zayn and The Usos

Cathy Kelley interviewed Sami Zayn, Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso in
the back. Zayn admitted they were shocked at Heyman’s
announcement of CM Punk. Zayn never imagined their partner
would be Punk.

He called Punk a complicated guy, and anyone who has known
him has a complicated history with him, including Roman
Reigns. Punk and Reigns would sit down and talk on Friday.
Zayn wanted to trust Punk but wondered if he could. Jimmy
was sure they could trust him because they trusted the Wise
Man.

Jey Uso cut a fiery promo saying he would whoop Jacob Fatu’s
ass on Friday, and they would all go to war on Saturday.

********

Finn Bálor & JD McDonagh defeated The War Raiders to retain
the World Tag Team Championships (9:54)

They went to break a minute into the match with the Raiders
in control, but Judgment Day was in control anyway after the
break. They targeted Erik’s previously injured neck, and
McDonagh gave him a neckbreaker. Ivar eventually got the hot
tag and he ran wild on McDonagh. They hit McDonagh with an
assisted powerslam, but Bálor (barely) broke up the cover.


Dom and Carlito ran out and leaped on the apron, but Erik
and Ivar knocked them off. The referee watched this all
transpire. The Raiders hit McDonagh with War Machine, but
Dom put McDonagh’s foot on the rope for a rope break. The
ref saw this, so he ejected Dom.

Dom wouldn’t leave, so Erik knocked him and Carlito over
with a tackle. With the ref distracted, Bálor knocked Ivar
off the top and he fell onto the ropes. McDonagh cradled
Ivar for the pinfall win.

(This wasn’t much of a match and it was another tag match
tonight that ended with the heels cheating to win on a ref
distraction. The only other match so far tonight ended in a
DQ.)


*******

The New Day’s 10th-anniversary celebration was announced for
next week. Big E was all over the video but only Kofi
Kingston and Xavier Woods were in the graphic.

Woods and Kingston were in Gorilla. Woods wanted to squash
whatever beef they had over the past few months. They said
they loved each other, and Kingston was proud of everything
they’ve accomplished. Woods said next week would be the
greatest night of their career. Kingston was excited to show
everyone what they were all about tonight.

********

Vanessa Hudgens was shown at ringside.

Otis & Akira Tozawa (w/Maxxine Dupri) defeated Kofi Kingston
& Xavier Woods (1:07)

Despite seemingly making up early, New Day were on different
pages as soon as the bell rang. They couldn’t agree on who
started the match. Kingston started but Woods immediately
tagged himself in. Otis nailed him with a back elbow and
Tozawa hit him with a diving senton for the pinfall win. The
crowd seemed surprised at the finish.


(Before this, Otis’ last televised win was on NXT about a
year ago. I believe this was his was his first win on Raw or
Smackdown since July of 2023.)

— Kingston and Woods argued all the way to the back. The
camera followed them to the back, where they finally
imploded.

Woods said Kingston was wrestling like garbage. Kingston
said he’s been trying to help Woods for weeks. Woods took
every opportunity and fumbled them. He fumbled his title
shot and his crown. There was a reason he and Big E didn’t
let Woods call the shots—because he was too reckless.

Woods said Kingston was too gutless to take his shot and
only did it when Woods joined them. Kingston became champion
because of him.

Kingston said he was already a Hall of Famer before they
ever met—that’s why Woods came to them, not the other way
around. There was a reason Woods still hasn’t won a singles
championship. Woods has never been a world champion because
he wasn’t good enough.

Woods said he was good enough to fight for Kingston and take
beatings for him. The people believed in him, just like he
did, and that led to KofiMania. They handed it to him, but
he pissed it away in six seconds to Brock Lesnar.

Kingston seemed ready to fight him if he were anyone else,
but Woods knew he wouldn’t do it no matter who it was.
Kingston said, “I’ll see you at the reunion, brother.” Woods
responded, “See you at the anniversary.” Kingston left.

(These guys were great here, and the crowd was into this.)

********

The Miz frantically approached Final Testament and warned
them that he saw the Wyatts. Karrion Kross wasn’t concerned
after Miz said they didn’t see him. Kross was ready to play
games with the Wyatts. Kross told Scarlett to stay in the
back and out of danger. The rest of them left, and AOP
dragged Miz with them.

Scarlett looked in the mirror and saw Nikki Cross standing
behind her. The camera suddenly cut away.

After a break, Miz and Final Testament ran into Pete Dunne
(after they couldn’t find the Wyatts). Dunne wondered if
they saw Truth. Miz said no and invited Dunne to beat up
Truth on his behalf.

They went back to their locker room but found Scarlett on
the floor. Scarlett was out of it and she attacked Kross,
not realizing who he was at first. He consoled her as she
told him it was Nikki Cross who attacked her. The camera
panned out to show, “Everyone has something to lose,”
written on the mirror in red lipstick.

*******

Women’s Intercontinental Championship announcement

They aired a clip taped earlier tonight (before Raw went on
the air) of Pearce making an announcement. He introduced the
Women’s Intercontinental Championship (a white strap with
plates identical to the other version). A tournament will
begin next week to crown a new champion. No names were
announced.

********

There was a Solo Sikoa video promo pushing Friday’s
advantage match and Saturday’s WarGames.

********

Nia Jax met with Tiffany Stratton, Candice LeRae, Morgan,
and Rodriguez. They were full of confidence with the other
team down one member. Jax was ready to squash Belair.

WarGames advantage match: Bianca Belair defeated Nia Jax
(11:07)

Jax took control ahead of an early break by chucking Belair
into the barricade. Belair fought back but Jax avoided a
standing moonsault and hit a leg drop for two. Jax followed
with a diving leg drop off the middle rope for two.

With Jax standing on the middle rope again, Belair press
slammed her down and hit a standing moonsault for a
nearfall. Jax responded with a Samoan drop and went to the
middle rope for an Annihilator, but Belair brought her down
with a German suplex. Jax ripped off the top turnbuckle
cover in the process.

Jax splashed Belair into the exposed turnbuckle and gave her
a Samoan drop onto the announce table (which didn’t break).
Jax saw that this wasn’t enough for a count-out, so she
drove Belair into the steel steps.

Jax posed on the middle rope, ready to celebrate, but Bayley
ran out and tripped her. (The spot was supposed to be Jax
falling face-first into the exposed turnbuckle, but that
didn’t really happen.) Jax was down and Belair hit a 450
splash for the pinfall win.

Belair and Bayley smiled at each other as the show ended.

• F4wonline