WWE Survivor Series: WarGames 2025 unfolded Saturday night from Petco Park in San Diego, California. The Vision appeared to welcome a new masked member, John Cena dropped the Intercontinental Championship, Liv Morgan returned and AJ Lee maintained her momentum against Becky Lynch.
With WWE’s final «big four» premier live event of 2025 now in the books, here are our four biggest takeaways from Survivor Series.
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1. Men’s WarGames ends with a fizzle
As promising as The Vision’s formation was at the beginning, it’s becoming less clear how Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed break through to the next level. Sure, Breakker gets the win in the record books by spearing and pinning CM Punk. But the way things played out — with a man in a black hood hitting a super kick and a curb stomp, a la Seth Rollins — puts the emphasis on who’s joining The Vision rather than what should’ve been a breakthrough win for Breakker. The trio of Breakker, Reed and Logan Paul yet again feel like muscle for whoever was under the hood.
Cody Rhodes, Roman Reigns and CM Punk teasing dissension from essentially the opening bell was the focal point of the match, and projects to be a big storyline through the coming months. WWE Champions Rhodes and Punk not being on the same page minutes into the match wasn’t a surprise, but their team still appeared on the cusp of winning, with Brock Lesnar under control before the masked man turned the tide. After the bell rang, the focal point was on Reigns and his disappointment with Punk and Rhodes.
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The dynamic was interesting as Punk willingly accepted Reigns’ help standing up, while Rhodes got in the face of the former champ. It certainly feels like WWE is going back to Rhodes and Reigns for WrestleMania 42, a rivalry that has had no trouble printing money.
2. Stephanie Vaquer coasts through Survivor Series
There wasn’t much question of whether Stephanie Vaquer would be in any danger of losing the Women’s World Championship ahead of Survivor Series, and as expected, her match against Nikka Bella didn’t prove to be a significant challenge. It was fine for what it was, which feels like a stopgap rivalry until WWE figures out the path forward for Vaquer.
There’s no direct road toward her next rivalry. Any number of stars that featured in the opening Women’s WarGames match could fit the bill. It feels like a Rhea Ripley rivalry is being held for the grandest stage of ‘em all in April, but a returning Liv Morgan certainly fits as someone who’d be an interesting next feud — a challenger who’s hungry to regain her title and who’d put on great matches to keep a Vaquer reign fresh.
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3. A perfect final Survivor Series for John Cena
If Dominik Mysterio wasn’t meant to be John Cena’s final opponent, a nice consolation prize is certainly being Cena’s opponent on his final premier live event. I’ve been saying for months that Mysterio is well on his way to the main-event scene, and a showdown with the greatest of all time on such a grand stage is one Mysterio won’t let anyone soon forget.
This one was a classic Mysterio match, where outside interference took center stage. Liv Morgan returning to tease a turn on Mysterio, only to then give Cena a taste of his own medicine with a low blow to cost him the belt, was incredible. The dynamic is about to change within The Judgement Day following Morgan’s return, as Finn Bálor and JD McDonagh were unable to help Mysterio on Saturday, while Roxanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez got booted from ringside. This faction feels like one (or two) too many people, with an implosion right around the corner.
The Intercontinental Championship returning to Mysterio’s shoulders removes a bit of pressure for what Cena’s final match will look like in two weeks, bringing the focal point to simply putting on an exceptional match rather than a title potentially changing hands. Cena looked great yet again and he should be proud of what these past four months or so have looked like.
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4. AJ Lee and Beckly Lynch continue to steal the show
The structure and pace of the women’s WarGames match felt exactly how it needed to be. Essentially matching four tag-teams at war with each other, with the ongoing feud between Becky Lynch and AJ Lee sandwiched in between, was a great way to continue each respective rivalry. Lash Legend looked like an absolute powerhouse alongside former multi-time world champions, and the decision to have the mist from Asuka be what wrecked her evening felt like strong booking. Iyo Sky gave the fans what they wanted and landed her trademark trash can spot in what will certainly be part of her Hall of Fame montage one day.
The match built to the logical conclusion that was apparent from the moment Lynch and Lee were announced as part of the match. It always felt like this one was going to end with Lynch in what breaks down to a comedy angle against the entire other team, and that’s exactly what happened. Lee’s team beat up Lynch and then the former Women’s Intercontinental Champion tapped out to Lee.
This one felt like each rivalry reaching its midpoint rather than the WarGames match serving as any final resolution to ongoing conflict. We can expect business as usual for these 10 women come next week.
