This weekend’s WWE Survivor Series: WARGAMES is live in San Diego, California, at Petco Park and marks the fourth straight year since the inaugural event began. Before 2022, WARGAMES was used under the black-and-gold NXT brand, before the dual-cage match gimmick was ‘called up’ to the main roster.
Prior to 2022, both Survivor Series and WARGAMES were separate entities beloved by fans for memorable moments filled with the sport’s biggest stars. Predating its usage under the NXT banner between 2017 and 2021, the final WarGames match took place on the annual WCW event ‘Fall Brawl’ in 1998—spanning six consecutive years of PPV shows beginning in 1993.
Created by the legendary Dusty Rhodes in 1987, WarGames was inspired by the post-apocalyptic film Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, with two side-by-side rings enclosed by two conjoined cages. While Fall Brawl was its eventual home, the match was used initially at ‘Great American Bash ’87, while the 1991 WCW WrestleWar show was the first time the gimmick was used to headline a PPV.
Survivor Series debuted on Thanksgiving Day in 1987 and was created to counter the rise in popularity of Starrcade under the Jim Crockett Promotions NWA/WCW. Survivor Series existed as a 5-on-5 elimination style show featuring multiple 10-man tag matches (sometimes 8-man tag), but over the years, Vince McMahon and the company moved away from the gimmick nature of the event in favor of non-traditional SS matches.
Still, the event has earned its place amongst the ‘Big Four’—the four major WWE PLEs of the year that include WrestleMania and SummerSlam—with major debuts like The Undertaker, Sting, and ‘The Rock’ (then known as Rocky Maivia) occurring at the annual November event.
What was once the scene of wrestling’s most infamous finish, “The Montreal Screwjob,” became, in more recent years, the opportunity for WWE to throw out the rules and utilize cross-brand storylines promoted as ‘the one time a year’ that superstars from RAW faced off with those from SD.
To say Survivor Series: WARGAMES was ‘created’ is not entirely accurate; instead, it was a merging of two incredibly intuitive and downright separate IPs. It is an affront to the history of both shows not to acknowledge their individual importance while accepting the modern melding of the two shows.
The following are the top three matches from each brand’s historic era predating the merger.
WARGAMES
3. The First WarGames—The Great American Bash 1987 (The Omni in Atlanta, Georgia)
TEAM DUSTY RHODES: Dusty Rhodes, Nikita Koloff, The Road Warriors (Hawk and Animal), and their manager, Paul Ellering
VS
FOUR HORSEMAN—Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Lex Luger, and manager James J. Dillon
Winner: TEAM DUSTY RHODES
It wasn’t just the first WarGames match; it was also a show, including the match’s architect, that helped shape the future of the match and its expectations, still in play nearly 30 years later. The Road Warriors added the Mad Max ambiance, and Hawk secured the team’s victory.
2. WRESTLEWAR ’92 (Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum in Jacksonville, Florida)
STING SQUADRON: Sting, Barry Windham, Ricky Steamboat, Dustin Rhodes, Nikita Koloff
VS
THE DANGEROUS ALLIANCE: Steve Austin, Rick Rude, Bobby Eaton, Arn Anderson, Larry Zbyszko w/Paul E. Dangerously
Winner: Sting’s Squadron
Every single member of the team had previously feuded with all five members of the opposing team at SuperBrawl II that same year, and this would be the final time the WarGames match would be used outside of Fall Brawl. It is widely considered the greatest WarGames of all time, and it seems fitting that “Paul E.” (aka Paul Heyman) is repping this year’s heel team all these years later. Sting picked up the win via submission armbar to Eaton, and the fast-paced nature of this match and its storytelling make it worth watching.
1. WCW VS NWO—Fall Brawl 1996 (Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem, North Carolina)
NWO: Hollywood Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, NWO Sting w/Ted DiBiase
VS
WCW: Lex Luger, Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Sting (sort of)
Winner: NWO
This was about as good as wrestling storytelling gets, and it took place during one of the hottest stretches in wrestling history, perhaps the hottest. Sting’s loyalty to WCW was in question, which is equivalent to questioning The Undertaker’s loyalty to WWE. It played out like a Shakespearean play as Sting proved his loyalty by walking out on team WCW (it’s complicated). Everyone was in rare form, but this would end up leading to the greatest Sting run of all time—Crow Sting.
SURVIVOR SERIES
3. WINNER TAKES ALL—Survivor Series 2001 (Greensboro Coliseum Complex in Greensboro, North Carolina)
TEAM WWF: The Rock, Chris Jericho, The Undertaker, Kane, Big Show
VS
TEAM ALLIANCE: Stone Cold Steve Austin, RVD, Kurt Angle, Booker T, Shane McMahon
Winner: Team WWF
It has to be on the list because it was meant to be the culmination of the Monday Night Wars, taking place in the form of a physical match. Instead, it was a disappointment in the form of worn-out storylines and irrational alliances. With the best of WCW sitting on the sidelines collecting a check, Vince tried desperately to capitalize on the heat of his acquisition, but the entire main event played out like an Austin-Rock feud ‘w/company.’
2. CENA V AUTHORITY—Survivor Series 2014 (Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri)
TEAM CENA: John Cena, Dolph Ziggler, Erick Rowan, Big Show, Ryback
VS
TEAM AUTHORITY: Seth Rollins, Kane, Luke Harper, Mark Henry, Rusev
Winner: Team Cena
In search of a more modern example, this is as good as it gets. If the 1998 Deadly Games Survivor Series, in which The Rock turned heel to join Vince’s ‘Corporation’ faction, was the start of an official ‘authority’ storyline, then this was the story ending full circle as ‘The Authority’ lost power. Triple H was fired as COO, Kane was fired as Director of Operations, and Stephanie McMahon was stripped of her principal owners’ powers, as Dolph Ziggler emerged as the ‘Sole Survivor’ for his team and delivered one of the most memorable performances in event history. Ziggler pulled off the win for his team with the help of Sting, debuting for the company after years of speculation, and that led to the WCW icon’s feud with Triple H.
Even with The Big Show turning on the face team, a move that led to Cena’s elimination, the time was right to end the ‘authority’ storyline… but maybe it is time to bring it back with ‘The Final Boss?
1. FIRST TIME AVENGERS ASSEMBLED—Survivor Series 1990 (Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut)
TEAM HOGAN/WARRIOR: Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, Tito Santana
VS
TEAM DiBiase: Ted DiBiase, Rick Martel, The Warlord, Hercules, Paul Roma (w/Virgil and Slick)
Winner: Hogan and Warrior
This is a wonky one, but this 5-on-3 match should have favored the heel team led by the ‘Money Inc’ leader. Unfortunately, Hogan and Warrior had the power of 5 men between them; add in a real wrestling workhorse like Tito Santana, and the heels never had a chance. If WWE/WWF was never big enough for both a Hulkster and a Warrior, then on this day, and in this match, the spotlight was wide enough for both of them to deliver a ‘most muscular’ pose.
This year’s Survivor Series offers a narrative like the 1990 show in that the uniting of major forces is a chief component of the show’s promotion. It did not get bigger than Hogan and Warrior on that night, and it does not get bigger than Roman, Punk, and Cody on the same team… Unless you add Cena.
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