Why WarGames Can Restore Once-Prestigious Survivor Series for WWE

WWE Survivor Series 2022 will undergo one of its most drastic changes in 36 years as it is now the home of the vicious WarGames match.

For a show that has featured The Gobbledy Gooker hatching out of an egg through to Vince McMahon's golden Cleopatra egg last year, this pay-per-view has been scrambled too many times to count.

However, WarGames might be the missing ingredient that restores Survivor Series back to its past glory come November 26.

Let's break down how WWE's second-longest running PPV of all time got this way to begin with and how WarGames may just save it.

Of the Big Four events in WWE, Survivor Series is the only one to frequently receive alterations, as though the company has never fully been satisfied with it.

WWE can't even always settle on the elimination matches having teams of five. It's been any number between three and 10. Sometimes it is all heels and babyfaces against each other. Other times, it is a mix on both sides.

In 1990, there was a grand finale of all the survivors in each previous match, but that proved to be a one-off.

Eight years later, there were no elimination matches at all. Instead, it was more like King of the Ring with the Deadly Game tournament.

Sometimes, these are just matches for the sake of it; other times, Raw and SmackDown will go into battle with each other.

If you ask someone to explain Survivor Series, it becomes a more complicated answer than it should be due to all the times it has been given a new look.

Whenever there is a roster split, Survivor Series becomes themed around a so-called Battle for Supremacy with Raw vs. SmackDown dominating the show.

That should have made for an easy-to-book show that featured the best of the best, but WWE rarely knocked it out of the park.

The company never bothered to give a rational explanation behind this competition other than pure bragging rights.

Even with feuding general managers, there was never anything at stake. If Raw scored more overall wins than SmackDown, those Superstars saw no in-storyline increase or better odds at the Royal Rumble.

WWE would market Survivor Series as the one time of the year when the two brands crossed over, only to have Superstars jump to the opposite show randomly and without explanation.

Survivor Series became a show that featured champions against each other in non-title fights and team elimination matches that had no repercussions, rendering the whole thing pointless.

While some fans prefer a facelift for the sake of variety, others are turned off when a classic concept is messed with.

However, the introduction of the WarGames concept still pays homage to many core ideas.

Fans of WCW will be struck by the nostalgia of this. It's a combination of the two November events to make the ultimate Fall Brawl spectacle.

The gimmick of going to war with a team fits with the "survival" theme. It is still even "teams of five fight to survive" in the numbers game.

There always needs to be room for experimentation for WWE. Otherwise, the Royal Rumble would still be a 20-man match without a women's equivalent, and the winner wouldn't get a title shot at WrestleMania.

At face value, WarGames ups the ante by presenting audiences with a flashier attraction.

Given the choice between 10 Superstars standing on the ring apron versus two rings inside a massive steel cage with an abundance of weapons seems like an easy pick for most.

It is also a combination of Hell in a Cell and Tables, Ladders & Chairs, which are two events that seem to be on the way out of the WWE calendar.

Not doing the Raw vs. SmackDown matches also helps other shows in turn. The company could bring back Clash of Champions as a special to showcase the intercontinental vs United States titleholders against each other.

That also opens up room at Survivor Series for titles to be defended, which hasn't been the case for the past few years.

Ultimately, whether a title changes hands is still one of the most important aspects of a successful PPV. If you look throughout history, many of the biggest Survivor Series moments have revolved around that, such as the Montreal Screwjob.

Lastly, WarGames also might bring back a flair of old-school teams that has been absent since the early days. Might we see The Bloodline's enemies call themselves something catchy to become a united front this year?

It's OK to play into the ridiculous side of pro wrestling once in a while and not be wholly serious.

Anthony Mango is the owner of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment and the host of the podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, Spotify and everywhere you find podcasts. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.