411’s WWE Survivor Series 2023 Preview

Hello 411 guys, gals, enbies, and everyone else! Welcome to 411’s WWE Survivor Series 2023 preview! I’m Jeremy Thomas and tonight WWE’s heads into (preps for my best William Regal impersonation) WARGAMES! Tonight’s PPV has a minimum number of matches at the time of this writing with just five, but that’s on par with last year’s WarGames event and these days the main event matches are the attraction. I’m always going to hope for a Survivor Series-style elimination match but that’s because I’m a relic of the past. Anyway, we have some big matches on tap so without further ado, let’s hop to to it!

Carlito vs. Santos Escobar

Image Credit: WWE

[EDIT: So Carlito has been replaced by Dragon Lee in the match as announced on Smackdown, which changes little about what I said below. End result is still the same.]

First up we have the implosion of the LWO, or at least one defection (as of now). The notion of someone in this stable turning on the rest has seemed to be likely ever since the group formed — and to be honest, it’s always seemed likely to be Santos Escobar. Anyone who watched Legado del Fantasma’s run in WWE NXT knew that Escobar was a little snaky, and so it wasn’t a huge shock when his frustrations finally boiled over into a heel turn that helped write Mysterio off TV to deal with an injury. And I’m happy for it, because Escobar is someone who just has a natural heel aura to him. I’m excited to see what he does as a bad guy on the main roster.

The first match for the newly-heeled Escobar will be the newest member of the LWO in Carlito. It’s a match that makes a lot of sense, since Carlito coming back to WWE and joining the LWO helped set the stage for Escobar’s turn to the dark side. Both of these guys have been delivering in their Smackdown runs and I expect a very solid match here between them. The obvious booking move is to give Escobar the win to give him momentum following the character change, and it wouldn’t be at all outside the realm of possibility to have one or both of his former Legado minions in Joaquin Wilde or Cruz Del Toro join forces with him. Both turning would allow WWE to slot Dragon Lee into the LWO for a three-on-three feud, which would be pretty decent. Either way, expect Escobar to pick up the win here as Carlito can easily take a loss, especially if shenanigans are involved.

WINNER: Santos Escobar

WWE Intercontinental Championship Match
Gunther vs. The Miz

Image Credit: WWE

Gunther’s dominant run as WWE Intercontinental Champion has now reached well over 500 days. He’s had a number of tough challengers, but no one has been able to pry the title from his iron grip since he won it in June of last year. And yet his title reign hasn’t become monotonous the way a number of other similar lengthy reigns have become. Part of that is because Gunther is just so damn entertaining to watch, but he’s also defended it more frequently especially over the last few months. Five televised title defenses over a 14-week period is very acceptable for title defenses in the modern era.

That said, it does seem like Gunther will probably drop the title sooner rather than later. However, it’s not going to be to The Miz. I like the Miz more than your average IWC-er, but he is the epitome of someone who doesn’t need the rub that defeating Gunther for the title will provide. The story between the two is an interesting contrast and I have enjoyed the build, but putting Miz over Gunther for the title would be a mistake of massive proportions. Expect the Miz to give Gunther more of a fight than the Imperium leader might expect, but in the end I can’t possibly believe that WWE will take the title off of the champion here.

WINNER: Gunther (STILL WWE United States Champion)

Women’s World Championship Match
Rhea Ripley vs. Zoey Stark

Image Credit: WWE

Speaking of title reigns that won’t be ending at Survivor Series. Listen, I am more than happy to see Zoey Stark earning a solid spot on the main roster. I was a fan of hers in NXT, but I fully expected her to be lost in the shuffle on the main roster because she is a great in-ring performer who didn’t have the mic skills to stand out on Raw or Smackdown. Fortunately, she has been handled very well and it’s allowed her to carve out a well-earned place in the women’s division. Her feud with Becky Lynch alongside Trish Stratus proved that much, and it’s great to see her do well.

But on the other side, we have Rhea Ripley who is the shining jewel of WWE’s women’s division right now. Mami has it all and is deservedly dominating the division at every step. Stark makes a perfect opponent for Ripley; they have different in-ring styles that should play well with each other, and Ripley works well against underdog opponents. This should be a chance for Starks to show off her in-ring skills and be elevated by working with Ripley, but much like the IC Title match there’s almost no chance that we get a title change. I’ll never say no chance because WWE has done bigger shocks in the past, but this is about as close as it gets.

WINNER: Rhea Ripley (STILL Women’s World Champion)

Women’s WarGames Match
Bianca Belair, Charlotte Flair, Shotzi and Becky Lynch
vs. Damage CTRL

Image Credit: WWE

Both WarGames matches have the same basic dynamic to them this year, with a group of solo babyfaces taking a heel stable. In the womens’ case we have Bianca Belair, Charlotte Flair, Shotzi and Becky Lynch joining forces to try and take down the newly-reinvigorated Damage CTRL. Damage CTRL has been a fun stable, but it did seem a bit played out before it got its infusion of new blood in Asuka and the returning Kairi Sane. That has given the group a whole new direction it can go with plenty of possibilities. The group could stay stable for a while, or we could get Sane, Asuka and IYO SKY — whose friendship predates the stable — turn on Bayley Dakota Kai and form a new threesome to feud with the duo (and perhaps a new third member). Either direction holds plenty of promise, making a group that felt stale seem fresh again.

On the other side, you have some of WWE’s top names (and Shotzi — no offense because I love her, but still) who are sure to butt heads. There’s a lot of ego and past bad blood between Lynch, Belair and Flair, which puts the fissures in that Damage CTRL can exploit. We won’t know who has WarGames advantage until the Kickoff Show, but the potential dissent between the babyfaces adds a dynamic that could allow them to have the babyfaces get the WarGames Advantage in a way that works. All of these women can of course go in the ring, and Shotzi will have plenty of opportunity to do crazy stuff here. I would not at all be surprised if IYO, Asuka and Kairi do turn on their teammates, but I also feel like WWE might hold off on that if they’re going to do it. It boosts the team if they can get a win over the top name babyfaces, and that does seem like the smarter move to me. Expect the heels to get the win, perhaps in a way that starts to set things up for Bayley to be shunted out of the group.

WINNER: Damage CTRL

Men’s WarGames Match
Cody Rhodes, Seth “Freakin” Rollins, Jey Uso, Sami Zayn
& Randy Orton vs. The Judgment Day & Drew McIntyre

Image Credit: WWE

On the men’s side of the WarGames field, you have a similar dynamic to the women as Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins, Jey Uso, Sami Zayn and a returning Randy Orton team up to battle The Judgment Day and Drew McIntyre. And listen, I love the Judgment Day. I think they’re a great group that has done wonders for the career of all involved. But they also have hit a sort of standard format for how their matches go that is kind of starting to get old. The numbers game heel tactics are fun, but you can only run it for so long. It even got tired with Roman Reigns and the Bloodline, and that storyline has been kept aloft only through some great writing and promo work.

Adding McIntyre to the JD side adds new possibilities to this match, but it’s hard to ignore who is on the babyface side here. You have Cody Rhodes on his seemingly unstoppable journey to a match with Roman Reigns, a rising star WWE is pushing hard in Jey Uso, the World Heavyweight Champion in Seth Rollins, one of WWE’s most popular guys in Sami Zayn, and the big return of Randy Orton. WWE could obviously throw some monkeywrenches in here; maybe Orton turns heel in the match so we can set up Orton vs. Rhodes or Orton vs. Rollins. Maybe McIntyre gets the win to solidify his heel turn. I don’t think either are very likely though. With the heels likely to win in the women’s WarGames match, it makes too much sense for the babyface guys to win. I can see Rhodes and Orton coming out as the survivors here to set up a potential story with the two, but whoever survivors I do think it’s Team Rhodes getting the win.

WINNER: Team Rhodes

And that’s all we have for WWE Survivor Series! It should be a fun show with all the matches having plenty of potential to deliver. Thank you as always for reading and remember that we will have live coverage of the show courtesy of Robert Winfree right here on 411mania.com. I’ll see you all later as I have to run, but before I do I have a message for those who are expecting a certain superstar to make his return tonight…

Image Courtesy of WWE