Psyko’s thoughts on the 2025 WWE Survivor Series PLE

It’s been a while since I did one of these, but I thought this event was the perfect show to bring it back. I won’t do a full recap like I used to — I’ll just give my thoughts on the show, which for me was a mixed bag.

Let’s start with the women’s WarGames match.

My first thought — and this goes for the men’s match as well — is that they really need to cut the interval time between entries. It was a chore to actually care about what was going on for the first 30 minutes of the pre-match, especially since, as Cole kept reminding us, the match didn’t officially start until all 10 participants entered the ring. If the play-by-play guy is telling us the match hasn’t started, why should I care about what’s happening?

Secondly, and again this applies to the men’s match too, the decision not to have everyone at ringside from the start hurt the match for me. It didn’t feel like WarGames.

Thirdly, I get that it’s become a staple of the women’s WarGames match, but can we please retire Iyo jumping off the cage while wearing a trash can? It looks fake every time, and the crowd clearly isn’t reacting anymore because it doesn’t feel special.

Finally, I think the right team won and the right person took the fall. The faces needed to win considering the outcome of the men’s match, and it helps continue Becky’s “downfall into madness” storyline.

Next is the John Cena vs. Dominik Mysterio match.

Simply put, this was the best match on the card. They booked it in a way that protected Cena while elevating Mysterio as the biggest heel in the company. The fact that Mysterio needed the entire Judgment Day to help him beat Cena worked perfectly and fit Dom’s character. Having Liv come back and help Dom win was a great swerve and made for a strong finish.

Next was Nikki Bella vs. Stephanie Vaquer.

I have to say, I didn’t have high expectations going in. I understood the reasoning for the match — giving Vaquer another big win over a major star — but I wasn’t expecting it to be as good as it was considering who was involved.

Nikki and Stephanie played to their strengths, and having Nikki dominate most of the match was the right call. It made Vaquer look even stronger when she finally made her comeback and won.

Finally, the men’s WarGames match.

Just like the women’s match, the first part dragged on way too long. Not having all the team members at ringside didn’t help, and I honestly fell asleep a few times during that stretch. I didn’t even bother rewinding to see what I missed.

Once the actual match started, for some reason I still couldn’t get into it. I ended up doing other stuff until the finish, which was really well done. The mystery attacker added intrigue, and the heels winning because of it worked.

The rumor is that it was Austin Theory under the hood, and while I like Austin, it would be disappointing if that’s the big reveal — especially if they rush it and reveal it on Monday. I’d let the mystery play out for a month and reveal it on the first RAW of 2026 with a major name under the mask.

In the end, it was a great ending to a very lackluster match, and I loved how they closed the show with Reigns and Rhodes staring each other down and teasing a third match.

Conclusion

This was a tale of two shows: WarGames matches that weren’t very good and felt too sanitized, and a middle portion of the card that was strong and entertaining. I really feel like they should consider retiring the WarGames concept unless they have a real plan for it — and they absolutely need to trim the length of these matches. A 30-minute setup for a 10-minute match is far too long, especially when there isn’t a solid storyline reason for the stipulation.