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CM Punk, Randy Orton’s epic returns leave WWE stronger than ever at Survivor Series

WWE delivered the big moment at Survivor Series and is now working with a plethora of talent richest in both its men’s and women’s divisions..

Joseph Staszewski – New York Post
6 min read
November 27, 2023 - 8:48AM
CM Punk sensationally returns to WWE!

Here are five takeaways from WWE Survivor Series on Saturday night.

Welcome Back 2.0

The men’s WarGames match will be remembered for three things. Cody Rhodes getting to compete in a match conceived by his father Dusty for the first time, Randy Orton returning after 550 days from double fusion back surgery to hit one of his best RKOs ever and CM Punk’s stunning return after nearly 10 years to close the show.

As reported by the New York Post, it left WWE delivering the big moment and now working with a plethora of talent in both its men’s and women’s divisions.

Orton was announced as the babyface team’s fifth member on Monday, and the storyline for the night was even Cody Rhodes — who had called him — didn’t know if he would show up.

He picked the perfect time to do so as his team was getting decimated and Damian Priest had called Rhea Ripley from the back so he could attempt to cash in his Money in the Bank contract with World Heavyweight champion Seth Rollins having just taken a Razor’s Edge through the table.

Orton’s music hit in time to thwart it and some cool stuff ensued.

All five babyfaces did Orton’s “vintage” DDT on the ropes in the middle of the ring. The Viper reminded Jey Uso that he didn’t forget he put him out of action in storyline, but Uso saved him with a super kick and the two coexisted.

JD McDonagh then ran to the top corner of the cage, followed by Sami Zayn and Rollins. They proceeded to toss him down to Orton for an incredible-looking RKO. Orton then tossed Priest to his former Legacy partner Rhodes for a Cross Rhodes and pin on the “leader” of Judgment Day to win WarGames. Any tension between Orton and Rhodes will have to wait.

As the show looked ready to go off the air, Punk’s “Cult of Personality” blared and his hometown Chicago fans lost their minds.

Punk hasn’t been seen in WWE since he walked out following the Royal Rumble in 2014 over complaints about how the company handled his injuries, his creative late in his run and being generally burnt out. His contentious exit included him being fired on his wedding day in February 2014.

CM Punk makes stunning WWE return at Survivor Series months after AEW firing. Picture: WWE
CM Punk makes stunning WWE return at Survivor Series months after AEW firing. Picture: WWE

The opportunity to come back to WWE happened just two months after Punk was fired with cause from AEW after a backstage incident with Jack Perry at All In London. Now Punk gets maybe his last big wrestling second chance.

The Judgment Day tension was also clearly shown in the match. Priest and McIntyre engaged in a long staredown prior to it. Priest called an audible as the “leader” to go in before McIntyre and helped Judgment Day grab control. When McIntyre did get in, he went right for Uso and told him to “acknowledge what you did” — Uso’s family cost McIntyre the WWE Undisputed championship at Clash at the Castle earlier this year.

Fall with Grace

WWE went the reverse Sami Zayn approach with Bayley in women’s WarGames match. With her standing in Damage CTRL hanging by thread, the group’s leader did everything she could to ensure her team’s victory. And in the end, it was her teammates who failed her.

Bayley broke up a Disarm-Her attempt on Kairi Sane and then stepped in front of a Charlotte Flair spear also meant for Sane. It was fitting because an attack by Bayley led to Sane leaving WWE in storyline in 2020.

The second save led to Bayley and her squad’s demise. Shotzi hit her first, then Flair — with whom this Damage CTRL feud all began at Summer Slam two years ago — delivered a KOD. Bayley was then hoisted up and Manhandle-slammed from the middle rope through a table by Lynch before getting pinned.

Last year, Zayn solidified his Bloodline standing by doing the same thing for his team. All of it, however, allowed Bayley to have the moral high ground to become a babyface again once Damage CTRL inevitably turns on her — likely this coming week.

The match itself was very entertaining and turned on two leaps off the top of the cage.

Iyo Sky dropped a chain to Dakota Kai outside the cage to pull up a trash can to her on top. Sky put it on her head and leapt into the rest of the women in the ring for her signature WarGames crossbody leap from NXT WarGames in 2020. It allowed an entering Asuka and Damage CTRL to bring tables, kendo sticks and a fire extinguisher into the ring as the match officially started. They tied up Belair and Lynch with chains and all four drop-kicked them at the same time. Asuka misted Shotzi and kicked Lynch in a trash can before the first pinfall attempt with the heels in full control.

Later in the match, Flair did her moonsault from the top of the cage to flip things back in the babyfaces’ favour. Afterwards, she and Lynch began working well together mowing down Damage CTRL. It led to a fiercely emotional hug between the two former friends to squash any doubt about their relationship. The winners all celebrated on top of the cage doing Flair and Lynch’s “Tea Time” gesture. Flair and Lynch have appeared to have mended whatever issues they had, and that is fun news for fans.

Plenty of Hart 

In a match that seemed like a foregone conclusion, Gunther and The Miz did a great job hooking the audience into believing the challenger could win.

Miz twice pulled a page out of Bret Hart’s book, first using the Figure Four on the ring post to soften up Gunther’s knee and later by using the reversal-after-hitting-the-turnbuckle pinning predicament Hart used to beat Mr. Perfect to nearly get a win.

The latter came after The Miz, who was the babyface in this match, reverted to his heel ways. He ripped the turnbuckle over off with the official not looking. After the ref went to put it back on, he kicked Gunther in the knee, low-blowed him with a kick and then hit the Skull Crushing Finale. But Gunther kicked out of the pin. It was the closest Miz would get, but both moments made you feel a win by the A-Lister just might happen.

Gunther eventually won with a Liontamer — putting his other knee right in Miz’s back to continue his historic reign and stop Miz from matching Chris Jericho in Intercontinental championship reigns. The Miz did enough that WWE could continue him as a babyface and enough that they could turn him back to a heel.

Rip-Tired

Unlike Miz and Gunther, Rhea Ripley and Zoey Stark weren’t able to overcome the inevitable nature of their match. The Chicago crowd never got invested — maybe because of the match’s layout or because WWE hasn’t endeared Stark to them enough yet — but this was a match better saved for Raw. And that’s a shame because Ripley defends the title so infrequently.

She dominated Stark much of the match, and the one time the challenger turned the match it was unfortunately on an awkward counter of a top-rope chokeslam attempt. Stark had one so-so shot to win. She tried to show her toughness throughout, but her last yell at Ripley to hit her eventually led to her getting kicked in the head and then pinned after a Riptide as Mami retained the Women’s World championship. Maybe it will give Stark something to fight back from, but it failed to make her in any way, and this felt like filler before the main event.

Short Work 

Instead of giving Santos Escobar and Dragon Lee the time to have steal-the-show-type match, WWE opted to give the former a much more decisive win than anticipated, adding to his heel turn by trying to rip Lee’s mask off.

It almost might have been better if they had left Carlito in the match to take this kind of loss rather than let the up-and-coming Lee, who really got only one true chance to win the match. He lost when Escobar delivered a South of the Border Destroyer and then a Phantom Driver. If Escobar is going to form a new faction, it’s going to have to wait.

Survivor Series War Games 2023 Scorecard

Biggest Winners: CM Punk and Randy Orton

Biggest Losers: Zoey Stark, Dragon Lee

Match of the Night: Women’s WarGames

Predictions: 4-1

Grade: A-

Notes

R-Truth returned for the first time since tearing his quad in November 2022 in a backstage promotional segment for Ruffles

Found it interesting that Corey Graves was referencing betting lines for matches, especially for underdogs throughout the night. Curious whether that leads to anything bigger in the betting space for WWE down the road.

These articles originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission.

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Originally published as CM Punk, Randy Orton’s epic returns leave WWE stronger than ever at Survivor Series

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