This week on Raw, GM Adam Pearce finally got fed up enough at the ongoing battle between some of the brand’s top fan favorites and The Judgment Day — which exploded into a wild, show-ending brawl — that he told them all they’d be facing each other in a WarGames match at Survivor Series in Chicago later this month.
On the surface, it seemed like a pretty straightforward setup. The Judgment Day has four men in the group (if you include JD McDonagh, whose status is somewhat tenuous), and there are four men who have been tussling with them on a regular basis: Cody Rhodes, Jey Uso, Sami Zayn and Seth Rollins. Four on four, pretty cut and dried.
But while there’s no set number of participants on each side of a WarGames bout, the most common format for it is 5v5. Someone brought that up to Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp on Monday night, and he had a telling response.
stay tuned!!!! https://t.co/vve32tEf8R
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) November 7, 2023
So if the men’s WarGames match will eventually end up a 5v5 affair, who will join each side? Let’s take some educated guesses.
Who might join The Judgment Day for WarGames?
The Judgment Day seems like it might have a problem finding someone to join up with them. Despite Rhea Ripley’s recruiting efforts, Raw stars like Uso and Rollins have chosen to stand against them. McDonagh, as noted, is barely accepted by the other members (especially Damian Priest).
But there’s one obvious choice who would fight beside them even if it’s somewhat reluctantly: Drew McIntyre.
The Scottish Warrior is in the middle of what appears to be a slow-motion heel turn, driven by some of the most realistic motivations in pro wrestling right now. Not only is he desperate to get the world championship moment in front of crowds that the pandemic denied him, McIntyre simply can’t let go of the person he feels cost him that chance last fall: Uso, when he was a loyal member of The Bloodline.
McIntyre isn’t the joining type, so he’s probably never going to officially join The Judgment Day (who, as Zayn just pointed out, is close to becoming Bloodline 2.0). Could he be so consumed by bitterness toward Uso for his role in the recent past, and Rollins, for defeating him at Crown Jewel, that he’d be willing to team with the stable at Survivor Series?
Absolutely.
That gets us to five on the heel side, but what about our heroes? That spot seems likely to be filled by someone we haven’t seen around WWE for a while … but which one is the question.
Who might join the anti-Judgment Day side for WarGames?
There’s one person who would certainly join the faces to battle The Judgment Day if asked, and that’s Kevin Owens. His friendship with Zayn remains intact, he came around on Uso and he at least tolerates Rhodes and Rollins.
Still, this WarGames matchup feels like it’s going to be a Raw-only deal, and KO is on SmackDown now. It’s still possible he could be summoned just for this, but it doesn’t seem likely.
So that increases the chances that the face side will have a mystery partner, and if that turns out to be the case, a returning Randy Orton would make a lot of sense. He’s been rumored to be close to coming back for a bit, and WWE would obviously want to roll him out at a big moment. This certainly qualifies.
Like any big star who’s been absent for a while (Orton hasn’t wrestled May 2022), he’s best positioned as a fan favorite for his initial appearance because the crowd will want to cheer for him anyway. If they’d save him for the last person to enter the match without revealing him, the fans in Chicago will lose their minds as soon as they hear “I hear voices in my head … ”
Of course, there’s another theme song that would take a Chicago crowd to another level of frenzy, and that’s “Cult of Personality.” Is there still a chance that CM Punk could be the fifth member of this team?
It’s wrestling, so sure, anything is possible. There’s definitely a lot of people out there who believe he will show up, spurred on by what they feel are intentional references seeded throughout WWE programming over the past month or so.
Let’s put it this way: WWE is definitely trying to dissuade people from expecting Punk to be at Survivor Series. The most connected pro wrestling insiders believe that right this second, he isn’t coming in. But if he comes to some sort of agreement with WWE over the next few weeks, there wouldn’t be a better time or place to unveil him.
If the good guys go into the event with a mystery slot on their team, there’s definitely going to be a ton of anticipation over who might fill it.