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WARGAMES IS COMING TO THE WWE SURVIVOR SERIES

WWE will present the first-ever two ring Wargames matches on the main roster at the 11/26 Survivor Series PPV in Boston, MA, it was announced today during a Triple H appearance on The Ringer Podcast.  There will be a men's and a women's Wargames bout at the PPV.  During the interview, Triple H stated the matches would be driven by storylines, not a Raw vs. Smackdown theme.

The Wargames concept, featuring two rings and a double steel cage encased in a roof with staggered entrances leading into "The Match Beyond" that could only end in submission was originally created by Dusty Rhodes in 1987, debuting in July of that year for Jim Crockett Promotions.  It was brilliant for its time.  The dramatic, violent match became a beloved staple for the NWA and later, World Championship Wrestling after Turner Broadcasting purchased that promotion in late 1988.  Wargames was utilized regularly by WCW, which branded the Fall Brawl PPV around it, until it shut down in March 2001, purchased by World Wrestling Entertainment at the end of the Monday Night War.

While WWE eventually released a "Best of War Games" DVD set, they did not keep the Wargames match concept active.  That left the Wargames sitting, unofficially, in the public domain, as WWE never actually claimed its rights.  Indeed, a pitch to revive the match concept eventually evolved into what is now known as the Elimination Chamber.

Enter Major League Wrestling.  During the promotion's initial run, MLW used the Wargames name and concept in 2003 featuring Terry Funk leading a team against Steve Corino's team in Fort Lauderdale.  When MLW relaunched in 2007, they filed a trademark for War Games name, as they could lay claim to using it back in 2003 and there was no active trademark for it.  The plan was to use the match once a year as a major gimmick event, as they did in September 2018, back in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

When WWE opted to revive the old concept for the NXT brand in November 2017, they learned they could not actually trademark the name, as MLW had already done so.  This led to WWE scrambling and filing trademarks on a number of old WCW TV and PPV titles, including Monday Nitro, WCW Saturday Night and Fall Brawl, among others.  WWE eventually worked out a deal with MLW to acquire and name and trademark with Wargames becoming an annual NXT tradition.

Now, that tradition moves to the main roster under Paul Levesque and for the first time ever, will be held at the Survivor Series.

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