WWE's WarGames Formula Has Gone Stale

Monday night's WWE Raw brought with it the announcement of the men's and women's WarGames matches for Survivor Series on November 29.

Instead of feeling like a well-deserved culmination of months of build, hype and anticipation, it felt somewhat underwhelming.

The men's match, which will feature CM Punk, Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso against Logan Paul, Bronson Reed and Bron Breakker, with one or two more added to each side, took a hit the moment Seth Rollins suffered his shoulder injury and had to relinquish the World Heavyweight Championship.

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Rollins was the mastermind of The Vision, and to slot Paul in his place and continue as if nothing has changed just to get to the double steel cage match, is ignoring what WarGames is supposed to be: the definitive finale of high-profile rivalries.

While Punk and Uso have had their fair share of issues with Paul Heyman, Reed and Breakker, one would be hard-pressed to call that program hot enough to warrant a WarGames finale, especially when it is not likely to end the issues between them.

Then there is the women's match, which feels especially thrown together.

Rhea Ripley, Iyo Sky, Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair appear poised to battle Asuka, Kairi Sane, Nia Jax and Lash Legend, with the likelihood of one more competitor added to each team.

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Not one of the feuds present in this match has gone on for longer than two months, and none are intense enough to warrant inclusion in a match of this sort.

The result is a WarGames gimmick that is now a creative crutch in the same way Hell in a Cell became for years when it was a staple of the pay-per-view calendar, rather than a worthy endgame for the most heated rivalries in the company.

It's a promotional tool, something WWE can trot out every November and center all premium live event hype around without having to do the work to build a compelling card.

Instead, the creative team can take a few moving pieces, put them together in one big, long cage match and throw it on the card and hope the mere mention of the bout's name will entice fans to tune in.

WarGames has created this conundrum for a few years now, but the lackluster creative entering this year's show has only served to amplify the criticism surrounding the annual event and its central matches.

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Once this year's show fades to black, it's time for WWE to reconsider the format of Survivor Series, taking WarGames off the table unless it has clear plans to deliver hot creative that culminates in a match deserving of the gimmick.

If not, store it away and save it for meaningful occasions, as Triple H has done with Hell in a Cell since taking over as WWE chief content officer.

Otherwise, one of the greatest gimmick matches in wrestling history will soon lose its aura. And considering the wars that have taken place between legendary factions, Superstars and rivals in the years since Dusty Rhodes created it for Jim Crockett Promotions in the 1980s, that would be hugely disappointing.