5 moments that defined WarGames

Prepare yourselves: WarGames is returning.

WWE has come up with some pretty intense match types over the years. Hell in a Cell. The Elimination Chamber. The Punjabi Prison Match (we said “intense”, not necessarily “good".) As punishing as these bouts tend to be, they are all living in the shadow of the OG Ridiculous Match Involving a Cage: WarGames.

For the uninitiated, here’s a quick look at the rules of the WarGames match, via our friends at the Pro Wrestling Unlimited YouTube channel. The WWE rules vary slightly from the original NWA/WCW rules, but you’ll get the idea.

When WWE bought WCW back in 2001, it was assumed - almost expected, really - that the company would eventually use the WarGames concept at some point. Which, they did - over 15 years later. Ever since that first WWE-branded brawl in 2017 (more on that in a bit), the Match Beyond has become something of a new tradition in the company.

With the 2023 Survivor Series around the corner, we decide to take a look back at some of the moments that made WarGames the legendary match it is today.

#5. The very first WarGames

On July 4th, 1987 during, appropriately, that year’s Great American Bash house show tour, the Match Beyond was unleashed upon an unsuspecting world. The team of the Road Warriors, their manager Paul Ellering, Nikita Koloff, and Dusty Rhodes teamed up to face The Four Horsemen (Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, and Lex Luger) and their manager, J.J. Dillon.

Held in Atlanta, GA’s famous Omni arena, the team of heroes would stand victorious over the sinister Horsemen at the end of the night. The match was so successful that JCP ran the exact same match two more times, in both Miami and Chicago.

It was that first match’s success that led it to become so synonymous with JCP and, afterward, WCW.

#4. Sid Vicious powerbombs Brian Pillman into the top of the cage

In 2017, when WWE held a WarGames for the first time at NXT TakeOver:WarGames, one of the changes they made was removing the top of the cage. It still surrounded two rings, and it sat on the ring apron (unlike the Hell in a Cell, which leaves space between the cage and the ring) - but combatants could climb up and out, if they so desired (although if one of them leaves the cage, their whole team is disqualified.)

During a chat with The Ringer last year, Triple H explained why the top of the cage was removed.

“When we first started redoing [the match], people were upset that we didn't have a top on the cage. [T]he… thing is, it used to drive me nuts when I was a kid that the cage was too short. You'd see… what happened [to] Brian Pillman, where he got put up for a powerbomb [and hit the top]. [Taking the top off the cage] allows you to do so much more stuff... The times have changed, the business has evolved, and the cage that WarGames is held in needed to evolve, too.” - Triple H, TheRinger.com, 09/22"

The match The Game is referring to was held at WCW WrestleWar in 1991. Once again, WarGames saw the Four Horsemen (this time consisting of Flair, Barry Windham, Larry Zbyszko, and Sid Vicious) taking on yet another ragtag group of heroes. That particular team was made up of Sting, the Steiner Brothers, and Pillman.

While some remember (in a Mandela Effect-style situation) Pillman, hitting his head on the top of the cage, the reality is a lot more brutal. Vicious lifted up the Loose Cannon up for a powerbomb - only to find that Pillman’s feet hit the ceiling, causing Vicious to accidentally drop him on his head (you can see in the video Vicious checking on Pillman immediately after.)

While this would eventually lead to a Horseman win, it also led into one of the most memorable moments in WarGames history.

#3. The greatest WarGames match ever

1992 was actually a pretty good year for WCW - creatively, anyway. It was the year that Big Van Vader became the biggest monster heel ever seen in the company - if not wrestling in general. It also saw Ron Simmons defeat that very same monster to become the very first African-American wrestler to win a world singles professional wrestling championship.

Last, but not least, it saw the emergence of the Dangerous Alliance - one of the most underrated factions in WCW history - and put Paul Heyman on the path to becoming one of the greatest managers of all time.

The Alliance was running roughshod all over the babyfaces of WCW, with members of the group holding practically ever championship in the promotion that wasn’t the WCW Championship. Much like the Four Horsemen before them, Paul E. Dangerously’s group would target Sting and his friends as part of their stated mission of destroying the company.

This feud culminated, once again, at WrestleWar. The Alliance would field a team of four WWE Hall of Famers in “Ravishing” Rick Rude, “Stunning” Steve Austin, Arn Anderson, Larry Zbyszko, along with a man who should be, “Beautiful” Bobby Eaton. Sting’s Squadron wasn’t exactly made up of slouches, either: joining him were Nikita Koloff, Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes, and fellow former WCW Champion Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat.

In the end, the Squadron would overcome the Alliance, thanks to an errant blow from a turnbuckle connector by Zbyszko to Eaton.

There wasn’t just one particular great moment to this match - it was a brilliantly performed bout that wrapped up one of the best wrestling storylines of the 1990s.

#2. WarGames comes to WWE and women in combat

When WWE finally decided to make use of the WarGames concept, they did what they usually do. They tried it out in NXT first. This turned out to be a pretty great idea.

Aside from the aforementioned removal of the top of the cage, WWE also did something that had only been done one time before: a three-team match. While in 1998, Fall Brawl saw Team WCW face off against the two different factions of the nWO, 2017 had three very distinctive groups.

In the end, The Undisputed Era of Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, and Kyle O’Reilly were triumphant over SAnitY (Alexander Wolfe, Eric Young, and Killian Dain) and the partnership between Roderick Strong and the Authors of Pain.

Two years later, WWE would smash boundaries once again with the very first Women’s WarGames match. In 2019, the team of Rhea Ripley, Candice LaRae, Tegan Nox, and a soon-to-turn-heel Dakota Kai would end up victorious over the grouping of Shayna Baszler, Io Shirai, Bianca Belair, and Kay Lee Ray. It was another Match Beyond that incorporated as much storytelling as it did spectacle.

#1. WarGames comes to the main roster

Five years of annual WarGames matches in NXT were apparently enough to convince the high-ups that the match was ready for prime time. At the 2020 Survivor Series, fans were treated to the first-ever Matches Beyond on the main roster. And they were stellar.

The event lineup started with the Women’s match - a barnburner of a bout that saw the team of Bianca Belair, Alexa Bliss, Auska, Mia Yim, and Becky Lynch victorious over Damage CTRL (Io Skye, Kai, and Bayley), Nikki Cross, and Rhea Ripley. It ended with a battle revolving around one of the best WWE stories in decades: The Bloodline.

Roman Reigns and his cousins, The Usos, were joined by “Honorary Uce” Sami Zayn against the trio of the Brawling Brutes (Sheamus, Butch, and Ridge Holland), Drew McIntyre, and Sami’s once-and-future best friend Kevin Owens.

At the time, Sami was in the midst of trying to prove his loyalty to an ever-increasingly suspect Bloodline. The narrative revolved around if Zayn would betray his newfound “family,” or help them win and take Kevin Owens out.

In the end, he chose the latter. A Helluva Kick and an Uso Splash later, and the Bloodline were victorious. The image of Reigns, the Usos, and - finally - Sami Zayn embracing in the middle of the ring will be one played on Survivor Series recap videos for years.

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What are some of your favorite iconic WarGames matches and moments. Share ‘em down in the comments.