Veteran NFL writer and Pat McAfee Show contributor Mark Kaboly breaks down Survivor Series: WarGames and Raw with 10 takeaways – five from each.

RAW TAKEAWAYS

When Big E interrupts The New Day’s 10-Year Anniversary Celebration to try and fix the issues between his brothers, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods tell him off and order him out of the ring. Catch WWE action on Peacock, WWE Network, USA Network, The CW, Sony India and more. #WWERAW

Heel Day, yes, it is: It was a sad day, yes it was, but just for a different reason than most of us expected. With The New Day celebrating its 10-year anniversary as a tag team, there was little doubt that Big E would join in the festivities in some capacity, even though it’s been nearly three years since he broke his neck and has been gone. A few believed he was going to announce his return. Many felt it was a perfect place and time to officially announce his retirement. Now, having Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods dress him down wasn’t on the bingo card. It was a fantastic segment, and the different direction that The New Day has gone pulled at the heartstrings of many. The back-and-forth, intertwined happenings inside and outside the ring and from-the-heart musings, it was headed to a Hallmark Channel original movie ending where there would be tears, hugs and love, and all the problems Woods and Kofi were having for months would solved by the bighearted uncle over a span of, in this instance, 10 minutes. That all changed when Big E said he would be their manager. It was like a switch turned from hating each other to hating (or being jealous of) Big E. With a breakup hinted at for months, and Kofi and Woods within seconds of that happening before Big E showed up, the entire exchange provided great theater and was a fool-proof way of getting heat directed at an unsuspected place, and better yet, directed at one of the more loved tag teams of all time. It was a heartbreaking moment.      

It’s all up to Kofi now: With The New Day heading in a different direction, Monday’s performance afforded them plenty of momentum to take this new iteration of the team and make it as unique as the fun-loving version of it. Woods is a natural when it comes to being the bad guy. Kofi, well, this is a huge opportunity for him to evolve into something that we haven’t ever associated him with. Time will tell on that, but he got off to a pretty rousing start, especially when he showed no remorse for Big E breaking his neck (he actually said, “So what?”) and then gave Big E a subtle little push-off when Big E tried to patch it up at the end with a hug. It’s going to be fun to see where Kofi takes this. We know where Woods will take it.

Moments after Gunther overcomes “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio, Finn Bálor sends a message with a Coup de Grace on the World Heavyweight Champion. Catch WWE action on Peacock, WWE Network, USA Network, The CW, Sony India and more. #WWERAW

 Gunther good or Gunther bad? Gunther pretty much squashed “Dirty” Dom Mysterio on Raw, which is what a beast like The Ring General should do regardless of where his confidence currently resides. Frankly, Gunther is big and strong, and Dominik isn’t either one of those, so what happened is what should happen. Gunther has appeared more “human” over the past few months and not just a machine-like cyborg, which suggests that he could eventually to the good side. If so, it might be wise to wait now. Not only did Mysterio get more positive fan reaction, but even newly minted scumbag Finn Bálor was getting cheers from those inside Angels of the Winds Arena when he delivered Coup de Grace three times. 

Raw begins with a volatile confrontation between CM Punk and Seth ”Freakin” Rollins in the wake of Survivor Series: WarGames. Catch WWE action on Peacock, WWE Network, USA Network, The CW, Sony India and more. #WWERAW

Road to WrestleMania: It’s never too early to point to the WrestleMania sign in the rafters, even if there’s no sign in the rafters yet. In the opening segment of Raw, CM Punk talked about the “multiple roads” to get to WrestleMania, but said he knows what the future holds because he has a couple of favors to call on if needed. The first 30 minutes of Raw was commercial free and that’s because so much had to be set up to start that road to WrestleMania. The interwoven storylines that came out of Raw’s open with Punk, Seth "Freakin" Rollins, Jey Uso and Sami Zayn can go in a multitude of directions: Punk vs. Rollins, Rollins vs. Zayn, Punk vs. Zayn, Uso vs. Rollins. And don’t forget they all have something in common: they all don’t particularly like Roman Reigns. All four have personal issues with each other. It was a well-done and entertaining opening for Raw.

The Scottish Psychopath returns to attack a defeated Sami Zayn from out of nowhere. Catch WWE action on Peacock, WWE Network, USA Network, The CW, Sony India and more. #WWERAW

Who is for Drew? It seems that Drew McIntyre may be the person who attacked Jey Uso backstage. He certainly attacked Zayn after his match with Rollins. It was the first time we’ve seen McIntyre since WWE Hell in the Cell in October, and it sure appears nothing has changed with his demeanor. Even though McIntyre has the same interests as Rollins in terms of who he doesn’t like, that can’t be who he might align himself with. Considering he waited until Rollins was out of the ring and under the assumption that he took out Uce in the back, McIntyre could have his eyes on Roman Reigns and is sending a message by taking out the OG Bloodline members. But, at this point, are we sure Reigns cares about anybody in The OG Bloodline other than himself?

ODDS AND ENDS:  Karrion Kross is just so darn good on Raw responding to Nikki Cross’ attack on Scarlett last week. … The WWE Women’s Intercontinental Championship Tournament brackets were announced before the show (Dakota Kai defeated Shayna Baszler and Katana Chance in a first-round matchup during the show). Kai has to be the favorite, but Natalya would be a sentimental favorite. … Bron Breakker said that Gunther’s stock is plummeting. File that one away for later use. … Is Bálor going after big boys in Priest and Gunther some kind of weird obsession?

SURVIVOR SERIES 

CM Punk teams up with Roman Reigns, Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso and Sami Zayn to battle Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa, Jacob Fatu and the monstrous “Big” Bronson Reed. Catch WWE action on Peacock, WWE Network, USA Network, CW Network, Sony India and more.

Werewolf about to howl? Last year at this time, Solo Sikoa was the Enforcer of The Bloodline and you see where he is at now. With The Bloodline losing at WarGames and Sikoa getting rocked at the end, it feels like question marks about his leadership are impending. Does this mean Jacob Fatu will be the next man up for the new Bloodline? That might be getting out in front of us a little bit, but WarGames was yet another PLE where Fatu did some special things that made you believe that it is time his role expands to more than just a background guy screaming, “I love you, Solo.” Fatu’s moonsault was brutal for any human to even attempt.

Bron Breakker puts the Intercontinental Title on the line against Sheamus and Ludwig Kaiser in a Triple Threat Match. Catch WWE action on Peacock, WWE Network, USA Network, CW Network, Sony India and more.

Kaiser has entered the conversation: Ludwig Kaiser was pretty much the third man when it came to the Intercontinental Championship Match at Survivor Series with Bron Breakker and Sheamus taking the lead. But that doesn’t mean that Kaiser’s performance was less than the two he battled inside the ring. Kaiser was not only able to hold up to the physicality but was able to deliver his share as well. In what could have been an overwhelming situation for Kaiser, he might not have come out with the title, but he came out a winner. I expect him to have a good 2025 run because we already know he can handle himself outside the ring. He showed that facing off with tough SOBs in premium events isn’t outside his abilities.

Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair, Bayley, IYO SKY and Naomi take on Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan, WWE Women’s Champion Nia Jax, Ms. Money in the Bank Tiffany Stratton, Candice LeRae and Raquel Rodriguez in WarGames. Catch WWE action on Peacock, WWE Network, USA Network, CW Network, Sony India and more.

Big spots or go home: The Women’s WarGames Match didn’t have the buildup or storylines associated with it that the men’s version had, which made it unfair for the female Superstars involved. Other than Rhea Ripley’s year-long disdain with Liv Morgan, nothing was really captivating. It put the onus on the women to come up with big spots (something that all WarGames have to have) for it to come across as entertaining. Nobody went bigger than IYO SKY with her top-of-the-cage moonsault inside a garbage can. Tiffany Stratton’s simultaneous moonsault was undervalued as well as Ripley’s Riptide off the top rope and through a table to Morgan. There is only so much you can do, and the women did as much as they could.

A moment in time: This might be hyperbole or maybe my penchant for loving a big man inside the ring but “Big” Bronson Reed’s Tsunami off the top of the cage was the top spot in the entire PLE. A man that’s pushing 350 pounds shouldn’t even be able to get to the top of the cage, let alone fly 20 feet off it into a table. I don’t know about you but as Reed started to climb the ropes, there was no way I thought he was going to continue to the top of the cage.

LA Knight defends the United States Championship against the dangerous Shinsuke Nakamura. Catch WWE action on Peacock, WWE Network, USA Network, CW Network, Sony India and more.

Oh, noo! LA Knight losing his United States Championship to a guy who has had one match in four months wasn’t what I expected. All the props in the world go to Shinsuke Nakamura for reinventing himself and winning the title for a third time, but where does this leave Knight? It will be interesting to see how he rebounds from this defeat. It would be different if Nakamura didn’t win it cleanly, but he did.

ODDS AND ENDS: Stratton actually cashing in her Money in the Bank contract would have been a nice twist to the Women’s WarGames Match. … Whoever came up with the Monday Night Football-like introductions for WarGames is brilliant. … Something felt missing without Cody Rhodes on the card. … Tonga Loa looked good, and it appears he’s found a nice little niche with his gimmick. … There are very few surprise appearances or double-crosses at PLEs, yet we expect them every time.