WWE Survivor Series hosts Women’s WarGames. WWE NXT continues the qualifying matches for the 2023 Iron Survivor Challenge. Calypso chats with WrestleZone, and more! Let’s break it down in this week’s edition of Women’s Wrestling Wrap-Up!
WWE Women’s WarGames
This year’s WWE Survivor Series: WarGames event emanated from the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois. This card itself featured five matches, including two marquee WarGames matches, and a bout for the WWE Women’s World Championship.
To kick off the show, eight women stepped inside a grueling caged structure for the women’s WarGames match. For this occasion, Damage CTRL (Bayley, IYO SKY, Kairi Sane, & Asuka) was pitted against the team of Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Shotzi, and Bianca Belair. 2023 marked IYO SKY’s fifth WarGames match, while Sane and Flair entered their first.
As expected, the caged environment brought forth a mix of brutal physicality and innovative offense from all the competitors involved. One standout moment saw IYO SKY recreate a spot from the 2021 NXT Women’s WarGames match, in which she placed a trash can over her head, launched herself off the top of the cage, and onto the sea of competitors below her. Charlotte Flair also took a dive off the cage with her signature moonsault. In the end, though, only one team could win.
Despite Bayley’s best efforts to break up the pinfall attempts on her teammates, it wasn’t enough to save herself. Toward the conclusion of the match, Bayley pushed Kairi Sane out of the path of Charlotte Flair’s spear. Unfortunately for Bayley, she received it instead, allowing Flair’s teammates then deliver their finishers to Bayley as well. After Belair successfully landed her KOD, Lynch sent Bayley crashing through a table via the Manhandle Slam to capture the pinfall. As a result, Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Shotzi, and Bianca Belair were named as the victors of the 2023 Women’s WarGames match.
Elsewhere on the card, Rhea Ripley successfully defended her WWE Women’s World Championship against Zoey Stark.
READ MORE: WWE Survivor Series: Rhea Ripley vs. Zoey Stark Result
Charlotte Flair Comments On Participating In Her First WarGames Match
Following their win at Survivor Series: WarGames, Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch appeared at the post-show press conference. There, Flair was asked about her approach to what would be her very first WarGames match.
“How do we beat the match from last year? How do we top every year? [We knew] that last year was so good and the year before [with] the NXT one. But I think for me, it was just more, the history with WarGames, with my dad [Ric Flair] and Dusty [Rhodes] and wanting to be a part of that, and continuing the tradition,” Flair said. “Being with Bianca and Shotzi and having this moment with Becky, for me, it was more making amends. We kind of left in a bad spot. Then coming together tonight, how can we move forward with everything? It was awesome.”
“I had to get my moonsault in. I was like, ‘I have to go off the cage,'” Flair added.
Women’s Iron Survivor Challenge Qualifiers
In less than two weeks, WWE NXT will gear up for their second Deadline premium live event. This year’s event will take place at the Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut
Last year, NXT introduced a new match concept — the Iron Survivor Challenge. In this unique stipulation, five men and five women will attempt to score the most points before time expires. Any wrestler who is pinned, submitted, or is disqualified, will also be forced into the penalty box for 90 seconds. Competitors can earn points by gaining a pinfall or submission, or if they are the victim of a disqualification. Once the timer reaches the 25-minute mark, the winner with the most points is crowned the winner of the Iron Survivor Challenge. The winners of the men’s and women’s Iron Survivor Challenges are then granted a future shot at the NXT Championship and NXT Women’s Championship, respectively.
This year’s field of competitors is three-fifths complete, with three women and three confirmed for their respective Iron Survivor Challenges. Tiffany Stratton was the first woman to solidify her spot in the women’s Iron Survivor Challenge, defeating Fallon Henley on the November 7 episode of WWE NXT. The following week, Lash Legend conquered the inaugural women’s Iron Survivor Challenge winner Roxanne Perez to claim the second slot. Blair Davenport then emerged as the third entrant after defeating Thea Hail.
WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler recently announced the fourth pair of qualifying matchups, which will see Kelani Jordan taking on Kiana James on tonight’s episode of NXT. It has yet to be revealed how WWE will determine the fifth, and final, participants in the 2023 men’s and women’s Iron Survivor Challenges.
RELATED: Josh Briggs, Blair Davenport Qualify For Iron Survivor Challenge Matches
Interviews
“The Woman With Three Faces” Calypso spoke with WrestleZone’s own Ella Jay about her ranking on the PWI Women’s 250 list, recently sharing the locker room with one of her inspirations Mickie James, the process of crafting her current wrestling persona, competing against talent from North America, her work in the European wrestling scene, and more.
WWE RAW star Zoey Stark chatted with Denise Salcedo about her reaction to being called up to WWE’s main roster earlier this year, what she has learned from working with Trish Stratus, working with Becky Lynch, facing Rhea Ripley at WWE Survivor Series, and more!
Independent wrestler “Big Daddy” Adrianna Mosley joined The Hot Tag Hooligans to talk about her career in wrestling so far, anime, the Thanksgiving holiday, what she’s grateful for, and more.
“5 Star Athlete” Ruthie Jay appeared on We Luv Wrestling to talk about her love for wrestling, her experience working with the National Wrestling Alliance so far, stepping into the ring with Angelina Love, and more.
