WWE Survivor Series 2024: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved

In a card with two highly anticipated WarGames matches, it is easy, in theory, for the matches in the middle to fall to the wayside. In practice, however Bron Breakker's Triple Threat Intercontinental Championship defense against Sheamus and Ludwig Kaiser might have been the best match on the card, if not the cleanest.

Breakker, Sheamus, and Kaiser was the third match on the card, shortly after the womens' WarGames match and immediately following LA Knight and Shinsuke Nakamura's United States Championship match. Perhaps the canvas was set for a heightened appreciation of Breakker, Sheamus, and Kaiser's technically pristine wrestling because of the in-ring sloppiness of the last two matches. Where the womens' WarGames match and the United States title defense lacked in clean, precise wrestling, the Intercontinental Championship bout more than made up for in its clear showcase of technique and chemistry between all three participants.

When I say that not one foot was out of place in the Intercontinental Championship Triple Threat, I mean it. Breakker, Sheamus, and Kaiser all showed their skill as they wrestled with expert precision — there were not many, if any, moments where the in-ring illusion was broken because of a weak sell, or a delayed response from one competitor to another. I mean, everything was there: Kaiser pulled out referee Eddie Orengo at just the right moment during Sheamus' near fall to gain gasps and groans of ire from the Vancouver crowd, Sheamus did not waste any time nor effort in his brawl with Kaiser, and Breakker was in the perfect position at the perfect time to deliver a match-ending Spear. Everything fit together in sleek fashion, with Breakker's impressive speed playing amidst Sheamus and Kaiser's impeccable brutality to create a match that combined different styles of wrestling to create a fluid, easy-to-understand match.

That is what makes this match so impressive, especially when placed immediately beside previous two matches. One could easily excuse the clumsiness of the women's WarGames matches to a lack of chemistry or understanding between all ten women — it is really hard to coordinate between ten women who have different experience levels and wrestling styles. One could excuse the lack of synergy in Knight and Nakamura's match to a lack of chemistry between champion and challenger; as Michael Cole noted, Knight could not "get anything going" during his match. Breakker, Sheamus, and Kaiser, however, completely delivered what the women's WarGames and United States Champion matches could not, with multiple people (from completely different wrestling backgrounds, mind you!) involved. This is not to say that the people involved in the preceding two matches should be shamed — again, it is incredibly difficult to communicate among several people, all with different wrestling backgrounds — but instead it is a testament to the hard work and palpable effort that all three men put into this match. They didn't deliver a Match of the Night contender because the other matches were bad; they delivered a Match of the Night contender because they were utterly spectacular.

Bravo.

Written by Angeline Phu