5 key takeaways from WWE Survivor Series as star claims shock title win and 2024 MVP emerges

WWE Survivor Series is in the record books after a wild night of wrestling action in Vancouver.

The wrestling company’s second oldest annual event behind WrestleMania, Survivor Series has been racking up milestone moments since the late 1980s.

Shinsuke Nakamura won a third US title at WWE Survivor SeriesCredit: WWESaturday’s show from British Columbia proved no exception. In the men’s War Games match, Roman Reigns finally knocked Solo Sikoa down a peg or two with help from the original Bloodline and CM Punk, while Shinsuke Nakamura sprang a shock by winning the United States title. Bron Breakker retained his Intercontinental gold in a superb triple threat match that really upped the pace of the whole night.

There was limited joy for Rhea Ripley in War Games, while her former Judgement Day brother Damian Priest faltered in his quest to regain the World Heavyweight Championship.

WWE claimed Saturday was its highest grossing event in Canada in history as a sold out crowd packed in to witness the final major Premium Live Event of the year as Royal Rumble – and therefore WrestleMania season – fast approaches.

To recap some of the best talking points coming out of the show, talkSPORT has this handy guide of takeaways from Survivor Series 2024.

READ MORE WWEIt’s now or never for Shinsuke NakamuraFew WWE stars can boast a CV like Shinsuke Nakamura’s. Already a huge name before arriving in the US company, he’d already held the United States, Intercontinental and NXT championships going into Saturday’s epic. Yet something has always felt as though it’s missing.

The Japanese star has been repackaged over and over – recently returning to attack US champ LA Knight with another new look, new entrance music and so on.

With repeated long spells away from screens and a struggle to maintain a place in top storylines, surely now is the time for WWE to make the best of a huge asset in Nakamura, and having him so decisively dethrone a popular star like Knight to crown him a champion again would suggest they’re ready to do just that.

Canada is a crowd like no other Back in early October it was heavily rumoured that WWE would bring its popular Elimination Chamber Premium Live Event to the UK in March, with Manchester and Birmingham said to be in the running to host the major show.

Sadly, the UK’s momentum in whatever talks were held began to wane with regards to Elimination Chamber – it has since been confirmed that the show will air from Canada instead. If Survivor Series is anything to go by, its hard to gripe.

Much like British crowds, Canadian gatherings for WWE events are lively and rowdy and make for great TV – often far exceeding the atmosphere generated by US audiences.

Roman Reigns and company got the job done but were less than harmoniousCredit: WWE

Shinsuke Nakamura has taken a sinister turn in WWE in recent weeksCredit: WWE

Sheamus came up narrowly short at Survivor SeriesCredit: WWEOver the decades the Canadians have excelled themselves, and did so again at Survivor Series when they held up their end of the bargain at times when the action began to stall.

It has to be Sheamus at WrestleManiaSheamus simply has to win the Intercontinental title at WrestleMania. It’s written in the stars, even more evidently after a stellar triple threat match for that gold at Survivor Series saw him come up short once again.

Breakker successfully retained his title after seeing off the Celtic Warrior and Ludwig Kaiser in arguably the standout match of the night. There was the classic false finish that had us all hooked, thinking Sheamus had it won before Kaiser intervened.

Shawn Michaels tore strips off WWE rookie backstage after move used by The Rock went wrong

The veteran not winning in Canada is fine in that it keeps going his storyline with the Imperium member and ensured Breakker stayed strong. Surely, though, it all has to be building to the ultimate triumph for one of WWE’s finest workhorses as the industry’s biggest show?

Is Damian Priest the MVP of WWE in 2024?In evaluating WWE’s calendar year in a month or so, many will point to Cody Rhodes, Gunther, Roman Reigns or Jey Uso as being the biggest star of the year.

Naturally all of those names have due merit, but has anyone worked harder or achieved more in 2024 than Damian Priest?

He snared the World Heavyweight Championship from Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania and defended it successfully until his defeat at the hands of The Ring General, at which point you’d be forgiven for thinking he’d fade back in to the mid-card scene. Not so.

Damian Priest has had lots to smile about during 2024 so farCredit: WWEHis promo skills have improved immeasurably, his popularity has increased tremendously and he’s remained firmly in the world title picture in addition to staying involved in The Judgement Day/Rhea Ripley storyline that reared its head at the climax of Saturday’s title bout. Added to that, he shone again at Survivor Series despite an expected defeat, and has done what many before him have failed to do in presenting genuine peril to Gunther’s presentation.

It’s hard to imagine that even Rhodes has made that much progress inside one year, and Priest deserves his flowers for sure.

Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan may have run its courseRhea Ripley’s bitter rivalry with Liv Morgan is entering into its ninth month and appears to be running out of steam – their bad blood was supposed to be the driving force behind the Women’s War Games match at Survivor Series, but it never really cut through the very hesitant madness of the melee, even with the two playing out the bout’s final moments.

Read More on talkSPORTIt really isn’t the fault of Ripley or Morgan. Ripley sustained a horrible shoulder injury when a backstage brawl went wrong in April. After surviving an injury scare at SummerSlam, the Aussie was on the shelf again after suffering an eye issue more recently, all serving to hamper their momentum.

Rhea Ripley gained a small measure of revenge on Liv Morgan at Survivor SeriesCredit: WWEThe breakdown of Judgement Day and Dominik’s fading impact in the whole scene has resulted in the original storyline becoming lost in the shuffle. Maybe it is time to move on?