This is the first Survivor Series to take place in an outdoor venue, the first to take place in a stadium, the first to be held in a Major League Baseball venue, and the second event to be held in the U.S. state of California, after the 2018 event in Los Angeles. It also features the first WarGames match to take place inside a stadium since July 1988, which was held by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). This is also the first Survivor Series to broadcast on Netflix internationally and on ESPN's direct-to-consumer streaming service in the United States. The event also features John Cena's last appearance at both Survivor Series and on PPV as an in-ring performer due to his retirement from professional wrestling at the end of 2025.
Survivor Series is an annual professional wrestling event produced every November by WWE since 1987, generally held the week of Thanksgiving. The second longest running pay-per-view (PPV) event in history (behind WWE's WrestleMania), it is one of the promotion's five biggest events of the year, along with WrestleMania, SummerSlam, Royal Rumble, and Money in the Bank, referred to as the "Big Five".[1][2] From 1987 to 2021, the event was characterized by having Survivor Series matches, which were tag team elimination matches that typically featured teams of four or five wrestlers against each other.[3] In 2022, the event was rebranded as "Survivor Series: WarGames" and instead of Survivor Series matches, the annual event became based around the WarGames match, a type of steel cage match where two teams face each other in a roofless cage that surrounds two rings placed side by side and the teams typically feature four to five wrestlers each but is decided by one fall instead of eliminating all opponents. WWE's developmental brandNXT previously held an annual WarGames event from 2017 to 2021 before the match became a part of Survivor Series.[4]
Announced on April 21, 2025, the 39th Survivor Series was scheduled for Saturday, November 29, 2025, at Petco Park in San Diego, California. It will be the first Survivor Series event to be held in an outside venue and the first to be held in a stadium. It will be held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDownbrand divisions.[5] On June 30, it was revealed that it would once again feature the WarGames matches.[6] While the 2025 card will once again not feature a traditional Survivor Series match, the preceding night's episode of Friday Night SmackDown did.[7]
In addition to airing on traditional PPV worldwide, the event is also available to livestream on ESPN's direct-to-consumer streaming service in the United States, Netflix in most international markets, and the WWE Network in any remaining countries that have not yet transferred to Netflix due to pre-existing contracts. This marks the first Survivor Series to livestream on Netflix following the WWE Network's merger under the service in January 2025 in those areas,[8] and to livestream on ESPN in the United States, as WWE's contract with Peacock to air main roster PPV and livestreaming events expired at the conclusion of Clash in Paris in August.[9][10]
Storylines
The event includes four matches that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands,[11][12] while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.[13]
For most of 2025, CM Punk, Roman Reigns, and Jey Uso were involved in a rivalry against The Vision (Seth Rollins, Bron Breakker, Bronson Reed, and Paul Heyman). At Night 1 of SummerSlam, Reigns and Jey defeated Breakker and Reed in a tag team match, while Punk won the World Heavyweight Championship, however, Rollins immediately cashed in his Money in the Bank contract on Punk to win the title. Also at Night 1 of SummerSlam, Drew McIntyre and Logan Paul, who formed an alliance a month before, won a tag team match.[14] Both Jey and Punk subsequently failed to win the title from Rollins in a fatal four-way match at Clash in Paris, whilst at the same event, Reigns defeated Reed only to be viciously attacked post-match by Reed and Breakker.[15] At Wrestlepalooza, Jey teamed up with his twin brother Jimmy Uso to face Breakker and Reed in a tag team match, where Reed and Breakker won, Punk defeated Rollins in a mixed tag team match, and Undisputed WWE ChampionCody Rhodes defeated McIntyre to retain his title.[16] At Crown Jewel, Reed defeated Reigns in an Australian Street Fight, after which, Rollins faced longtime rival Rhodes for the WWE Crown Jewel Championship, where Rollins won after he struck Rhodes with a Rolex watch.[17] Two nights later on Raw, Breakker, Reed, and Heyman turned on Rollins, exiling him from the group.[18] As a result of the attack, Rollins was forced to vacate the title, with Punk defeating Jey at Saturday Night's Main Event XLI to win the vacant title, while the same night, Rhodes retained the title once again against McIntyre.[19] Two nights later on Raw during Punk's celebration, he was interrupted by Paul, who wanted a title shot. They were both interrupted by The Vision, with Heyman stating that The Vision were next in line for the title. This led to a brawl where The Vision stood tall against Paul and Punk. Later that same night, Jey and Punk faced The Vision in a tag team match, which ended in a double countout. After that, Paul appeared and attacked Punk with brass knuckles, joining forces with The Vision.[20] On the November 7 episode of SmackDown, McIntyre was suspended by SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis after attacking Rhodes and a referee.[21] On the November 10 episode of Raw, Paul and The Vision interrupted Punk, and went to attack him. However, Jey and Rhodes joined Punk, leading to another brawl. After that, Punk challenged Heyman to find a team for a WarGames match against him, Rhodes, and Jey, which Raw General Manager Adam Pearce agreed.[22] On that week's SmackDown, Jimmy announced that, after speaking with Punk, he would be the fourth member of Punk's team. Later that night, Reed faced Rhodes for the title, which ended in a disqualification win for Rhodes after Breakker and Paul interfered. The Usos (Jimmy and Jey) would make the save, however, McIntyre appeared, attacking The Usos and Rhodes. It was subsequently revealed that McIntyre would be the fourth member of The Vision and Paul's team.[23] On the following episode of Raw, both teams had a brawl until Punk was the only one standing in the ring. At that moment, Brock Lesnar, Heyman's former client, made his return and attacked Punk and Rhodes. Reigns would also make his return and attacked longtime rival Lesnar. It was subsequently announced that Reigns would join Punk, Rhodes, and The Usos, while Lesnar would join The Vision, Paul, and McIntyre.[24] The following week on Raw, McIntyre and Paul defeated The Usos in a tag team match to earn the WarGames advantage.[25]
On the September 5 episode of SmackDown, AJ Lee made her return to WWE for the first time since 2015, aiding her husband CM Punk against World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins and his wife, WWE Women's Intercontinental ChampionBecky Lynch.[26] Lee and Punk subsequently defeated Rollins and Lynch at Wrestlepalooza, which Lee submitting Lynch.[16] Also during this time, Rhea Ripley was in a rivalry against The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane), more specifically with Asuka, who was jealous of Iyo Sky's friendship with Ripley. On the September 22 episode of Raw, after Ripley defeated Asuka, she and Sane attacked Ripley, prompting Sky to appear as she tried to stop them, however, The Kabuki Warriors turned on Sky.[27] Ripley and Sky subsequently defeated The Kabuki Warriors in a tag team match at Crown Jewel,[17] however, two nights later on Raw, after Ripley defeated Sane, The Kabuki Warriors viciously attacked Ripley and Sky, taking them out of action indefinitely.[18] After that, WWE Women's Tag Team ChampionsAlexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair would begin a rivalry with Nia Jax, while simultaneously having their own issues with The Kabuki Warriors after saving Bayley and Lyra Valkyria from a post-match attack on the November 3 episode of Raw.[20] Bliss would defeat Jax on the October 31 episode of SmackDown,[28] however, Jax defeated Flair the following week after interference NXT's Lash Legend. Jax subsequently explained that she called Legend because she considered her a formidable opponent after previously defeating Legend in NXT. Also that same night, Asuka and Sane appeared dressed as doctors, with Asuka spitting Green Mist on Bliss and Flair.[21] Three nights later on Raw, The Kabuki Warriors defeated Bliss and Flair to win the title after interference from Jax and Legend. After that, the four women attacked Flair and Bliss, who were saved by the returning Sky and Ripley. After that, Ripley challenged The Kabuki Warriors, Legend, and Jax for a WarGames match, which was subsequently made official.[22] However, on that week's SmackDown, Flair announced that she would not be in the match due to past issues with Ripley.[23] Three days later on Raw, Lee made her return, distracting Lynch, costing her the WWE Women's Intercontinental Championship.[24] On that week's SmackDown, Flair and Ripley decided to leave their problems aside, and later that night, Ripley announced Lee as their fifth team member. However, during a brawl between both teams, Lynch attacked Lee during her entrance. Lynch subsequently joined Kabuki Warriors, Legend, and Jax as their fifth team member.[29] The following week on SmackDown, Flair defeated Asuka to earn the WarGames advantage.[30]
On the November 10 episode of Raw, Triple H introduced John Cena, who addressed his hometown of Boston until he was interrupted by WWE Intercontinental ChampionDominik Mysterio. This lead to Triple H ordering him to face Cena for the title, where Cena subsequently defeated Mysterio to win the title for the first time in his career.[22] The following week, Mysterio interrupted Cena once again, and demanded a rematch for the title. Cena then proposed to defend it that night, but Mysterio declined. Mysterio said he wanted to face Cena in his hometown of San Diego at Survivor Series: WarGames, which Cena accepted.[24]
Since September, Women's World ChampionStephanie Vaquer and Nikki Bella formed an alliance. On the November 10 episode of Raw after Vaquer successfully defended her title, Bella attacked her with the title, turning heel for the first time since 2018.[22] The following week, Bella attacked Vaquer during her entrance, and stated that she did not come back to be Vaquer's sidekick. Bella then demanded a title match against Vaquer, which was subsequently scheduled for Survivor Series: WarGames.[24]
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