The first major test of the post-Vince McMahon era begins for WWE

Beginning with its return to NBC in two weeks for Saturday Night’s Main Event, a seminal stretch is starting

WarGames 2024/WWE

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Extra Mustard is a weekly column looking at the highs and lows–and everything in between–in combat sports and beyond.

Survivor Series set the table.

Now the objective is clear: WWE needs to exceed expectations from here through WrestleMania.

All eyes will be on the promotion during this critical stretch, which begins with a return to NBC on December 14 for Saturday Night’s Main Event. That led to Cody Rhodes being a guest of Jimmy Fallon’s on The Tonight Show, an appearance typically reserved for the week before WrestleMania. But with WWE airing on NBC in a couple weeks, it fit here.

Headlined by Rhodes defending the WWE title against Kevin Owens, Saturday Night’s Main Event marks the first primetime special in WWE’s new five-year media rights partnership with NBCUniversal. There is every reason to believe Owens will dethrone Rhodes. It is likely to occur with a controversial finish, and the buzz generated from it will further solidify WWE during this monumental stretch.

Only weeks after the return to NBC comes WWE’s debut on Netflix. That kicks off on Monday, January 6, when Raw starts a new era on Netflix.

This will be a lot different from Netflix’s disastrous showing of the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul fight last month, a broadcast riddled with buffering issues. But that shouldn’t adversely affect WWE. Even on big weeks, the audience for Raw will be considerably smaller than Tyson-Paul, which drew an astounding 108 million viewers across the globe. Netflix also airs two NFL games on Christmas, and that will provide a better indicator of where Netflix stands with its ability to stream live events.

The pivotal stretch continues for WWE on February 1 with the Royal Rumble at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, a dome with the capacity to hold 70,000 seats. One month later comes Elimination Chamber at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, the site of the epic Hulk Hogan-Ultimate Warrior showdown at WrestleMania VI and Hogan-Rock at WrestleMania X8 (it will be interesting to see whether WWE highlights Hogan at the event, as the crowd in Canada is usually quite receptive to him). Then comes the two-night WrestleMania on April 19 and 20 (a shift in date from the Vince McMahon era, purposefully moving away from the NCAA Tournament). WWE will look to pack over 60,000 people in the stadium on consecutive nights, as well as break the venue’s attendance record of 63,969.

It is the biggest test to date for the “new era” of WWE run by Nick Khan and Paul Levesque. There is also no McMahon to blame if anything goes awry, as it was easy to hold McMahon responsible for any and all creative issues in the prior regime. But based on what we’re seeing, perhaps that won’t be a problem.

WWE is absolutely loaded with talent. The company is in a position to make a defining run during this upcoming stretch, with stars like John Cena (set to return at the Netflix debut of Raw) and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson both coming back to semi-regular appearances in the first quarter of 2025 (with even more in store for Cena). There is going to be the payoff to the CM Punk-Seth Rollins feud that began in November of 2023, as well as a world title picture that includes Roman Reigns, Rhodes, and Owens. Plus, there could be return from two major players in Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair.

The Rock and John Cena are both headed back to play major roles/WWE

That is why Survivor Series was so important. In many ways, it was the calm before the storm. The event needed to lay the groundwork for Punk-Reigns, which will be revisited in 2025 (remember: Paul Heyman owes Punk a favor).

With Reigns inevitably awaiting his next run as champ, it is highly likely that the favor Punk seeks will be a shot at the belt. Before then, it is going to be Rollins-Punk, which should begin to intensify on Raw. Punk took the spot at WarGames offered to Rollins, which is an important detail. Even if WarGames is a glorified 10-man tag (and it is), that’s not an insult. When done correctly, 10-man tags are extremely effective… watch the main event from WWE’s Canadian Stampede pay-per-view from July of 1997 if you still doubt that.

The essence of a 10-man tag is to advance the story without ending it. It’s why Rhea Ripley is still feuding with Liv Morgan after nearly breaking her in half with a Riptide for the victory at WarGames; it’s why Tiffany Stratton only teased cashing in her Money in the Bank contract at WarGames (that’s happening on Netflix!); and why play-by-play man Michael Cole explained that, even though Reigns pinned Solo Sikoa to close out the men’s WarGames match, it is Sikoa who remains the rightful Tribal Chief. Survivor Series wasn’t designed to close the chapter on the current events, it was specifically there to advance the story.

And what becomes of Rhodes if he loses the belt to Owens? Rhodes is simply too talented, too charismatic, and too popular to slip down the card. But if The Rock costs him the title, or even Randy Orton, then the story keeps moving forward in grand fashion.

There will be no repeats of the 2014 Royal Rumble. That’s when Batista won even though the world knew that Bryan was destined to headline the upcoming WrestleMania (spoiler alert: Batista won the Rumble, but Bryan still headlined WrestleMania).

No longer encumbered by McMahon’s stubbornness (and, to be fair, his decades-long record of creativity), a new era has dawned in WWE where the story pays off in a manner that pleases the masses. We saw that executed to perfection when Rhodes won the title at WrestleMania 40, a Disney-esque ending that may have made McMahon shudder–but one that resonated with its fan base.

Vince McMahon would not have been part of the post-match ceremony at WrestleMania 40/WWE

Yet there is no guarantee every big decision will work. So we’ll sit back and watch the build to WrestleMania 41, examining each stop along the way, and see if ego (from a certain board member/Hollywood star) will stand in the way of another legendary finish.