Women's War Games:
The Horsewomen (Ripley/Baszler/Shaffir/Duke) v. Banks/Asuka/Flair/Belair
(it won't be Asuka, she gets taken out and Banks, the team captain, can choose a mystery partner)
Stakes: Whomever submits leaves town
Men's War Games
oGDI (Danielson/Black/Steen) v. GDI (Cole/O'Reilly/Fish/Strong)
(oGDI agrees to the handicap stip)
Stakes: Losing team leaves town
Women's Match:
Ripley took the title from Banks at Mania; Flair returned from a year injury absence caused by the Horsewomen in a postmatch babyface save. Her hair is short- she has none of the Queen Charlotte affectation, she's here to fight. Belair and Asuka joined them; Asuka's a two time Women's Champ and was once the clear ace of the division; Belair's steaming her way through the ranks, having beaten former Champ Baszler twice on PPV.
Asuka doesn't make it - she got taken out by a Horsewoman beating. Full of hubris, the heel stable says if Banks can find anyone at all willing to risk their career by stepping into the War Games ring with the Horsewomen, she can be the new 4th member of her team.
It's going to turn out to be Lynch (she'll be last woman to enter, of course) Becky lost the Montreal Match at the Covid Mania, leaving the territory, with the historical caveat being that the one person who could bring her back is the person who submitted her in the match, forcing her to leave. This, of course, was Banks (we're storytellers, after all) and so Lynch is the mystery partner, reuniting the surviving members of 4-Ground, whose forming and separation, and battles have been the throughline of the modern women's division.
They stand together in this match as babyfaces with the rising star Belair. One story to tell is how well Lynch/Flair work together; their feud, their inability to stop fighting each other, was really the impetutus that led to the need for the Montreal Match - but both have been gone for more than a calendar and as we'll learn going forward, sometimes you don't know what you've got til its gone.
Each of them saves the other from a submission hold that would have ended their WWF run - which is a good way to demonstrate some trust - and at the end, it's Belair who submits Shaffir - that's going to earn her a title shot at Summer Slam; Lynch and Flair - they're going to team up in a women's tag match against Alexa/Nikki Cross, who are essentially enhancement.
Men's Match:
We say goodbye to many of our friends here.
oGDI is gone for a few weeks after Mania; leaving all the promo time for GDI (they do a promo where they dress as oGDI, like DX as the NoD or the NWO as the Horsemen - I'm thinking Cole with a giant beard and crazy hair as Danielson, O'Reilly keeps switching t-shirts to represent Black's switching from stable to stable, and Fish and Strong both in fat suits as dueling Steens). GDI goes hard not just at oGDI but at the entire generation of guys (save Strong) they go hard enough that it draws an irritated rebuke from Joe - Joe doesn't like any of the oGDI guys, for long established reasons - but the disparagment of the entire generation understably grates.
oGDI gets one good unified moment upon their return so we can have a full 4 x 3 brawl - but it disintegrates in the subsequent weeks, they can't find the same page in the wake of such a terrible WM (they were all losers in the 3 top matches of the show) there's bickering, there's blame cast, whereas GDI is fully united - oGDI is entirely fractured, that's even more of a problem because the initial stakes (whomever submits leaves town) escalate to the entire losing team leaves town.
Danielson's heelishness doesn't relent at all (Black and Owens need to soften for this build - we want to root for oGDI, when babyface announcer Joe takes their side, that's our cue to do the same) everyone is still beneath him, the only people less worthy of being in the arena than GDI are the idiot fans. Even his own stablemates clearly are a lost cause; no one understands his delicate genius.
Danielson is the primary driver of the escalation of the stakes - and also accepting that it will be a handicap match.
Pre-match is a stretcher shot from the back - Strong has been taken out - looks like that's how oGDI evened up the odds.
O'Reilly and Black start.
Then Cole. Then Steen.
Then Fish. Then Danielson...
Except....Danielson isn't there to fight with oGDI, he's there to fight for GDI; he attacks Steen and Black to make it 4 x 2; the announcers fill in - it wasn't oGDI that took out Strong, it was GDI that took out Strong so they could replace him with Danielson! Danielson agreed to the handicap stip - Danielson escalated the stakes of the match - it's a set up - it's diabolical.
Joe - at the announce - says it isn't happening like this - he tells Sanford and Heyman that he quits.
He takes off his jacket and shirt -- and he enters the cage and fights with oGDI.
Something set up for several months is despite his being a longtime heel, Black had been in the positon to be on the short end of odds, having to face multiple men and doing so with fighting spirit - so when he's in that position again here, just fully firing up in a babyface way, the fans are primed for that - and it will be Black who submits Danielson -- meaning that he, O'Reilly, Fish and Cole will be leaving the territory.
There's not a lot of joy here - Black/Steen/Joe stagger off separately - GDI leaves together - leaving just Danielson alone in the ring - the 3 time WWF Champion, the American Dragon Bryan Danielson will be leaving the WWF.
But not quite yet - because there's one more receipt.
Heyman comes to the ring. He cuts a pretty scathing promo - for years, for years - Heyman was part of a feud with Danielson based on respect; no matter what the stakes, no matter who won - it was two gladiators giving it all they had. But Danielson gave that up at the Covid Mania - cheapened his legacy - joined up with those two jackals and ganged up against a man who collectively the 3 of them couldn't lace his boots.
Danielson thought it was over then.
Tonight. Tonight it's over.
And then Lesnar's music hits.
After over a year away, Brock Lesnar returns to the WWF - he stomps to the ring - Danielson begs off - it doesn't matter - multiple F5s and it is done.
Dragonmania is dead. Bryan Danielson leaves the territory and Brock Lesnar returns.
That's part 1. Back in a month
