While the card for WWE’s Survivor Series WarGames seemed cemented going into tonight’s episode of SmackDown, things played out differently than expected, and a match has been changed as a result. The LWO has been having some issues with their former ally Santos Escobar, who turned on Rey Mysterio and caused a major injury. Carlito was supposed to face Escobar at Survivor Series to avenge Rey, but Escobar’s vicious attack backstage tonight led to him not being cleared, which paved the way for Dragon Lee to enter that spot and take on Escobar at WarGames, and it’s been made official.
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Carlito came to the ring to address Escobar’s comments last week, which took aim at Rey’s injury. Escobar didn’t hold back, saying he hoped something went wrong with the surgery and even worse things befell the LWO leader. Carlito fired back at Escobar during his promo, and it didn’t take long for Escobar to run out and get in Carlito’s face about it.
Escobar told Carlito that the “LWO was my family! If it wasn’t for you, an outsider. My family would still be together. It’s because of you that’s Rey’s not healthy. It’s because of you that Rey can’t walk. His career is over, and it’s because of you.” An attack broke out around the ring and Carlito was starting to get the best of Escobar when the fight was broken up by security. Escobar would leave but went around and through the crowd to jump the barricade and damage Carlito’s arm.
That wasn’t the end of it though, as later in the show Carlito was backstage and was attacked by Escobar again. Escobar was looking to make Carlito pay before their match at WarGames, and he ended up doing just that, but he didn’t plan on Carlito having another ally. That would be Dragon Lee, who came in for the save and knocked Escobar for a loop (via @007typeshi).
Lee would even hit Escobar with a hurricanrana in severely close quarters, sending Escobar directly into the backstage equipment. Later in the show, General Manager Nick Aldis revealed that Carlito was not going to be medically cleared to compete in the match at Survivor Series, and as a result, the match would need to be postponed. Dragon Lee then came up and asked Aldis to allow him to step in for Carlito to face Escobar, and Aldis agreed, making the match official.
Survivor Series WarGames:
- Women’s World Championship Match: Rhea Ripley (C) vs Zoey Stark
- Intercontinental Championship Match: Gunther (C) vs The Miz
- Men’s WarGames Match: Judgement Day (Finn Balor, Damian Priest, Dominik Mysterio, and JD McDonagh) and Drew McIntyre vs Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins, Jet Uso, Sami Zayn, and Randy Orton.
- Women’s WarGames Match: Damage CTRL (IYO SKY, Bayley, Kairi Sane, and Asuka) vs Bianca Belair, Charlotte Flair, Shotzi, and Becky Lynch
- Carlito vs Santos Escobar
WWE Survivor Series WarGames kicks off at 8 PM EST and will stream live on Peacock.
Are you excited for Survivor Series WarGames? Let us know in the comments and as always you can talk all things wrestling with me on Threads @mattaguilarcb!
