The 2022 Survivor Series: WarGames was a professional wrestling premium live event (PLE) produced by WWE, held for wrestlers from the promotion's main roster brands, Raw and SmackDown. It was the 36th annual Survivor Series and took place on Saturday, November 26, 2022, at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. This was the first Survivor Series to be branded as "WarGames", and as such, it centered on the WarGames match, a type of roofless steel cage match that surrounds two rings placed side by side and is contested by teams of multiple wrestlers; the first team to score a pinfall or submission wins while escaping the cage is a forfeit.

With the event's rebranding to "WarGames", it ended the "brand supremacy" theme of the events from 2016 to 2021. It also ended the annual WarGames event for WWE's developmental brand NXT that was held from 2017 to 2021, subsequently marking WWE's first main roster PLE to feature the WarGames match, with one each for the men and women. Due to hosting the WarGames matches, this was the first Survivor Series since the 2002 event to not feature a traditional Survivor Series match, and only the third event to not include one, after the 1998 and 2002 events. Subsequently beginning with this event, Survivor Series no longer features the titular Survivor Series match as it has instead featured the WarGames matches.

Five matches were contested at the event, including two WarGames matches. The main event, which was the main match from SmackDown, was the men's WarGames match in which The Bloodline (Roman Reigns, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, Solo Sikoa, and Sami Zayn) defeated Team Brawling Brutes (Sheamus, Ridge Holland, Butch, Drew McIntyre, and Kevin Owens). The women's WarGames match opened the show and was the main match from Raw that saw Team Belair (Bianca Belair, Alexa Bliss, Asuka, Mia Yim, and Becky Lynch) defeat Team Damage CTRL (Bayley, Dakota Kai, Iyo Sky, Nikki Cross, and Rhea Ripley).

This was the third Survivor Series to be held at the TD Garden, after the 2008 event, when it was known as TD Banknorth Garden, and the 2013 event, and subsequently the fourth overall in Boston, including the 1993 event at the original Boston Garden. It was also the first Survivor Series to take place on a Saturday and the first since the 1994 event to not take place on a Sunday. This was also the first Survivor Series to be branded as a "premium live event", a term the company introduced at the start of the year to refer to its events airing on traditional pay-per-view (PPV) and via WWE's livestreaming platforms. This would also be WWE's last main roster PLE to take place before Stephanie McMahon announced her resignation as co-Chief Executive Officer and Chairwoman of WWE, with Vince McMahon subsequently returning as Executive Chairman in January 2023. It was also WWE's final main roster PLE to be available to livestream on the Australian version of the WWE Network before it transferred to Binge on January 23, 2023. Additionally, this was the first Survivor Series to livestream on Disney+ Hotstar in Indonesia as well as WWE's first PLE to livestream on Disney+ in the Philippines.

Survivor Series: WarGames was the highest-grossing Survivor Series of all time, as well as the highest-grossing gate for WWE in Boston. It was also the most-viewed Survivor Series. WWE reported that the event was a complete sellout, with a disputed attendance of 15,609. The event also received critical acclaim, with high praise directed towards the WarGames matches for their storytelling and long-term booking, while also praising AJ Styles vs. Finn Bálor, and Raw's United States Championship triple threat match. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter would go on to rate a majority of the matches three-and-three-quarters stars or higher, with only the SmackDown Women's Championship match receiving a negative response.

Production Background

Survivor Series is an annual professional wrestling premium live event (PLE) produced every November by WWE since 1987, generally held around Thanksgiving in the United States. It was originally broadcast exclusively via pay-per-view (PPV) before it began simulcasting on WWE's livestreaming platforms in 2014. In what has become the second longest-running PPV event in history (behind WWE's WrestleMania), it is one of the promotion's original four PPVs, along with WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Royal Rumble, referred to as the "Big Four", and as of August 2021, it is considered one of the "Big Five", along with Money in the Bank.

Announced on October 25, 2021, the 36th Survivor Series was scheduled to occur on Saturday, November 26, 2022, at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, marking the first Survivor Series to be held on a Saturday and the first to not be held on a Sunday since the 1994 event, which was on a Wednesday. This also marked the third Survivor Series at the venue, after the 2008 event when it was known as TD Banknorth Garden, and the 2013 event, and the fourth overall in Boston, including the 1993 event at the original Boston Garden. Tickets went on sale on August 26, 2022, with premium hospitality packages also available. This was also the first Survivor Series to be branded as a "premium live event", a term the company introduced on January 1 to refer to its events that are available on PPV and via livestreaming.

From 1987 to 2021, the event was traditionally characterized by having Survivor Series matches, which were tag team elimination matches that typically featured teams of four or five wrestlers against each other. On September 19, 2022, however, WWE executive Paul "Triple H" Levesque announced that instead of Survivor Series matches, the 2022 event would feature two WarGames matches, one each for the men and women that would be 5-versus-5, marking WWE's first main roster PLE to feature the match. WarGames is a type of steel cage match where the two teams face each other in a roofless cage that surrounds two rings placed side by side but is decided by one fall instead of eliminating all opponents and escaping the cage is a forfeit for that team. The 2022 event was in turn renamed as Survivor Series: WarGames, and was subsequently the third Survivor Series to not feature any Survivor Series matches, after 1998 and 2002. WWE's developmental brand NXT previously held an annual WarGames event from 2017 to 2021. With the WarGames match moving to the main roster for Survivor Series, this subsequently ended NXT's WarGames event, which was replaced by Deadline.

After WWE reintroduced the brand split in July 2016, Survivor Series centered around competition between wrestlers from Raw and SmackDown for brand supremacy (NXT was also involved in 2019 but removed in 2020). In addition to traditional Survivor Series matches between the brands, the champions of each brand faced off in non-title matches. Along with the announcement that the 2022 event would feature WarGames matches, Triple H also confirmed that the 2022 event would not be based on the brand supremacy concept.

In an interview with The Ringer in regard to the changes for the 2022 Survivor Series, Triple H stated:

Broadcast outlets The PLE was broadcast on traditional PPV outlets worldwide. It was also available to livestream on Peacock in the United States, Disney+ Hotstar in Indonesia, Disney+ in the Philippines, and the WWE Network everywhere else. This was the first Survivor Series to livestream on Disney+ Hotstar in Indonesia, following the shutdown of its version of the WWE Network in late January. This was also WWE's first PLE to livestream on Disney+ in the Philippines after it was announced that The Walt Disney Company and WWE inked a deal to make Disney+ as its exclusive home for WWE Network in the Philippines, which began on November 17.

Storylines The event included matches that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.

After Bianca Belair retained the Raw Women's Championship against Becky Lynch at SummerSlam, Belair was confronted by a returning Bayley, accompanied by Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky, with Lynch standing with Belair. Lynch then took time off due to an injury, while Bayley's team would dub themselves as Damage CTRL and began feuding with the trio of Belair, Alexa Bliss, and Asuka. While Belair and Bayley fought over the Raw Women's Championship with Belair retaining in both encounters, Bliss and Asuka traded the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship with Kai and Sky, with Nikki Cross costing Bliss and Asuka the title. On the November 7 episode of Raw, Belair, Bliss, and Asuka challenged Damage CTRL to a WarGames match at Survivor Series: WarGames. Damage CTRL accepted the challenge and subsequently recruited Cross to their team. The following week, Mia Yim, who had returned to WWE the previous week, joined Belair's team, while Rhea Ripley joined Bayley's team. On the November 21 episode of Raw, Ripley defeated Asuka to give Bayley's team the advantage in the WarGames match, and on the November 25 episode of SmackDown, a returning Lynch was revealed as the fifth member of Belair's team.

In mid-October, The Brawling Brutes (Sheamus, Ridge Holland, and Butch) began feuding with The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso), Solo Sikoa, and Sami Zayn of The Bloodline, including an unsuccessful attempt at The Usos's Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship. On the November 11 episode of SmackDown, the two teams brawled, which also involved Bloodline leader and Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns; Drew McIntyre also joined the fray, siding with The Brawling Brutes. The following week, it was confirmed that The Brawling Brutes would face The Bloodline in a WarGames match at Survivor Series: WarGames. Despite McIntyre's past issues with Sheamus, they made amends and he joined Sheamus's team as he had his own issues with The Bloodline. Later that night, following Butch's win over Zayn, the two teams brawled, after which, Kevin Owens made his return from injury and revealed himself as the fifth member of Sheamus's team with Owens also having previous issues with The Bloodline. On the November 25 episode of SmackDown, McIntyre and Sheamus defeated The Usos to get the advantage in the WarGames match.

On the November 11 episode of SmackDown, Shotzi won a six-pack challenge to earn a SmackDown Women's Championship match against Ronda Rousey at Survivor Series: WarGames.

In early October, The O.C. (AJ Styles, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson) began a rivalry with The Judgment Day (Finn Bálor, Damian Priest, Dominik Mysterio, and Rhea Ripley), but The O.C. were always at a disadvantage due to Ripley, who cost The O.C. their six-man tag team match against her stablemates at Crown Jewel. On the November 7 episode of Raw, The O.C. confronted The Judgment Day and introduced the returning Mia Yim as their solution to deal with Ripley. The following week, a singles match between Styles and Bálor was scheduled for Survivor Series: WarGames, with their respective stablemates in their corners.