Heading into Survivor Series, rumor had it that Santos Escobar was going to “squad up” ahead of his one-man war against the faction he helped to relaunch, LWO.
From the main roster return of Los Lothorious to the main roster elevation of Elektra Lopez, who has every reason to be upset with Legado del Fantasma after being left behind in NXT in favor of a pairing with Zelina Vega, it looked like Dragon Lee was going to have to overcome an army to secure his first-ever Premium Live Event win as a member of the WWE Universe.
… except that isn't what happened.
No, after taking the ring second sporting a blue mask and matching cape, El Hijo del Bestia del Ring wrestled one of his least-exciting matches as a member of the WWE main roster, holding back the sort of fast-paced, lucha-inspired offense that made his match with Axios such a fantastic find in favor of a more plotting affair that still largely delivered but felt like hints at a banger, instead of delivering the actual thing.
After a failed comeback attempt by Lee, Santo closed out the contest with a South of the Boarder Destroyer – aka Petey Williams' Canadian Destroyer – followed by his signature Phantom Driver for the 1-2-3.
And then? Nothing. No LWO coming out for the save, no LL, no Lopez, no nothing. The match ended, Survivor Series went to commercial, and fans were treated to a new Slim Jim commercial featuring none other than LA Knight, who isn't booked for the show. All things considered, a very weird middle match to perfectly split a show featuring two title matches and two trips to WarGames.
https://twitter.com/futurafreesky/status/1728603046660423885?s=20
Santos Escobar was right not to be worried about Dragon Lee.
Heading into Survivor Series, Santos Escobar was asked about Nick Aldis' decision to give Dragon Lee Carlito's spot in their match in Chicago. While Escobar obviously knows a ton about Lee, as he's wrestling matches against the entire Bestia del Ring clan for years – with 21 matches against Rush alone – he wasn't too concerned with the change, as he felt confident that he could secure the win either way.
“Dragon Lee, you said? Who's that? I never met the guy,” Santos Escobar said on the SmackDown LowDown via Fightful. “I thought I had a day off, but come to think of it, tomorrow night at Survivor Series: WarGames, I have an opportunity. You see, Santos always sees areas of opportunity and this is an opportunity for me to show everybody in the WWE Universe the consequences of being against Santos. You know I'm about family, tradition, heritage, honor, and how fitting that it's a so-called Luchador that's coming to teach me a lesson. I love it… I don't need luck, Kayla. Luck doesn't work for me.”
At the time, Escobar sounded cocky, but in hindsight, maybe he was right; while Lee did a bang-up job of working his behind off in the attempt to prove he really is the future of Lucha Libre, Escobar was able to secure the win without having to bring out any additional help from his friends across the WWE Universe, and now, the “Emperor of Lucha Libre” finds himself with the last laugh as he leaves the Chicagoland area with a moral victory over Rey Mysterio's chosen champion.