WWE Survivor Series 2016 Matches: Final Picks and Predictions for Entire Card
The Survivor Series is upon us, and this year fantasy warfare becomes reality as Goldberg and Brock Lesnar do battle in a match 12 years in the making.
That contest, coupled with a handful of Raw vs. SmackDown Live elimination tag team bouts, has the 2016 Survivor Series sporting a card that is among the best in recent event history.
Just hours away from the extravaganza, anticipation is skyrocketing and intrigue over any potential surprise or unexpected outcomes is running rampant. Who will emerge victorious, how will they do it and what repercussions may it have on the future of the promotion?
Will Goldberg make it 2-0 against Lesnar or will The Beast Incarnate avenge his most humiliating defeat?
Take a look at these final picks and predictions for Sunday's WWE Network spectacular.
WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match: Kalisto vs. Brian Kendrick
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Sunday night, Brian Kendrick will not only defend the WWE Cruiserweight Championship against Kalisto, he will defend the entire division's right to remain on Monday nights. Should he lose the title, the division reverts to SmackDown Live, a brand it probably should have been part of from the beginning.
There is no story, no compelling build or interesting twists and turns that have brought the two together.
A random announcement was made, and now fans are left with this resulting contest.
On paper, it is one that should make for an entertaining experience. Kendrick is a smarter, more grounded and psychological wrestler at this point in his career while Kalisto is a dazzling high-flyer whose ability to play the sympathetic babyface is second to few.
The real question is whether they will exhibit the type of chemistry that Kendrick and T.J. Perkins never really did and, furthermore, whether they can convince the Toronto fans to invest in their match with little hype surrounding it.
Prediction
From the beginning, fans questioned the decision to place the cruiserweights on Raw. Thus far, the division has not clicked with that brand's audience. Giving it a boost by placing it on the more smartly booked SmackDown Live, where the Superstars can develop characters for themselves rather than wrestling meaningless matches every week, is the right move.
Kalisto wins and SmackDown's roster expands significantly.
WWE Intercontinental Championship Match: Sami Zayn vs. The Miz
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At one point, the Intercontinental Championship match was slated to pit SmackDown Live's Dolph Ziggler against Raw's Sami Zayn.
The Miz's victory over Ziggler on the November 15 episode of SmackDown Live, though, threw a wrench into plans. Now, the Hollywood A-Lister will battle Zayn in what could prove to be a dark horse candidate for Match of the Night.
The biggest question is whether or not Vince McMahon wants the IC title on Monday nights. There is such a wealth of talent on Raw that has consistently been misused or underutilized that a second midcard title would be helpful in getting them exposure.
Yet SmackDown has enough talent to warrant its own midcard title and taking it away from the Tuesday night program would diminish its roster, creating the same problem, just on a different night.
Prediction
The Miz just regained the title and is still in the midst of the best run of his career. The arrogance with which he confronted Daniel Bryan afterward, forcing his general manager to choose whether he would support the champion or cheer for Raw, was brilliant character acting on his part.
There is too much to accomplish with Miz in the role of antagonist champion to Bryan's heroic authority figure. Sacrificing that dynamic to ship the title to Raw would be a mistake.
If anything, send Zayn to SmackDown and let him run with Miz for a few months.
Team Raw vs. Team SmackDown Live: Traditional 10-on-10 Elimination Match
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There is no more meaningless match on Sunday's card than this.
That is not to say that it will not be a fun sprint featuring some outstanding characters and strong workers because it will be. The New Day, Enzo Amore and Big Cass and American Alpha will pop the crowd and create an energetic environment.
There are no stakes, though, nor are there any real stories to keep an eye on.
Sure, Enzo, Cass, Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows are in the midst of a rivalry but it is hardly what one would consider "heated." The same can be said for American Alpha and The Usos. The inability by WWE Creative to craft compelling stories for the tag teams have led to Sunday's mangled mash of a match.
Prediction
WWE loves The New Day and rightfully so. The act is over, sells merchandise by the boatloads and is a rare example of a flawed gimmick succeeding via the determination of the performers involved. They, along with Enzo and Cass, are the only tag team acts that fans genuinely care about.
They are both on Team Raw.
Chalk this one up for the red brand.
Team Raw vs. Team SmackDown Live: Traditional Women's 5-on-5 Elimination Match
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The Women's Revolution in WWE has created opportunities for female Superstars they could never have imagined.
Just weeks ago, Sasha Banks and Charlotte battled in the main event of Hell in a Cell, competing for the Raw Women's Championship inside the storied steel structure. Sunday night, those enemies will be forced to coexist as part of Team Raw, joining Bayley, Nia Jax and Alicia Fox in a battle for brand supremacy with Team SmackDown Live.
Both Banks and Bayley have had issues with Charlotte in recent weeks, the product of their chase for championship glory. Jax and Fox have their own issues dating back to the summer.
Over on the SmackDown side of things, Nikki Bella captains despite SmackDown women's champion Becky Lynch being on the team. Bella's primary rival, Carmella, is also one of the five women slated to represent the brand, as is the vindictive Alexa Bliss, whose eye is constantly on Lynch's title. Naomi rounds out a team with potentially more problems than its opposition.
Factor in Dana Brooke and Natalya at ringside and the potential exists for a wilder and more chaotic match than anyone could have imagined.
Prediction
Team SmackDown is an impressive team, thanks primarily to Lynch and Bella, but Raw touts three of the premiere female wrestlers on the planet and an unstoppable force in Jax. There is too much for the blue brand to overcome and the result will be an impressive, hard-fought victory for the Monday night crew.
Team Raw vs. Team SmackDown Live: Traditional 5-on-5 Elimination Match
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Raw commissioner Stephanie McMahon has threatened the jobs of Team Raw competitors if they do not put their differences aside and lead the brand to victory Sunday night.
The Undertaker returned Tuesday on SmackDown and vowed harsh consequences to anyone that lets SmackDown down.
With both teams neutered by forces not even involved in the actual match, they will compete in one of the night's marquee matches, the only thing up for grabs being bragging rights for the winning brand.
Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho have made enemies of both Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins ahead of Survivor Series, leading to several high-profile matches and brawls between the four.
How they will manage to keep themselves focused and on the same page Sunday night remains to be seen, but one thing is for certain: Braun Strowman will destroy anyone put in his path.
SmackDown is not without its own issues.
Captain AJ Styles has a date with Dean Ambrose at TLC in December, but the two must get along in order to lead the brand to victory. Then there is James Ellsworth, the lovable loser/mascot whose inadvertent distractions have been problematic to Ambrose in recent weeks.
Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton are the wild cards, enigmatic forces whose focus is merely on wreaking havoc as only The Wyatt Family can. But is there a snake in the garden, waiting to strike with furious vengeance? Can Orton be trusted not to drop Wyatt with an RKO and prove his allegiance to the Reaper of Souls to be a hoax?
Prediction
One would say Team Raw wins here, but the dissension between the teammates, not to mention a rapidly approaching Roadblock event, suggests that something will happen to intensify relations between teammates and lead to a SmackDown victory.
Who is the sole survivor?
Given his three-year run in that role (2003-05), perhaps Orton is the right choice to bring the win home for the Tuesday night staple.
Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar
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New York's famed Madison Square Garden was home to the original contest between Brock Lesnar and Goldberg, a disappointing contest that was marred by controversy and the revelation that both were leaving the company immediately following the bout.
Now, some 12 years later, the two iconic Superstars meet inside a WWE ring with an opportunity to erase the bad taste from the mouths of fans.
The build has been minimal, the match sold on the idea of fantasy warfare coming to life. That is not necessarily a bad idea. There is little hype, pomp or circumstance that needs to accompany the contest. Lesnar and Goldberg are two of the biggest stars the industry has ever seen. They are legitimate badasses that fans still believe in that role.
Put them in the ring, let them wreak havoc on each other until one man wins.
The key to victory for Goldberg will be keeping his emotions in check. Paul Heyman, Lesnar's advocate, evoked the names of Goldberg's children and the former WCW champion exploded, proving he can be manipulated.
For Lesnar, using his suplexes to gradually wear down Goldberg and keep him from delivering his vaunted Spear and Jackhammer will be integral to his success.
Prediction
It does not make sense for Goldberg to win this match unless it is a "thank you" of sorts for returning to the fold. He has no future in pro wrestling and his "you're last" line seems to suggest that the performer himself sees this as his last go 'round.
Lesnar, on the other hand, is still a major draw and someone WWE needs to continue to protect if it wishes to use him in that role. A win over Goldberg will add to his aura while the company continues to search for that one young star it can conceivably put over him in the foreseeable future.
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