WWE SummerSlam 2016 gave us only one inter-promotional matchup between WWE’s biggest Superstars.
Now that we’re out of the summer and deep into the fall, Survivor Series 2016 is ready to give us another dose of WWE brand warfare. And this time, there’s a lot more at stake here to battle over. Not only are bragging rights up for grabs, entire divisions and championships make up the prizes for the matches between Raw and SmackDown Live’s competing members. Three major Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Tag Team Matches are on the way, plus a major dream (re)match is coming true once again.
November 20th is right around the corner, so let’s get into our preview of 2016’s WWE Survivor Series.
The Miz (c) (with Maryse) vs. Sami Zayn (WWE Intercontinental Championship; if Zayn wins, the title will transfer to Raw)
Predictions & Winner: So Ziggler’s run as IC Champion got cut a lot shorter than expected. We were a lot more prepared to watch some in-ring excellence erupt when Ziggler and Zayn got in the ring. But The Miz cut that expected outcome short. So now The Miz is the one fighting for SmackDown Live’s honor against Raw’s choice for the man they expect to reclaim the IC Title for their show. Zayn will pull out all the stops in order to get his hands on SD Live’s midcard championship and Miz will do the sneakiest things imaginable to keep his championship. Maryse’s involvement will come to pass once again and of course this will lead to Miz making SmackDown proud. Zayn takes the L here and Miz returns to Tuesday nights as IC Champion.
Team Raw (Charlotte Flair, Bayley, Nia Jax, Alicia Fox and Sasha Banks with Dana Brooke) vs. Team SmackDown Live (Nikki Bella, Becky Lynch, Alexa Bliss, Carmella and Naomi with Natalya) (5–on–5 Traditional Survivor Series Women’s Elimination Match)
Predictions & Winners: LADY WARFARE! Charlotte left Hell in a Cell as Raw’s leading lady and now she’s got a squad full of allies (and past foes) by her side. Nikki Bella has also put together a lineup of tough females who want to make sure their Blue Brand comes out on top. Now when you compare both teams on paper, it’s pretty easy to give the edge to Team Raw. Charlotte’s been unstoppable lately, Bayley always manages to come from down under and get a 2nd wind, Nia Jax is a beast and Sasha Banks can easily become the MVP of any team she’s on. SmackDown has only two women we think who’re on par with Raw’s women: Becky Lynch and Alexa Bliss. So that’s four great women and one average team addition against two greats and three subpar to decent teammates. Our picks for the winning squad, though? Team RAW FTW! You can bet on some team infighting from both sides, though…
Brian Kendrick (c) vs. Kalisto (Singles Match for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship; if Kalisto wins the title, then Smackdown Live will get the Cruiserweight Division from Raw)
Predictions & Winner: Now this one has us really pondering which direction WWE wants to go. Although we’re huge fans of the new blood brought in to make Raw’s Cruiserweight Division stand out, its execution has been a bit lackluster. To be quite honest, we’ve always associated SmackDown with the much smaller but supremely agile Superstars due to them being exclusive to the Blue Brand all those years back. Brian Kendrick will do everything in his power to make sure his newly won championship stays where it was recently birthed. But we’re expecting to see a shocker occur here via a Kalisto win. It makes more sense for this result to come to fruition since that new 205 Live WWE Network show will start airing right after SmackDown Live. The Cruiserweight’s are a much better fit for SmackDown Live and they deserve the extra exposure now that their show airs right after Tuesday’s show. Kalisto becomes champ and SmackDown gets to improve upon the division that’s been floundering on Raw since its inception.
Find out how to watch WWE Survivor Series 2016 in Spanish at AhoraMismo.com:
Team Raw (The New Day (Big E and/or Kofi Kingston and/or Xavier Woods), Sheamus and Cesaro, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, Enzo Amore and Big Cass and The Shining Stars (Primo and Epico)) vs. Team SmackDown Live (Heath Slater and Rhyno, The Hype Bros (Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley), American Alpha (Jason Jordan and Chad Gable), The Usos (Jimmy and Jey Uso) and Breezango (Tyler Breeze and Fandango)) (10–on–10 Traditional Survivor Series Tag Team Elimination Match)
Predictions & Winners: All you old heads remember the 10-on-10 tag team match from Survivor Series ’87, right? That ring was surrounded and filled with a who’s who of 80’s wrestling luminaries. We’re thankful for the fact that WWE is bringing back that match concept to this year’s Survivor Series. There’s some heavy Match of the Night vibes coming from this one. Raw has about four hits and one noticeable miss on their side when it comes to viable teams, while SmackDown Live’s squadron looks fully prepped for a win in our opinion (except for Breezango’s presence). Raw looks pretty impressive here, but we’re envisioning Anderson/Gallows sabotaging their team’s win due to their dislike of Enzo/Cass and The New Day. This will end up leading to SmackDown Live’s tag team division getting the big win.
Team Raw (Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho, Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman and Seth Rollins) vs. Team SmackDown Live (AJ Styles, Dean Ambrose, Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt and Shane McMahon) (with James Ellsworth) (5–on–5 Traditional Survivor Series Men’s Elimination Match)
Predictions & Winners: These teams include the best of the best from Raw and SmackDown Live. The main titles on both brands aren’t up for grabs here since the champions holding them are leading their associated party. Raw features the WWE Universal Champion, the champion’s biggest ally, the United States Champion, a devastating world beater and Raw’s constant MVP. SmackDown Live includes the WWE World Champion, his premier challenger, the “Viper Killer,” the enigmatic Wyatt Family leader and one of the brains behind SD Live’s operations. Shane took an ass whuppin’ during that big Survivor Series match back in ’01, but we think he’ll put up a much better fight here. But we think he’s still the weakest link here. Raw has an X-Factor on their side (Braun Strowman) who will take a lot to put down, but he’ll do some significant damage before he gets eliminated. At the end of this big time SS match, we think Raw will emerge victorious. Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins will be the last two men standing and give the fans even more of a former Shield member reunion tease.
Brock Lesnar (with Paul Heyman) vs. Goldberg
Predictions & Winner: So we’re back here once again. Lesnar and Goldberg put on one of the most disappointing matches at WrestleMania 20, so we weren’t all that jazzed with the announcement of this big time rematch…at first. But Goldberg’s quality promos have gotten us a little more invested in actually watching this transpire. Lesnar doesn’t utilize half of the moves he had back in 2004 now, but his Suplex City shtick is still fun to watch. Goldberg’s been training hard, looks to be in good shape and we know he’s ready to over-perform instead of underperform.
Here’s a safe bet: this match will be ten times better than Orton/Lesnar. Both men will go a lot harder this time and push themselves to wipe away the bad taste of their 1st meeting. Heyman will get involved, but he’ll eat another Spear for all his meddling. Expect big suplexes, amazing displays of power and some hardcore elements thrown in during this dream rematch. so here’s our big prediction: Goldberg’s going 2-0 here. Lesnar has been dominant and the king of the mountain for so long, but we can’t see ‘Berg taking a L here. We see that win coming his way due to some Shane McMahon interference (SummerSlam 2016 revenge!) and his trademark finishing combo. This show has to end on a positive note. That final image of Goldberg celebrating with the crowd and with his wife and son in the ring while fireworks are going off will provide that high note.
Find out how to watch WWE Survivor Series 2016 in Spanish at AhoraMismo.com:
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WWE Survivor Series 2016: Matches & Predictions