WWE Survivor Series 2016: Matches, card, predictions, PPV start time, date

There are some rumors, but not too many spoilers, about how Survivor Series will play out Sunday

"Unique" is perhaps the best way to describe WWE's 30th annual Survivor Series pay-per-view, which features no heavyweight title defenses and a six-match card with three traditional Survivor Series elimination matches that appeared to be on their way of being phased out by the company.

Instead, 2016 Survivor Series is taking on a new meaning for WWE on Sunday as the company pits its Raw and SmackDown Live shows against each other in what is being billed as a show where "fantasy warfare just got real." OK, then.

The whole thing is set to go down on Sunday, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. ET live from the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

Let's take a look at what's in store for the show and make some predictions on each match.

Matches, card

Match	Title/Stipulation
Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg
Raw vs. SmackDown (men)	Elimination Match
Raw vs. SmackDown (women)	Elimination Match
Raw vs. SmackDown (tag teams)	Elimination Match
The Miz (c) vs. Sami Zayn	Intercontinental Championship*
The Brian Kendrick (c) vs. Kalisto	Cruiserweight Championship^
* If Zayn wins, the intercontinental title would move to Raw. ^ If Kalisto wins, the entire Cruiserweight division moves to SmackDown.

Predictions

Cruiserweight Championship -- The Brian Kendrick (c) vs. Kalisto: This is a tough one. On the one hand, WWE is set to debut a new cruiserweight show on WWE Network called "205 Live" (in reference to the division's weight limit). It will premiere on Tuesday, Nov. 29 and air live at 10 p.m., immediately after SmackDown Live ends on USA Network, with SmackDown's Mauro Ranallo as the play-by-play man. For these reasons and more, it would make sense for WWE to take the cruiserweights off of Monday Night Raw and put them on SmackDown, which suffers from a void of talent. On the other hand, WWE would be pulling the cruiserweights off its longer (three hours vs. two) show, taking the division away from a larger audience and force-feeding a lot of high-flying action on a single night.

Even though I was of the opinion that the cruiserweights should have started out on SmackDown, I think they're best left on Raw at this point. Plus, a title change would be the second in two months with three champions holding the belt in such a short period of time. I'm thinking this is a misdirection stipulation, and if not, then WWE will make an even worse mistake later in the show. Prediction: The Brian Kendrick retains the title

Intercontinental Championship -- The Miz (c) vs. Sami Zayn: The uneven rosters of Raw and SmackDown mean WWE could do some shifting here at Survivor Series with the cruiserweights going to SmackDown and the intercontinental title moving to Raw. While the former would be of little consequence, the latter would be a massive mistake. In trying to build up SmackDown, WWE already saddled it with a shallow pool of talent, older wrestlers and lower-level women's performers. The last thing it needs to do is take away the second-most prestigious belt in the company. Raw is surviving just fine with the new universal and United States titles.One would think WWE took the belt off Dolph Ziggler and put it on Miz (just as Ziggler was really starting to roll) in order for Miz (the heel) to drop it to Zayn. My guess is Ziggler interferes and costs Zayn the match, keeping the belt on SmackDown so he can continue his hot feud with Miz over the title. If not, WWE will have the universal, U.S., intercontinental and more-prestigious women's title all on Raw with SmackDown's only meaningful belt being the world title. Prediction: The Miz retains the title via DQ

Tag Team 10-on-10 Elimination Match -- Team Raw (The New Day, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson, Sheamus & Cesaro, Enzo Amore & Big Cass, The Shining Stars) vs. Team SmackDown (Health Slater & Rhyno, The Usos, American Alpha, The Hype Bros, Breezango): Talk about just trying to fit entire rosters into a pay-per-view card. WWE will have 10 superstars competing in this one in the first of three one-sided elimination matches. Shining Stars would be an easy team to dip out first with Hype Bros and Breezango following in some order. In-fighting will lead to Sheamus & Cesaro disappearing, and Slater & Rhyno should soon follow. What this will end up being is a highlight spot for American Alpha to eliminate a couple big-time Raw teams before eventually being defeated by perhaps New Day. It would be a surprise to see SmackDown take this one. Prediction: Team Raw wins

Women's 5-on-5 Elimination Match -- Team Raw (Charlotte, Sasha Banks, Bayley, Nia Jax, Alicia Fox) vs. Team SmackDown (Becky Lynch, Nikki Bella, Alexa Bliss, Naomi, Carmella): On first blush, this match looks one-sided, but when you consider Fox and how poorly Bayley has been booked, the overall talent actually favors SmackDown. There are plenty of ways this can turn with infighting between Nikki and Carmella or Charlotte and Sasha. When I initially looked at the card, the thought was that SmackDown would win here, but with Charlotte and Sasha and the dominant Nia Jax on one side, that really would be absurd. Prediction: Team Raw wins

Men's 5-on-5 Elimination Match -- Team Raw (Kevin Owens, Roman Reigns, Chris Jericho, Seth Rollins, Braun Strowman) vs. Team SmackDown (AJ Styles, Dean Ambrose, Bray Wyatt, Randy Orton, Shane McMahon): With two champions, the most popular main eventer (Rollins) and the biggest competitor (Strowman), one would think Raw is an easy favorite here ... and I guess it is. But WWE needs to throw a bone to SmackDown, and unless it's planning to give the sister show the cruiserweight division plus tag team and women's match wins without the intercontinental title changing hands, this is the best spot to give SmackDown a push. Prediction: Team SmackDown wins

Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg: It's pretty convenient that everyone forgets these two being booed out of the arena at WrestleMania XX, but I digress. Considering how rarely Lesnar is used and that Goldberg has not been in a WWE ring since 2004, this still has a special match feel. Goldberg's return is like Sting's was last year, though that consisted of two short stints over seven months. Sting went 2-2 in his return, losing both pay-per-view matches clean via pinfall. Considering it was Goldberg who got that WrestleMania XX win and there's absolutely zero benefit in putting him over Lesnar, who remains employed by WWE, it only makes sense for Lesnar to get the victory. The only question is whether the match plays out clean or results in another disappointing finish like Lesnar-Orton did at SummerSlam. Prediction: Brock Lesnar wins