WWE Survivor Series 2016 predictions: Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar

WWE returns to pay-per-view (PPV) -- if your cable provider is carrying the event, of course -- tomorrow night (Sun., Nov. 20, 2016) live from the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada with its Survivor Series event starting at 5:00 p.m. ET with the Kickoff show leading right on into the main course at 7 p.m. ET on the WWE Network.

Set for the card: Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar in a rematch from 12 years ago, a series of Team Raw vs. Team SmackDown Live matches, and more!

Luckily for you Cagesiders, our staff of learned wrestling blowhards is here to help figure out just how the event is going to play out with predictions for each match on the card.

Let's get to it.

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WWE SURVIVOR SERIES PREDICTIONS

Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar

Geno Mrosko: I expect Goldberg to put up one hell of a fight, and maybe look like he’s going to pull it off, but ultimately lose in the end before a big show of respect from Lesnar and a clearing of the ring for a hero’s sendoff. Pick: Lesnar

Sean Rueter: Very little I'm sure about here other than that Bill is gonna need a ton of Advil on Monday. Well, that and the time being padded out with a Paul Heyman promo. Pick: Brock Lesnar

Kyle Decker: I can't envision a situation where Lesnar doesn't get the win here. It won't go down like it did with Orton. Goldberg didn't come back to look like a chump against Brock. He came to perform in front of his kid. So maybe Goldberg may end up with a moment after the match where he hits a badass spear or a devastating jackhammer, but he'll already have lost by that point. Pick: Lesnar

Cain A. Knight: Bill Goldberg doesn't look like he belongs anywhere near a wrestling ring right now, and I'm not so sure the Toronto audience is going to treat him as the babyface. Add that up and you have the ingredients for a match that could potentially rival their WrestleMania 20 bout as far as disastrous pro wrestling spectacles are concerned. I think Lesnar wins this match to even the score from 2004; Goldberg can still carry out his promise of Lesnar being "last" in a rematch down the line. Goldberg's best chance of winning is with the help of a run-in from Shane McMahon, because apparently Vince McMahon is the only person not rolling his or her eyes at the idea of an epic WrestleMania 33 showdown between Lesnar and Shane-O-Mac. Pick: Brock Lesnar

Reverend Kain: Let me share my fantasy for this one with you, folks-- we get a Brock who has evolved at least a little past Suplex City and a Goldberg whose hard work training has paid off enough to make the match work. The problem has never been one of age, I could rattle off a laundry list of over-50s who are still great like Jushin Liger and Negro Casas. But the 12-year layoff might be a killer. Realistically the winner of this matters not one whit to me, but betting against Brock in today's WWE is foolish, so... Pick: Brock Lesnar

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Raw men’s team vs. SmackDown Live men’s team

Geno Mrosko: Stephanie threatened the Raw squad’s jobs but Undertaker threatened the SmackDown squad’s lives. Pick: Team SmackDown

Sean Rueter: As many have pointed out, without a prize for these teams to fight for, I'm more interested in how in-fighting sets up the next programs for each brand. From a marketing perspective, though, there's no reason to not have the red team go over since there's money in both keeping Raw the flagship and keeping that chip on SmackDown's (and its supporters') shoulders. Pick: Raw; Survivors: Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins

Kyle Decker: I predict things will be knotted up between Raw and SmackDown and this to be the rubber match. I expect the tag teams and women to split and the title matches to split. Back when they used to do these Bragging Rights PPVs, SmackDown would often go over so it would feel as of they were the same level as Raw, which is still the flagship show. I don't expect anything different here. Pick: Team SmackDown

Cain A. Knight: This always seemed like a convenient night for Jericho and Owens to have a miscommunication that led to their team's downfall and a permanent rift in their friendship. It also seemed like a good place for Shane McMahon to get a win prior to whatever he is doing at WrestleMania 33. But then Undertaker appeared on SmackDown and pretty much stated that he will have to take someone's soul if the blue team loses. That makes me think AJ Styles is going to screw his team over, setting up an Undertaker championship victory over Styles at the Rumble, and a Cena versus Undertaker main event at WrestleMania 33. Pick: Team Raw

Reverend Kain: AJ Styles beat John Cena. Kevin Owens beat nobody. Randy Orton has tapped into the power of his own dark side. Chris Jericho has started a list. Bray Wyatt's empire has expanded. Roman Reigns' threatens to crumble at his feet. Dean Ambrose is more confident than he's ever been before. Seth Rollins is insecure about being passed over. Shane McMahon is willing to step in and get his hands dirty personally. Braun Strowman... okay, Braun is kind of scary. Fair cop. But SmackDown has this one, guys. Pick: Team SmackDown

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Raw women’s team vs. SmackDown women’s team

Geno Mrosko: It’s clear the women on the red brand are held in higher regard, so I expect to see Charlotte, Sasha Banks, and Bayley all survive. Pick: Team Raw

Sean Rueter: Some men just want to watch the internet wrestling community have a conniption. When it comes to this match, I'm one of those men. Pick: Raw; Sole Survivor: Charlotte Flair

Kyle Decker: WWE has positioned the women on Raw as the big deal compared to SmackDown. They have the champ that's undefeated in single's matches on PPVs and they had big Hell in a Cell match with the big Sasha/Charlotte feud. While the SmackDown women's scene has been entertaining, I think they'll use this to showcase the Raw women. Plus, Raw has Nia Jax. Ain't nobody beating her. Pick: Team Raw

Cain A. Knight: Charlotte never loses on PPV unless it is a tag team match. Considering that this is a tag team match, I think Charlotte's ridiculous ego will be too much for her team to overcome. Nia Jax is essentially playing the role of Braun Strowman in this match as the intimidating monster whose glaring deficiencies can be hidden. That means her elimination will either come as a DQ or count out, or it will require 5 finishing moves to put her away. Ultimately this match should be a lot of fun and will hopefully give Becky Lynch a large share of the spotlight. Pick: Team SmackDown

Reverend Kain: Charlotte doesn't lose on PPV. Also I kind of think this whole thing's going 2-1 SD, so there you go. Pick: Team Raw

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Raw tag team vs. SmackDown tag team

Geno Mrosko: The team with Heath Slater & Rhyno always wins. Pick: Team SmackDown

Sean Rueter: Honestly, I'm kind of lost since with the Raw titles not in play my "pick New Day" rule isn't as applicable. This is the traditional Survivor Series match I think Team Blue has the best shot at, though. Pick: SmackDown; Survivors: Jason Jordan, Rhyno, Tyler Breeze

Kyle Decker: With Gallows and Anderson pretty much promising to stab everyone in the back, I think that leads to a SmackDown win. There's more animosity between the Raw team, given the Club hating everyone and Sheamus and Cesaro not even getting along with each other. On team blue, it's pretty smooth. Even the Usos issues with the tag champs and American Alpha haven't been mentioned. This would be a good time to showcase American Alpha having them as the sole survivors. Pick: Team SmackDown

Cain A. Knight: This match probably doesn't matter. Ideally this match should establish American Alpha as a badass force to be reckoned with, but WWE seems to be in no rush to make that happen. Meanwhile the New Day has been losing way too many matches of late; they lost their last 3 Raw matches and also at Hell in a Cell. It's time for New Day to get some wins as their championship reign approaches the record. Pick: Team Raw

Reverend Kain: The Club have literally said they're willing to stab all the other teams on Team Raw in the back. New Day are bad captains, and their team is a sham. AND this isn't a title match so I feel slightly confident betting against them. Plus Rhyno needs a pick-me-up since he didn't win his election. Pick: Team SmackDown

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The Miz vs. Sami Zayn

Geno Mrosko: The Intercontinental championship fits nicely on SmackDown but it absolutely looks like the plan is to do a swap of the Intercontinental and cruiserweight titles. Miz beating Dolph Ziggler to win the former on SmackDown Live this past week only makes sense if he’s then dropping it to mega-babyface Zayn. Pick: Zayn

Sean Rueter: I like Sami even more than the average person likes Sami. But Miz IS the Intercontinental title right now. We want him with that belt. We need him with that belt. Pick Miz

Kyle Decker: I don't see a double title switch. The Cruiserweight title is not on the level of the IC title so SmackDown switching the belts would weaken their midcard. Plus two secondary titles on Raw would just get muddled. There's no reason for the IC title to move spots and there's no reason for the Miz, who just won the strap, to drop it. Pick: The Miz

Cain A. Knight: The result of this match is closely tied into the outcome of the Cruiserweight match, so whichever bout takes place first will give a strong clue as to to the finish of the other match. WWE is either going to keep both titles right where they are, or they will swap them. I don't really see where SmackDown has time to fit in the entire Cruiserweight division. And even though the Cruiserwight division has been treated as filler on Raw, it has at least taken most of the television time away from horrible Titus O'Neil matches. So I'm rooting for both titles to stay right where they are. Pick: The Miz

Reverend Kain: OLE OLE OLE OLE OLE OLE Pick: Sami Zayn

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Brian Kendrick vs. Kalisto

Geno Mrosko: As mentioned previously, they’re doing a swap and that means Kalisto is going to break into the division by winning the title and bringing the entire cruiserweight roster over to SmackDown, where they belong. Pick: Kalisto

Sean Rueter: Not sure it matters where the 205 Live crew ends up (they're gonna be loved by a small part of WWE's audience while not being much of a factor to the masses). There's more time for them on Mondays, but it's probably cheaper to have them travel with the blue brand. And that's pretty much all I have to go on, because even in putting the belt on a great heel, they haven't given me any reason to care about these guys. Pick: The Brian Kendrick

Kyle Decker: Despite the rumors, it'd be really surprising to me if they removed the Cruiserweights from Raw. SmackDown doesn't have time to showcase them given it's a 2 hour show. With 205 Live being their primary place of focus, may as well just use Raw, who gets more viewers, as the show to try to sell people on tuning into the new show on the Network. Pick: Kendrick

Cain A. Knight: I already picked Miz to win his match, which means Kendrick needs to retain his championship here. I think maybe Baron Corbin shows up and ruins the ending here, giving a DQ victory to Kalisto. Let's face it, Baron Corbin probably doesn't want to deal with any more of these annoying Cruiserweights on his blue brand. Pick: Kalisto

Reverend Kain: C'mon, Kendrick's clearly gonna throw the match so he can be on the same show as his good pal Daniel Bryan. Pick: Kalisto

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That’s how we see the card playing out.

How about you?