The main event featured the in-ring return of Goldberg (his last match was in March 2004 at WrestleMania XX), where he defeated Brock Lesnar in 1 minute and 26 seconds.

Subsequently, the 2016 event, which was the 30th Survivor Series, featured several interpromotional matches to determine which was the better brand, similar to WWE's previous Bragging Rights pay-per-view.

The same night, The Hype Bros (Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley) qualified for the team by defeating The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor).

[17] The remaining four spots were filled the following week: Cesaro and Sheamus, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, Enzo Amore and Big Cass, and The Golden Truth (Goldust and R-Truth).

To settle the team's differences, Stephanie McMahon put all five men in a fatal five-way match, which culminated in Owens accidentally pinning Jericho.

To settle some of the team's differences, Shane also scheduled a six-man tag match pitting The New Wyatt Family (Bray, Orton, and Luke Harper) against Ambrose, Ellsworth, and Corbin.

After the Wyatts defeated Ambrose, Ellsworth, and Kane, Daniel Bryan named Shane McMahon as Corbin's replacement at Survivor Series.

On the May 30 episode of Raw, Goldberg was revealed as the pre-order bonus for the WWE 2K17 video game, which featured Lesnar on the cover.

[17] On the November 7 episode, video packages were shown hyping the match, with the announcement that both Goldberg and Lesnar would come face-to-face the following week.

On the November 1 episode of SmackDown, after successfully defending the Intercontinental Championship against Curt Hawkins, Ziggler made an open challenge to any wrestler from the Raw brand to face him for the title at Survivor Series.

[18] However, his opponent changed when The Miz regained the title from Ziggler, albeit with help from Maryse, on SmackDown's 900th episode on November 15.

[25] The actual pay-per-view opened with the women's Survivor Series match pitting Team Raw (Charlotte, Bayley, Sasha Banks, Alicia Fox, and Nia Jax) against Team SmackDown (Nikki Bella, Carmella, Naomi, Alexa Bliss, and Becky Lynch) in a 5-on-5 Survivor Series Elimination Match.

Immediately before the match, SmackDown's captain Nikki Bella was attacked backstage, leaving her unable to compete, and team coach Natalya replaced her.

[1] After this, Team Raw (The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston), Cesaro and Sheamus, Enzo Amore and Big Cass, The Shining Stars (Epico and Primo), and Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson) faced Team SmackDown (Heath Slater and Rhyno, The Hype Bros (Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley), American Alpha (Chad Gable and Jason Jordan), Breezango (Tyler Breeze and Fandango), and The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso)) in the tag team's Survivor Series match.

Breezango, in their new fashion police attire, began by handing out tickets to everyone but were quickly eliminated by The New Day after the Midnight Hour (a Big Ending and diving DDT combination) on Fandango.

Enzo Amore and Big Cass then performed a Bada Boom Shakalaka on Rhyno, eliminating him and Heath Slater.

Backstage, Daniel Bryan confronted Corbin, who explained that he acted out of revenge on Kalisto to prevent more cruiserweights from appearing on SmackDown.

[1] The next match was the men's Survivor Series elimination match featuring Team Raw (Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho, Braun Strowman, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins) against Team SmackDown (AJ Styles, Dean Ambrose, Bray Wyatt, Randy Orton, and Shane McMahon), who were accompanied by their mascot, James Ellsworth.

[1] On the following night's Raw, Goldberg celebrated his victory over Brock Lesnar and declared himself as the first entrant in the 2017 Royal Rumble match.

[29] On the post-Survivor Series Raw, Sami Zayn was punished for failing to bring the Intercontinental Championship to his brand by being put into a match against Braun Strowman.

Foley yielded and scheduled Zayn to face Strowman at Roadblock: End of the Line in a match with a ten-minute time limit.

[26] Two weeks later, Cesaro and Sheamus fought Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson to determine the number one contenders, but the match ended in a no contest when The New Day interfered.

Rollins then demanded a title shot for Owens's WWE Universal Championship, as he was guaranteed a match for being part of Team Raw.

Mick Foley then scheduled Owens to defend the title in the main event against Rollins in a no disqualification match, with Reigns and Jericho banned from ringside.

The match ended when Jericho, disguised as a masked fan, interfered, allowing Owens to capitalize and retain the championship.

[27] On the December 5 episode, Banks challenged Charlotte to an Iron Woman match for the title at Roadblock: End of the Line, which was made official later that night.

[31] Rich Swann defeated T. J. Perkins and Noam Dar in a triple threat match to become the number one contender for the Cruiserweight Championship.

After the match, Corbin attacked Kalisto with the End of Days, while Miz's celebration was cut short by Dolph Ziggler with a Superkick.

[34] As punishment for costing Kalisto two title opportunities and SmackDown the cruiserweight division, Bryan put Baron Corbin in a match against Kane.

[34] The following week, Wyatt and Orton defeated American Alpha to become the number one contenders against Heath Slater and Rhyno at TLC.