wrestling / Columns

A Look Back At Watry’s 2018 Bold Predictions

December 12, 2018 | Posted by Justin Watry
CM Punk Ultimate Beastmaster Ultimate Beastmaster

Backstory

It is December. That means holiday cheer and year end wresting columns. Some about the past 12 months and others about the future 12 months. Today, we will look back at my BOLD predictions posted back in January.

Bold Predictions Revisited

CM Punk returns to wrestling in some fashion – I did not say this in 2014. I did not say this is in 2015. I did not say this in 2016. I did not say this is in 2017. In 2018, I finally said it: CM Punk will be connected to the wrestling business again. While my critics will call me cheap for counting this as a CORRECT pick, I will do it. Punk did an autograph signing at a wrestling t-shirt store in Chicago during ALL IN weekend. Like it or not, that was a clear cash grab at an independent wrestling show nearby and was (right or wrong) connected to one another. No spoilers on my 2019 BOLD predictions…but Punk is not doing a whole heck of a lot right now. Never say never folks…

Two Royal Rumbles will be a success – Nailed it. A lot of crap was said about WWE deciding to do TWO separate Rumbles in the same evening, one for the men and one for the women. I was stunned the company made the announcement in late December but knew it would work. WWE relied on a bunch of past stars returning and can not do that in 2019. However, for one night, it was great. Women got the main event spotlight, Ronda Rousey appeared as had been rumored, and I even got the two winners right after months of saying it in my columns (on another website).

Attending Another WrestleMania – I didn’t plan on going to New Orleans. Nor do I plan on going to New York/New Jersey come April. However, I am keeping a close eye on 2020-WM news. I went in Orlando and crossed that off my bucket list. Can I do it again? Time will tell.

NRW: One More Match – Back in 2017, NRW returned for one night only. It was a farewell, so long, see ya later match. While initial plans were made for a rematch in the summer of 2018, too many issues came up that everything was scrapped. Will it happen in 2019? Probably not but again, never say never…

Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar headlines WrestleMania 34 with Reigns defeating Lesnar – Half credit here. I was all for their WrestleMania 31 clash and couldn’t wait for the showdown to occur again in 2018. This time though, the result had to be the rightful concusion: Reigns over Lesnar clean. Needless to say, that did not happen in April 2018. We had to wait another four months for the payoff at Summerslam. Now sitting here in December 2018, Brock is back to being Universal Champion and Roman is battling leukemia – vacating the title he was never beat for. Seems like there could be a ready made story for another match if you ask me.

AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura happens at WM34 – Yep! Nailed another one. Even during the disaster known as the Jinder Mahal Experiment, I knew WWE would cut bait around WrestleMania season and let the real money players shine. That meant Styles as champ again and Nakamura winning the Rumble. It made way too much sense and was the only logical choice for Smackdown LIVE. To be fair, I did give the nod to Nakamura at Mania but after the initial loss (and heel turn), I have picked Styles to retain in every one of his title defenses since.

A REAL Superstar Shakeup occurs – I will give myself half credit. I had The Miz and Kevin Owens changing brands, as well as Natalya and Jeff Hardy. After that though, not a whole bunch of ‘big’ moves had gone down. Certainly better than the shake up in 2017, that’s for sure.

Neville gone – Reports went back and forth on Neville’s status with WWE. My gut told me all along he was not coming back. It turns out I was right. I would be lying if I said I would not want him back in WWE. This time, with a more focused on role. Wasting his time on 205 LIVE was not doing him or anybody else any favors. He deserved more no doubt. Walking out in an unprofessional manner is still uncalled for and wrong, even if he is an internet darling. That was wrong.

More talent to WWE – Had EC3 leaving Impact Wrestling for WWE (NXT). Had Chelsea Green listed as well. Oh and also mentioned Batista and Rey Mysterio making their way back to WWE. I know Triple H just had surgery, but he is super human. A big time match against Batista could and should still happen at WrestleMania 35. I am all on board for that one. The tease at Smackdown LIVE 1000 was awesome. Mysterio back in the fold is a plus for both sides. Also, NXT picking up Ricochet, War Machine, EC3 and more has been a bonus. Expect the same for 2019 as WWE continues its’ global domination.

Impact Wrestling remains in the dumps, despite Don Callis being heralded as the next savior of the company – Zippo pay-per-view buys, low live event attendance, viewership now hovering 100,000 each week…and bumped out of prime time on a network they are clinging to as the year ends. Yep, more of the same from The Artist Formerly Known As TNA.

Alpha Entertainment – XFL is returning in 2010 ladies and gentlemen. There was say too much smoke around this fire. There had to be something happening. Sure enough, Vince McMahon is cashing out of his WWE billions to invest hundreds of millions of dollars into yet another football league. While I ultimately think this will NOT be what he imagines in his head, all of the initial signs are strong. Words are much different than actions, but so far so good. Everything that is being told to public is positive. I will say that. Where it goes still remains to be seen in another year or so.

I’m going to Raw March 5 – Just a quick announcement that I was attending RAW in March. It was a pretty packed show with Ronda Rousey and others showing up. I was also on television a lot in the background during the opening segment. See if you can spot me! I also went to Raw two weeks ago in the new arena in Milwaukee. A lot of people ripped it and said it was one of the worst RAWs ever! I was there live and had a great time. Being there in person definitely saved me from having to sit through a supposed dud of a show for three hours on TV. Maybe I lucked out or maybe everybody was just exaggerating with frustration? Either way, WWE is returning in March 2019 for a Saturday night live event. I do not plan on going (due to it being non televised), but time will tell on that. Might just go last minute.

WWE Network adds another promotion – Half credit here as NXT UK was officially launched. I was think more along the lines of an actual promotion outside of WWE though – not something THEY created. There was an apparent meeting with Impact Wrestling. Ring Of Honor also has their stuff pop up sometimes. Then there are all those UK based companies working with WWE that I know nothing about. Either way, don’t be surprised if WWE Network eventually becomes the home of ALL promotions airing on different tiers.

WWE will win in TV negotiations – For YEARS, fans wondered if the drop in ratings would result in a lower than normal WWE TV deal come 2019. The time had finally arrived for negotiations…and I knew WWE would come out on top. They always do. Vince McMahon and company were in a perfect position to see a big increase in pay. Again, fans doubted them and pointed to ratings (still living in the Attitude Era). None of that mattered. FOX won the bidding for Smackdown LIVE at a $1 billion price tag, while USA Network is keeping RAW for another $1 billion and change. Yep keep crying about ratings and not everything else as the five billion dollar company keeps setting records and rolling in the dough.

Mixed Match Challenge is a big hit – I don’t actually watch this show, so I have no idea. I read a story that WWE makes $10 million or something from Facebook Watch. No idea if that is true or not – just worth pointing out it is yet another payday coming into WWE’s pocket at the end of the day. Does anybody watch this? How is it?

NXT stays on WWE Network – During WWE Week in December 2017, NXT aired an episode on USA Network. Some believed this was the company experimenting with NXT and potential television outlets. I agreed. I did seem like a news story in the works. However, I also believed that NXT was the exact kind of exclusive WWE Network program needed to sell subscriptions. Who knows how long that will last for? If FS1 comes calling for a weekly sports program centered around NXT, it may be hard to turn down yet another payday.

Braun Strowman Gets His Main Event Run…On Smackdown Live – Pretty much a miss here. Braun was never going to surpass Roman Reigns or Brock Lesnar in the pecking order. Much less Finn Balor, Seth Rollins or the incoming Ronda Rousey. I thought Strowman was absolutely going to move to the blue brand in the Superstar Shakeup. I was wrong. At the same time, Braun did indeed get his main event run and will still be a top star in 2019. As champion? Maybe, maybe not.

Dean Ambrose turns heel – Bingo! Even when WWE used reverse psychology to bring up the story of Dean Ambrose turning on The Shield, I still stuck with it. He is more natural as the bad guy and is doing well in his new role. Feels like he will win the IC Championship, as Seth Rollins moves up the card in early 2019.

I start up a regular podcast – Well, I recorded a few things that can be found on YouTube. At the end of the day though, I didn’t do much audio. If anybody is interested or wants to record something, hit me up.

New year outlook – As wild and crazy as 2017 was, I said 2018 was going to top it. Ronda Rousey won the RAW Womens Championship months after debuting in the match of the year at WrestleMania 34. Shawn Michaels returned to the ring. The Undertaker wrestled Triple H and teamed with Kane weeks later! AJ Styles held the WWE Title for a majority of the calendar. Matt Riddle showed up in NXT. Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre are top heels on Raw. There was an all women’s PPV. Becky Lynch became THE MAN! Brock Lesnar stuck around WWE and just had a match versus Daniel Bryan. Oh, and The Yes Man is now a heel. That is not even discussing Roman Reigns shocking the world by making his leukemia battle public live on Raw. Unreal and exactly why us fans follow this industry. Good, bad, or in between – there is no business like the wrestling business.

SUMMARY: How did I do? Those were my 2018 bold predictions. Some wacky and out there, some easy to call. Any 2019 predictions? That column will be coming in a few weeks. Until then, sound off below in the comment section!

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