One thing I love in wrestling is making guesses about where wrestling stories will go over the course of six months to a year. So today is the day, I'm going to share a few thoughts about the big promotions and wild guesses as to where they will go. The picks are in italics with any updates afterwards.
WWE:
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Things are still looking good for Seth, even if it's on Raw.
Image credit: Seth Rollins / WWE.
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I got this one half-right. Seth Rollins is arguably the most over face of the male Raw roster. Doesn't look like he's jumping to the other brand anytime soon. FAIL.
Roman Reigns will not win the WWE Universal title at Wrestlemania.
100% correct. He might win in a few weeks at SummerSlam, but I suspect Braun Strowman or Kevin Owens walks off the show with the title. WIN.
The Mixed Match Challenge will end with the crowning of the first ever Mixed Match Champions, a title that will be defended across both brands.
Sadly, no cross brand tag titles came out of the series. But everyone is expecting some kind of women's title soon, so we will see.
AJ Styles will retain his title over Shinsuke Nakamura when he and the Balor Club turn heel and unite.
Backwards on this one. The Balor Club wasn't involved and it was Nakamura that turned heel. I still wouldn't mind seeing him align with Gallows and Anderson though.
Ronda Rousey will not win a title in 2018. Asuka will move to Smackdown and challenge Charlotte, keeping both women away from each other.
So far I'm 100% right on this one, because thankfully I didn't go far enough to predict Asuka's Wrestlemania win. I suspect this will be a money match someday, but Asuka will have to be rebuilt between now and then.
Andrade "Cien" Almas will make his main roster debut after Wrestlemania and be a world champion by the end of the year.
The first half was true. I still think he's got a very good chance to hold a title soon, especially with news that management is high on him as a top heel.
Kassius Ohno will replace a retiring Sheamus as partner to Cesaro, losing one of his names in the process.
Ohno is still in NXT... so far.
NXT:
Aleister Black will win the NXT title and hold it for the rest of 2018.
He did take the belt, but he has already lost it. I can't be happier though that Ciampa holds it however. FAIL.
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| A welcome sight, even thought it proved a prediction wrong. |
Instead, the Iiconics are on the main roster doing... something? This would have probably been better. FAIL.
The Undisputed Era will defend successfully against every current NXT tag team, but will drop the title to a surprise team.
They haven't quite made it through the roster, but Moustache Mountain is the definition of a surprise team. I'll count this as a WIN.
TM-61 will be released and immediately start a strong indie run.
Turns out NXT isn't done with The Mighty, as they're now called. I think the two men have a huge upside, but I still have doubts they will ever make the main roster.
NJPW:
NJPW:
Kazuchika Okada will drop his title at Dominion.
Okada dropped the title at Dominion to Kenny Omega. Spot on. WIN.
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| IWGP champion Kenny Omega. |
Juice Robinson isn't doing so well in the G1, but he won the United States title at Dominion. WIN.
The Young Bucks will participate in their first World Tag League after declaring themselves heavyweights.
They're heavyweights and tag champions, but we've got a few months to go until the Tag League.
The Elite versus Bullet Club feud will continue for most of the next year.
The feud did continue, and now it's morphed a bit into the Bullet Club Elite vs. the Bullet Club OGs. Should be fun to see it continue through at least Wrestle Kingdom. WIN.
If he doesn't sign a WWE contract, Rey Mysterio will make an appearance for the company in Japan.
He made his in-ring debut in a six-man at Dominion. Here's hoping we still get a one on one between him and Liger. WIN.
Cody will participate in his first G1 this year.
Failed on that one because Cody's busy filming Arrow again. Still hoping we see him in one. FAIL.
Fissures between Suzuki and Suzukigun will lead to Zack Sabre leading a turn on Minoru Suzuki.
Sabre-gun still isn't a thing yet. I can still see it happening by year's end however.
American fans will be apoplectic when the company books Michael Elgin in a title match at Strong Style Evolved.
Michael Elgin won the NEVER Openweight title in Japan, but he and NJPW have kept him off American shores, probably wisely. FAIL.
ROH:
Dalton Castle will drop the ROH title to a member of the Bullet Club, but it won't be Cody.
I suppose I still have a chance here should Dalton win back the title, but he dropped it to Jay Lethal of all people.
Kenny Omega will make more than one pay-per-view appearance with the company in the lead up to All In. Kota Ibushi will make at least one as well.
Both men wrestled at the Supercard of Honor event earlier this year. WIN.
Chris Jericho will wrestle at least once for the company and will have a major match at All In.
Not going to happen at All In. But Chris Jericho will definitely make an ROH appearance during their events on his cruise with the Alpha Club vs. Bullet Club match. PARTIAL WIN.
Another New Japan star will hold a title in the company in 2018.
Though New Japan stars have made appearances, Cody and the Young Bucks are the only NJPW talents to score new titles this year (the six man tag belts.)
Juice Robinson will start making regular appearances for ROH.
He has had no American matches for ROH. Probably not going to get this one, especially if rumors of WWE's interest prove too compelling for him.
Christopher Daniels will get a high profile match but not regain the ROH title.
Do six-man tag title matches count? Probably not. Here's hoping for the next four months with him getting some stronger matches in the worse towns he's ever been in. (SCU!)
The tag titles will be held at least once this year by a team that isn't currently on ROH television.
They've been left on the Briscoes for much of the year, but several new teams have debuted, even if none are particularly interesting.
Impact:
Brian Cage will be the man to unseat Austin Aries for the championship.
He hasn't won the World title yet, but he's the reigning X champion now. Pentagon beat Aries for the belt, but Aries regained it.
The Grand Championship will officially be unified with the Global title.
Done and done. 100% correct. WIN.
The male roster will see less new additions for the rest of the year than the Knockouts roster, as the company seeks to rebuild their women's division.
Both rosters have continued to gain stars, but the women's division has added a few more in the last couple months.
Matt Sydal will work his way through multiple titles in the company, but won't win the World title.
He's held the X division belt for most of the year. I can still see him getting a run with the tag belt as well.
LAX will lose the tag titles to a makeshift tag team.
Eli Drake and Scott Steiner are pretty makeshift. The pair didn't hold the belts long either. WIN.
Taya and Johnny Impact will form a unit against LAX upon Diamante's return.
We got the OGz instead, which honestly may be better. Always a chance this feud is still coming as well.
Sami Callihan will be in the Global title picture before year's end.
It's back to the World Championship now, but I think there's a good chance Austin Aries versus Sami Callihan is the Bound For Glory main event.
