Back on January 1st this year, I went onto my Twitter and posted 20 wild predictions for the world of professional wrestling in 2020 (as seen in this thread here). I figured I might as well see what the most absurd and outlandish prediction I could have come true would be. Now that the year is wrapping up, I’m taking a look back at all of my predictions to see if any of them came true, and I can truly call myself a wrestling genius.
1) The Fiend will lose his first match at WrestleMania
My first prediction for 2020 was that The Fiend would lose his first match at WrestleMania. Well, it is safe to say I was very wrong there. Not only did The Fiend win in the character’s first Mains appearance, but The Fiend also suffered his first loss on the last Saudi show before the world shut down in a match with Goldberg! And people say WWE booking is predictable.
2) AEW will no longer be dominant in the “ratings war” and instead, both shows will exchange positions regularly
This one is an interesting one. Technically, I’m wrong since AEW is still dominating NXT and is starting to creep up on Raw now too. But, I would be attacked mercilessly if I didn’t point out that NXT did beat AEW twice. So while both shows exchanging positions regularly isn’t a thing, if you use semantics AEW did end their dominance for a brief period.
3) Lance Archer will hold the IWGP Heavyweight Championship
Something that if the wrestling world didn’t change very well could’ve been true. Sadly this was pretty much ruled out when Lance Archer made his tremendous AEW debut. Although he didn’t win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, maybe the TNT Championship might be something he reaches for in 2021?
4) Danhausen and Warhorse will prominently feature over WrestleMania Weekend.
This prediction technically is unable to be right since WrestleMania Week didn’t happen this year because of the COVID Pandemic. The duo of WarHausen were originally booked for a multitude of WrestleMania Week shows, including their own. They were also a consistent feature of the makeup Collective series of shows in the latter half of 2020.
5) Baron Corbin will be given the respect that he deserves by the fans, and will hold a world title in the WWE
Okay, here me out on this one. Baron Corbin is not a world champion (thank God). The Baron Corbin hate train has much fewer passengers now though. Sure, he has his detractors, but I think people are finally starting to realise he isn’t as bad as they think. Obviously, I’m biased as a longtime fan of the Lone Wolf but hey, better late than never.
6) Vickie Guerrero will become an AEW Authority Figure #TeamBrickie
As much as I wished for this at the time, we did not get Vickie Guerrero as an authority figure again. In hindsight, I’m kind of glad! She hindered the product more than she helped it in 2020, and her as an authority figure in her current guise wouldn’t work well. If she goes away for a bit, maybe I’ll be more interested in this idea again… or maybe Team Brickie just needs to stay in the past.
7) Brad Maddox will make his return to professional wrestling
Speaking of Team Brickie, a man I’m a giant mark for Brad Maddox. Sadly he didn’t return to professional wrestling in any way, which is a crying shame. He hasn’t been on our screens for five years and he’s only 36! I don’t care if he comes back as an Authority figure, I don’t care if he has an indy run… hell, for all I care he could have another run as OVW World Champion (better that than Pillman Jr.). Please wrestling gods, give me what I want~!
8) Triplemania will be the show of the year
This one was kind of cheating since it was purely based on my own personal preferences… I had to pad out the 20 predictions somehow! Based on my honest opinion, despite the long wait and changes to the card due to COVID, AAA’s TripleMania was the show of the year in 2020.
9) WWE will bring back #RAWactive
The most interactive gimmick in all of wrestling #RAWactive sadly didn’t make a return in 2020… even if it would’ve devolved into stupidity just like it did the first and second time they tried the experiment. Still, #RAWactive would probably make 3 hours of Raw more digestible than it is now, and in an era where WWE needs to make a change to improve ratings, they might as well try in 2021. #BringBackTheAPPitudeEra
10) AEW will partner with IMPACT in the United States
By far the crowning achievement of my 2020 predictions, AEW is officially partnering with IMPACT Wrestling now. Not only are the two companies in cahoots, but they’re together with IMPACT at the best it has been in a while and AEW still making great waves… just need to fix that women’s division!
11) New Japan will end its partnership with ROH
According to everything I’ve seen, ROH and NJPW are still working together. But in the constantly shifting world of wrestling, New Japan seems to be forming new relationships in the US beyond Ring of Honor. AEW stars have been showing up in New Japan, IMPACT has been mending bridges with New Japan. That’s not to mention NJPW starting New Japan Strong in the US, with a new and distinct talent roster. With ROH hitting some strides in terms of the product (even if things backstage are still questionable at best) I feel that this relationship isn’t dying, but is instead going to be part of a much bigger picture.
12) OVW will bring back Derby City Wrestling
As of yet, OVW has not brought back their former developmental-developmental beginners class promotion Derby City Wrestling. The promotion is the former home to a wide array of current stars like Ember Moon, Pat Buck… Uh, The Akbars from GFW? Bryan Alvarez that one time? Anyway, sadly the complete trainwreck that was Derby City Wrestling has yet to return… But at least Adam Revolver has had a socially-distancing heel gimmick in the spirit of DCW… I guess?
13) NXT will bring in at least one prominent AEW star
While AEW has taken in some former NXT guys, it isn’t accurate to say NXT has done the same to AEW. If you bend the rules a little bit, that changes things. NXT brought in AEW Dark talent Ben Carter… In saying that, Ben Carter was never officially signed to AEW. NXT also brought back Tino Sabbatelli after his one AEW Dark match and crowd appearance after his original WWE release in April. Apparently, Tino was a snitch at the AEW taping he took part in.
14) Andrew Everett will be signed by a major promotion and get the money a giant like him deserves
Although Andrew Everett still isn’t signed to a “Major Promotion” he has been continuing to do great things. This year also saw him starting up his W3 series on Twitch, which has been a blast to watch during the COVID pandemic. I guess the real winner here is our favourite giant!
15) Tetsuya Naito will win the Double Gold Dash Match at Wrestle Kingdom
Another basic-bitch prediction I managed to get right, although with how Gedo likes to book you could argue that this wasn’t certain. One thing I didn’t expect was Naito to lose his belts to EVIL of all people. The kinds of things you try in a crazy year like this one I guess.
16) Ken Shamrock will hold IMPACT’s World Title
I honestly don’t know why I made this prediction at the start of the year. I’m glad this hasn’t happened and am even more glad that Ken Shamrock got into the IMPACT Hall of Fame. Heck, he was inducted by none other than The Rock! Despite not having this happen, IMPACT still had a pretty crazy year. In my view, they were the promotion of the year!
17) Cedric Alexander will become WWE United States Champion
Sadly this didn’t come true earlier this year to end Cedric’s then-bad booking. All is good now that he is in the best stable in wrestling right now The Hurt Business. He has become one-half of the tag team champions on Raw with Shelton Benjamin, an equally under-appreciated talent. The US title could still be in his future, as he could face stablemate Bobby Lashley for the belt should WWE ever destroy this great group.
18) The Dark Order will get over
Was I right, or was I right? Not only did The Dark Order finally get over, but they got mega-over. From the greatness that was Brodie Lee being revealed as the true leader to all the BTE skits, everything Dark Order touched became gold. Fans are finally seeing what I’ve seen from the start. On a more sad note, the passing of Brodie Lee has taken away someone truly special from the group and the world as a whole. Luckily for us Brodie was able to be involved while he was still around. His greatness as a wrestler and as a person will live on forever. RIP Brodie, we will never forget you ❤
19) newLEGACYinc will book an actual wrestling show
This year nL themselves haven’t booked a show, but they are going to be involved in wrestling much more in 2021. Johnny will be commentating for GrapHouse, a promotion ran by longtime nL viewer Jody The Wrestler and Chris Kazama. Johnny is also going to be running a promotion with fellow Deadlock Podcast hosts Pulse and TonyPizzaGuy called DPW. They were originally going to run at least a show this year, but couldn’t due to COVID. If all goes to plan, we should be seeing that too in 2021.
20) Bryan Alvarez will wrestle for the NWA
OK, I need to explain myself here. Bryan Alvarez does say he’s retired from wrestling. I figured that he’s done that multiple times and come back, so why not this time? I figured that NWA would be the kind of show Bryan would work, given his training with Buddy Wayne and fandom of studio wrestling. Obviously, I was wrong. Maybe now I should try to hold out hope for a YWF return instead.
Well, there you have it, the results of my 2020 predictions for the wacky world of professional wrestling. I got more right than I could have ever dreamed. Stay tuned to this site around 12AM AEDT on January 1st for my 2021 professional wrestling predictions. This time I’m only doing 10, because I feel 20 was way too many. Stay safe and have a great New Year’s Eve!
