Since 2020, I have been giving bold predictions on professional wrestling. The predictions aren’t necessarily things I consider realistic, or even possible. This is just me trying to see how far I can push my guesses and still get them right. Now that 2022 is drawing to a close, here are the results for my 2022 Bold Wrestling Predictions.
Be sure to check out the results to my predictions from 2020 and 2021.
Cody Rhodes will wrestle for the AEW World Title
Going into 2022, Cody Rhodes in AEW felt like he was teasing something of an interesting story. He was flirting with a heel turn on screen, which led me to think… what if there is a circumstance in which he wins the AEW World Title, breaking his promise? Well, none of that happened but nobody could predict what did: Cody Rhodes making his return to the WWE. After wrestling Seth Rollins like 15 times, Cody went out with an injury before making his return in a pretape on a Christmas Clip Show.
Predictions Correct: 0/1
Predictions Incorrect: 1/1
Sinclair will sell ROH off, allowing them to run fully independently
This prediction was a very loaded prediction at the time. I was fully expecting them to die with a whimper at Final Battle, but was holding out hope the company that changed the face of US wrestling would live. Little did I know that AEW Owner and massive ROH mark Tony Khan would end up purchasing the promotion and keeping it alive. Not only did he keep it alive, but he gave them their strongest year on PPV in terms of money made and arguably quality (the VHS/DVD era doesn’t count damn it!). When I made the prediction, I made the caveat that it couldn’t just be sold to AEW or WWE and that they needed to be independent. Although Khan also owns AEW, and ROH had a presence on AEW TV this year, technically ROH is a separate company… I think I’m gonna count that!
Predictions Correct: 1/2
Predictions Incorrect: 1/2
Roman Reigns will lose the WWE Universal Title at WrestleMania to the Royal Rumble Winner
Looking back, I’m very surprised to see myself as down on the Roman title run as I was… I honestly thought I was much more positive at the time. Considering not only that this prediction was wrong, but Roman is still champion now, with no credible challengers built and we’re repeating shit now I think it’s safe to say I’m sick of the Reigns of Terror. The only thing I like from the clips I see is the Sami stuff, but- I’m gonna stop here, because this is a prediction results article and not an article reviewing the Reigns of Terror.
Predictions Correct: 1/3
Predictions Incorrect: 2/3
Jeff Jarrett will run his own professional wrestling promotion
I was very much caught of guard mere minutes into 2022 when Jeff Jarrett tweeted about PROGRESS having new owners. For just a second there, myself and wrestling Twitter exploded with joy at the idea of Jeff Jarrett owning PROGRESS… sadly when you read further, he was just putting over his friends who purchased the company. I wonder how they’re doing… [LOOKS]… Uh, wow! I didn’t think things could get worse than they were for PROGRESS. Anyway, unless Jim Crockett Promotions somehow counted, Jarrett sadly did not own a new promotion in 2022… at least he got the AEW job!
Predictions Correct: 1/4
Predictions Incorrect: 3/4
GLEAT will become a major player in the puro scene
This was an absurdly vague prediction that is very hard to actually track. In terms of attendance from a quick glance they’re around where they were last year, save for a decent increase at the year end Tokyo Dome City Hall show. Otherwise, they don’t seem to have grown that much. They do seem to still have maintained some of the buzz they had last year at points, but otherwise there’s nothing really to write home about… ya know, outside of the baffling decision to book Luigi Primo well past that dough’s expiry date!
Predictions Correct: 1/5
Predictions Incorrect: 4/5
Eve Torres will step into the ring at some point
No, Eve Torres didn’t wrestle in 2022. Knowing how this works she’ll probably show up in the 2023 Women’s Rumble, because its her turn. Not really much else to say for this one.
Predictions Correct: 1/6
Predictions Incorrect: 5/6
Hook will win a championship by the end of the year
Welp, I was right. HOOK managed to walk away from 2022 as the FTW champion after an amazing moment on Dynamite which led to the dissolution of Team Taz, one of my favourite parts of AEW since they showed up. Now HOOK is in a team with Jack Perry, which could very well prove to be an interesting team in 2023 that really gets people going. I don’t think my TV screen can handle all of that at once!
Predictions Correct: 2/7
Predictions Incorrect: 5/7
NXT 2.0 will be kicked off of USA Network
This was more wishful thinking on my part (I say as someone who actively doesn’t watch the product). Instead of this being true and NXT losing TV again, they just dropped the NXT 2.0 branding once HUN-TOR took over… does that count? Honestly, since the show maintained the low ratings, awkward promos from people who haven’t been taught well, awfully shot vignettes, very rough work from people who haven’t been taught fundamentals yet and a whole article worth of things that annoy me, I think the spirit is still there. I guess that makes this prediction wrong!
Predictions Correct: 2/8
Predictions Incorrect: 6/8
Pro Wrestling Noah will have a strong year and surpass New Japan domestically
How many of these predictions are just wishful thinking? Of course not, given the restrictions still in place and New Japan’s market dominance. Honestly, this prediction might be more realistic by default in 2023 with the big Muto retirement stuff happening. That along with NOSAWA retiring (depending on your perspective) and the massive shift of talent across the major promotions that seems to be bubbling as 2022 draws to a close. In 2022 though, it was only me being a mark for the NOAH presentation and in-ring, while being sick of pandemic New Japan that made me hold out hope.
Predictions Correct: 2/9
Predictions Incorrect: 7/9
AEW Dynamite will beat every major wrestling show in US Ratings by the Key Demo & Total Viewers more than once and overall for 2022
This year was an interesting year for AEW Dynamite ratings wise. They maintained viewers, beating their year-over-year numbers most weeks. AEW also held up strong against the trend of cable itself. We aren’t here for that though. How did they do against the other wrestling shows? Well, they beat every non-WWE show easily, that much is obvious. The ratings those shows get are so low that the ratings data can’t be extrapolated accurately. AEW also handily defeated NXT in the key demo (people 18-49) and total viewers, as is tradition. The interesting story this year came in the race against the main-roster WWE shows.
According to data collected by Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics from multiple sources, excluding preemptions Dynamite beat Raw in 18-49 twice. In terms of SmackDown, Dynamite held up well, although only won in 18-49 when SmackDown was on FS1 without the Network TV advantage. That’s nothing to scoff at though, since FS1 and TBS are way more comparable than once thought. It was on one of those FS1 weeks AEW managed to win in total viewers too. Dynamite did not beat Raw in overall viewers at any point but did come close during one of the weeks Raw was moved to Syfy.
So overall, a very strong year for AEW Dynamite ratings in comparison to the rest of wrestling TV, with WWE’s default gap slowly closing.
Predictions Correct: 2/10
Predictions Incorrect: 8/10
Final Thoughts?
Well, I think it’s clear my predictions were maybe too bold. That or to vague to be easily measured. 2022 is officially my worst hit-rate so far!
Prediction Standings
2022: 2 correct, 8 incorrect (20% correct)
2021: 3 correct, 7 incorrect (30% correct)
2020: I’m too lazy to read my article because I did 20, can somebody tell me?