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Wrestling in 2017 was phenomenal and disappointing at the same time, because many independent wrestling companies were very successful with their product; meanwhile the WWE had its fair share of ups and downs, with many disappointing points; such as burying Finn Bálor and not giving him another shot at the Universal Championship, because of him getting injured and having to relinquish the Championship. There was also the burial of The Club (Gallows and Anderson). Additionally, some bad feuds such as Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt and Finn Bálor, Jinder Mahal and Shinsuke Nakamura. But some of the highlights of last year were AJ Styles vs Finn Bálor, Kenny Omega vs Kazuchika Okada trilogy, and the Young Bucks vs The Hardy Boyz. So here are a few predictions for this years wrestling.
Bálor Club Rules Raw Finn Bálor and The Club (Gallows and Anderson) just recently reunited as a group for the first time since their days in Japan. I believe that they will be more over as a group and will rule Raw as bad guys, and will all become Champions whether it be Finn Bálor as Intercontinental Champion or as Universal Champion, and The Club as Raw Tag Team Champions. Maybe there will be a 6-Man Tag Team Championship in which they will the first team that will hold it as there are now various factions in the WWE such as, Bálor Club, The SHIELD, The New Day, The Miztourage and the ones in NXT: the Undisputed Era and Sanity, and some old factions which can be reformed and new ones with wrestlers who know each other well. 2018 could be the year of Bálor Club.
The Bullet Club Will Become More Popular Last year the Bullet Club became one of the most popular stables in, because of the Kenny Omega vs Kazuchika Okada Wrestle Kingdom 11 6-star match. Also the Young Bucks YouTube channel “Being the Elite” which also features some of the Bullet Clubs members, and furthers storylines in wrestling, such as them kicking out Adam Cole out of Bullet Club and replacing him with “The Villain” Marty Scurll, as a storyline they created as he was leaving Ring of Honor, for the WWE. They also invaded a WWE Raw live event where they were interacting with fans calling out the WWE and their former Bullet Club members Finn Bálor and the Club to rejoin them. They also had a deal with Hot Topic to sell their merchandise through a partnership with ProWrestlingTees, which also opened a store here in Chicago which made news as Bullet Club members made an appearance with other wrestlers. Their merchandise has been very popular that their shirts appear at every WWE event with “Too Sweet” chants. Kenny Omega became the first IWGP United States Champion in the New Japan expansion in the United States. Additionally, they are holding an event fully funded by some members of Bullet Club later this year, in an attempt to sell out 10,000 seats. Lastly, they’ll add some wrestlers to their stable who have real promise, but will breakout soon. Some of the members have petitioned for current WWE Daniel Bryan to join them when his contract runs out and comes back from retirement, as well as former wrestler CM Punk if he ever returns to wrestling.
NXT Gets a Second Hour NXT is the developmental brand of WWE’s main roster, and they’ve had some of the best product; for example, Tyler Bate vs Pete Dunne trilogy for the WWE United Kingdom Championship, Aleister Black vs The Velveteen Dream, The Undisputed Era vs The Authors of Pain and Roderick Strong vs Sanity in War Games which were all great matches with their own great stories. However, the problem is that there is only a limited amount of talent that can be showcased in an hour, plus the additional talent set to sign by the end of this month, such as Ricochet, War Machine, and Candice LeRae, they already have a very stacked roster and can’t showcase all of them in an hour. So a second hour will become more beneficial for all the talents they want to show that they can’t like The Undisputed Era, Aleister Black, The Velveteen Dream, Lio Rush, The Street Prophets, Roderick Strong, Kairi Sane, Sanity, Shayna Baszler, Andrade Cien Almas, Johnny Gargano, Toni Storm, The Authors of Pain, their United Kingdom division and other incoming signees.
Daniel Bryan Returns to Wrestling Daniel Bryan was one of the best technical wrestlers when he was still wrestling and was forced to retire in 2016 by the WWE due to concussions; however, he claims he’s went to various doctors and has gotten cleared, but the doctors in the WWE won’t clear him, because they don’t want to be responsible for what happens to him. However, he has stated that once his contract is up with WWE he’s going to go elsewhere and wrestle, such as Ring of Honor and New Japan to wrestle all Bullet Club members and make them tap out, and has even considered joining them. He was one of the most popular wrestlers at the time and still is, and I believe he will bring more fans to the the independent wrestling scene and make their stars more relevant and have dream matches with various wrestlers who he’s never faced who are very talented from around the world in various promotions. He can be the kick starter for casual wrestling fans to go check out more wrestling promotions besides the WWE.
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