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As 2018 draws to a close, fans can look back upon a remarkable year for sports entertainment.
Controversies came fast and furious this year. Brock Lesnar's part time status and world championship reign continued to rankle some parts of the WWE fanbase as he has enjoyed a nigh-continuous dominant reign. The behavior of wrestlers like Enzo Amore continues to captivate fans long after their careers seem to be over. All In fundamentally altered the landscape of the pro wrestling business, and left fans thirsty for more.
On the independent side, controversies involving ROH champion Jay Lethal and comments made by some of their talent may have soured the bottom line, but the wrestling industry still experienced unprecedented growth. Lucha Underground, NJPW, and Impact wrestling have all made serious gains on the top dog promotion WWE.
Now, fans and critics alike look forward to what might happen in the coming year. Here are ten things wrestling fans are excited about in 2019.
1.A clean bill of health for Roman Reigns
The news came like a superman punch to the jaw of wrestling fans the world over. After struggling, fighting, and straining to capture the WWE Universal title from the Beast Incarnate Brock Lesnar for most of the year, Roman Reigns finally succeeded--only to have his reign cut short by tragedy.
Roman Reigns was forced to relinquish the Universal title due to a recurrence of Leukemia, a disease he has already beaten back once before. Though it is still early in his treatment cycle, signs look promising that it's working.
Fans are looking forward to Roman Reigns getting a clean bill of health in 2019, even if he is unable to return to the ring that soon. Even Roman's critics are giving him their best wishes for his victory over cancer for a second time.
2. ALL IN 2: Double or Nothing
It's the wrestling event--perhaps the first ever wrestling event--born purely out of a bet on Twitter. When polarizing wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer was asked if he thought a small promotion like Ring of Honor could sell out a 10,000 seat arena, Meltzer replied "not anytime soon."
Cody replied on Twitter with : "I'll take that bet, Dave!"
With the help of the Young Bucks, Rhodes funded, promoted, and executed All In, the biggest independent wrestling pay per view and live show ever conceived. With appearances by some of the biggest pro wrestling stars in the world, such as Kenny Omega and Pentagon Jr., as well as the Elite (formerly known as Bullet Club) the event did not disappoint. Even before All In had drawn to a close, Cody Rhodes teased the idea of a second show.
Wrestling fans would love to see All In 2 happen sometime in 2019.
3. Smackdown Live on Fox
The news created ripples throughout the world of sports entertainment. After years of being on cable networks, streaming stations, and experimental networks like UPN, Smackdown Live would finally be airing on a major network.
To give you some perspective, the last time WWE programming aired on a major network in the USA it was back in the 1980s when NBC ran Saturday Night's Main Event as a once in a while replacement for Saturday Night Live.
While there are a lot of fans worried about changes to Smackdown's programming, there are just as many who are eagerly anticipating the move. After all, pro wrestling hasn't been airing a regular show on network television for a very long time. Not only will the move be good for WWE, but for all of pro wrestling in general.
4. WrestleMania 35
There is very, very little available in the ways of details about WrestleMania 35.
All that is known at present is that it will come live from East Rutherford, New Jersey and air on April 7, 2019. But the thing about Wrestlemania is that it's ALWAYS going to create buzz just by virtue of being WrestleMania.
For the time being, fans don't know what matches might take place. However, rumors always abound. One of the big feuds being set up is rumored to be Rey Mysterio vs. Randy Orton. The two veteran talents have a lot of respect for each other, and have never really worked a major feud together that was given the full attention necessary to create great drama. Again, this is just a rumor, but the signs seem to be pointing toward this match happening.
Another rumored encounter is Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins, possibly in a Steel cage match. WWE wants to milk the feud between the former Shield Brothers for all it is worth, and what better stage for such an encounter than WrestleMania?
5. What will "The Man" come up with next?
When it comes to the most unanticipated, unexpected, and yet somehow inevitable success stories of 2018, you need look no further than the rise of Becky Lynch.
Becky Lynch made her main roster debut at nearly the same time as Charlotte Flair, but while the blonde child of the Nature Boy went on to instant success, Lynch floundered for a time. She was consistently putting on great performances, however, and the fans slowly built up behind her. When Smackdown Live invaded Raw during the build up to brand warfare, Lynch pushed her way to the front of the line.
WWE was probably not expecting the way her character has taken off, becoming not just the most popular athlete on Smackdown's women's division, but quite possibly the entire promotion and all its brands. Not even a broken nose and a concussion can slow down The Man's momentum, and we look forward to seeing what she comes up with to entertain us and demolish her opponents in 2019.
6. Who will rise to the top of of ROH?
Let's take a look at some major Impact and WWE stars for a moment. Diehard Eddie Edwards, Moose, Scarlett Bordeaux, Adam Cole, AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Kyle O'Reilly, Bobby Fish, and Roderick Strong. What do all of these wrestlers have in common?
All of them cut their teeth in the Ring of Honor promotion. It seems like in the modern pro wrestling world, many of the major stars in the big promotions first come through the delightfully non-mainstream Ring of Honor system.
And it's not just limited to Impact and WWE; wrestlers like Adam Page, who works a great deal for New Japan, came up through ROH's developmental process, which takes trained pro wrestlers and makes them even better. Fans will be looking to see who winds up on the top of the heap in ROH...because not only are they the face of the best technical wrestling promotion on the planet, but also because they often go on to even bigger stardom with one of the major promotions.
7. Hulk Hogan's return to WWE
It seems like every time you think Hulk Hogan is down for the count with regards to his wrestling career, he makes another comeback.
This has been going on for decades, ever since he first teased a run to Hollywood and wound up starring in a series of films, starting off with the much maligned but financially successful No Holds Barred.
But Hogan came back, and even recaptured the WWE championship not once, but twice more. Then he semi-retired again, only to pop up in Ted Turner's World Championship Wrestling promotion. Many fans and critics agree that without Hogan WCW would never have challenged and dominated WWE for nearly three years.
After his leaked private tape wound up on Gawker, the Hulkster won a billion dollar settlement, but his reputation was in tatters. Some unsavory things Hogan said in the leaked video have haunted him, and he was even suspended from the WWE's Hall of Fame--though we're not sure what that means, exactly.
Hogan wound up being reinstated and has made several appearances for WWE, mostly taped vignettes though he did appear live at Crown Jewel. Fans are wondering when they will see Hogan return to the WWE and in what capacity.
8. Horsewomen vs. Horsewomen
It's been teased for years--literally years! But will 2019 be the time it finally comes to pass?
We are, of course, speaking of the much ballyhooed tension between the Four Horsewomen headed by Charlotte Flair--which includes Bayley, Becky Lynch, and Sasha Banks--and the other Four Horsewomen of MMA, led by Ronda Rousey and featuring Shayna Bayszler, Jessamyn Duke, and Marina Shafir.
The tension has been building ever since Charlotte and Rousey bumped heads on social media over who was the 'official' Four Horsewomen. Charlotte has a strong claim--after all, her father was the leader and top star of the original Four Horsemen stable--but on the other hand Rousey has been using the term for longer.
The end result is that fans are rabid with anticipation for this feud, which WWE has been teasing for years. Fans hope that in 2019 they finally see the two stables of super women collide.
9. Who will be called up from NXT?
NXT is probably the most crowd-pleasing, least criticized brand in the WWE...and in fact, is probably the most crowd-pleasing, least criticized wrestling program ANYWHERE in the world.
This is because of consistent booking, smart storylines that take months or even years to unfold, and a bevy of hungry, talented wrestlers who are out to prove that they have the goods to be the biggest stars in sports entertainment.
Given all of that, you'd think NXT fans would be satisfied, but the number one topic of conversation among wrestling fans seems to be who is going to be called up next to the main roster. Given that men like Velveteen Dream are already teasing their own call ups, it's only a matter of time before wrestling fans have their curiosity satisfied in 2019.
10. Kenny Omega: Will he or won't He?
He's been called the best wrestler in the entire world. He topped Pro Wresting Illustrated's top 500 wrestlers for 2018. He's the current owner of the coveted IWGP World heavyweight championship.
We are speaking, of course, of Kenny Omega. The Canadian born wrestler is one of the few westerners to hold the prestigious IWGP title, and seems to have an iron grip on the title.
Two years ago Omega turned a lot of heads when John Cena posted his picture on social media. This led to speculation that Omega would wind up signing with WWE, and make his debut in the Royal Rumble.
As it turns out, that COULD NOT have happened anyway because of Omega's contract status with New Japan. After the Rumble, his contract did expire but he signed a new one with NJPW that concludes early next year.
While Omega has publicly stated he is quite happy with NJPW and has little interest in signing with the WWE, money has a way of changing people's minds. We're betting if a lucrative enough contract were offered, Omega might be tempted to make the jump to WWE. Fans are anticipating this possibility in 2019 possibly the most of all.
There you have it: Ten things pro wrestling fans are looking forward to in 2019. What are you looking forward to next year in pro wrestling? Please comment and let us know, and thanks for reading!
