MR. TITO: 15 BOLD Pro Wrestling Predictions for 2022 (Also Reviewing 2021 Predictions) - WWE, AEW, etc.

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Welcome, one and all, to the 2021 “Season Finale” of the Excellence in Column Writing and the Column that the Pros Read… Today, we unveil the 2022 Pro Wrestling Predictions and I boldly do them just before the New Year starts and I do NOT change them throughout the year. Then, when we do the following year’s predictions, we review the prior year’s predictions to see how we did.

As always, I MUST give credit for this column idea to Karl Denninger from Market-Ticker.org for this column’s idea and format. He was a former technology company owner turned financial consultant and blogger. He’s quite bold on his takes and his predictions while often being right (big caller of the 2008 meltdown).

I have written this style of column for the past 10 years and it’s been one my most popular columns of the year. And I don’t try to make it easy on myself, as I try to make BOLD predictions instead of obvious ones.

As is customary for this column, here is my review of the 2021 Predictions:

2021 Predictions – REVIEW

#1 – 2021 Prediction – CM Punk will return to Pro Wrestling but not for WWE. Bullseye! Many, back then, kept suggesting that because he did the WWE show for FOX Sports, that was his way back to the WWE. Nope, he dislikes Triple H and that will forever keep him out of the WWE. Point.

#2 – 2021 Prediction – Shane McMahon will obtain major Creative Role during 2021. Miss. Bruce Prichard gained more power and Shane seemed to step back again.

#3 – 2021 Prediction – NXT Show is going to be altered in some way during 2021 on USA Network.
Point, as NXT was moved to Tuesday nights to officially end the “Wednesday Night Wars” with a whimper.

#4 – 2021 Prediction – We’ll say goodbye to at least one of these in 2021: Ring of Honor, NWA, or Impact.
Point – Ring of Honor is in the process of finishing up and all talent will be released soon. What a shame, as Sinclair could have made something of this company. That said, they saved them from closing 10 years ago, so good for them.

#5 – 2021 Prediction – Tessa Blanchard will sign a WWE contract during 2021. Complete miss. I heard it from sources that only WWE was interested in her but they were lowballing her on money and may have wanted her to return through NXT. Instead, Tessa stayed out of the bigger promotions and recently joined the WOW promotion.

#6 – 2021 Prediction – Brock Lesnar shall return to the WWE and regain a World Championship during 2021. Half a point. He did return but failed to capture WWE gold. He might here at Day One, but that’s 2022…

#7 – 2021 Prediction – WWE SummerSlam 2021 will be the first fully attended Pay Per View by the WWE. Close, but miss. King of the Ring 2021 was that attended Pay Per View.

#8 – 2021 Prediction – At least 1 WWE Pay Per View like special will appear on FOX Network during 2021. Miss. Didn’t happen, everything remained on WWE Network and the Peacock deal probably prevented this from happening.

#9 – 2021 Prediction – Format change will happen for Monday Night RAW with either shrinking to 2 hours OR allowing for a mature 3rd hour during 2021. Miss. USA Network seems to still want RAW to be 3 hours. NXT is the one that is a tad more adult themed.

#10 – 2021 Prediction – WWE Stock Price will close at or above $65 per share for year-end 2021. WWE is trading under $50 at year-end, that’s a hit. They didn’t quite benefit from the stock market booming this year.

#11 – 2021 Prediction – Roman Reigns will return back to a babyface during 2021. This is a miss, but him ditching his heel manager, Paul Heyman, might be the beginnings of something. But we’ll see at Day One.

#12 – 2021 Prediction – Matt Riddle re-signs with WWE, as his contract is up during the year. That’s a hit! Riddle re-signed with the WWE and looks to be ready for a push for 2022. Good for him!

#13 – 2021 Prediction – WWE will win any legal challenge to their “independent contractor” status of their wrestlers. Oh yeah, HIT! WWE even had Zelina Vega return to their promotion after being terminated due to this Third Party stuff.

#14 – 2021 Prediction – Former President Donald Trump will appear on WWE television at least once during 2021. Didn’t happen… Mind you, I wrote this column on 12/31/2020 and the events of January 6th had YET to happen. This is a miss.

#15 – 2021 Prediction – AEW will change their EVP management group by adding at least 1 and/or subtracting 1 during 2021. Nope… Maybe I predicted this one too early. Miss.

6.5 out of 15… Yeah, that looks bad, but I took a few big risks and they didn’t payoff for 2021 but may for future years. That’s the way it goes…

2021 was a strange yet disappointing year for Pro Wrestling. This year was truly a “2020 hangover” but both WWE and AEW didn’t grow or evolve based on the unique events of 2020. While I wasn’t the biggest fan of the cinematic matches that dominated 2020, at least they were trying newer things under the circumstances of having zero fans in the stands. Hell, the entire Roman Reigns heel turn was “trying something new” and maybe if the pandemic didn’t happen, WWE wouldn’t have taken such a major risk. But they did… However for 2021, WWE’s balls shriveled up and they played it safe.

But the WWE is playing it safe at the top… They are giving you Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns for the longtime fans but they are attempting to revamp their talent model. During 2020, Triple H was demoted as Talent Relations EVP and in his place was the returning John Laurinaitis and a bunch of corporate stooges. They are more listening to what Vince McMahon wants talent development to be and that is to develop BIGGER and YOUNGER superstars than what the NXT/Developmental Center was feeding the WWE for the past 10 years. Now, the WWE is going after NCAA athletes following the recent court ruling that athletes can make money on their own name and likeness… Should be interesting to see if this change in the Talent structure pays off.

2021 was truly the rise of Nick Khan, however… If he didn’t convince you that he’ll become future WWE CEO/President, then I don’t know what will. Many wrestlers were terminated during 2021 and yet not 1 single wrestler has burned them upon being released by working for the competition. Ditto with the 2020 cuts. Then, the master stroke happened with the WWE Network integrating with Comcast’s Peacock streaming network. The Network is now making $200 million in pure profit, per year, on the WWE Network while Comcast shoulders all of the bandwidth costs and provides wrestling fans with free NBC/Universal content at the same old $9.99 price point (or $4.99 if you want commercials).

What Nick Khan hasn’t replaced, however, is the massive Creative team that the WWE has in place who cannot make compelling television. As noted above, 2021 was a stale creative year for the WWE. Nobody got over and even Roman Reigns, at times, felt a tad repetitive after his heel turn was a breath of fresh air during late 2020. Monday Night RAW is totally unwatchable at 3 hours during Monday Night and Smackdown has become “everything sucks unless it’s Brock/Cena vs. Roman”. For anyone who was critical of my constant “OVW Class of 2002” praise, how do you like them apples?

The “Wednesday Night Wars” ended when NXT was moved to Tuesday nights in anticipation of NBC Sports re-signing the National Hockey League (NHL) for another television deal. However, the NHL opted to sign with ESPN and Turner Sports instead for the next 10 years or so. That’s interesting because NXT made a pre-emptive strike to move to Tuesdays in anticipation of the NHL yet it’s going to be AEW Dynamite who will also have to move when NHL demands the TNT Wednesday Night timeslot for 2022. Funny how the lesser rated NHL, yet bigger television contract league is able to dictate terms as to when 2 wrestling promotions can air shows.

Speaking of All Elite Wrestling (AEW), another bad year for the company… Kenny Omega and his “Impact Invasion” was a real bust and viewership numbers started to quickly tank through the Summer of 2021. Then, a shining light arrived in the form of CM Punk making his 7+ year return to Pro Wrestling. The opening AEW Rampage promo in Chicago was AMAZING and it felt like an old friend had come back home. Then, the edge quickly wore off of CM Punk’s babyface promos and then he started to wrestle midcarders who made it competitive against him. Suddenly, Punk became just one of the guys… Adam Cole debuts and instantly, he’s doing stupid sketches and bad promos with the “Elite” guys. Daniel Bryan has already burned through several big matches already in just his few months with AEW, on free television no less against Omega and Page.

AEW tried to defeat the WWE several times this year, once for the New York show at Arthur Ashe stadium and another Friday when WWE Smackdown was pre-empted due to the MLB playoffs and placed on the horrible FS1. WWE beat them easily both times and Tony was humiliated for “shooting the moon” both times. But don’t worry, that 18-49 Demographic that the “State Run Observer Media” preaches as being great, despite being 400,000 or fewer fans each week, will keep giving Tony his small victories.

One company, sadly, that didn’t have any victories for 2021 was Ring of Honor. Sinclair announced that the company would pause after 2021 and re-evaluate things for 2022. Meanwhile, much of the roster will be freed out of their contracts following 2021, reportedly. It is sad to see this promotion go, as they had a few moments of excitement during the mid 2000s. However, the promotion’s tone and presentation just didn’t modernize and the in-ring product deteriorated into spotfest shows like you see at other Indy promotions. Then, the forming of AEW gutted their talent roster and that was followed by COVID-19 hurting paid attendance. Sinclair airing most of their programs at Midnight on weekends never helped the company, either. THAT SAID, let’s commend the Sinclair corporation… Had they not stepped in during the early 2010s, the promotion would have been dead! They kept many people’s jobs alive for the past 10 years and that is quite honorable. They also gave a decent amount of notice about the potential closing, which is also respectable as well.

So here we are for 2022… It’s just WWE and AEW… WWE is pushing Lesnar vs. Roman while trying to quickly revamp its underneath talent roster. For AEW, it’s more of the same but a changing television landscape for them already. I believe that 2022 and the years that follow will see wrestling not only being dependent on television money to survive, but needing to make the right moves to remain relevant. The move to TBS could be problematic for AEW while the WWE’s TV contracts that expire during 2024 will be a major focus.

Away we go, folks, for my official 2022 Predictions. Remember, we’re just having fun with these and anyone betting on this in any way, shape, or form is doing so at their own risk.

MR. TITO’s PHAT 2022 PRO WRESTLING PREDICTIONS

#1 – AEW Dynamite will change timeslots during 2022.
For 2022, AEW Dynamite will move to TBS permanently on Wednesday Nights at 8pm while the NHL takes over its Wednesday Night timeslot on TNT. AT&T and eventually the Discovery Channel conglomerate who owns them will pay $225 Million per year to host NHL games. I guarantee that Turner Sports and NHL executives will get upset when AEW and its 950,000 viewership numbers will outdraw the poor NHL viewership numbers seen on TNT. When that happens, both Turner and NHL will get into “CYA” mode and start talking about how AEW is taking viewership away from NHL on TNT. Thus, we’ll see a timeslot or day change for AEW… I could see AEW Dynamite going to 10pm on Wednesdays or possibly moving to Friday, Saturday, or Mondays instead. This NHL deal is a major PROBLEM for AEW and I expect a hissy fit to happen either during the Winter/Spring of 2022 or the Fall of 2022 to force a change.

#2 – WWE will officially announce its succession plan for the future.
With COVID-19 still spiraling out of control and Vince McMahon getting older, I believe that a succession plan will be released to shareholders during 2022. Specifically, Nick Khan has more than proven himself to be valuable to the company and it is probably making Shane, Stephanie, and Triple H think that they cannot compete with this guy. The WWE Corporate Succession plan will officially list Khan as “CEO in training” or the CEO for the future, retaining Stephanie as Chief Brand Officer, retaining Triple H as EVP of Live Events, and retain what is happening with talent. I expect more big moves by Nick Khan during 2022 to further solidify this happening.

#3 – Major budget cuts are happening for AEW.
The Khans just terminated Urban Meyer and they’ll still own him around $40-50 million on that contract. If they fight it in courts, those are going to be legal expenses that the Khans will foot. The Fulham soccer club was relegated during 2021, which will cause the club to lose money in a lesser league. Meanwhile, with fluctuations in the economy and the car industry changing, Shahid Khan’s business that made him might not be as lucrative as before. Thus, the “pet project” that has a bloated roster will see major budget cuts during 2022 ESPECIALLY if COVID restricts mass gatherings heavily again. Don’t be surprised if 3 year deals just happen to expire during 2022 or if AEW has their own massive termination date. Maybe AEW dissolves the EVPs? Something cost reducing is going to happen to AEW during 2022 unless they can find new revenue somewhere.

#4 – NXT will be removed from its Tuesday Night timeslot on USA Network.
Sorry, but drawing 600,000 viewers on Tuesday night isn’t going to cut it on the USA Network. I expect by the Summer or Fall, either the NXT show is cancelled or is moved permanently to WWE Network/Peacock. This show is doing poorly in Prime Time and with the talent roster there being revamped, it won’t draw well long-term. Plus, pulling NXT off of prime time and possibly ending the show completely might help improve surprise debuts in the WWE.

#5 – Charlotte Flair will be one of the WWE releases during 2022.
As you’ve seen from the recent news, she briefly broke up with Andrade and now she is back with him. The “Ric Flair” name has been tarnished thanks to the Dark Side of the Ring exposing the infamous “Plane Ride from Hell” and the allegations made against Ric Flair. I also believe that the WWE’s analytics department is telling them that Women’s wrestling truly isn’t drawing and that Charlotte’s larger contract isn’t worth the price tag. Combine all of this with the recent drama with Becky Lynch, and it’s over for her. WWE will probably have her get defeated at Wrestlemania or maybe keep her around to put over someone else at SummerSlam, but after that, she’s gone. WWE is betting that she’ll create issues for someone else and that her peak years are already over.

#6 – At least 1 EVP will leave AEW during 2022.
Can’t be Young Bucks, as they have just re-signed with AEW for multiple years (as if WWE would want them). Meanwhile, Kenny Omega and Cody Rhodes have yet to re-sign… Now, I fully expect Cody to re-sign but for Kenny Omega, what is life after being AEW champion? I believe that he’s already proven what he needs to prove in AEW. The “white whale” in his professional life is making it big in the WWE. I think he might take a chance and roll the dice there, especially if there is nothing left for him as a wrestler in AEW after dropping the title. It wouldn’t surprise me that Cody lands a big WWE deal to return and make a bigger impact on the WWE now that he has experience getting over outside of the WWE system. Plus, he and Brandi could have their reality show on one of many NBC/Universal channels.

#7 – Jim Ross will ultimately stay with AEW.
Jim Ross signed a 3 year deal with AEW during the Spring of 2019. That contact comes up this year and it would be interesting if the WWE legitimately inquires about his services for helping them scout NCAA athletes. The new WWE “NIL” stuff is tailor made for Jim Ross to oversee, as Ross was essentially scouting NCAA athletes well before WWE began their NIL program. THAT SAID, Jim Ross is a loyal man if you treat him nicely and I believe that he appreciates the overall experience that Tony Khan has given him at AEW. From all that I have heard and read, Tony Khan is an easy guy to work for and as long as he allows Ross to announce matches or participate in some way, Ross will continue to enjoy working with AEW. I expect a new AEW deal to be signed by Ross, though this WWE deal to oversee WWE NIL could be very tempting.

#8 – Dean Ambrose (Jon Moxley) returns to WWE.
Jon Moxley, the artist formerly known as Dean Ambrose, will make his return to the WWE during 2022 once his contract ends in AEW. He has already been AEW champion and thus has nothing else to accomplish aside from wrestling CM Punk (already did) or Daniel Bryan. I also believe that his wife, Renee Paquette (Young in WWE), would go along as a package deal. She’s become very successful in the Podcasting realm and given the success of Pat McAfee in the WWE dabbling in the sports world while working for the WWE, I could see a big desire to bring Renee Young back. I still believe that Tony Khan making the public announcement about Moxley’s rehab might have rubbed Jon the wrong way and he might be on the outs. I could see Dean Ambrose returning and being a great opponent for Roman Reigns during the Summer or Fall of 2022.

#9 – Kevin Dunn is done with the WWE during 2022, WWE production revamped.
Until the WWE blames the Creative Team, they’ll look for blame elsewhere. Nick Khan is going to look at Kevin Dunn’s EVP salary and begin to present Vince McMahon with analytics regarding how much the show costs versus how much Dunn is earning as EVP. Dunn is getting up there in age himself and has made lots of money. I expect that WWE is going to revamp its production and presentation as part of 2022 to change the look and feel of the WWE. I expect the WWE to attempt to make production changes to make it appear more like a TV drama rather than a sporting event. Oddly enough, Dunn’s loyalty to the past is probably keeping the WWE from changing its look away from the Attitude Era style of filming.

#10 – WWE Stock will end the year 2022 above $60 per share.
I believe that the cost savings of 2020-2021 combined with returning confidence in the market place will help the WWE stock grow during 2022. Right now, the Federal Reserve isn’t budging on interest rates and that will help the market continue to grow. For the WWE, however, 2022 will be a full year with the Peacock deal, ending the 3rd year and beginning the 4th year of the TV deals, and likely more Saudi Arabia shows. I also believe, as seen by a prior prediction, that the WWE naming a succession plan during 2022 will help sure up investors. It should be a good financial year for WWE.

#11 – Women of Wrestling (WOW) will become a surprise hit.
We’re just starting out and on the CW Network, but having AJ Mendez and Tessa Blanchard involved is really important. Furthermore, Jeanie Buss (one of the Lakers owners) and Viacom/CBS own the thing and will attempt to attract top female athletes to the promotion. WWE is just so happens to be releasing many female competitors lately who will likely tag along. This promotion may surprise people and by the end of 2022, I expect them to be drawing decent numbers on television. If anything, this promotion showing some success will cause bigtime talent raids of this promotion by WWE or AEW and by that, I’ll take the point if it happens.

#12 – Roman Reigns will begin his bigtime acting career in 2022.
I expect a big acting gig to land in Roman’s lap during 2022 and he’ll take it… I also expect that with COVID ramping up again and many WWE employees getting infected already, Roman might not want to be around this environment. Furthermore, after this World Title reign in the WWE, there’s not much else to accomplish other than proving to be a babyface wrestler success. I expect an action film role to be too good to pass up and by late 2022, Roman could be a threat to really become the next John Cena (or part-time wrestler).

#13 – Eric Bischoff will return to Pro Wrestling, full time.
In my opinion, Eric Bischoff received a raw deal during 2019 with the Executive Director deal. If you listen to Eric on his 83 Weeks podcast, he’s thoughtful, articulate, and seems to understand how wrestling should function. As I’ve said repeatedly now, Eric Bischoff was ruined during late 1996 when he joined the NWO and that character went to his head. Decades later, he’s had perspective and realizes what he did wrong yet he understands what he did right. I could seriously see WWE, AEW, Impact, or NWA giving Eric a serious chance to succeed in Pro Wrestling again. At the very least, him being a high level consultant to a promotion is a possibility.

#14 – The AEW bubble is going to burst on the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
It seems obvious to most that Dave Meltzer, especially, and Bryan Alvarez are heavily biased towards AEW. Why? Dave loves New Japan Pro Wrestling and many talents associated with that promotion now work for AEW. Furthermore, both Dave and Bryan love themselves some Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) and have forged relationships with the wrestlers of that promotion, many of whom work for AEW. Former Observer business writer, Chris Harrington, is AEW’s Vice President of Business Strategy. THAT is why you hear hardly anything critical of AEW by Dave/Bryan, nor do you hear any insider scoops on that promotion. I believe that during 2022, a disgruntled wrestler or AEW personnel described in the predicted budget cuts is going to sing and expose how closely tied the Observer boys are to AEW. Not just as fans, but speaking to Tony regularly about strategy and how to market the promotion. Dave giving the absurd amount of stars to their last Pay Per View clearly shows that he’s “all in” for AEW but I believe that the Observer is working in unison with AEW. Because of this bias, all hail Sean Ross Sapp as the #1 news insider!

And finally…

#15 – CM Punk won’t remain in AEW by year-end.
Something is off with him… Body language wise, he doesn’t seem to be as excited to wrestle inside the ring as he used to. He’s older, I don’t think AEW was as good as he expected, and his body still has a ton of mileage on it despite the 7+ years off. On top of that, being a straight edge guy disallows him from self-medicating any pain away. At an older age, he’s at risk for injury particularly as he tries to wrestle as his younger self. Keep in mind that during 2012-2013, he received multiple injuries and now we’re 7+ years later. I just don’t see him lasting and he’ll soon realize that his past life of trying acting and making money as a local Chicago celebrity did him just fine.

———————

So that’s my Predictions Column for reviewing 2021 and predicting 2022. I hope that you enjoyed this column along with the many great columns posted throughout 2021. I believe that 2021 was a GREAT year for me, column wise, and it wouldn’t be possible without YOU, the readers, along with NoDQ, Aaron Rift, the NoDQ staff, and my previous place that built me up at LordsofPain operated by Calvin Martin. THANK YOU for reading my columns, as it was greatly appreciated on my end. I gave you everything that I possibly had and did it 100% on a voluntary basis. I love you guys!

With that, I thank you very much for reading and we’ll see how my 2022 predictions pan out…

And in the end… The love you take is equal to the love you make…

Comments and feedback are welcome. Follow and Tweet me @titowrestling or login in below to post comments.

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MR. TITO: 15 BOLD Pro Wrestling Predictions for 2022 (Also Reviewing 2021 Predictions) – WWE, AEW, etc.