The 411 Wrestling Top 5 12.30.09: Week 55 - Predictions for 2010

Posted by Michael Bauer on 12.30.2009

From Who Retires to Who Becomes Champion and Everything in Between, the 411 Staff takes a looks ahead to New Year with their The Top Predictions for 2010 in the latest edition of the 411 Wrestling Top Five!

Hello everyone and welcome to 411 Wrestling's Top 5 List. What we are going to is take a topic each week and all the writers here on 411 wrestling will have the ability to give us their Top 5 on said topic, plus up to three honorable mentions.

So, on to this week's topic…

THE TOP 5 PREDICTIONS FOR 2010

So when 2011 rolls around, we can look back and claim to be able to say we are geniuses… or not. This is our second annual installments of the predictions, one that I hope lasts every year. For shits and giggles, anyone who was a part of the predictions last year will get to relive their mistakes or successes, as I will remind you all of what they predicted. No Honorable Mentions this week, since I just want to see five predictions.

So what did our group of writers select? Let's find out…



Julian Bond
For 2009, Julian correctly predicted MVP getting a big push (sort of), the Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy feud, Christian's return to do the WWE, and AJ Styles being TNA World Champ. The Taker and Michaels didn't retire, but 4 out of 5 ain't bad.

After looking back at the 2009 predictions from myself and my fellow 411 peeps here like "MVP getting a major push" to "Christian main eventing a WWE PPV", I'm just going to keep my picks real simple this time around!

5.Edge will return as a face to the ring to fight Chris Jericho - This is a very safe prediction here I think. God forbid if the man gets ran over by a car, but I'm pretty sure that when Edge comes back to the ring, they will bring him back as a fresh face as opposed to his long-standing awesome turn as a super-heel to face his bitter trash-talking ex-partner Chris Jericho.

4.The ECW brand will be no more - While there are only rumors of this happening very soon, when I just read that Tommy Dreamer...the last remaining ECW "original" wrestler alum with the company...has now left...the writing is definitely now on the wall for the WWE to close down shop on this once very-experimental brand. I personally have liked the show more and more in 2009 with its ragtag bunch of new (Swagger, Sheamus, Zack Ryder), underrated (Regal, Shelton Benjamin), and familar (Christian, Dreamer) stars, but don't really see it getting any better due to a significant lack of interest from casual fans. So if true, I wish a nice farewell to the brand resurrection that lasted WAY longer than anyone would have initially expected it to.

3.Undertaker will NOT retire yet - I along with some others had predicted that the Undertaker might have retired last year after his crazy wrestling clinic/opus with Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania, but as seen the man just kept on going strong. Despite the man now actually showing your ring wear with a significant bit of slowness in the ring, I think that the man still will not go down quite yet. I see him dropping the belt very soon to Batista right before Wrestlemania, putting on yet another great match with Michaels at Wrestlemania, and then maybe giving it a good one last year to maybe hang the boots up next year right before putting over a bunch of younger talent as he's always done well. I see him maybe finally doing it in 2011, but no retirement yet I see in 2010.

2.Desmond Wolfe (aka Nigel McGuinness) will be TNA World Champ by year-end - TNA (in my humble opinion) is finally turning their fortunes around by going back to putting on the great matches that put them on the map in the first place (i.e. the X-Division, most matches with AJ Styles) and Desmond Wolfe is one of the main reasons for this quick turn-around. In the last couple of months, this former ROH mainstay has put on some majorly impressive matches against ring general Kurt Angle along with providing some good TV bouts against the likes of Daniels. So in the World Title picture, besides Samoa Joe (who'll probably cash in his Feast or Fire case to win this year) and Angle, the only other person I really see getting a TNA World Title reign next year would be Wolfe. Fans are slowly starting to warm to him and next to Joe, he is the best heel in the company right now and thus will probably get a nice brief run with the belt.

1.Batista vs. Cena at Wrestlemania - I've been calling this bout for a few months now in my PPV predicitons and I strongly will say it again here....it'll be John Cena vs. Batista for "a" world title at Wrestlemania. I really don't like doing "armchair booking" since I'm usually wrong 200% of the time! But this bout here to me is the only real big-money bout that they can push at Mania this year. If the company is truly trying to do the "push the younger generation" thing (i.e. pushing folks like Morrison and Kingston), then a big sign of this would to make a main-event example of having the two guys who won their first World Titles at Wrestlemania 5 years ago (yep...at Wrestlemania 21) wrestle one another to say..."look at what these two former younger faces have done in 5 years here". Every Wrestlemania main event in the last 5 years has involved one "older" wrestler versus a "younger" one (Batista/HHH, Cena/HHH, Cena/Michaels, Edge/Taker, Orton/HHH), so I think that it's about time that we get two of the evenly-leveled wrestlers in Cena and Batista and get them in the ring for a REAL feud this time without casual face vs face set-up like they forgetfully did for their bout last year at Summerslam.






Chad Nevett

5.John Morrison will win a world title - Given the fun nature of this week's top five, I thought I'd ask my girlfriend Michelle for a prediction for the coming year and use it as my fifth spot, and this is her choice. According to her, Morrison will most likely win a world belt around September, possibly by cashing in Money in the Bank, but not necessarily. He's been on the verge of making the main event for much of the year and 2010 seems like the right time for him to graduate. It won't be a quick or easy victory and may have a few setbacks, but look to the fall for Morrison to stand tall with the belt.

4.Chris Jericho and Edge will wrestle against another at WrestleMania - Slightly broad, but I want to leave myself some wiggle room for a possible tag or other sort of multi-man match. Otherwise, I see Edge ready to return in time for 'Mania and these two going up against one another. With any luck, a world title will be involved, because the strap being on either man would make me quite happy, but that would be gravy on a fantastic match/feud between two of the best. An added plus for all of you non-American fans: should the WWE visit Canada during their feud, Jericho (the presumed heel) might actually get booed instead of cheered.

3.Hulk Hogan in TNA will be a failure - I'm using the world 'failure' in a liberal sense. From a business standpoint, it will help TNA in the short-term, but it will be meaningless with regards to ratings and buyrates as the year progresses. Creatively, I see maybe the odd flash of brilliance or surprise, but not much quality. If anything, it will leave many TNA wrestlers wanting to jump ship for the WWE or in worse positions than they are now, specifically the younger guys. Most of what Hogan has been saying in interviews points to this being a huge disaster as we relive the late '90s Hollywood Hogan-style. This is a prediction that I hope turns out to be wrong as a strong and creatively innovative TNA would be fantastic, but I really doubt that that will happen.



2.Bryan Danielson will be the final ECW Champion - A long shot, I'm aware, but with ECW in its seeming final days and the American Dragon set to debut (hopefully) at one point, why not have the two happen in close enough a time frame to give Danielson a big feather in his cap as the final ECW champ? Given his long history as the indy darling of North American wrestling and the ECW title's ties to that world, this could also be a good way to try and court some of the former WWE fans that have left for the smaller companies -- not that Vince cares probably, I know. It wouldn't be the debut Desmond Wolfe had, but it would be a recognition of Danielson's talent.

1.Batista will retire shortly after WrestleMania and, then, before the year is over, sign with TNA - We're due for a big 'defection' from the WWE and Batista looks like the best bet of the current crop of main eventers. Retirement has long been talked about by Batista and I think injuries will make him less valuable to the WWE, and possibly more dependent on banned substances to perform in the ring. The combination of the two will lead to him retiring from wrestling shortly after WrestleMania. But, like so many others, Big Dave will not be able to stay away and will head south to TNA for the lighter work schedule and more liberal allowance when it comes to substances that the WWE suspends people over. The odds will only increase should Ric Flair sign with TNA as is rumoured.



Aaron Hubbard

5.Tyler Black will sign with TNA and become X-Division Champion - After watching Final Battle, I have come to the conclusion that the Tyler Black phenomenon in Ring of Honor is over. ROH dropped the ball on giving him a title win in what was really the last chance to do it. Black will be fed up with the company and it's fans and will seek employment in TNA, where his natural athleticism will get him signed and he will become a star in the X-Division and hold it's championship.

4.The MITB Winner will become a World Champion, but not by cashing in their shot - I feel there is plenty of mileage left in the Money in the Bank concept, with lots of different ways to use it creatively. I'm predicting a babyface win this year, either Kofi Kingston or John Morrison. And thus, we will see the first honorable challenge from a MITB winner since Rob Van Dam. The winner will challenge for the World Title of their brand at Summer Slam, and lose in a stellar match. They will win the title at Survivor Series.

3.Bryan Danielson will work a Jujitsu Gimmick for WWE - We have seen WWE use different fighting styles as part of wrestlers gimmicks in recent years. CM Punk has Muay Thai. Vladimir Kozlov has Sambo. Danielson will have Brazilian Jujitsu. WWE will mention his training with Coutoure and be giving a fair shot, feuding with the likes of Rey Mysterio and Kaval. I'll also make a bolder prediction and say that Danielson and John Morrison will have the free TV match of the year.

2.Chris Jericho and Edge will have the feud of the year - And it will start at Wrestlemania, after Jericho wins whatever match he is in. Edge will make a surprise return and Spear Edge. They will then feud until Summer Slam where they will have either a TLC or Hell in a Cell Match. The feud will deliver both in and out of the ring and be remembered for years to come.

1.Desmond Wolfe will be TNA Champion - This is the prediction I'm most sure about. Wolfe has been built up as a star in TNA, coming in and feuding with Angle, and hanging with him in the ring. He is already over the Orlando faithful, with he and Angle's matches drawing chants of "This is wrestling!" I don't know when it will happen, who he will beat, or if he will be heel or babyface, but Desmond Wolfe will be TNA World Champion at some point in 2010.





Michael Bauer
Last year, I went 3 for 5 on my predictions. I did get Danielson to the WWE right as well as Morrison being a Smackdown Main Eventer, which he was for like a week. And of course, TNA never has changed. Yet, The Taker still has his streak and Tyler Black never was World Champ in Ring of Honor.

Mine are in no order, just doing doing 1 prediction for the overall Indies, 1 for Ring of Honor, 1 for TNA, and 2 for WWE. I also love going out on limbs, so yes, these will be a little out there.

5) EVOLVE Wrestling will cause the end of at least 1 current Indy Fed - And by current, I don't mean EVOLVE itself. I can easily see EVOLVE being good enough, where people finally have enough good places to stop going to CZW events.

4) Shane Hagadorn will manage both the RoH Word Champion and Tag Champions - Yes, I am calling this and I don't care how insane it will seem. But mark my words, Shane will be Manager of the Year in 2010 thanks in part to managing Davey Richards to a Ring of Honor World Title and The Kings of Wrestling to the Ring of Honor Tag Team Titles. The only thing I am not totally sure about is both happening at the same time.

3) Desmond Wolfe will be the biggest star in TNA - He is well on his way, isn't he. The fact that Nigel "Desmond Wolfe" McGuinness has such a good standing with half the TNA roster is a very positive sign. The fact that we know the matches he can have with Styles, Daniels, Joe, Machine Guns, Angle, Jay Lethal, etc... is an instant bonus and TNA I think will wise up and continue to captialize on that.

2) ECW will end by the Summer - ECW has been pretty bad lately and the ratings confrim it. ECW is trying to spice interest with the Homecoming, but let's face the facts. Nobody wants to see washed up veterans, new talent with no possibility of being pushed, and the same matches over and over again… with or without Christian.

1) Three first time World Champions will be crowned in the WWE - This is a stretch, but I have to go with it. The last twelve months saw Jeff Hardy and Sheamus grab World Gold for the first time. This year, I'll go with three people: Kofi Kingston, John Morrison, and Christian. All three of them will have World Gold in the WWE for the first time.



THE Larry Csonka
Oh the boss was a little off last year. TNA staying the same and AJ Styles as World Champion was his two right ones. But Ring of Honor Pay Per View died, Cena never went heel, and Kurt Angle is certainly not underappreciated… by TNA at least.

5. Dragon Gate USA Will Continue To Deliver On PPV - Dragon Gate hit the scene in a big way in 2009. They essentially replaced ROH on PPV, and with just two PPVs made some big noise as those two shows were two of the best of the year. I personally thing the first was a spectacular show. I think and certainly hope that they continue the trend on 2010, because great wrestling is always appreciated.

4. Desmond Wolfe Will Have A Great Year - This will of course all depend on Hogan and how much control he has over things, but I really think that Desmond Wolfe will have a great 2010. The company is very high on him as a performer, they had a ton of faith as they pushed him into a feud with Angle a feud that produced some great matches. Now as 2010 hits, he looks healthy, he is more familiar to the TNA audience and I think the sky is the limit for him as a performer. I hope that 2010 is the year of the "Wolfe".

3. Christian Will Continue To Be Underutilized - For as much as I think that Wolfe will have a great year in TNA, unfortunately I feel Christian will continue to run the treadmill in WWE. Christian isn't overly big, he isn't jacked and Vince thinks that he is not a star. I think that re-debuting him on ECW was a good pan, on one hand to allow him to get back with the audience, and also to allow him to work with the younger guys and help them. He has done that, and he has delivered good matches, but he is still there, and unless they kill off the ECW brand as they have discussed, I think that he will be stuck there for some time. I hope that I am dead wrong.

2. Wrestling Fans Will Continue To Fight Amongst Themselves - Instead of uniting over the sport that they love, Wrestling Fans will continue to fight. They will call each other names, they will state that their wrestling is better than your wrestling, they will mock the international talent, independent guys will continually called spot monkeys and the cycle will continue on. Instead of uniting to support a business we all love, we will continue to fight; can't we all just get along?

1. TNA Will Continue Being TNA - This is one of those things that I hope I am wrong about. Over the years many of us have said that TNA is their own worst enemy. They take one positive step forward, and then they take two steps back. They start drawing decent house show numbers, and then they decide not to promote them and they end up canceling shows. It is so frustrating as a fan of the company, but it is the truth. Unless they do make some major and serious changes, 2010 will be the same. Again, I hope I am wrong.



Stephen Randle
Randle was a bit off last year, but I can't tell on which ones. Did Morrison get more than a minor singles push and did the WWE truly rebound in 2009? At least I know Hulk and McMahon never got on the same page. Angle is still in TNA, unlike Randle thought, but Orton did hold the belt before Summerslam.

5.A current WWE main eventer will retire - Yeah, that's pretty vague, so I'll narrow it down to one (and maybe even more) of The Undertaker, Batista, Shawn Michaels, or Rey Mysterio. And yes, they're obvious choices, due to age and/or injury, but it's what the retirement means for WWE's main event scene that is so important, since they've relied heavily on these four men over the last five years as credible World title contenders, and their departure will leave a big void that could be filled by some up-and-coming and opportunistic talent.

4.Samoa Joe will jump to WWE - This is my "out on a limb" pick, but there have been rumblings for a while that Joe isn't pleased with his career path lately, and while he's publically denied them, you can't help but wonder if the Feast or Fired briefcase was a way for TNA Creative to make Joe feel better about his position, which has lost so much momentum since his TNA World Title victory in 2008. Plus, you know WWE can't go much longer without a Samoan on the roster, and he's the best available.



3.CM Punk and John Morrison will return to their former heights - But that may not mean they win titles in 2010. I think we've overlooked a lot in both Punk and Morrison's recent depushes. Distasteful as it is that WWE didn't let Punk have a long reign as World Champion, the signs are there that, thanks to his hot summer run against Jeff Hardy, he has earned the trust of WWE higher-ups to keep himself over, and to get other people over through feuding with him. Morrison's case is similar, in that he's shown that he can keep the fans on his side and wrestle exciting matches, even when he's on the losing side. If you can keep a fanbase even without titles and undefeated streaks and all the other gimmicks, just the strength of your character and ring-work, you're an indispensible asset in WWE's eyes. Just look at Chris Jericho. I foresee World title matches on PPV for both men in 2010, but they may not come away with the victory initially.

2.The New Monday Night Wars will not happen - By which I mean, after January 4th, TNA will retreat back to Thursdays and not seriously attempt a regular move to Mondays in 2010. WWE has shown that if TNA goes up against them, they will pull out every trick of publicity they know to crush them. Vince isn't a complete idiot, he will never let anything like the old WCW war happen to him again, and will make every effort to stop competitors in their tracks. Bret Hart is not the only thing Vince can pull out to win the night, and everyone knows it, including TNA. They will have their January 4th Impact, claim they gained publicity just by trying, and move back to their old night until they see just how far the Hulk Hogan experiment takes them.

1.A Return to Awesomeness - Obviously, the team of Edge and Christian has moved beyond their tag team roots, but I still think the re-uniting of their team will be a good thing. First of all, the Unified Tag Titles have actually been elevated in terms of the types of teams that hold the belts and the position of the belts on the card, so a team like Edge and Christian, multiple time World Champions both, doesn't look out of place or like a demotion when stacked up against JeriShow and D-X. In addition, an Achilles injury could limit Edge's ring-work for a long while, and keeping him in mostly tag action will allow him to keep a major presence on WWE TV without having to do 100% of the heavy lifting. I know we all want to see Christian getting a real World title, but I think this is probably the best we can hope for, at least for the near future.




Jeremy Thomas
Hard to tell Jeremy's success, but he did have some good ones. Nigel McGuiness became Desmond Wolfe and found success in TNA. A new crew did come into play for WWE's upper midcard. He said JBL has a non-wrestling role, and he retired. I guess that counts. Hardy did better than I thought he would, so I guess that counts. But did the WWE Divas outdo the TNA Knockouts? I'd say that's too close to call.

5.Serious backstage drama will ensue - This may not be obvious to some, but will be glaringly obvious to others. I'm not just talking about TNA here folks, although they will definitely contribute. Between Angle and Jarrett, Russo and Hogan, Foley and Bischoff, Samoa Joe not being pleased in general and more, TNA should be set to have a pretty damned fair amount of conflict just past the gorilla position. But this definitely applies to the WWE as well. There are always talks of minor flair-ups in the 'E's locker room, but it's been a while since there's been talk of serious dissention. While there are a lot of great things about Bret Hart coming back, I think this may well polarize the locker room. 'H and Shawn haven't exactly patched things up with the Hitman to my knowledge and you have a lot of people who may well take sides. This looks to be, potentially, a very contentious year behind the scenes of professional wrestling.

4.Randy Orton will continue to elevate new stars - I don't see Randy Orton being in the title picture for most of the year. I also don't view this as a bad thing. He'll get a couple matches I imagine, but I think the 'E has realized that it's time to make new stars as evidenced by Sheamus, Kofi, Punk and Morrison. They can only do that by matching these new faces up against established stars, and Orton's the best choice for helping make new babyfaces in the upper midcard to main event. Jericho could help out too, but he's likely to be occupied by Edge for a while. Few people earn Orton's level of heat from the crowd, and he's shown that he can make new names into credible stars. I think that will be his role and we'll get some great feuds out of it.

3.Christian will finally move to another brand - This doesn't mean I think he'll be in the main event or even the upper midcard, although it's certainly possible. With rumors running wild of ECW folding and Christian having been the most prominent mainstay of the brand, the 'E is going to get him off of the show probably a little while before it closes. I see a potential heel turn in his future and ending up on Raw or SmackDown, where he'll feud with Kofi Kingston or John Morrison for a while. Christian will probably end up in a midcard to upper midcard position, doing what Kane does by being perpetually over yet not ever rising to true main event status. Is it sad? Yes, but there could be worse places to be.

2.Desmond Wolfe will win the TNA World Title - I think this is my safest bet. Wolfe is on an absolute roll since joining TNA and looking consistently credible in his feud with Kurt Angle has made him an instant main eventer…and more impressively, one that the fans haven't rejected for being pushed too quickly. That's a danger that happens sometimes…we're seeing it now with Sheamus, for right or wrong. TNA is smart enough to realize that Wolfe is a commodity who needs to be put at the forefront, and while I suspect it won't be until the latter part of the year, it truly is a matter of less than twelve months before we're saying Desmond Wolfe – TNA World Champion. But along those lines…

1.Kofi Kingston will not win a WWE World Title - I would love to see Kofi Kingston take home a WWE Championship. I think it would be a huge statement and would even go a long way toward people accepting Sheamus as a main eventer—it's not hard to realize that some people are pissed at Sheamus's push because it didn't happen to Kingston. However, I think they will continue the slow burn on Kofi and he's going to remain near the top of the card, but not quite at the head of the mountain. I think another Tag Team Title reign is quite possible, and a feud with CM Punk would be a lot of fun and build upon their history as tag team champions. Punk could talk about Kofi's honoring of Jamaica and the Rastafarian culture and all that, and we'd get some bad-ass matches out of it. He could also easily become an Intercontinental or US Champion again and elevate the title some. But I think they'll hold off on giving him the big strap so that when he finally gets it, the fans will mark out huge. I just hope they don't wait too long.






Robert S. Leighty Jr
Rob went only 2 for 5, but his two were dead on as CM Punk was a World Champ and Christian came back to the WWE. But Cena never went heel, Russo didn't leave TNA, and Wrestlemania XXV was medicore.

5.Christian Pushed - Christian will finally get a run with one of the Big Two Titles in the WWE, and will feud with Edge for said Title.

4.Batista/Cena WM XXVI - This is kind of like HHH/Orton in that is seems to be the go to Mania Match year after year and it never happens. Well, like HHH/Orton this past year, we will finally get Cena/Batista at WM. Personally I would rather see Cena/Taker or Rock/Cena (one can dream), but probably wishing for too much there.

3.Hogan or Russo - One of these two men will be gone from TNA by April, and my money would be on Russo.

2.Wolfe beats Joe for TNA Title - Samoa Joe will cash in to take the title from AJ Styles, but will drop the strap to Desmond Wolfe.

1.Angle Jumps - Kurt Angle will return to the WWE for one last run.