10 Early Wrestling Predictions For 2018
Beta Vs. Omega.
Wrestling is a hard game to predict. Consider the 2017 companion piece to this very article.
Charlotte and Sasha Banks headlined Hell In A Cell '16 a fortnight after it was published (1), but there was no 2017 evolution of the Revolution. John Cena somehow found himself opposite The Miz and Maryse at WrestleMania 33 (2), not the Dead Man (though he did, in fairness, kill The Miz). Shinsuke Nakamura (3) hasn't yet become WWE's first top-tier Japanese Champion; WWE instead opted to bury him at the expense of Jinder Mahal. Bray Wyatt (4) didn't turn face, but did become WWE Heavyweight Champion. Fittingly, given his win/loss record, this prediction was a neat 0.5. Eva Marie (5) didn't wrestle a critically acclaimed match - nor any at all.
WWE did carry out some belated spring cleaning (6), though out of Titus O'Neill, Rosa Mendes, Tamina, The Ascension and Zack Ryder, only Rosa departed (of her own accord). Not one of Daniel Bryan, Mitsuharu Misawa, Sid, The Great Muta, The British Bulldog, Christian nor the Dudley Boyz (7) were inducted into the Hall of Fame. Brock Lesnar faced Goldberg at WrestleMania 33, not Finn Bálor (8); Kevin Dunn had to put it away for another year. The Undertaker did return in the 2017 Royal Rumble match (9) - and Dean Ambrose did prove us wrong (10), by improving his form - but he didn't turn heel.
The lesson learned, sadly, is the same one we continue to ignore: don't get your hopes up...
10. Kenny Omega Vs. Chris Jericho Won't Set The World On Fire
Chris Jericho hasn't wrestled an unequivocally brilliant match since Payback 2013.
In the four years since, wrestling's David Bowie has excelled in the character department - but has failed to evolve in-ring. That's the problem: Jericho all too often wrestles as if he forgets he isn't ten years younger. Sloppy in submission transitions, his hubris obscures his advancing years. Ominously, this hubris is the very foundation of the match: Jericho at Power Struggle referred to himself as the "best in the world" which, while a marketable enough WWE nickname, is a veritable gauntlet-thrower in the context of New Japan Pro Wrestling. Jericho in 2018 is a ***3/4 performer entering a ****** arena.
Wrestle Kingdom isn't WrestleMania. New Japan Pro Wrestling isn't WWE. At TLC, fans knew Kurt Angle wasn't at his physical peak, and managed their expectations accordingly. The goodwill carried him through. Jericho's experience with New Japan was fleeting, ranging from widely-panned disaster to an only-decent BOSJ run. The hype is there; the currency with the crowd is not.
Yuji Nagata, three years Jerichio's senior, is the frame of reference here. He excelled in this year's G1 Climax tournament by performing to a consistently brilliant standard that has eluded Jericho, even with the luxury of a reduced schedule. Jericho needs to perform to that standard at a minimum to reach such lofty expectations.
The match will be very cool, at the very least - but hyping it as Alpha Vs. Omega might be its undoing.