10 Worst Case Scenarios For Wrestling In 2019
This is a great time to be a wrestling fan, but what if it all goes wrong?
Professional wrestling is in an interesting place as we begin our journey through 2019.
The next 12 months will be turbulent, as Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks attempt to get their billionaire-funded All Elite Wrestling project off the ground, WWE mobilise their vast resources in an attempt at clinging on to their once-indomitable market share, while promotions like NJPW and Ring Of Honor deal with the fallout (and make moves of their own). This could be the year true competition returns to the sport for the first time since 2001. Conversely, it could all be another false dawn over a world Vince McMahon has ruled for decades.
It's almost impossible to predict what the business will look like 12 months from now, but wrestling will be a much, much worse if even a couple of the disasters within go down. We don't necessarily think they will, though. Each is feasible, but this is an extremely exciting time to be a wrestling fan, and there's a great chance that the industry will leave 2019 healthier than when it entered, with more options for fans and performers alike.
Still, catastrophe is never far away in an industry this volatile...
10. The Man, Undermined
We've been here before.
SummerSlam 2018 transformed Becky Lynch into WWE's hottest act, but 'The Man' was nothing before that. One of the company's most talented and affable performers had been long since shunted into a peripheral role. Having never recovered from losing her SmackDown Women's Championship to Alexa Bliss, Lynch had been made to watch while other, less popular performers took the throne, with her main roster career's line of best fitting somewhere on the midcard.
There's every chance this could happen again, and if it does, it'll be depressing. No other WWE performer is as organically over as Becky. She has a building full of fans behind her every single night, and finally, for the first time in her main roster career, the company are thrusting her to the forefront. Her momentum is such that she could (and should) sit atop the women's way beyond 2020. Sadly, her career up to this point suggests her current push may be a blip.
We hope it isn't, but it wasn't so long ago that heel Carmella was running this division with James Ellsworth by her side. The last thing Becky (and the Women's Revolution) needs is a return to those dark days.