10 Bold Predictions For Wrestling In 2023

Last year's predictions went around 50/50, but can hardly be considered bold in retrospect: even Apollo Crews couldn't have guessed the insanity that was 2022.

NXT 2.0 did actually go away (1): it was a funny disaster, and was mercy-killed. It did not land WWE into any trouble beforehand (2). A far more serious development - Vince McMahon resigning in disgrace amid historical sexual misconduct allegations - achieved that. CM Punk did turn heel (3), but not in the manner predicted. He lost his head, buried a promotion that remains beloved, and attacked an AEW EVP. Bron Breakker did not get strapped up on his debut (4). WWE actually did a halfway good job of building stars.

A AEW big name did publicly request their release (5), but it wasn't Brian Cage. Malakai Black and Andrade el Idolo did, more or less. Roman Reigns did remain Universal champion for the entire year (6). Jeff Jarrett didn't make a comeback. He made two! But not as the figurehead of a new promotion (7). Braun Strowman did return (8), and WWE's 2020 policy did enable a bizarre return of the old territory jump philosophy - not that CYN > WWE is remotely the same as freshening up via the Memphis to Mid-South loop.

A mass social media exodus didn't happen (9). Vince Russo did return (10), shockingly, but - swerve! - only in a consultant role at the behest of USA network.

As for this year...?

Tony Khan listens to criticism, even if he's put his fingers in his ears at the constant protests over horrendous interrupted interviews for quite some time now.

Fans complained that AEW didn't do enough to build big matches or debuting talents; Khan listened, and took to adding more video packages to the Dynamite format. The Road To YouTube series, albeit in a condensed format, is often used for this purpose.

In one of his weirdest decisions yet, at the exact time that Dynamite tapings became one of the hottest tickets in wrestling - WWE house shows actually skewed the median in AEW's favour - Khan turned the house lights down, as if he had something to hide. The opposite was true. His product was at its hottest in late 2021, but it looked like WCW Nitro in 1999. He listened, again, and the shows look vibrant one more. Along similar lines, Grand Slam looked significantly less like SmackDown this year.

Khan listens, and he must hear a lot of the sighs surrounding his title scene. It simply doesn't feel like it used to - that a fictional plot device felt like the ultimate career achievement. The ROH business hasn't remotely helped, but even if you don't factor that in, the All-Atlantic title has already lost its purpose. What was once a neat idea - a vehicle to make excursions matter more - has already become a secondary midcard title.

Orange Cassidy is a fun champion, but the belt is a transparent means of giving him something to do, and it will be unified with the TNT title by Full Gear '23 at the latest when Khan grasps that AEW doesn't feel as all-or-nothing as it once did.