2020 WWE Predictions We Got Horribly Wrong

4. The XFL Is Going To Be A Success - Simon Miller

Wilbourn Punk
XFL/WWE
"The whole reason Vinny Mac is going back to this is because he doesn't like to fail. Because of that, he'll find a way to make it work".

Ok, so we're all sitting here with the benefit of hindsight and The XFL did not thrive in 2021. Which means that, technically, my big wrestling prediction was wrong but it's not as simple as this is it!?

Vince McMahon is many things, but he's not a mind-reader, or a fortune-teller, or a mystic soothsayer or whatever you call those people who can predict major world events coming. Nobody foresaw what was going to happen last year so it's really nobody's fault that the XFL got canned just over a month in.

It was actually doing ok too! It broke 3 million viewers in its first week and, yeah, ok, that had dropped to about 1.5m by the time they pulled the plug but that's still pretty good. It certainly could have been a lot worse. Who knows what would have happened to it if they'd been able to continue with that entire first season.

Maybe the Houston Roughnecks would have continued their 5 game winning streak? Maybe the Tampa Bay Vipers could have turned it all around? The Eastern Conference had a three-way tie at the top! You can't tell me that's not exciting.

Thankfully though we should find out. News that The Rock had set up a consotrium to save it and that the league would be back for 2022 shows that there's still life in it yet, so I'm taking last year's prediction as a loss but with a huge big Vince-sized asterix next to it.

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WhatCulture's Managing Editor and Chief Reporter | Previously seen in Vice, Esquire, FourFourTwo, Sabotage Times, Loaded, The Set Pieces, and Mundial Magazine

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett

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Lanky, specky, ginger bloke who loves all things wrestling, football and quiz related. The man who invented the #BloodyGoodQuiz.

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