Welcome to another edition of my annual predictions for the upcoming year in WWE. Things are a little less than predictable for the WWE at the moment, but you know what? I’m gonna give it a shot. I love doing this article each year and hopefully I get some things right, but honestly, it’s just as fun to look back at my wrong takes. Just to give you a reminder of how I structure this article. I give my opinion of the current state of the WWE. It’s is a general idea of how I feel about WWE in present time. Then I give 5 main talking points of concern or things that could be interesting to look out for in the WWE in any given year. Next, is my favorite part. I get creative and give my 10 bold predictions for the WWE. Without wasting any more time, let’s get to it.

Current State of the WWE

I usually give the WWE the benefit of the doubt when it come to their product. Fans can be somewhat unreasonable to please on a week-to-week basis, but they really have an argument more often than not now. I haven’t been regularly watching anything WWE over the last couple of months and I really have no interest at the moment. Aside from a couple big-name performers, I really have no interest in watching their product and I really hate that. With that being said, the WWE can work their proverbial magic and pull the rabbit out of the hat at any given moment. Without a doubt, patience is the most important part of being a fan of wrestling and hopefully things will look better in 2022, but for now, the product just isn’t great as a whole.

Will We See a Possible Title Unification in 2022?

I haven’t heard any rumors of this, but after thinking about it for a while are we going to see this? I really have no idea, but it certainly is a possibility and I’ll tell you why. First of all, the rosters are much smaller than they were a year ago. With a smaller roster, there is less need for an influx of belts, thus a leading indication of title unification. Don’t get me wrong, there are a ton of men and women that could be elevated to title contention status within a matter of months, but a chase for one big belt could be interesting. I personally have liked the brand split and it brings back a ruthless aggression era feel to it, but if there was ever a time to end the brand split, it would be now. What would the unified belt be called though? My best guess is that it would be called the WWE Universal Championship and before you say anything, I know that is the official name of the Universal belt. I think that they have invested so much in the Universal Championship over the last few years and overall, the Universal Championship has lent itself to the better feuds between the two belts. Will it actually be unified though? I can’t say, but it certainly is interesting to think about.

Who Will Be This Year’s Breakout Superstar?

I have fun discussing this every year and so far, I have had solid prediction skill with this. I usually decipher either between a breakout star or someone who I think will dominate the year. Roman Reigns has dominated the last couple of years and I don’t expect things to change there, nor should they, but I’m going with a breakout star this year. This superstar has had a solid run since getting called up to the main roster and admittedly, I’m not the biggest fan, but he is legit. I am predicting that the breakout star for 2022 will be Riddle. Riddle has spent most of 2021 teaming with Randy Orton and they have had a really entertaining run as a team. They will eventually split though. This will be a perfect opportunity to continue to build Riddle. I don’t think he has a real shot to win the Royal Rumble, but I think there will be a lot of big opportunities for Riddle this year.

Will the WWE Finally Stop the Bulk Talent Releases?

My initial response is you never know, but I think we will see much less talent cuts in 2022. The Mass Exodus of talent in 2021 definitely has fans concerned, but I think we are done with that for the most part. There definitely will be turn over, but I can’t see them cutting much more. They already have one of the smallest rosters that they’ve had in many years, they can’t really afford to lose much more talent. It’s too early to tell, but I think the answer to this question will depend on how the new version of NXT will operate. There were rumors that NXT talent was going to be evaluated on a 3-month or even month-to-month basis and if that is true, there could be call-ups more often in 2022. There also could be more turnover. We’ll see, but it’s definitely something to keep an eye on.

Who’s Next in the Women’s Division?

This is more of a talking point than a prediction, but fans are growing concerned with the lack of Women’s talent on the roster. At the moment, there are only 19 active Women on the roster with 3 likely returns soon, so 22 in all. Is that enough? For right now I think so, but the key is making more of them title contenders. You really only have a few contenders at the moment and besides Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks, and Bayley, there isn’t a lot of change as far as the spotlight is concerned. Bianca Belair, Rhea Ripley will have a major impact moving forward and Liv Morgan is gaining a lot of steam, so things seem to be heading in the right direction. I think the 4 Horsewomen will still dominate 2022, but I think they will have no choice but to introduce more women as potential title contenders.

Will Roman Reigns Be Stopped in 2022?

No.

All joking aside, Roman Reigns has been the best thing about WWE over the last year and a half. If you would’ve told fans that a few years ago, they wouldn’t believe you. I always thought that Roman had this type of potential in him and he is fully showcasing it. To answer my question though, at the moment, there isn’t anyone other than Brock Lesnar who could potentially halt the momentum that Roman has. Could a superstar gain enough steam within the next year to take him down? Absolutely. Who will it be though? Your guess is as good as mine. Roman Reigns is your once-in-a-generation type of superstar like Cena, Hogan, The Rock, Stone Cold and having just anyone take him down wouldn’t make sense. It would have to be someone special and someone that could potentially be the flag-bearer for WWE. Sure, guys like Drew McIntyre, Seth Rollins, Randy Orton, AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, Edge and I’ll even throw Bobby Lashley in there, could score a surprise win against Roman, but none of those guys at the moment could stop his momentum at this current time. The guy, other than Brock Lesnar, with enough potential organic momentum to take Roman down is The Rock. Will it happen? Probably not, but fans are kinda looking out for the “If You Smeeeeeeelll…” to pop out of nowhere. Even if they do have a match. It will likely be The Rock’s last match and knowing The Rock’s respect for the wrestling industry, he will not break the “going out on your back” tradition. Also, The Rock has nothing to gain from a return to the WWE. He is the biggest star in Hollywood. With that being said though, having The Rock on your program is like printing money for the WWE. I still think Roman Reigns will be as dominant in 2022. I think that is pretty clear at the moment.

Bold Predictions for 2022

- Bayley will win the 2022 Royal Rumble

- Roman Reigns will not lose the Universal Championship in 2022

- LA Knight will become NXT Champion this year

- Riddle will win the MITB briefcase and successfully cash it in.

- Lacey Evans will face Becky Lynch at WrestleMania 38

- Gable Steveson will be United States Champion at some point in 2022

- Paige will make her in-ring return this year

- Omos will receive a major title shot in 2022

- Sonya Deville will win a Women’s Championship this year

- Seth Rollins will hold a major title at the end of 2022

Yacs

WWE Predictions for 2022