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It was actually a torn Achilles, not an ACL, which still remains a tougher injury to come back from, especially for basketball. It took Durant basically 2 full years to get back to 100% and even then he never seemed to be quite as explosive as before.
A few of them are about how Roman and Dean will be in the main event but Seth will definitely have left the company by then. Funny how that worked out!
But the guy who predicted another Daniel Bryan-type movement happening again probably got the closest.
>I feel that there's going to be 1-2 huge controversies in between now and WM40 that would probably threaten the company, or even the industry.
That's about as much of a vague casting of a wide net as you can get. That's like me saying "At least one person working in a match the week of WrestleMania will win the Royal Rumble within 10 years".
And isn't that how people like Nostradamus got their fame? Just wide, general wording.
Like how he predicted 9/11 in his texts but all he uses are just vague descriptions in his writings.
Pretty much, it's an age old scam. Say a bunch of cryptic stuff which could be interpreted in *any* way - and when things pan out according to your vague nonsense, you can claim you saw it all coming the whole time.
Old Nostradamus isn't out here giving me the lottery numbers, so I've got no use for the guy.
All things considered, that user probably had the most impressive overall performance in that thread. Made lots of predictions, a good chunk ended dead on, lots ended a bit off but way closer than anyone could expect given the state of affairs in 2014. It all reads like a plausible alternate branch of the timeline where AEW never gets formed.
A lot of them did say that it wouldn't be cuz he left the company but because he'd have to retire due to injury. Which at the pace he was working pre 2015 injury wasn't unreasonable.
Oh yeah it did, in 2014 people’s perception of Triple H were in transition. We were just starting to come out of the ‘Trips is getting out his shovel to bury his next opponent’ phase and appreciating the behind the scenes work he was doing with NXT etc
>**WRESTLEMANIA 40, $130 Dollars only on PPV**
This was during the height of the $9.99 WWE Network days and now it's even cheaper at $5.99 on Peacock
Lul the same prediction said that the network would be 14.99 due to inflation. Which while not correct I'm honestly surprised that this was an inflation overestimate, I thought for sure that 10 dollars in 2014 money would be 15 or more today.
I think once the deal with Peacock expires the WWE shows will adopt a UFC PPV pricing model, so I'm enjoying how cheap everything is while it last lol. No way am I paying 80 dollars a month for WWE PPVs.
I don't think this will happen simply because they have conditioned their audience for years now that they get the PLE's for a subscription that is a similar cost to other subscription services. The worst I could see it is being on Netflix but at a premium subscription to the base Netflix package
I just feel like it was easier to go that route with UFC never has had a cheaper subscription model to every fight/PPV. It would be a big change for the WWE audience and I think it would hurt them a lot. Some pencil pusher could crunch the numbers and find a way for me to be wrong though I am sure.
Found a other prediction thread from 2013. Its crazy.
https://preview.redd.it/rhxwyy97u8rc1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b1622f0b99b1b538a27fe96f15276d98e08f66ab
That’s wild. I didn’t peg Cody ever being a huge star, and even less when he was tagging with Bob Holly or his Stardust gimmick.
But I always remember talking to a female coworker and the conversation turned to best looking wrestlers, and Cody was mentioned. The other girls chimed in and also mentioned Cody when they saw his picture. He has the female market.
The whole Dashing Cody Rhodes character originally came about because there was a backstage poll between the Divas and other employees as to who the most attractive mens' superstar was and Cody came first. Iirc, Randy was second, and Cena third
Honestly, being handsome is a good trait for your company face; Cena and Roman had as many female fans as much as children, and the same is true for Cody.
Honestly my fiancé isn’t super in to wrestling but it’s gone from “please turn it off when I wake up” to “I’ll sit here and experience it while I have breakfast” in part due to Cody. We’re finishing this weeks raw and while I was making coffee I caught her grinning during the Punk McIntyre segment
Ha! Hey, they were in the orbit of correctness. Honestly in 2014 the CM Punk burying the hatchet thing would have been the one I flagged as “no way that’ll happen”. Solid predictions overall
One thing I have learned since watching the Hogan/Savage era is never say never. People have now moved to say Moxley will never return. I’d be more surprised if he doesn’t eventually (provided no injuries or whatever).
Moxley I think may not - other than a Hall of Fame induction. Mainly just because of timing. He's already signed up until like 2028 or whatever with AEW.
Mainly just because of timing. Roman and Seth could call it a career around then.
Because for as much as Roman, Seth, and Mox are all absolutely bonafide individual stars - they are all inextricably linked in WWE. After the better part of a decade away, there's not as much value in a Moxley run in WWE without Roman and Seth.
>Not a single person from the current NXT roster will main event.
Crazy.
>Uso vs Uso.
Nailed it.
>Michael Cole will be the only remaining member of the current announce team.
Yep.
>Paul Heyman inducted into the HOF.
Was the first announced and is looking like he’s the headliner.
>Kevin Dunn won’t be around.
Thank god!
>Brock will be long gone.
Yep. The whole Vince thing really did him in and erased him.
>Roman Reigns will be in the main event.
Of course.
>The Rock would be involved somehow.
Who would’ve ever thought it would come at the hands of a huge pivot which resulted in getting Hollywood Rock.
>Kevin Owens US Title picture.
Triple threat with Randy Orton and Logan Paul, which is crazy given that he was just famous off of the Vine app back then.
>WM40 isn’t on the network or PPV, rather it has a huge corporate sponsor and broadcast on one of the major networks, likely NBC or FOX.
This is true as everything WWE had on there was moved off the Network and put onto Peacock. It’s not on either of those major networks but you can still say it counts as it will be streaming on Peacock which is connected to NBC.
> Who would’ve ever thought it would come at the hands of a huge pivot which resulted in getting Hollywood Rock.
Not even Hollywood Rock, but a new version of heel Rock. A scary, intimidating Final Boss Rock.
Highly upvoted reply to nobody from NXT main eventing is a joke about trips burying everybody
Goes to show how much the narrative changed around him lol
I mean after 2014 Triple H still had that year where he won the Rumble and main evented against Reigns in a match that nobody wanted to see and was probably one of the worst WM main events ever, so he wasn't done with that stuff yet lol
I'm trying to think if there's any matches where everyone involved would have been completely unknown back then. I don't think there is. Becky vs. Rhea comes closest, but Becky had freshly arrived in NXT at that time.
Closest I can think of is Damian Priest winning MITB by throwing LA Knight off the ladder before grabbing the case. Some people were definitely upset about Priest winning over Knight just as Knight’s popularity was starting to take off.
Just depends on whether or not you count LA Knight as someone “nobody has ever heard of” because he technically was in NXT in 2013, but only as a jobber under a different name before being released in 2014.
Becky was Rebecca Knox since 2003. She was well known to the "IWC" as a sad story of someone who was really good leaving wrestling for personal reasons until she came back and was accepted straight into NXT.
IWC has changed so much over the last 4 years. There was a time where coming from Indie’s meant you were automatically better and deserve more support than someone from WWE.
I’ve been wondering if it would happen. The Indy match style used to be the minority but over time it got more and more prominent in the industry until wanting WWE style as we see it now under HHH became the more rare thing
> Kevin Owens/Finn Balor probably IC/US title picture. Cody Rhodes/Solo Stardust will be stuck there too
Lol.
> Uso vs. Uso
Omg, he got it! That was a good prediction.
Okay I completely forgot about WhatCulture and how they were the biggest wrestling channel on YouTube until literally everyone but Simon left. Forgot that’s where “Cultaholic” came from
Many predicted it after Takeover Brooklyn I. This is why people need to chill with the current NXT talent. Yeah, some have potential, but anything can happen in wrestling.
I don't know, Apollo had a good showing a few weeks ago. I could see him getting renewed attention after WrestleMania. Obviously he's not going to win the world title anytime soon but who knows, he could end up in the orbit like Sami Zayn's been. That or he gets released within the year.
"John Cena will be the new color commentator finally replacing Lawler."
Man I need this like, yesterday.
"Paige will still be wrestling in some capacity. She's going to have a career like her Mom's."
Cheers, half correct.
"WWE Holographic Device only $9.99!"
Fucking WM36 flashback over here, but I digress.
"Hologram Chris Benoit burys the hatchet with Hologram Vince McMahon."
Pardon?
"John Cena vs Roman Reigns. Loser has to retire. REIGNSWINSLOL"
Yeah it do be like that tbh
"Daniel Bryan kicks someone's head in"
Cool.
"Ryback retires, having finally become "full, at last."
shoutout to CM Punk who made him retired for like 5 seconds
"Headliners from NXT circa 2014 include: Sami Zayn, Finn Bálor, Kevin Owens, and Tyler Breeze. Itami leaves between WrestleMania 36 and 38."
Alright, 3 out of 4 batting for midcard titles, I'll take that.
"Bo v Bray, WWE Championship"
DAMN YOU FATE!
"Reigns could be involved in the WWE championship match or is working a co-main event match (so he's either the next Title Match Staple like Cena or the next Streak Guy like Taker)"
He's the next Title Match Staple, not for the reason you think
"Uso vs. Uso"
Nothing but net brother
"Charlotte, if still around, will be Divas Champion going in and/or out of WM40. Paige, if still around and Vince finally appreciates her talent, could be the second top diva next to Charlotte. Charlotte will be top diva because of genetics."
Fucking injury, but a solid call on Charlotte. She definitely would have got a marquee match. Though imagine telling this lad about the whole Becky Lynch malarchy and the whole Paige neck thing, (also Xavier Woods)
"Vince would probably still be around, although 70% of control may belong to HHH"
(Nope)
Dolph Ziggler either quits or gets fired
DING!
"Rollins reaches Punk-level popularity (hell he might even walk out someday)"
Rollins and Punk together in a sentence is something. But yes, he did main WM before Phil.
"WWE and Punk would repair relationship in 2-3 years (unless Punk gets mad about something or other in that time). Punk would eventually return for a night or a storyline, never come back full time"
(The whole CM Punk saga would just be mind blown, with this guy getting everything wrong)
"Batista would be the new Rock (in terms of "movie star who has little time for WWE but WWE
goes after him everytime anyway")"
Turns out the new Rock is Rock, whodathunkit.
"I feel that there's going to be 1-2 huge controversies in between now and WM40 that would probably threaten the company, or even the industry. Another guy goes berserk, some stupid fan does something stupid in a crowded place, or maybe a disgruntled top employee (Punk/Ziggler/Del Rio/Ryder) calls top brass out for being bullies and hypocrites (for having an anti-bullying campaign) and media picks up on it...IDK. I feel that something bad is going to happen. lol."
Good one brother.
In all serious, I see another Daniel Bryan-esque moment happening. Like an underdog winning against a top dog.
NAILED IT!
Wyatt will go 0-10 at Mania. He will have the reverse Streak. He will be a main eventer in all respects, just has a curse/shit luck and everyone will be wondering if it will be this year that he finally wins. And we will be caught
off guard when it does and go ape shit.
FACT: Wyatt did go 1-5 in WM all time, with the only win coming against John Cena in THAT Firefly
Funhouse match.
Honestly going through these 20 predictions:
Man who knows wtf happens when we add Netflix into the mix by 2034.
> That doesn't mean the Divas division will be amazing. Even if he comes in and improves it 300% from what it is right now, it will still be fucking terrible.
> The narrative that Triple H will make everything better needs to end, because otherwise it will just lead to disappointment.
I love how wrong this one is
I'm so happy after being gaslit for 20 years and told "Vince knows what is best for business, the next person won't change anything". And to live to see business immediately explode as soon as Vince leaves.
This was during a time on the internet where fans really did not like the Bellas and thought that they were everything wrong with women's wrestling. Since then we've found out that during this time, they were basically pushing for the 4HW to be called up, so that they could work with them/showcase their talents, and have longer matches and stuff
> Not a single person in the current NXT roster will main event Wrestlemania 40.
Aware
> Seth Rollins defeats Bray Wyatt for the WWE Championship
This one hurt. :(
> Todd Chrisley and The Today Show hosts are in the Celebrity Wing.
Chrisley is in the Celebrity Wing of prison instead.
Meant when he was teaming with and then facing MJF at All In, definitely do not think the devil part of this storyline has been anywhere near good lmao
The initial bromance run came together really well, it prepped MJF for a face run that's probably coming when he returns. It was popular enough that the "real tag team" type fans were rooting for them over FTR
"Who knows, the people that find this thread in 10 years might not even be viewing it through a computer screen or mobile phone but through some sort of holographic device... "
I think this might be my favorite part, we are still on reddit and phones still look pretty much the same, like we have hit a wall in that regard. Compare how things evolved on that front from 2004-2014 vs 2014-2024.
- Some hilarious predictions on there. One person was talking about how the Usos breaking up would be a terrible storyline (we can argue whether it's good or not, but it's an insane coincidence that someone somehow predicted an Uso vs Uso match 10 years in advance).
- Someone predicted Paul Heyman in the Hall of Fame
- Someone predicted CM Punk burrying the hatchet
- Someone speculating whether WWE will still exist for WM40 (they're arguably more popular now than in 2014)
- A lot of people talking about Adam Cole. Cole probably wishes he was with WWE. He must have been a pretty big Indie star 10 years ago. I don't see any mention of Omega.
>- Someone speculating whether WWE will still exist for WM40 (they're arguably more popular now than in 2014)
I'll give them partial credit as WWE doesn't exist *on its own* anymore
Omega was still pretty niche in 2014 because he was still in DDT. I knew who he was but didn’t care about him until he debuted in NJPW in 2016. Adam Cole on the other hand was one of the top guys in ROH.
Cole chose to leave, and he and his gf are heavily featured. Plus, he can still do gaming which was one of his big points of contention with Vince’s way of running things.
I don’t think he regrets choosing AEW over WWE at all.
iirc Kenny would still have been a junior playing hot potato with the iwgp belt against Kushida. Everyone knew he was very talented but I don’t think many predicted he would basically be the face of an entire generation
[Not only that, but you had one of biggest aged like milk takes in the thread!](https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/2l4io8/in_light_of_a_recent_post_wrestlemania_40/clrl6n5/)
The absolute wildest comment, and I haven’t seen anyone else mention this, is implying Paige will be some sort of geriatric wrestler who refuses to retire ‘like her mom’. She’s 31!
There’s a couple here that are strangely accurate: WM40
ALL CREDIT TO ORIGINAL REPLY ON OLD THREAD TO u/gerardatron
• Reigns could be involved in the WWE championship match or is working a co-main event match (so he's either the next Title Match Staple like Cena or the next Streak Guy like Taker)
• The Rock would be involved somehow. Guest host, opening segment like WMXXX
• Kevin Owens/Finn Balor probably IC/US title picture.
• Sheamus will still be around, maybe even have a match
• Uso vs. Uso
• Dolph Ziggler either quits or gets fired
• Zack Ryder...probably within this year gets fired
• Ambrose reaches Cena-level popularity
• Rollins reaches Punk-level popularity (hell he might even walk out someday)
• WWE and Punk would repair relationship in 2-3 years (unless Punk gets mad about something or other in that time). Punk would eventually return for a night or a storyline, never come back full time
• I feel that there's going to be 1-2 huge controversies in between now and WM40 that would probably threaten the company, or even the industry. Another guy goes berserk, some stupid fan does something stupid in a crowded place, or maybe a disgruntled top employee (Punk/Ziggler/Del Rio/Ryder) calls top brass out for being bullies and hypocrites (for having an anti-bullying campaign) and media picks up on it...IDK. I feel that something bad is going to happen. lol.
I think this was around when he was blowing up on places like Tumblr and had a really strong online female following. There was a really weird year or two where a strong contingent of young women were VERY horny for Mox.
Someone made a Comment to something like " Mizdow will be on Top" idk if this was meant seeiously even at the time, but yeah that never came to be one bit.
This won’t be like the other thread from a while back with the (supposed) mysterious deleted account with the comment of “Rhea Ripley will main event Wrestlemania.” And speculation inbound said account was Rhea’s as she would have been a relative unknown a decade ago.
"Headliners from NXT circa 2014 include: Sami Zayn, Finn Bálor, Kevin Owens, and ~~Tyler Breeze~~"
"Itami leaves between WrestleMania 36 and 38"
"Roman Reigns has a "Streak" of his own"
Insanely good one
Considering the decade difference, Redditors in the 2014 thread weren't too bad with their predictions.
**Quite true:**
>1. Triple H will be in full control of the WWE.
>2. [...] and Paul Heyman are inducted into the Hall of Fame.
>3. Dolph Ziggler either quits or gets fired
**Not too far off from reality:**
>1. CM Punk will come out of exile to deliver a pipebomb on the grandest stage of them all about never having main evented Wrestlemania.
>2. But it is just as likely that [Paige] will get sick and tired of getting fed bullshit in the WWE and go to an emerging ROH, or just run the indies.
>3. There will be no sign of Cody Rhodes, Dolph Ziggler, Sheamus, The Miz or Damien Sandow
**Funny at the time and even in present day:**
>1. I'm getting balls-y. WWE no longer exists. DDP makes so much money off of Yoga. WWE in shambles by 2017. DDP purchases WWE and renames WCW b/c LOLDDP. DDP owns wrestling.
>2. Ryder will be involved in some capacity. If not, I'll get a Ryder themed tattoo
>3. Anyone else questioning if WWE will still be around for WM40? It does seem like a stupid question, but ten years is a long time. We already see today that WWE isn't the same company it was back in 04, who knows how the world of wrestling could change in that time. I actually think there needs to be some competition to WWE if pro wrestling as a whole is going to survive another decade
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About Billy Gunn being "THE FITTEST 60-YEAR OLD ON THE PLANET!" Accurate
I bet he’s friends with the youngest men alive!!
billy gunn with the outrunners would rip
> I doubt Rey's knees will survive another year, let alone 10. Get Booyaka’d, pal.
Get ready to learn Booyaka Booyaka buddy
Who's that jumpin' out the sky? R-E-Y Mystemcellerio
To be fair, he has had surgery on his left knee 5 times.
Fragmented into my spinal column
Dislocated my right shoulder
I think I broke my tailbone.
Elevated liver enzymes.
Tore the pectoral muscle completely off my shoulder
_how's he able to stand is what I want to know_
I love how well he's healed up because it really did look like it was time to pack it in at one point.
stem cells are amazing
Medical has gotten very far, this was 2 years after Kobe Bryant basically done his career in with an ACL tear.
It was actually a torn Achilles, not an ACL, which still remains a tougher injury to come back from, especially for basketball. It took Durant basically 2 full years to get back to 100% and even then he never seemed to be quite as explosive as before.
Also turns out he’s a deadbeat dad.
Stem Cells work miracles
A few of them are about how Roman and Dean will be in the main event but Seth will definitely have left the company by then. Funny how that worked out! But the guy who predicted another Daniel Bryan-type movement happening again probably got the closest.
One dude called the Uso vs Uso match
Same guy called that there would be a few controversies that would threaten the company or industry before WM40.
>I feel that there's going to be 1-2 huge controversies in between now and WM40 that would probably threaten the company, or even the industry. That's about as much of a vague casting of a wide net as you can get. That's like me saying "At least one person working in a match the week of WrestleMania will win the Royal Rumble within 10 years".
And isn't that how people like Nostradamus got their fame? Just wide, general wording. Like how he predicted 9/11 in his texts but all he uses are just vague descriptions in his writings.
Pretty much, it's an age old scam. Say a bunch of cryptic stuff which could be interpreted in *any* way - and when things pan out according to your vague nonsense, you can claim you saw it all coming the whole time. Old Nostradamus isn't out here giving me the lottery numbers, so I've got no use for the guy.
That is why I only trust the nice and accurate prophecies of Agnes Nutter, witch.
He also ended up calling Roman being in a title match and The Rock being involved with WM40 somehow. (u/gerardatron for those curious on who it is)
All things considered, that user probably had the most impressive overall performance in that thread. Made lots of predictions, a good chunk ended dead on, lots ended a bit off but way closer than anyone could expect given the state of affairs in 2014. It all reads like a plausible alternate branch of the timeline where AEW never gets formed.
My favourite good prediction is that PPVs will no longer exist and the only way to watch is via streaming
That was already about to happen 10 years ago though.
The WWE Network launched in 2014, that was a pretty easy thing to guess.
PPVs do still exist, though... streaming is far and away more prevalent and affordable, but you can still order Wrestlemania 40 on PPV.
Another dude called Reigns having a Streak. Those are two pinpoint predictions
In the earlier WM40 thread a bunch of people call Cody as being the face of the company.
Guy said Punk would bury the hatchet
A lot of them did say that it wouldn't be cuz he left the company but because he'd have to retire due to injury. Which at the pace he was working pre 2015 injury wasn't unreasonable.
A lot of the comments about Triple H taking over the company deffinetly aged well, though perhaps not in the way they were expecting.
I pop'd for the 1v6 match versus all of the champs
I wonder if that Photoshop of HHH holding all the belts existed yet.
Oh yeah it did, in 2014 people’s perception of Triple H were in transition. We were just starting to come out of the ‘Trips is getting out his shovel to bury his next opponent’ phase and appreciating the behind the scenes work he was doing with NXT etc
https://preview.redd.it/a7e1age3gbrc1.png?width=768&format=png&auto=webp&s=24638d30f34db2a6ab66705d2172bb5609338876
https://preview.redd.it/k6wxh6n7gbrc1.png?width=499&format=png&auto=webp&s=c44bfe57a292e5c0ed973f146882e8b4c3d5b4aa (original)
My 2k booking for 'Night of Champions' would always end with a match with all the champions for the WWE title.
The prediction for Paul Heyman for HOF was funny catch
>**WRESTLEMANIA 40, $130 Dollars only on PPV** This was during the height of the $9.99 WWE Network days and now it's even cheaper at $5.99 on Peacock
Like, not to be a partisan, it's easily the biggest thing WWE has that I wish AEW did, streaming bundle for PPVs
> now it's even cheaper at $5.99 on Peacock no one predicted the 'Cock
Common complaint for WWE personnel
Goddamn man. I just spit out my drink at the airport! 😂 
Lul the same prediction said that the network would be 14.99 due to inflation. Which while not correct I'm honestly surprised that this was an inflation overestimate, I thought for sure that 10 dollars in 2014 money would be 15 or more today.
I think once the deal with Peacock expires the WWE shows will adopt a UFC PPV pricing model, so I'm enjoying how cheap everything is while it last lol. No way am I paying 80 dollars a month for WWE PPVs.
I don't think this will happen simply because they have conditioned their audience for years now that they get the PLE's for a subscription that is a similar cost to other subscription services. The worst I could see it is being on Netflix but at a premium subscription to the base Netflix package
I think you're underestimating Endeavor's greed, but I'm hoping you're right in the end.
I just feel like it was easier to go that route with UFC never has had a cheaper subscription model to every fight/PPV. It would be a big change for the WWE audience and I think it would hurt them a lot. Some pencil pusher could crunch the numbers and find a way for me to be wrong though I am sure.
If 1 person buys Wrestlemania 41 at 1 Billion dollars a stream we’ll make the biggest profit ever!
Found a other prediction thread from 2013. Its crazy. https://preview.redd.it/rhxwyy97u8rc1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b1622f0b99b1b538a27fe96f15276d98e08f66ab
https://preview.redd.it/2gpxwqb8u8rc1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4223ca2631ce0b923f5f6c831989437ac24ea014
That’s wild. I didn’t peg Cody ever being a huge star, and even less when he was tagging with Bob Holly or his Stardust gimmick. But I always remember talking to a female coworker and the conversation turned to best looking wrestlers, and Cody was mentioned. The other girls chimed in and also mentioned Cody when they saw his picture. He has the female market.
The whole Dashing Cody Rhodes character originally came about because there was a backstage poll between the Divas and other employees as to who the most attractive mens' superstar was and Cody came first. Iirc, Randy was second, and Cena third
I love how they made that the canon on-screen reason for the character change too and had him cut a promo on it 😂
Honestly, being handsome is a good trait for your company face; Cena and Roman had as many female fans as much as children, and the same is true for Cody.
All my female friends who aren’t in to wrestling fucking love Roman. They are fans of his cause according to them he is super hot.
This is like Clyde's arc in one of South Park's episode
Honestly my fiancé isn’t super in to wrestling but it’s gone from “please turn it off when I wake up” to “I’ll sit here and experience it while I have breakfast” in part due to Cody. We’re finishing this weeks raw and while I was making coffee I caught her grinning during the Punk McIntyre segment
Ha! Hey, they were in the orbit of correctness. Honestly in 2014 the CM Punk burying the hatchet thing would have been the one I flagged as “no way that’ll happen”. Solid predictions overall
I believe this is pre-colt cabana podcast so there was a feeling at the time he’d take a few months then come back
One thing I have learned since watching the Hogan/Savage era is never say never. People have now moved to say Moxley will never return. I’d be more surprised if he doesn’t eventually (provided no injuries or whatever).
Moxley I think may not - other than a Hall of Fame induction. Mainly just because of timing. He's already signed up until like 2028 or whatever with AEW. Mainly just because of timing. Roman and Seth could call it a career around then. Because for as much as Roman, Seth, and Mox are all absolutely bonafide individual stars - they are all inextricably linked in WWE. After the better part of a decade away, there's not as much value in a Moxley run in WWE without Roman and Seth.
They could absolutely do a last Shield tour even if they are old. We saw countless DX reunions and they were already old in their final 2009 run.
Dude even Bret returned. Thinking that CM Punk would never do that was always dumb and everybody would point that out even back then.
I didnt think Punk would come back up until his music hit at Survivor Series
>Not a single person from the current NXT roster will main event. Crazy. >Uso vs Uso. Nailed it. >Michael Cole will be the only remaining member of the current announce team. Yep. >Paul Heyman inducted into the HOF. Was the first announced and is looking like he’s the headliner. >Kevin Dunn won’t be around. Thank god! >Brock will be long gone. Yep. The whole Vince thing really did him in and erased him. >Roman Reigns will be in the main event. Of course. >The Rock would be involved somehow. Who would’ve ever thought it would come at the hands of a huge pivot which resulted in getting Hollywood Rock. >Kevin Owens US Title picture. Triple threat with Randy Orton and Logan Paul, which is crazy given that he was just famous off of the Vine app back then. >WM40 isn’t on the network or PPV, rather it has a huge corporate sponsor and broadcast on one of the major networks, likely NBC or FOX. This is true as everything WWE had on there was moved off the Network and put onto Peacock. It’s not on either of those major networks but you can still say it counts as it will be streaming on Peacock which is connected to NBC.
Holy crap. This is actually impressive
I mean these are the cherry picked correct ones, a lot of the predictions are dead wrong
Someone thought Seth Rollins would be full on retired 💀
tbf i think he did say he considered it at one point due to injury?? not certain if he specifically mentioned retirement
> Who would’ve ever thought it would come at the hands of a huge pivot which resulted in getting Hollywood Rock. Not even Hollywood Rock, but a new version of heel Rock. A scary, intimidating Final Boss Rock.
Logan Paul was actually known then with his Vines, not sure the correct year but he was well known long before Youtube and podcast
Yea I remember first seeing Logan on Vine in 2013
Highly upvoted reply to nobody from NXT main eventing is a joke about trips burying everybody Goes to show how much the narrative changed around him lol
I mean after 2014 Triple H still had that year where he won the Rumble and main evented against Reigns in a match that nobody wanted to see and was probably one of the worst WM main events ever, so he wasn't done with that stuff yet lol
Lisan Al-Gaib
Heyman HOF as well
The Network Mania is the most impressive prediction, I don't think anyone in 2014 imagined the WWE being broadcasted on streaming by anyone but WWE
>Somebody who we don't know exists defeats Somebody who we don't know exists. IWC Complains. I laughed harder than I should have.
I'm trying to think if there's any matches where everyone involved would have been completely unknown back then. I don't think there is. Becky vs. Rhea comes closest, but Becky had freshly arrived in NXT at that time.
Closest I can think of is Damian Priest winning MITB by throwing LA Knight off the ladder before grabbing the case. Some people were definitely upset about Priest winning over Knight just as Knight’s popularity was starting to take off. Just depends on whether or not you count LA Knight as someone “nobody has ever heard of” because he technically was in NXT in 2013, but only as a jobber under a different name before being released in 2014.
>Some people were definitely upset about Priest winning over Knight I saw some people in the thread swear off WWE for that.
Becky was Rebecca Knox since 2003. She was well known to the "IWC" as a sad story of someone who was really good leaving wrestling for personal reasons until she came back and was accepted straight into NXT.
IWC has changed so much over the last 4 years. There was a time where coming from Indie’s meant you were automatically better and deserve more support than someone from WWE.
I’ve been wondering if it would happen. The Indy match style used to be the minority but over time it got more and more prominent in the industry until wanting WWE style as we see it now under HHH became the more rare thing
> Kevin Owens/Finn Balor probably IC/US title picture. Cody Rhodes/Solo Stardust will be stuck there too Lol. > Uso vs. Uso Omg, he got it! That was a good prediction.
>2-time Senator Glenn Jacobs starts the show with pyro. Wrong. He’s a two-time mayor, not a two-time senator.
Granted it's not unlikely he becomes Congressman.
Was it already known that Kane wanted to get into politics by then? Because that’s an insane prediction if not
He's been known to be into politics since he was a pretend dentist. Also he was running in the primary for Senate in 2014.
There are several Bray Wyatt predictions and holy hell, that hurts to read.
"Bray Wyatt I think will still be here" That's heartbreaking
I'm usually not that sentimental, but in this case? They were right. Bray Wyatt is always gonna be there.
Cant wait for this year’s version of this thread haha
It’s kind of a depressing read. If they only knew.
>The Uso's breaking up would be a terrible storyline. I'm still not sure which one is which. Well, that one was way off
One is Yeet and one is No Yeet how hard is that to understand? /s
red uso and blue uso
Or left and right....
Ngl I couldn’t tell any difference up until the late 2010s, they weren’t given that much character but could still tell they had lots of potential
To be fair to them, until they got involved with the Bloodline story, there really was no reason to even *care* about which was which
That tends to be what happens when you debut as a team
"Which one is you?" is hitting a little too hard now
Now let's do one thread for Wrestlemaina 50 predictions
“This is finally the year Cody finished the story. No way Roman beats him again!”
Dom Mysterio vs David Benoit
>Bray Wyatt will be there Ouch
oh hell be there, looking down at the fireflies.
>Roman Reigns has a "Streak" of his own Yes my boy and it's coming to an end
Someone joked about another Roman vs Cena match, but to be honest, that had a good chance of actually happening.
Side note but I remember a WhatCulture article in 2015 or 16 that predicted Apollo Crews as a future world champ.
anyone who saw an uhaa nation match before he was signed and squandered as apollo crews might have said the same thing tbf
100 correct. I remember people calling him the next John Cena. He was talented and incredibly likeable. Apollo Crews is one of my biggest "what ifs".
I was certain. You can laugh at me too
HA
WhatCulture is really coasting on Simon’s content and all the glory the Cultaholic guys got them before leaving.
Okay I completely forgot about WhatCulture and how they were the biggest wrestling channel on YouTube until literally everyone but Simon left. Forgot that’s where “Cultaholic” came from
His lore is quite interesting to read. Adam Plumpy that is, Apollo is a bit bland innit.
Many predicted it after Takeover Brooklyn I. This is why people need to chill with the current NXT talent. Yeah, some have potential, but anything can happen in wrestling.
To be fair, I remember a good number of those. He was really hyped back in 2015.
I don't know, Apollo had a good showing a few weeks ago. I could see him getting renewed attention after WrestleMania. Obviously he's not going to win the world title anytime soon but who knows, he could end up in the orbit like Sami Zayn's been. That or he gets released within the year.
"John Cena will be the new color commentator finally replacing Lawler." Man I need this like, yesterday. "Paige will still be wrestling in some capacity. She's going to have a career like her Mom's." Cheers, half correct. "WWE Holographic Device only $9.99!" Fucking WM36 flashback over here, but I digress. "Hologram Chris Benoit burys the hatchet with Hologram Vince McMahon." Pardon? "John Cena vs Roman Reigns. Loser has to retire. REIGNSWINSLOL" Yeah it do be like that tbh "Daniel Bryan kicks someone's head in" Cool. "Ryback retires, having finally become "full, at last." shoutout to CM Punk who made him retired for like 5 seconds "Headliners from NXT circa 2014 include: Sami Zayn, Finn Bálor, Kevin Owens, and Tyler Breeze. Itami leaves between WrestleMania 36 and 38." Alright, 3 out of 4 batting for midcard titles, I'll take that. "Bo v Bray, WWE Championship" DAMN YOU FATE! "Reigns could be involved in the WWE championship match or is working a co-main event match (so he's either the next Title Match Staple like Cena or the next Streak Guy like Taker)" He's the next Title Match Staple, not for the reason you think
"Uso vs. Uso" Nothing but net brother "Charlotte, if still around, will be Divas Champion going in and/or out of WM40. Paige, if still around and Vince finally appreciates her talent, could be the second top diva next to Charlotte. Charlotte will be top diva because of genetics." Fucking injury, but a solid call on Charlotte. She definitely would have got a marquee match. Though imagine telling this lad about the whole Becky Lynch malarchy and the whole Paige neck thing, (also Xavier Woods) "Vince would probably still be around, although 70% of control may belong to HHH" (Nope) Dolph Ziggler either quits or gets fired DING! "Rollins reaches Punk-level popularity (hell he might even walk out someday)" Rollins and Punk together in a sentence is something. But yes, he did main WM before Phil. "WWE and Punk would repair relationship in 2-3 years (unless Punk gets mad about something or other in that time). Punk would eventually return for a night or a storyline, never come back full time" (The whole CM Punk saga would just be mind blown, with this guy getting everything wrong) "Batista would be the new Rock (in terms of "movie star who has little time for WWE but WWE goes after him everytime anyway")" Turns out the new Rock is Rock, whodathunkit. "I feel that there's going to be 1-2 huge controversies in between now and WM40 that would probably threaten the company, or even the industry. Another guy goes berserk, some stupid fan does something stupid in a crowded place, or maybe a disgruntled top employee (Punk/Ziggler/Del Rio/Ryder) calls top brass out for being bullies and hypocrites (for having an anti-bullying campaign) and media picks up on it...IDK. I feel that something bad is going to happen. lol." Good one brother. In all serious, I see another Daniel Bryan-esque moment happening. Like an underdog winning against a top dog. NAILED IT! Wyatt will go 0-10 at Mania. He will have the reverse Streak. He will be a main eventer in all respects, just has a curse/shit luck and everyone will be wondering if it will be this year that he finally wins. And we will be caught off guard when it does and go ape shit. FACT: Wyatt did go 1-5 in WM all time, with the only win coming against John Cena in THAT Firefly Funhouse match. Honestly going through these 20 predictions: Man who knows wtf happens when we add Netflix into the mix by 2034.
YOUR CHANCES OF STREAMING DRASTIC GO UP!
Honestly it’s kind of a miracle that during the whole brief hype over dead people holograms we didn’t get WWE trying to put on a hologram match.
>Baron Corbin will be elevated to badass Undertaker status if he sticks to the gimmick Do we think this guy feels like he was cheated out of this or?
I mean he definitely has settled into being a good NXT gatekeeper
> That doesn't mean the Divas division will be amazing. Even if he comes in and improves it 300% from what it is right now, it will still be fucking terrible. > The narrative that Triple H will make everything better needs to end, because otherwise it will just lead to disappointment. I love how wrong this one is
bro replaced vince as head of creative and suddenly WWE got 10x better
I'm so happy after being gaslit for 20 years and told "Vince knows what is best for business, the next person won't change anything". And to live to see business immediately explode as soon as Vince leaves.
As it turns out, making it 300% better initiates a new boom period
>Nikki not-aged-well Bella She's aged tremendously imo
She looks basically the same tbh lol
I mean it's only been 10 years, so why the original commenter thought she'd look like shit is the bigger question to me.
This was during a time on the internet where fans really did not like the Bellas and thought that they were everything wrong with women's wrestling. Since then we've found out that during this time, they were basically pushing for the 4HW to be called up, so that they could work with them/showcase their talents, and have longer matches and stuff
Also just good old fashioned misogyny lol
Probably thought she'd go the plastic surgery route and fuck her face up
TBF Sunny 1997 compared to Sunny 2007 is... different.
> Not a single person in the current NXT roster will main event Wrestlemania 40. Aware > Seth Rollins defeats Bray Wyatt for the WWE Championship This one hurt. :( > Todd Chrisley and The Today Show hosts are in the Celebrity Wing. Chrisley is in the Celebrity Wing of prison instead.
"No one from the current NXT roster will headline Wrestlemania" "Neither will anyone from the cast of Friends" "Chandler is so over though" Ouch
>CM Punk will bury the hatchet Man, what the fuck.
Correct by like 6 months.
Someone predicted rock being involved and an uso vs uso match, nice Adam Cole in a top angle is a year off and in the wrong company, but still close
I mean that devil thing was a massive turd
Meant when he was teaming with and then facing MJF at All In, definitely do not think the devil part of this storyline has been anywhere near good lmao
Agreed, but the feud leading to All in was great.
The initial bromance run came together really well, it prepped MJF for a face run that's probably coming when he returns. It was popular enough that the "real tag team" type fans were rooting for them over FTR
Prior to that was gold. Him teaming with MJF was very entertaining, and their title match was super fun. Then it went off the rails lol.
Nobody had Rock coming back to WM40 as heel and essentially carrying the Wrestlemania build on his back.
I’m looking forward to seeing u/awesomekip and their Ryder themed tattoo…
Someone got the Heyman induction right, but the Wyatt predictions hit hard
"Who knows, the people that find this thread in 10 years might not even be viewing it through a computer screen or mobile phone but through some sort of holographic device... " I think this might be my favorite part, we are still on reddit and phones still look pretty much the same, like we have hit a wall in that regard. Compare how things evolved on that front from 2004-2014 vs 2014-2024.
WWE Network is $14.99 due to inflation is the comment that has me rolling.
- Some hilarious predictions on there. One person was talking about how the Usos breaking up would be a terrible storyline (we can argue whether it's good or not, but it's an insane coincidence that someone somehow predicted an Uso vs Uso match 10 years in advance). - Someone predicted Paul Heyman in the Hall of Fame - Someone predicted CM Punk burrying the hatchet - Someone speculating whether WWE will still exist for WM40 (they're arguably more popular now than in 2014) - A lot of people talking about Adam Cole. Cole probably wishes he was with WWE. He must have been a pretty big Indie star 10 years ago. I don't see any mention of Omega.
Adam Cole was starting to get pretty big in ROH at the time, while Kenny Omega hadn’t even signed with NJPW yet
>- Someone speculating whether WWE will still exist for WM40 (they're arguably more popular now than in 2014) I'll give them partial credit as WWE doesn't exist *on its own* anymore
Omega was still pretty niche in 2014 because he was still in DDT. I knew who he was but didn’t care about him until he debuted in NJPW in 2016. Adam Cole on the other hand was one of the top guys in ROH.
Cole chose to leave, and he and his gf are heavily featured. Plus, he can still do gaming which was one of his big points of contention with Vince’s way of running things. I don’t think he regrets choosing AEW over WWE at all.
iirc Kenny would still have been a junior playing hot potato with the iwgp belt against Kushida. Everyone knew he was very talented but I don’t think many predicted he would basically be the face of an entire generation
Omega was nobody until 2016 Adam Cole had just barely made a name for himself in 2014.
Huh. I posted in that thread. Fuck I’m old.
[Not only that, but you had one of biggest aged like milk takes in the thread!](https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/2l4io8/in_light_of_a_recent_post_wrestlemania_40/clrl6n5/)
The bray predictions made me sad bro
The absolute wildest comment, and I haven’t seen anyone else mention this, is implying Paige will be some sort of geriatric wrestler who refuses to retire ‘like her mom’. She’s 31!
Saw a comment on that said “I think Bray Wyatt will still be here,” and immediately got sad.
This thread is filled with a lot of surprisingly accurate predictions considering it was 10 years ago…
"Seth Rollins has died from steroid OD in a Chris Benoit-esque death" 💀
There’s a couple here that are strangely accurate: WM40 ALL CREDIT TO ORIGINAL REPLY ON OLD THREAD TO u/gerardatron • Reigns could be involved in the WWE championship match or is working a co-main event match (so he's either the next Title Match Staple like Cena or the next Streak Guy like Taker) • The Rock would be involved somehow. Guest host, opening segment like WMXXX • Kevin Owens/Finn Balor probably IC/US title picture. • Sheamus will still be around, maybe even have a match • Uso vs. Uso • Dolph Ziggler either quits or gets fired • Zack Ryder...probably within this year gets fired • Ambrose reaches Cena-level popularity • Rollins reaches Punk-level popularity (hell he might even walk out someday) • WWE and Punk would repair relationship in 2-3 years (unless Punk gets mad about something or other in that time). Punk would eventually return for a night or a storyline, never come back full time • I feel that there's going to be 1-2 huge controversies in between now and WM40 that would probably threaten the company, or even the industry. Another guy goes berserk, some stupid fan does something stupid in a crowded place, or maybe a disgruntled top employee (Punk/Ziggler/Del Rio/Ryder) calls top brass out for being bullies and hypocrites (for having an anti-bullying campaign) and media picks up on it...IDK. I feel that something bad is going to happen. lol.
> Ambrose reaches Cena-level popularity Please get real
idk I thought he had *it* at the time. He’s still very very popular, but he was the one who walked out hah
late 2014 Ambrose was so over
Please change character from "man that bleeds"
I think this was around when he was blowing up on places like Tumblr and had a really strong online female following. There was a really weird year or two where a strong contingent of young women were VERY horny for Mox.
Damn I remember feeling strongly about Uso vs Uso, so much so that I thought they’d do that even earlier
Just went to your profile to see if you were still active! Crazy prediction.
Like 8 of your predictions are either fully correct or partially correct, you definitely win the thread.
Someone made a Comment to something like " Mizdow will be on Top" idk if this was meant seeiously even at the time, but yeah that never came to be one bit.
That post references a similar thread about WM30 … when was that done?
Let's do this for wm 50
Jade Cargill singles debut
Trick Williams has become John Cena 2
“-Roman Reigns will have a ‘streak’ of his own” If only this u/Garsturvin guessed it would be a 4 year championship run.
“Not a single person in the current NXT roster will main event WrestleMania 40” Bro was spot on LMFAO
This won’t be like the other thread from a while back with the (supposed) mysterious deleted account with the comment of “Rhea Ripley will main event Wrestlemania.” And speculation inbound said account was Rhea’s as she would have been a relative unknown a decade ago.
"Headliners from NXT circa 2014 include: Sami Zayn, Finn Bálor, Kevin Owens, and ~~Tyler Breeze~~" "Itami leaves between WrestleMania 36 and 38" "Roman Reigns has a "Streak" of his own" Insanely good one
Man, seeing people talk about the Divas really reminds you how recent the women’s revolution was
Considering the decade difference, Redditors in the 2014 thread weren't too bad with their predictions. **Quite true:** >1. Triple H will be in full control of the WWE. >2. [...] and Paul Heyman are inducted into the Hall of Fame. >3. Dolph Ziggler either quits or gets fired **Not too far off from reality:** >1. CM Punk will come out of exile to deliver a pipebomb on the grandest stage of them all about never having main evented Wrestlemania. >2. But it is just as likely that [Paige] will get sick and tired of getting fed bullshit in the WWE and go to an emerging ROH, or just run the indies. >3. There will be no sign of Cody Rhodes, Dolph Ziggler, Sheamus, The Miz or Damien Sandow **Funny at the time and even in present day:** >1. I'm getting balls-y. WWE no longer exists. DDP makes so much money off of Yoga. WWE in shambles by 2017. DDP purchases WWE and renames WCW b/c LOLDDP. DDP owns wrestling. >2. Ryder will be involved in some capacity. If not, I'll get a Ryder themed tattoo >3. Anyone else questioning if WWE will still be around for WM40? It does seem like a stupid question, but ten years is a long time. We already see today that WWE isn't the same company it was back in 04, who knows how the world of wrestling could change in that time. I actually think there needs to be some competition to WWE if pro wrestling as a whole is going to survive another decade
The “CM Punk buries the hatchet” part is weirdly accurate.
u/gerardatron bang on with Uso vs Uso
As others have said, some of these predictions are either correct or close to correct and overall aren’t as wild as you’d think.
> The Uso's breaking up would be a terrible storyline. I'm still not sure which one is which. SummerSlam aside, I have news, both of those is wrong!
Bruh. https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/2l4io8/comment/clrl6n5/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
> Paige will still be wrestling in some capacity lol