RAW Deal: 5 WWE predictions for 2016

BROOKLYN, USA —As we bid farewell to the wacky 2015 we’ve just had in terms of wrestling and ring in a brand new year full of hope, promise, talent… or possibly 12 new months of the WWE (mostly) disappointing us all over again, allow me to present you 5 likely possibilities that could unfold next year.

Sami Zayn and Bayley get called up to the main roster.

This isn’t a freak home run prediction should it happen. We’ve already gotten glimpses of the French-Canadian superstar on the main show for the past couple of years, and it wouldn’t be a surprise at all if the original plans for Zayn figured for him to have debuted this year if his injuries didn’t get in the way. Even though there seems to be more upside in a Finn Balor debut (which is also likely to happen in 2016, but the expanding NXT brand needs him to help carry the show when it tours even more) Zayn has been lighting up the developmental brand for a few years now. Although RAW has a ton of stars that they haven’t maximized, they already know to conscript Zayn when they need a shot in the arm.

(READ: RAW Deal: The 2015 year-end awards)

Bayley going up, however, is more obvious. Thanks to the relatively shallower pools of both women’s divisions, this is truly more a matter of when and not if. The one thing the Divas division always needs is a top face fans can get behind since the departure of AJ Lee; Charlotte failed in that role, the Bellas never had a shot, while Paige and Sasha Banks aren’t really used correctly. There is no way anyone, not even the reckless Creative team on RAW, can mess up the Bayley character.

We’re going to see a real Shield reunion run.

It’s going to be brief, but it will happen. People have been wanting a reason to cheer for Seth Rollins during his run at the top, but it was the Architect’s top-notch smarmy, slimy heel work that kept most fans disinterested. Now that the Man is down with a severe real-life injury, he’s de facto turned face, both in reaction and in rhetoric, and this might be the catalyst the WWE needs—but never really asked for—to engineer a Shield reunion. This should be a lot more fun now that the Authority’s got themselves a new set of hounds; if this happens, we can expect classics between Rollins, Reigns, Ambrose, Sheamus, Rusev, del Rio, and Barrett. It really does write itself, but the reason why I say it’s going to be brief is because…

Dean Ambrose is going to be a WWE World Heavyweight Champion by the end of 2016.

They’ve already teased it back at Money in the Bank, and they know at their heart of hearts that he would have enough support to sustain a run at the top. (This is the reason why he gets to hold the Intercontinental Championship right now, and why he was first Shield member to win a singles championship to begin with.) Reunions aren’t supposed to last forever—Evolution wisely kept the nostalgia tour brief last year, and this is how you keep the crowd wanting more. The best way I can see this happening is by making him Mr. Money in the Bank and turning on Roman Reigns, who will beat all comers for his title in order to legitimize himself on the pantheon. Whether Ambrose will have a lengthy title run is a different story altogether, however.

The Wyatt Family will see a resurgence.

This is more wishful thinking than an actual prediction, but it’s something I’m expecting to see not with Bray Wyatt—who I assume will still rack up meaningless losses and even more meaningless wins—but with his posse. Luke Harper and Braun Strowman (because Erick Rowan is, literally, the red-headed stepchild) will succeed where the Ascension failed and begin to truly dominate the tag team division, because eventually the feud against the ECW Originals will end and they will have nothing left to do. At this point, there are few top guys for Wyatt to go after, unless he gets his wins back from Undertaker and John Cena. Knowing how WWE thinks, we don’t really have high hopes for him.

John Cena will stay firmly in the midcard, while Kevin Owens ascends into the main event without winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

Cena still had a couple of shots at the biggest title, which is still normal for a superstar of his stature, but his return this Monday on RAW pretty much solidifies his place in this stage of his career. His role as the gatekeeper of the upper echelon suits him perfectly. He will have one more shot at the world title this year, as WrestleMania plans figure him going up against Roman Reigns for the title (which was also teased at the end of RAW) but this will be a passing-the-torch match for the new Divisive Face That Runs The Place. After that, and especially after the monster way Reigns was anointed earlier this month, the main event is now going to be Reigns’s problem.

As for Owens, despite so much word about people around the business not liking him, he and his work is just straight up undeniable. It’s the reason why he earned two major championship reigns this year, and while it won’t happen until probably around the middle of the year at the earliest, I can foresee him getting world title shots that he doesn’t win. Despite his exclusion from the League of Nations, he is one of the better heels at the company’s disposal. His position will be that of Randy Orton’s (until, of course, Orton comes back), a few steps below on the pecking order for the title. His time isn’t coming until 2017, at least.

BONUS: NJPW star Shinsuke Nakamura goes to the WWE.

If you don’t know who Shinsuke Nakamura is (and I don’t really blame you if you border on the casual) he’s only the best Japanese wrestler in the world right now, if not the best wrestler, period. The only reason why I didn’t name his bout against Kota Ibushi for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship back on New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Wrestle Kingdom 9 event last January as Match of the Year is because he isn’t in the WWE. 

That may be about to change soon, as Nakamura’s current contract with NJPW is due next year. It’s possible for him to leave the Japanese promotion—a place in which he has done so much already—and live out his dream of competing primarily in the US. It also might not happen, which is why this is a dark horse prediction. But the chances of it pushing through are bigger in 2016 than they were before.

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What about you? What do you think is going to happen in the WWE in 2016? What do you want to happen? Let’s talk about it—leave me your predictions in the comments. Have a happy (and safe) New Year! – Rappler.com