The 5 Major Stories To Look Out For, In 2018

5 Major WWE Stories To Look Out For In 2018

Blake Oestriecher , Contributor I examine the effect that sports have on business...and vice versa. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

WWE has had some blockbuster news stories over the past couple of years, including the return of Goldberg and the apparent retirement of The Undertaker.

 

Credit: WWE.com

Throw in some shockers like Chris Jericho agreeing to work for New Japan Pro Wrestling and John Cena vs. Roman Reigns taking place at No Mercy, and we've certainly had plenty of newsworthy happenings just in the last few months as well. We can also take, for example, recent reports that Vince McMahon doesn't view Finn Balor as a top star or the outbreak of a viral infection that sidelined stars like Reigns and Bray Wyatt and led to the surprising in-ring return of Kurt Angle.
If we've learned anything in 2017, it's that, well, anything can happen in WWE, even if it's something we never thought we'd see. And with the way things are already shaping up, 2018 will be just as memorable because the stage is already set for a number of potentially huge news stories that could change the landscape of WWE forever.

Much like Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn being kicked off WWE's UK tour or the whirlwind of a year Paige had in 2017, expect to see similarly surprising stories that could drastically alter what happens both on and off-screen in WWE. Here are five major WWE stories fans should be on the lookout for in 2018.
The Next Step For Daniel Bryan

 

Credit: WWE.com

At this point, it's a virtual certainty that Daniel Bryan will wrestle again. The only question is: Will it be in WWE?
Here's what Bryan recently told Busted Open Radio (h/t Sports Illustrated) about his desire to return to the ring:

I think there’s an 85% chance that I’ll wrestle again. My wife [Brie Bella] says like, ‘100% percent he’s gonna wrestle again.’ But that’s not the case. If I get a test that says, hey, you shouldn’t wrestle again, I’m not gonna wrestle again. So I say there’s an 85% chance that I’m going to wrestle again. I would say that there’s about a 20% chance that WWE will clear me. It’s a small chance but it’s not, like, an impossible chance. I know that they want me to wrestle. They just—there’s a lot of stuff that has to happen for me to be able to wrestle.

An interesting little nugget there is that Bryan says "they want me to wrestle," which insinuates that WWE management is still hopeful he can return to the ring. However, even if that doesn't happen, Bryan has let it be known he wants to wrestle again, recently revealing that he's growing out his hair in hopes of a mask vs. hair match in Mexico. Likewise, there are even betting odds for where Bryan will wrestle next, and the list of possible destinations for Bryan includes New Japan Pro-Wrestling and Ring of Honor.
If WWE doesn't clear Bryan to return to the ring (and at this point, he has yet to be cleared by the company's strict ImPACT Concussion Management Program), then he'll be free to choose which company he wants to work for starting in September 2018. That's when Bryan's WWE contract expires and it will be one of the most interesting situations in recent pro wrestling history, one that puts WWE in quite the pickle.
Does WWE put Bryan back in the ring and risk the potential public backlash if he gets injured again? Or does Bryan end up somewhere else? Either way, it's a potential game changer for the world of pro wrestling.
Bye Bye, John Cena?

 

Credit: WWE.com

In an interview with Complex earlier this year, John Cena indicated that he was nearing the end of his WWE career, saying:

I also know that my days are numbered. I just turned 40 in April and we have so many young and talented performers, I don’t know how many years I have left. So in the time I have left, I’m gonna do what I can to dedicate to this company I just want to be able to do it the most time that I possibly can.

Although Cena somewhat backtracked on that statement and it's unclear when his WWE contract expires, it's safe to say that he'll be on his way out of WWE sooner rather than later. He's taken several lengthy hiatuses over the last few years, often missing three or four months at a time, and he has a budding acting career in which he recently landed (and already filmed) his biggest movie role yet, a leading role in the Transformers spinoff Bumblee.
When you take that into account and combine it with his increasingly infrequent appearances for WWE, it's quite obvious that the company is preparing for his eventual departure, whenever that may be. Consider that WWE rushed into three dream matches with Cena just this year, doing Cena vs. Reigns at No Mercy (instead of at a major pay-per-view like WrestleMania) and then giving away Cena vs. Braun Strowman and Cena vs. Shinsuke Nakamura on TV with absolutely no build whatsoever. He also had a completely forgettable appearance at Survivor Series, when he seemed like just another guy.
Would that have happened if there were plans for Cena to be around in the long term? Probably not because WWE realizes that it must get everything it can out of Cena before he's gone for good, and quite frankly, there's no telling when that will be.