It’s a New Year, yes it is!
Today is the day everyone tries to set new goals for themselves in the hopes they can change their life around just because the calendar changed. It’s entirely symbolic, but it’s as good a time as any to start making adjustments.
WWE isn’t immune to this, either, and with the year we had in 2018, now is exactly when the company has to do things differently to fulfill the weak promises they recently made about how the product will improve in 2019.
As such, it’s time to get into the third annual New Year’s resolutions for WWE in general and the superstars who make up the product we all love—or, at times, love to hate.
Keep in mind that while some of these are serious and legitimate, many are just humorous or on the kayfabe side of things. It’s all in the name of fun and retrospection.
The Authors of Pain
It’s always worth trying something new, but when things get worse, it’s time to go back to what was was previously working.
Once Akam and Rezar ditched Paul Ellering, their careers went downhill. Even while winning the Raw Tag Team Championship, they had a lackluster run that ended too fast.
In 2019, they need to ditch Drake Maverick and find a new manager who doesn’t pee himself or cost them their titles so they can get back on track and return to being the badass monsters they previously were.
The B-Team
This past year, Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas finally broke off from The Miz, got a tag team name and even won the tag titles. That’s a pretty solid improvement, and it’s hard to imagine they can really go too far up from there in 2019.
However, it’s worth shooting for the stars. Maybe, over the course of the next few months, they can even graduate to The B+ Team, or perhaps the A-Team, and really turn things around and be taken more seriously. I doubt it, but you never know until you try!
Braun Strowman
For the love of all that is holy, The Monster Among Men needs to legitimately figure out a way to convince Vince McMahon and company to actually pull the trigger on his push.
This guy has been hovering around a world title for over two years and every time it seems like he’s got the momentum on his side to finally allow it to happen, it doesn’t. Even when Brock Lesnar felt like the worst possible answer to the Roman Reigns situation, WWE still went with him over Strowman.
One thing Strowman has to avoid is WWE running into the same problem they concocted this year when they turned him heel in the hopes that he could put over another babyface, completely neglecting that Strowman’s bread and butter is being an over-the-top monster we can actually cheer for and enjoy seeing wreck shop.
Bray Wyatt
The Eater of Worlds can’t have a goal of just returning with the same gimmick that he’s had for years, as it’s beyond stale at this point. Instead, when he comes back, he has to freshen up his character and change things for the better.
I don’t have a specific answer on what he needs to do and what his character should be, but he’s in desperate need of some tweaks to remain relevant. Otherwise, 2019 will see him hanging around in midcard limbo.
Bobby Roode
You want to be truly glorious again, right? Turn heel and work your way back into the upper-midcard and main event scene while you still can, because time is running out and your tag team with Chad Gable is not going to get you anywhere.
Ideally, Roode’s 2019 should see him competing for the Intercontinental or United States Championship and having feuds with people like Seth Rollins, Rey Mysterio, Mustafa Ali, Elias and more.
Chad Gable
Stop just biting Bobby Roode’s catchphrase and being one-half of a lame tag team that you can’t even make your own, as it revolves around being in someone else’s shadow.
I’d love to see Gable get to a point in 2019 when he’s taken seriously in the midcard like he was for a short stint of time before moving over to Monday Night Raw last year.
If not that, I’d love to see Jason Jordan be able to return to action and American Alpha reform, but that’s not something Gable has any control over.
The Revival
Just revive your careers, guys. Sheesh. You haven’t been worth a damn since joining the main roster and that’s sad and wrong on so many levels.
Goldust
First off, heal up. Second, it might be time to call it quits. Third, if All Elite Wrestling has a position for Dustin Rhodes, it may be worth leaving WWE (so long as he doesn’t burn any bridges) and start working with that new promotion to help satisfy a different side of the creative parts of his brain.
Heath Slater
Don’t just start teaming again with Rhyno. Find a new purpose or role within WWE.
I think the ceiling for Slater at this point is remaining a comedic jobber, but he could stay on the singles side and maybe work through NXT a bit to help spice things up, or work on some other projects if he’s not too busy.
The last thing he should do is just shack up with Rhyno and do the same act that he’s done the past two years.
Roman Reigns
Simply put, get better. This one is self-explanatory.
Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder
Form a tag team again! The tag team division could certainly use another squad and these two are such good friends that they would probably enjoy working together in this role quite a bit.
Plus, as a bonus, maybe this would actually give Hawkins his first win in…God knows how long. Bring back The Major Bros.
Ronda Rousey
Realistically, Rousey is going to have a great year by default, but if the logical progression is true and she drops the Raw Women’s Championship to either Becky Lynch or Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania, The Baddest Woman on the Planet should strive to move over to SmackDown Live in the Superstar Shake-up.
That way, she can win the SmackDown Women’s Championship and be the primary focal point of FOX’s new SmackDown come October, heading into WrestleMania 36 as champion just like she will be doing this year.
The Good Brothers
Either convince WWE to care about you, which seems to be impossible for some reason, or possibly just pack up your bags and leave for All Elite Wrestling when you can.
The Colons
It’s not getting any better. In 2019, it’s time to stop fooling yourselves, call it quits and go work with World Wrestling Council or elsewhere.
The Bludgeon Brothers
Harper and Rowan have two possible career paths in 2019: 1) split from each other and get repackaged in an attempt to tap into the potential that isn’t being utilized, or 2) submit themselves entirely to only being a tag team for the rest of their careers and go full-force once they can return, feuding with The Authors of Pain, SAnitY and other teams.
Anything short of that and they’ll be afterthoughts.
Jeff Hardy
After what happened to Matt Hardy, it’s time for Jeff to reassess his wrestling style and take on a lighter schedule.
He deserves it. He’s beaten his body up enough and he’s allowed to heal, rest up, and make sure his career doesn’t end in 2019 from being broken down.
The worst thing would be for Jeff to have some random injury that forces him out of the game and if he keeps burning the candle at both ends, it’s going to happen, sooner or later.
At this point in his career, his health should be his priority above all other things. Fans would understand.
The Miz
Since Miz and Mrs is on USA, it seems like a lock that he’ll be coming to Raw in the Superstar Shake-up to avoid promoting that show on FOX’s SmackDown Live.
With that in mind, The Miz’s primary goal should be to win the Universal Championship, but that might be too hard to accomplish if Lesnar is keeping a stranglehold over that title.
Instead, the belt The Miz should be striving for as a New Year’s resolution is to win the Intercontinental Championship a record number of times and officially carve his names in the history books.
Rusev
Expand. Think big. You’re the United States champion now. Don’t just celebrate Rusev Day. Make this a Rusev Year!
Sin Cara
With Rey Mysterio and the three members of The Lucha House Party, once Sin Cara comes back, he’s going to have to find a way to differentiate himself from the other luchadores. He can’t just be another generic masked guy, as nobody is going to care.
Maybe a heel turn is a good idea. Maybe he should go to NXT and try to be a big fish in a small pond. Whatever the case may be, all he has to do is avoid getting lost in the shuffle.
Shinsuke Nakamura
In all seriousness, remedy the promo situation. If it’s a problem of not doing well with English, take some classes. If it’s an acting situation, there are theater coaches who can help.
Promos are an important thing in WWE and this seems to be the main thing holding Nakamura back, so if he wants to return to his former status as a big deal and not be someone who is ignored for months on end, that should be his main goal to fix.
Otherwise, Nakamura is going to be just another name in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal and he’ll move over to Raw and job in the midcard or something, which won’t make for a fun or successful 2019.
Cezar Bononi and Adrian Jaoude
Now is the time to make this tag team official and come up to NXT proper to fill in the gap of Heavy Machinery and The Mighty taking their leave.
Also, while at it, Bononi and Jaoude need a team name. As far as I’m aware, they don’t have one yet, and they should form a true stable with Taynara Conti.
If you have any suggestions for team names for the Brazilian Brigade of sorts, drop them in the comments!
Asuka
Right now, it’s too early to say, but I have a feeling Asuka is going to need to turn heel at some point right before or right after WrestleMania in order to avoid becoming one of those champions who perpetually loses before pay-per-views to put over her challengers and then retains in bland fashion to keep the cycle going.
Ricochet
Once Ricochet drops the North American Championship, it’s time for him to graduate to the main roster so he can wow an even bigger audience with his amazing athleticism.
One path he can go for is being the main focal point and anchor of 205 Live, particularly if WWE thinks he can bring more attention to that show. However, on a personal level, he’d be better off going to SmackDown Live and being inserted straight into the midcard as a United States title contender who can spend the next following months building up to a main event spot.
2019 should be a year where Ricochet takes the good will and reputation he’s built up from 2018 and truly applies it toward making those major strides to the top of WWE where he belongs.
Those are my suggestions, but what ideas do you have in mind, particularly for the wrestlers who didn’t make my list? Do you have any resolutions for yourself this year? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!
