This January at WWE’s Royal Rumble event the “Road to WrestleMania” will start. It will finish at “The Showcase of the Immortals” - WrestleMania where each year several of the greatest wrestlers will become immortal by being inducted into WWE’s Hall of Fame. Although there is not yet a physical Hall of Fame, the ceremony itself has turned into quite a spectacle, drawing thousands of fans each year. I would like to go ahead and get my predictions out of the way now before WWE reveals any of the actually inductees.
In a business where it’s commonplace to throw around words like “superstar”, “legend” and “icon”, to join the WWE Hall of Fame is an honor accepted with great pride by anyone lucky enough to be inducted. This year I feel there are several people who deserve to be put in. I based my decisions on the kinds of inductions and trends that have been taking place over the past few years including posthumous and celebrity inductions.
As sad as it may sound, it’s really hard not to make the induction list too posthumous-heavy. It’s undeniable that wrestling has a higher mortality rate for those under 50 than any other professional sport or genre of entertainment. I did, however, make two posthumous inductions.
With Sting finally making his long awaited WWE debut at Survivor Series, I think it would be unthinkable that he won’t eventually have a match inside a WWE ring, most likely at WrestleMania 31. It would be the perfect fitting for Sting to be inducted this year just before he has his first and only match ever in the WWE. It would make everything that much more special. Of course, if Sting doesn’t have only one match, and he decides to work on a part time basis, I don’t think this year would be the right time for him to be inducted.
This one is a no-brainer. In fact, I think it would actually outshine Sting as the headlining induction, even if Randy has already passed. Savage’s brother Lanny Poffo has spoken about this subject many times and has stated that Randy grew to hate Vince McMahon after he evidently wouldn’t book his father Angelo Poffo in a battle royal in the 80’s. Things were never the same between them again and Savage left the company on bad terms. After hearing that the WWE had inducted the Von Erich family as a group into the Hall, Randy allegedly told Lanny that the only way he would allow his induction was if his whole family was inducted too, including his brother Lanny and father Angelo. There have been some signs lately that point to a possible induction including the release of a Macho Man DVD from WWE and Vince McMahon himself saying “Oh, absolutely, definitely” on Savage eventually going in. Could this be the year?
This one is also a posthumous induction, or is it? Andy Kaufman for me is one was one of the most entertaining people ever, in any genre. There are not many people that have come along who were as famous as Kaufman was who were also big wrestling fans. Andy Kaufman’s comedy was not exactly comedy. From the start he was always amazed by the interaction between a wrestler and the fans - the ability to make someone hate you or love you and in his time, the ability of the wrestlers to stay in character almost 24 hours a day. The true genius of Andy’s performance art was based on “working” the audience and blurring the line between reality and comedy. His tremendous feud with Jerry Lawler remains one of the most memorable celebrity interjections ever in pro wrestling. Earlier this year rumors were abound that Kaufman had faked his death and is still alive, still making people wonder with his tremendous style of comedy even 30 years after his death.
For the past several years there has been a female induction into the HoF and I see that trend continuing this year. One women who hasn’t been inducted so far who is most deserving is Ivory. She was thrust into a wresting career in the mid 80’s in the kooky GLOW promotion and eventually landed a job in the WWE in 1999 at the age of 37 where she became a three-time Women’s Champion.
One of the most exciting tag teams of the 80’s, known for their incredible feud with the Midnight Express in Jim Crockett Promotions. However, they have competed almost everywhere including short stints in the WWE, WCW, Smokey Mountain Wrestling, AWA, Japan and most of the old territories. When making their entrances, the shrills from the female fans in attendance was deafening. They were also the inspiration for “The Rockers” - Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty. Ricky Morton is still remembered to this day by many people for his amazing ability to sell and make the hot tag to his partner Robert Gibson.
You know it’s going to happen eventually. With Triple H at the helm of WWE most of “The Kliq” is already in the Hall including Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. Not that Sean isn’t deserving of the induction. In fact, this is a guy who came up in poverty, trained under Dean Malenko’s dad, Boris, worked on the indy scene and eventually landed a job in the WWE all by the age of 21. And for a guy his size, in that era, that’s pretty damn impressive. He’s held championships in WWE, WCW and TNA and has worked extensively in Mexico and Japan and still continues to compete at a high level in his 40’s.
One of a very select few to really make a name for himself in Japan, Stan Hansen is one of the biggest badasses ever in wrestling. Even if you know that wrestling is “fake”, when Stan Hansen hits the ring you think to yourself “okay, I know wrestling is fake, but HE is real!”. He did have a few runs in the WWE and even competed briefly in WCW and ECW but is most well known for spending nearly 20 years with All Japan Pro Wrestling. Hansen is arguably the best brawler of all time.
Yeah, I know, he’s in TNA right now and it’s not going to happen, but it should. There has never been a referee inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame and I can’t see why not. Any wrestler will tell you that a good referee is absolutely essential to the success of a match. When he’s good, you don’t even notice he’s there, but when he makes a mistake it’s painfully obvious. Earl Hebner had a 17 year career with the company, refereeing more WWE title matches than anyone. I think he’ll always be known for being the ref during the “Montreal Screwjob”, but that shouldn’t tarnish his legacy. If any referee is deserving of a spot in the Hall, it’s Earl.
Who are your choices for the HoF in 2015? Who do you think WWE will induct this year? Hit me up on social media or send me an e-mail and let me know. Also, speaking of the Hall of Fame and WrestleMania, WWE has recently announced several dates on their annual post-WrestleMania European tour and they will be in Warsaw, Poland on April 15th. If you’re in Poland, make sure to check it out. Tickets are available online at eventim.pl.
- Daniel Austin (Don Roid)
