Top 250, Future, and Celebrity lists (July 2012)

He was actually inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009. Back when WWE was inducting a bunch of regional promoters like Eddie Graham, Stu Hart, Antonio Inoki, Sheik, Verne Gagne and so on.

Thanks. I thought he had been, but when I looked at the list of current inductees here, which appears to be in alphabetical order by first name, he wasn't listed among the B's or C's on the first page. Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy on my behalf to not dig further.
Ah, the blood thirsty Sheik, a point of pride for my Detroit hometown. A bunch of us used to go to a local watering hole to watch RAW, and one of the "regulars" would always tell a story how when he and his family encountered the Sheik at an airport, or something like that, all the Sheik wanted to do was hold the man's baby granddaughter, as he missed his own so much.

Well that's sad.

Speaking of regional promoters, I hope they induct "Toots" Mondt, Willie Gilzenberg, or Jack Tunney one day. Maybe even Hisashi Shinma. Gilzenberg was WWE's longest serving President from 1963 to his death in 1978. Unlike Tunney, he actually wasn't a figurehead. Though Tunney was their go to promoter for eastern Canada. "Toots" was basically a historical figure before helping to form the World Wide Wrestling Federation with the way he revolutionized the way we watch matches. Time limits and all.

Seems like they go out of their way to induct promoters who had far less impact on the WWE than those guys.

I've never taken it as sad, I just took it as just showing how he human he was. He was still part of her life, he was just travelling and hadn't seen her in a bit.

From what I have read, Mondt should have been in years ago. Tunney was the "president" when I started watching and I still remember how surprised I was when he called Andre the Giant by his last name when they signed the Wrestlemania III title match. I'd like to see him in, figurehead or not.

Well I didn't mean sad in a "pathetic" sort of way. Just missing your kid so much that you want to hold other peoples kids as a reminder. Always felt bad for wrestlers on the road 260 days of the year. Especially back then.


Tunney gets mentions (especially by CM Punk) on television sometimes. So maybe when they go back to Canada for WrestleMania, it will be his turn. The common story is that Tunney was forced out of the WWE via them making Canadian bookings without him in 1995 and in 2004 when he died, nobody from WWE attended his funeral. Though in defense of the last part, he died the weekend of the 2004 Royal Rumble. They were pretty busy heading into the next week. All hands on deck sort of thing. It's also possible they could induct Frank Tunney with him.


With Toots, I can only think of three reasons why he hasn't been inducted.

1) Vince likes pretending that his father did everything in terms of founding the WWE. He might have included his grandfather Roderick, but I'm pretty sure the two never met.

2) Toots is long dead. Posthumous inductions are not Vince's favorite things. Locating relatives of Toots to appear at the ceremony could be difficult too. Relatives who actually knew him at least. We're looking at grandchildren here at best and they'd be in their 60s.

3) The biggest contribution to wrestling Toots made (which was huge) was the time limits and making wrestling more of a theatrical event than a sport. It might not be something WWE would wish to praise openly. Otherwise they're mainly left with his helping to found Capitol Wrestling and the World Wide Wrestling Federation. Not to mention Toots being the guy who pushed for Antonino Rocca and Bruno Sammartino being their top stars.


With next year being the 50 years since the World Wide Wrestling Federation formed, maybe Toots has a shot.

Excellent point. It can't be easy to spend so much time away from your family. It's very easy (and very flippant) to say they know what they're getting into and are amply rewarded. Considering how long The Sheik was in the game, he probably missed his share of milestones.

I consider myself an amateur historian, so I've always been interested in the history of the sport. I'd love for the WWE HOF to openly acknowlegde the full history of the sport beyond its own and whatever video libraries it can acquire. But I'll concede that may well not be in their best interests. Sheeh, they made a reputation for barely acknowledging anything non-WWF or WWE. There are obviously important folks in their history they're not giving their due. Here's hoping.

Roderick "Jess" McMahon would be another promoter they could induct. He got the McMahons into the business and helped found the Capitol Wrestling Corporation with Toots Mondt. Though if he hasn't gone in by now and is a McMahon, I guess the odds are he never will. Despite being alive for 10 years after Vince Jr was born, I don't think the two ever met each other.

Jess cut his teeth in boxing, did he not?
Speaking of promoters, what about Lia Maivia? Her husband and son-in-law were inducted together. I don't know if she was just a figurehead or not, but back when there was a cable channel called FNN/Wins, her Polynesian Pacific Pro was a great show to watch, if only for the guys they would bring in from outside the promotion. It was my favorite of the non-major promotions.

Roderick did cut his teeth with boxing, but he also promoted wrestling events. He helped bring pro wrestling back to Madison Square Garden after and a very long absence. When he died, Toots brought Vince Sr into the Capitol Wrestling fold as his partner.


I don't think Lia Maivia is in the cards for induction, otherwise they would have inducted her with her husband in 2008. Also, she wasn't very successful. She just sorta inherited the promotion upon her husbands death, had a big memorial show, and then watched as the WWF swallowed up everything before shutting down a few years later.

I did not think as much. But, they had an exciting run for a couple of years. How hard would it have been to entice someone to go to Hawaii for a payday? The "homegrown" talent wasn't much, though.