Top 100 Negotiations!

Good.

What do we think about converting Moondog Spot into the Moondogs in general?




Switching gears to 5 living guys.


Toshiaki Kawada - I think he's the biggest Japanese omission on the list given who already appears on it.

Harvey Whippleman - Prominent manager in the mid 90s. Not as good as many, but still a WWE staple.

Bobby Davis - Old time manager of some of the greats. Still around.

Bruce Prichard - Now that he's free of TNA, giving him a spot wouldn't hurt. He was with WWE for almost 20 years as a writer and as Brother Love.

Judo Gene LeBell - Daniel Bryan uses the LeBell lock in every match. I think WWE.com interviewed him a year or two ago.

Yeah I'd include King. They all technically held the belts. Plus if by some miracle they are ever inducted, WWE would probably show them actually winning the belts in the video.



Bobby Davis was a mouthy lad. He wore some colorful outfits (for the black and white days) and ended up managing the likes of Buddy Rogers, Gorilla Monsoon, the Beast, and the Grahams amongst others in the 60s.

Gotta think of Davis and Red Berry as the old guard before the likes of Blassie, Albano, and Wizard took over. There were others around Red Berry and Davis, like Tony Angelo and Rudy Miller, but Red Berry and Davis were the main standouts throughout the late 50s and into the 60s in Capitol Wrestling and the WWWF. Though Berry had a successful wrestling career on top of being a manager.

You ever see Wild Red Berry Vs Groucho Marx on You Bet Your Life? Classic Berry.

The problem with a bunch of these old timers is that WWE doesn't have much footage of them left. That and Vince Jr never really met half of them because he got into the business in the 70s.



More names... this is kinda long but after I started typing I found it hard to stop. Beyond them though, I don't think I have much left in the "to be considered" category.


Red Bastien - Well respected wrestler in the northern territories. He had a good tag run too with various partners. Credited for getting Jim Hellwig and Steve Borden into wrestling.

Whipper Billy Watson - Toronto's golden boy from back in the day. If WWE considers guys like Gorgeous George and Lou Thesz, then he might be on the table if they go to Toronto for Mania again. Just to appease the locals.

Newton Tattrie - One half of probably the greatest tag team WWE had in the 1960s. That being the Mongols. He's still alive too.

Willie Gilzenberg - The longest serving WWE President they've ever had. If James Dudley can get in, Gilzenberg is certainly worthy.

Johnny DeFazio - Studio Wrestling legend. Was part of it from the beginning to the end. I think he was just at the last Hall of Fame ceremony as he's good friends with Sammartino.

Hans Mortier - Another evil German wrestler who headlined with Bruno.

Miguel Perez - Ethnic favorite back in the days of Capitol Wrestling. Had some big tag matches with Antonino Rocca. Father of the Miguel Perez from Los Boricuas.

Sailor Art Thomas - Rather large and in shape African American wrestler from the old days. Took part in that legends battle royal WWE held in 87.

Argentina Apollo - Popular tag team wrestler who had several partners including Rocca. Another staple of Studio Wrestling.

Killer Buddy Austin - The Satanic one challenge Bruno Sammartino in the early 60s.

Dory Dixon - Popular wrestler brought up from Mexico to have a good run in 63.

Cowboy Bob Ellis - Legendary face who is still alive. Did headline with Bruno back in the day. I'm not really doing his career justice though. He had big battles with Buddy Rogers, Destroyer, and Dick the Bruiser. Always a headliner.

Bull Ramos - Challenger to Bruno Sammartino who was managed by Red Berry.

Bill Cardille - With Ray Morgan as their long time announcer in Washington D.C., Cardille was their long time announcer in Pittsburgh for Studio Wrestling. He hosted a Studio Wrestling reunion just a few years ago. He's a regular for the Jerry Lewis telethon despite his age. He was even in Night of the Living Dead. Not to mention he was the long time host of Chiller Theatre as Chilly Billy.

The Beast - Another challenger to Bruno in the 60s.

Mario Milano - Jackie Fargos old tag partner. Had a good run in 1970 with the WWWF.

Crusher Verdu - Powerhouse who challenged Bruno in 1970. First guy Albano ever managed.

Antonio Pugliese (Tony Parisi) - A bit of a tag team staple of the 1960s. Won some titles.

Joe McHugh - The old timey announcer from the 60s and 70s who rolled his r's.

Mick McManus - Old time British heel who just recently died. A compliment to the likes of Big Daddy or Giant Haystacks.

Handsome Johnny Barend - Light heavyweight who had a good run in Studio Wrestling. They just recently found the original WWWF Championship belt in his attic after his passing. They suspect it was given to him by Buddy Rogers when he died.

George Cannon - Manager and promoter in the 70s. Helped WWE enter the Detroit market through Windsor.

The Crocketts - A family induction would probably be how it would go down. For as much as Jim Jr hates McMahon, he still made some dvd appearances a few years back.

Sam Muchnick - Essentially the glue of the old NWA. He and Vince Sr always had a good relationship. WWE honored him at an IYH in the late 90s.

Hisashi Shinma - Second President of the WWWF from when Gilzenberg died to when Jack Tunney took over.






Some newer guys...


The Warlord - Might as well toss him into the 201 to 300 range for his work in the late 80s and early 90s.

The Orient Express - I'm thinking the Pat Tanaka and Paul Diamond version as they were Badd Company in the AWA too. Solid midcard tag team.

Dick Ebersol - Yeah.. the guy who was head of NBC sports for decades. Vince always credits him for getting Saturday Nights Main Event on the air and thus the expansion of WWE. He was actually on the short list back in 2007. Might have been a sympathy nod after his son died. But it wouldn't surprise me if Vince has him inducted eventually.

Jim Johnston - He's their music man. A bit camera shy but I've seen his name pop up in various circles over the years. It's sort of like how Howard Finkel was the king of the announcers hill, well Johnston is the same for the entrance music since the mid 80s.

Kevin Dunn - I suppose of Johnston is considered, Dunn has to be too. Though it's widely known that Dunn is not much of a fan of the business despite being the director of broadcasts for the past 20 years. But he has influenced the way we watch wrestling.

Watson debuted in 36 and went until 71. He's of the Blassie, Rogers, and Rocca era.

I'd consider guys who debuted before 1920 as too old. That's people like Frank Gotch, George Hackenschmidt, Ed "Strangler" Lewis, Jim Londos, Stanislaus Zbyszko, and Joe Stetcher. The only exception being Toots Mondt for his direct connection to WWE in promoting. Stars of the television era and beyond are what WWE is looking for. But of course so much of the earlier footage is lost in time.


Yeah, Ebersol did indeed induct Bob Uecker.

I agree about Dunn.

Guys like Warlord and Orient Express I was just thinking for the back end of the list as I don't see how they're any worse than Berzerker. But I won't fight for them.




You can probably put Billy Kidman on the list too. Though not very high. He's retired, fat, and working backstage for WWE.



Forgot about Linda McMahon. I wonder if they'll induct her with Vince.

I can see him being inducted with his wife for sure. Shane and Stephanie can hold their own while Linda is a bit boring as a singles induction. Though I do think he'll be inducted while he's alive unless he dies prematurely. HHH will make it happen. Even if it means sidestepping the boss.


Why is Jeff Jarrett so high on the list? His success in WWE was okay but not better than someone like JBL or Goldust, he has spent the past 12 years working for a company WWE will likely never acknowledge, and he basically extorted money from Vince in his last appearance. He should be towards the end of the top 100 if he even belongs in it at all.

I tend to value WWE accomplishments more because it is something Vince owns and it's the WWE Hall of Fame. I give leeway to legends and influential guys that didn't make it big in WWE but are heavily featured in WWE's library. What WWE can show us with footage weighs heavily on who gets inducted.

I can look at Razor Ramon and Lex Luger and know that they peaked way higher than Jarrett in WWE. So then I look to Jarretts outside credits and realize TNA is not a factor at this time. WWE does not own its video library nor acknowledge it. So then I look at his WCW days and realize that there's bigger fish to fry from that company like Sting, Goldberg, or even Eric Bischoff. Hell, Hall and Luger peaked higher than Jarrett in WCW too. As far as influence goes, I don't think Jarrett has trained as many WWE legends like Gagne nor is he anywhere close to being as influential. Plus like I said earlier, WWE owns the video library of the AWA. Abdullah the Butcher was influential, has plenty of footage of his career that is own by WWE, and perhaps conveniently enough was inducted in the city he lives in.

As for the extortion with Warrior, there is a difference between Warrior and Jarrett. Warrior is far more marketable to WWE. It's a man who was a top attraction for their company versus a midcarder in their eyes.

AJ Styles could retire tomorrow and I wouldn't put him anywhere near the top 100. Same with Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels. If Vince doesn't own a large percentage of your career on tape, you're likely never going to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Not even influence can overcome that. It's one reason why I greatly approve of Shohei Baba being in the top 50 but not so much Mitsuharu Misawa.




In defense of Koko B Ware, there are worse people in the Hall of Fame. James Dudley, Johnny Rodz, Mike and Chris Von Erich. Even Paul Ellering is less deserving. Koko at least was a fan favorite who sold merchandise for WWE.