Current WWE Inductees
With Verne Gagne inducted the year before, the stage was set for Nick Bockwinkel to enter the Hall. The five time former AWA World Heavyweight Champion spent the bulk of his career working for Verne. Bockwinkel was a brilliant wrestler, but he was set apart from his peers by his cerebral interview style which showcased…
One of the most naturally powerful wrestlers ever, Nikolai Volkoff escaped from the Communist Yugoslavia to the United States. Although he wasn’t Russian, he portrayed an evil Soviet competitor with more realism than anyone else ever could. Although most wrestling fans saw him when he was older, Volkoff was actually quite agile in his younger…
At present, the only man from New Zealand to ever become World Champion, Pat O’Connor was a wrestling machine who competed in technical masterpieces for decades.
The first ever Intercontinental Champion was a huge star in the AWA and San Francisco before he made his mark in Stamford. Pat Patterson was a great wrestler, but it was his work behind the scenes for the WWF that made him virtually indispensable to the organization. This is one of the few inductions that…
For all intensive purposes the last important manager in the WWE of note, Paul Bearer was not just a successful on air manager for the WWE, he was one of its more unique characters as well. Prior to joining Vince and company, Bearer was an unsuccessful wrestler who would achieve greater fame as manager known…
The first Triple Crown winner in WWE History, Pedro Morales was a huge draw for the McMahons and captured far more than just the Hispanic market. His World Title run lasted almost three years and was largely considered a success, especially when considering that his era followed that of the largely popular, Bruno Sammartino. Long…
Why is he here? Honestly, major props to Pete Rose for taking bumps from Kane in consecutive Wrestlemanias but is this the guy who should be the inaugural celebrity inductee? We would rather discuss Pete Rose on our Baseball section than here.
Non wrestling fans will remember Toru Tanaka for his acting roles alongside Chuck Norris and Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 80’s, but wrestling fans remember him as a vicious Japanese born heel that terrorized his American opponents. Tanaka was actually a Hawaiian who played College Football and served in the U.S. military, but the tank like…
When Randy “Macho Man” Savage first entered the WWF it wasn’t a cliché to say that he took the federation by storm. He had uncontrollable intensity, a flashy look, a gravelly voice, lightning speed and a unique move set that made Savage completely unique for the WWF in 1985. Throw in a doe eyed ingénue…
If the old Yankee Stadium is the house that Ruth built then the Cow Palace in San Francisco might be called the house that Ray Stevens built. Seriously, he was that big in that region’s wrestling world.
When Ray Traylor first emerged on the national scene it was a large suit clad bodyguard, Big Bubba Rogers. When he arrived to the WWF, he donned the gimmick of a sadistic prison guard (a job he actually had) and achieved his best success.
We are trying to think of a time when Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat had a bad match with anybody. We couldn’t. When you combine that fact with a near twenty year body of work, you know you are talking about someone special. He never won the world title for the WWE, but he did capture…
The WWE Hall of Fame inducted Antonio Inoki, who might lay claim as the greatest Japanese wrestler of all time. However, he was not the most important, that would be Rikidozan, who is not only the “Father of puroresu” but the man who helped restore pride to the Japanese after World War II.
Following in the footsteps of a successful family is never easy, but Rikishi (as Fatu) was able to carve his own path with his cousin, Samu to create the Samoan SWAT Team (later the Headshrinkers) and win multiple tag team titles. That alone would make it a successful wrestling career, but after multiple attempts Solafu…
Rob Van Dam never won the ECW World Heavyweight Championship (in the original promotion anyway), but he was without question one of the best wrestlers ever to star for Paul Heyman’s renegade promotion and one who will always be synonymous with the promotion.
The father of the “Most Electrifying Man on Sports Entertainment” was quite charismatic himself. With his quick jabs and Ali shuffle, Rocky Johnson captured many regional championships (mostly in tag teams) and would capture Tag Team gold in the WWF along with Tony Atlas. Johnson was an excellent mid card talent who had a very…
It is very sad that it took until 1992 for Professional Wrestling to finally have their first African American World Champion. That man was the College Football Hall of Fame inductee, Ron Simmons, whose brute strength and quiet charisma made him an excellent choice for that honor. A star in WCW and in the WWE,…
Say what you want about the win loss record of S.D. “Special Delivery” Jones, but it was his job to be a baby face enhancement worker who always put up a good fight before eventually going down to defeat. Jones did this job admirably for years and it was because of selfless people like him,…
As one of the first African American stars in the industry, Sailor Art Thomas was a popular star who received many World Championship Title Matches in the early 60’s. The American wrestling world was not ready to embrace a black Heavyweight Championship, though had evolved to the point where they could cheer him in the…
Scott Hall may be another name in the discussion of “best wrestler never to win a World Championship”, though few would have thought based on his first eight years in the business that he would be World Championship material.