WWE
Compared to the other Halls of Fame that we discuss on our website, this one is hands down the most fun and the hardest to calculate. Keep in mind, that there is no actual WWE Hall of Fame where fans can go and see their heroes. There are no set criteria to get in the WWE Hall of Fame. Wins and losses don’t exactly matter when the matches are predetermined. It does not even seem to matter if you even wrestled for the WWE as some of their inductees never drew a paycheck from Stamford. This is as subjective as they come so with that we made a criterion of our own which did incorporate (in no particular order) impact, ability, innovation championships won, legacy and their use in the WWE. The only two rules we set was that the wrestler in question was not currently an active competitor on a full-time basis unless that wrestler was 46 or over. Once a wrestler becomes 46 that individual moves from the Futures to the Main List at the time of revision.Until Then, Whatcha gonna do when Notinhalloffame.com runs wild on you!
Sincerely,
The Not in Hall of Committee.
Having the distinction of being the first man to regain the first recognized version of the World Heavyweight Championship, Joe Stecher also was one of the youngest, winning his first of three world titles at the age of 22. Stecher, who was always in the shadow of Frank Gotch, never had the dream match with the retired former champion but…
The man who is probably the greatest American Amateur Wrestler of the 1950’s (and arguably among the greatest five of all-time), Danny Hodge was able to generate a very successful professional career. He would become one of the premier Junior Heavyweights of the National Wrestling Alliance, and would hold that title on eight occasions. On top of winning titles, he…
Don Leo Jonathan may have been born and raised in Utah but it was in Canada that he found his home. Jonathan’s size and wrestling acumen allowed him to become a true international superstar and he traveled the world winning titles and headlining cards. As mentioned he was most comfortable in Canada and it was for the NWA in Vancouver…
Only in Professional Wrestling could the most known German competitor not actually be German. Many wrestlers cashed in on the image of the evil Nazi that still resonated from the Second World War, but only James Raschke drew money with it, which was quite ironic considering his All American background.
When a lot of wrestling fans were first discovering professional wrestling in the 80’s, they saw a Tony Garea at the end of his career whose main job was to put heels over during their first few matches in the WWF.
Say what you want about Sable’s limited wrestling ability, but she is one of the select few who at her peak was more over than 95 percent of the male roster. She was the female face of the Attitude Era, and had the Women’s Championship belt reinstated essentially for her. Rena Mero will never be confused for any great (or…
A legitimate amateur wrestler and all around tough guy, Karl Gotch was one half of the WWWF World Tag Team Champions with Rene Goulet back in 1971. Gotch’s style struggled to make him a star in America, but it translated well in Japan where his mat based style of wrestling made him popular. Gotch was a huge influence on later…
This one was actually our hardest to rank. Mitsuharu Misawa has been called by many to be the best wrestler that Japanese wrestler of his time; which is saying a lot! The problem is that he never set foot in a WWE ring, nor had he real exposure to North America, which has to be considered a factor for a…
Although he would receive mention on WWF and WWE broadcasts through the years for his innovation and popularity, Edouard Carpentier never has seemed to be a serious contender for the WWE Hall of Fame. Carpentier won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in 1957, though the falling out with his promoter and the NWA led to a splintering of the championship.
Like Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi rose up the ranks to become of the top stars of All Japan, and subsequently one of the most respected wrestlers in the world. The tough grappler was credited with the invention of many high impact offensive moves that have been liberally stolen in the States. Despite the high regard he is held in, the…
As one of the elder statesman of the WWE, William Regal doesn’t see a whole lot of ring time anymore. This is a shame as there are few who can match Regal’s in ring skills. A legitimate tough guy and technical marvel, Regal lit up WCW rings with solid matches through the mid 90’s and was poised to the same…
There have been many wrestlers who were great amateurs and were able to parlay that into a successful career in professional wrestling. Mike Rotundo was one such wrestler, though people really paid attention when he dropped the nice guy vanilla toast persona and showcased a side that nobody thought he was capable of.
The bulk of Adrian’s career was spent as a leather clad biker who excelled in the tag team ranks and was known for his technical skills. That isn’t how he is best remembered. Like others before him, he was given the gimmick of a playing a homosexual, but nobody before or since had played as over the top as Adonis…
The first half of Kevin Sullivan’s in ring career was solid, but fairly non-descript. He was lean and muscular and was often in the mid card or in tag teams of which ever promotion he worked. In his mid thirties, Sullivan’s career did an about face with the advent of a devil worshiper gimmick that had never been done before.
Suicidal. Genocidal. Homicidal. Never before had adjectives seem appropriate for a wrestler as the wrestling style of Sabu fit those words perfectly. There was no move he wouldn’t try, no risk he wouldn’t take, or no injury he wouldn’t work through. Sabu was an independent superstar who found a home in ECW went through miles of barbed wire, rings on…
The amount of wrestlers who shaved their head and donned a Soviet gimmick is numerous, but none were a more gifted physical specimen than Nikita Koloff. Looking like he belonged as the opponent for Rocky in Rocky IV (though that came after Nikita’s debut), Nikita Koloff looked like the new breed of Russian athlete: one who would destroy you by…
We have to admit that we hate it when current WWE performers talk about becoming “the Marty Jannetty” of their team. Jannetty may not have had a career that came close to what Shawn Michaels did, but honestly how many could?
A standout professional wrestler in the 1940’s, “Wild” Bill Longson, was a three time National Wrestling Association Champion. His final reign came at the hands of the legendary Lou Thesz and Longson is credited as being the last National Wrestling Association Champion and one of the top heels of the 1940’s.
A superstar in the All Japan Promotion, Tommy “Jumbo” Tsuruta was the man who unified the three major champions in the promotion and was the first ever “Triple Crown” Champion. As impressive as that was, it was just a portion of what he would accomplish in professional wrestling.
Tall men with exceptional girth may be a rare sight on the street but in the world of professional wrestling it is actually commonplace. What wasn’t standard was for those wrestlers to have agility, skill and a solid workrate. In the case of George Gray, A.K.A., the One Man Gang, all those attributes were present.