Committee Chairman
Rick Martel
Like so many, I started watching Professional Wrestling in 1984. At that time Vince McMahon was deep in the process of taking his company National, and turning both the World Wrestling Federation and his biggest star, Hulk Hogan into household names. As I fell in love with the pageantry and spectacle of the industry I wanted to learn as much of it as I could.","Like so many, I started watching Professional Wrestling in 1984. At that time Vince McMahon was deep in the process of taking his company National, and turning both the World Wrestling Federation and his biggest star, Hulk Hogan into household names. As I fell in love with the pageantry and spectacle of the industry I wanted to learn as much of it as I could. Back then, the easiest way to do that was by magazines, specifically the Pro Wrestling Illustrated series. It was there I learned about the competition to the WWF, specifically the National Wrestling Alliance and the American Wrestling Association. This allowed me to learn of names like Harley Race, Ric Flair, The Road Warriors and the man who was the AWA World Champion at that time, Rick Martel. Little did I know that over twenty five years later I would have the chance to interview the man who would become the man who transformed himself into “The Model”, one of the top villains of the late 80’s and early 90’s for the WWF.
Larry Zbyszko to the WWE HOF
Zbyszko was a former WWF Tag Team Champion in the late 70’s, but it was a heel turn on his mentor, Bruno Sammartino that catapulted Zbyszko to the main event. The feud would culminate in a steel cage match at Shea Stadium, where they would place over 30,000 people to the facility.
Zbyszko would leave the WWF and become a mainstay in the Minnesota based American Wrestling Association where he would become their Heavyweight Champion, and would in fact be their last champion. He would later go to WCW and become a Tag Team Champion there, and would become a successful broadcaster for the company.
Like the earlier announcement of Alundra Blayze to the Hall of Fame, this one was not expected as of a few years ago, as Zbyszko has been adamant for years about his hatred toward the WWE and to Vince McMahon in general. Last year, “The Living Legend” signed a legends deal with the WWE, indicating that fences had been mended, and once again in the WWE, hell froze over.
Never say never, right Vince?
Football List revised: Brett Favre now #1
Annually a major shift in the top ten always occurs with newly inducted players who are to be removed and newly eligible players with serious Hall of Fame credentials.
To review, the following players were chosen for the Pro Football Hall of Fame and have been removed from our Notinhalloffame.com list:
Junior Seau #1
Will Shields #7
Charles Haley #10
Tim Brown #12
Jerome Bettis #16
Mick Tingelhoff #25
Four brand new eligible players have been named to the revised list, three of which made the new top ten.
Claiming the top spot is former Quarterback, Brett Favre who is entering his first year of eligibility. Favre retired with multiple high profile passing records and will be entering the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame this year. Many (including us) expect that Favre will enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame immediately.
Another legendary Packer, Jerry Kramer is ranked at #2, the same as he was last year behind Junior Seau. Kramer has long been considered by football fans of all teams to be one of the biggest omissions in any Hall of Fame. Kramer, who we have had the pleasure of interviewing before was a member of both Super Bowl I and II winning team.
Former Indianapolis Colts Wide Receiver, Marvin Harrison returns at the #3 spot. We have been vocal here about how Harrison has been snubbed the past two years.
Dallas Cowboys standout and Super Bowl V MVP, Chuck Howley also returns to the same ranking at #4.
Alan Faneca debuts at #5. The former Pittsburgh Steeler Offensive Lineman is a six time First Team All Pro and a Super Bowl Champion.
Faneca’s debut drops former Oakland Raider Quarterback, Ken Stabler to #6.
The most controversial addition, Terrell Owens makes his first appearance on the Notinhalloffame.com Football list at #7, and we can’t wait to see what the Pro Football Hall of Fame committee does with him.
The additions of Favre, Owens and Faneca drop former Pittsburgh Steeler, L.C. Greenwood to #8.
Torry Holt also drops one spot to #9, as did Johnny Robinson who is now #10.
The only other new entry is Darren Sharper, who makes his first appearance on the Notinhalloffame.com football list at #66.
As always we here at Notinhalloffame.com thank you for your support and ask all of you to give your comments, issue votes and let us know what you think.
Shaquille O'Neal to the Orlando Magic HOF
With that in mind, it was announced by the Orlando Magic that former Center, Shaquille O’Neal will become the third member of their franchise’s Hall of Fame.
The Magic would draft the big man from LSU with the first overall pick in the 1992 NBA Draft and in his first week as a professional would win the NBA Player of the Week honors; the first player to do so. He would make the All Star Team, win the NBA Rookie of the Year and average 23.4 Points and 13.9 Rebounds per Game in his rookie year and was a bona fide star in the game of basketball.
Over the next three years in Orlando, O’Neal would continue growing his game and his brand, and would win the scoring title in 1995 and would be named to a pair of Second Team All NBA teams, a Third Team All NBA, and three more All Star Games. Shaq would also take Orlando to their first NBA Finals in 1995. Overall as a member of the Magic, Shaquille O’Neal would score 27.2 Points and 12.5 Rebounds in his four seasons there.
We would like to congratulate Shaquille O’Neal for receiving this honor.