We had heard that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was playing a part in the 2024 WWE Hall of Fame Class.  With the names that had been announced thus far (Paul Heyman, Bull Nakano, The U.S. Express and Thunderbolt Patterson, we had not seen any direct evidence to think that was the case.  This ends today with the announcement that his grandmother, Lia Maivia, will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

The wife of WWE Hall of Famer Peter Maivia, Lia took over the Polynesian Pro Wrestling promotion following Peter’s death in 1982.  This made her one of the early female wrestling promoters/owners, and for a brief time, she was very successful. 

In 1985, Maivia promoted what was then the biggest card in Hawaiian history, “A Hot Summer Night,” which drew five figures.  The second version did not do well, leading to the promotion's downfall.

Following the end of Polynesian Pro Wrestling, she moved to Florida to be with her family.  She passed away in 2008 at the age of 77.

This marks the first time a husband and wife have been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Lia Maivia's estate at this time.

It was rumoured that a fifth name was being considered for the WWE Hall of Fame, and this morning it was announced that it is Thunderbolt Patterson.

Born Claude Patterson in Iowa, he made his wrestling debut in 1964 and would work throughout various American promotions and won significant titles in the 1970s, including the Florida Heavyweight Title by defeating Bruiser Brody and the United States Title, with a shock win over the legendary Sheik.  He also was Ole Anderson’s tag team partner in 1984, where they held the National Tag Team Titles.

Patterson was not the smoothest in-ring worker, but he had charisma up the gills.  He leaned into the shuck-and-jive promo style that would influence Dusty Rhodes.  Patterson could draw people in and was very popular in many territories, but he was often unpopular with the powers that be behind the scenes.

Patterson always stood up for himself, and did so at a time when many white bosses (and peers) thought that she should stay quiet and be happy that he had a job.  He fought for the rights of the workers, not just the black ones, but all.  This led to Patterson often losing work, despite his proven ability to draw crowds.

Patterson is 82 but not in the best of health, so it is unknown whether he will attend the ceremony.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Thunderbolt Patterson for this impending honor.

Andy Greene never got drafted into the NHL, but he performed exceptionally well at the University of Miami in Ohio, which led to him being noticed as a Free Agent. He eventually landed a spot on the New Jersey Devils team.

Greene initially made the main roster in his first year for a 23-game run, but he cemented his position on the team in the following season. He was a typical stay-at-home defenseman who was excellent at blocking shots. Over his career, he managed to compile an impressive 1,730 blocked shots. Additionally, Greene was a valuable asset on the penalty kill, and his team rarely had to play with a man down because he seldom visited the penalty box. Despite never receiving a vote for the Norris Trophy, Greene led the NHL in Defensive Win Shares in the 2012-13 season.

Greene played for the New Jersey Devils until he was traded to the New York Islanders at the 2020 trade deadline. He retired after the 2021-22 season, having accumulated 257 career points.

Trevor Ariza had a journeyman career, having played for ten different NBA teams, three of them twice. The Small Forward was a former Mr. California basketball player who went to UCLA for a year and impressed scouts enough to be drafted by the New York Knicks in the Second Round of 2004. 

Ariza played off of the bench mostly in his first five seasons, and with his third team, the Los Angeles Lakers, he won the NBA Championship.  Afterwards, he bounced around the NBA but was mainly a starter, enjoying stops in Houston, New Orleans, and Washington. He produced eight years of at least 10 points per game.  Ariza also played for Orlando, Phoenix, Sacramento, Portland and Miami and started 769 of 1,118 Games overall.  He also received Defensive Player of the Year Award four times.

We know that Ariza will not enter the Hall, but anyone who played over 1,100 Games in the NBA and has a ring to show for it deserves a writeup here at Notinhalloffame.com.