As “The Man You Loved to Hate”, Mick McManus was one of the first major stars of European Wrestling and did so while performing the majority of his career as a dastardly heel. Amazingly, he would become a huge celebrity in his native England, and though he had a conniving sneer and broke the rules often, he elicited such a strong reaction from the fans that they could not get enough of him. McManus also was the booker (which may explain why he rarely lost), but British Wrestling is better off for having him. What that has to do with the WWE is limited, but a British legend is not the worst induction.

A wrestler himself from the carnival days, Joseph “Toots” Mondt joined the camp of the legendary Ed “Strangler” Lewis and became a jack of all trades in the business. He would help develop a new style, stars of the business and would become an active promoter; especially in the Northeast.   In time, he would become the first major wrestling promoter to gain access to Madison Square Garden and he would eventually join forces with Vince McMahon Sr. and form Capital Sports, which would be the NWA Territory in the New York area.

An anti-establishment star before anyone really knew what that was; Sputnik Monroe was considered to be the most interesting character of the Memphis territory, which may say it all! Monroe was surly, a heavy drinker, and a unique looking figure with his gruff exterior and shock of white hair down the middle of his head.

The Flying Scotts (George and Sandy) were a very successful tag team all across Canada and other territories. However, it was behind the scenes where both brothers had a greater impact in the business. George Scott was working for the World Wrestling Federation during the time of the 80’s boom, and was an asset with booking, production and is widely considered to have been a vital part of the team. Sandy Scott would later work as an executive for World Championship Wrestling. Regardless of where they worked, or whether it was in the ring or out of it, there are few who generate more respect than the Scotts.