It was announced today that Peter Tork, former member of the Monkees passed away today at the age of 77.

Tork auditioned for and got the role as one of the musicians for the Don Kischner network program, The Monkees in 1966.  While Tork and the other members of the group (Davy Jones, Micheael Nesmith and Mickey Dolenz) were musicians in their first two albums they did not write or play any of the music, which at the time made them a very polarizing band as in terms of pop songs of the era few had any better, however they were also not viewed as legitimate by others.

The group would eventually tour and prove their musical acumen and Tork was able to show off that ability with his ability to play multiple instruments and he would later write songs and produce.  Sadly for Tork and the rest of the Monkees when their show ended their fame soon followed and no member of the band would be able to shed their musical past, at least when they tried to perform anyway.  

The group (sans Nesmith) would reunite and their legacy of being a fun band reemerged and many of their hits are still well known today.  

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our condolences to the friends, family and fans of Peter Tork.

The Hall of Fame season continues as the WWE Hall of Fame has announced that the collective group of D-Generation X will be inducted at this year’s ceremony.  This includes Shawn Michaels, Triple H, X-Pac, The Road Dogg, Billy Gunn and Chyna.

For Shawn Michaels, this is his second induction joining “Nature Boy” Ric Flair as the WWE Hall of Fame.  Shortly after DX was formed Michaels formed the group with Triple H and Chyna and he would win the WWF World Heavyweight Championship at the controversial 1997 Survivor Series.  Michaels and Triple H reformed DX in the late 2000’s.

The formation of DX vaulted Triple H to the main event and following Michaels’ sabbatical for four years due to injury he would take over the group.  Currently the COO, it is likely that Triple H might feel a little uncomfortable going in as a solo act but he is multi-time WWE Champion and Wrestlemania main eventer and he certainly belongs regardless of his position in the WWE.  He was ranked #4 on our latest list.

The New Age Outlaws formed in 1997 and would join D-Generation X after Wrestlemania XIV and would be multi-time tag team champions.  They provided necessary depth to the group and were the most over tag team in the late 1990’s. Currently, The Road Dogg works as a producer for the WWE and Gunn is with AEW as an agent.  We had them ranked as a pair at #48.  

X-Pac also joined DX the night after Wrestlemania XIV.  Previously wrestling in the WWF as the 123 Kid, Sean Waltman competed as Syxx in WCW but was fired from the company primarily due to injuries.  It would prove to be a bad move by WCW as X-Pac would have the best run of his career as a member of DX.  He was ranked #75 on our latest list.

Garnering most of the attention of this announcement is the induction of Chyna. It was well known that she was pining for an induction before her death and in previous interviews Triple H stated that she was not inducted due to her history in porn.  By putting her in with the group it does take a little of the luster off if it but this is a deserving candidate regardless of how you look at it.  She was ranked #64 on our list.

This group will remove five people off our Notinhalloffame.com list, which will be updated after Wrestlemania.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the newest members of the WWE Hall of Fame.

As is tradition every NBA All Star Weekend, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announces the Finalists for their impending Hall of Fame Class.

The Finalists are:

Hugh Evans (Referee):  Evans officiated nearly 2,000 regular season games and 170 playoff games in the NBA from 1972 to 2001.

Bill Fitch (Coach):  Fitch coached in the NBA for 25 seasons and he was named the Coach of the Year in 1976 and 1980.  In 1981, he would take the Boston Celtics to the NBA Championship.  

Marques Johnson (Player):  A five time All Star and First Team All NBA Selection in 1979, Marques Johnson was a champion at UCLA in 1975 and was named the National College Player of the Year in 1977.  He is ranked #29on Notinhalloffame.com.

Bobby Jones (Player):  Jones was named an All Defensive First Team player eight times (1977 to 1984) and was a member of the Philadelphia 76ers 1983 Championship Team.  Collegiately, Jones took the University of North Carolina to a Final Four in 1972.  He is ranked #14on Notinhalloffame.com. 

Sidney Moncrief (Player):A five time All Star (1982 to 1986), Sidney Moncrief was a two time NBA Defensive Player of the Year (1983 & 1984) was also an All-American at the University of Arkansas.  He is ranked #2 on Notinhalloffame.com.

Jack Sikma (Player):Sikma was chosen for seven straight All Star Games (1979 to 1985) and would help the Seattle SuperSonics win the NBA Championship in 1979.  He is ranked #3on Notinhalloffame.com. 

Eddie Sutton (Coach):Sutton is a four time National Coach of the Year (1977, 1978, 1986 & 1995) and he made history as the first coach to take four different schools to the National Tournament.  At present he is seventh all time in wins in the NCAA.

Ben Wallace (Player):  Wallace is a four time NBA Defensive Player of the Year (2002, 2003, 2005 & 2006) and a four time All Star (2003-06) would help the Detroit Pistons shock the world when they won the NBA Championship in 2004.  He is ranked #4on Notinhalloffame.com

Chris Webber (Player):  The leader of Michigan’s “Fab Five” would become a five time All Star (1997, 2000, 2001, 2002 & 2003) and a two time First Team All-NBA Selection.  He is ranked #1 on Notinhalloffame.com.

Paul Westphal (Player):  Westphal would help the Boston Celtics win the NBA Championship in 1974 and would later be chosen for five NBA All Star Games (1977-81) and earned three First Team All NBA Selections (1977, 1979 & 1980).  He is ranked #15 on Notinhalloffame.com.

The Women’s Committee Finalists are:

Leta Andrews (Coach):  Andrews coached high school basketball for over 50 years and would win multiple championships at that level.

Barbara Stevens (Coach):  Stevens is a veteran of college coaching for over 40 years and she has been a Division II National Coach of the Year five times and was a National Champion in 2014 with Bentley University.

Teresa Weatherspoon (Player):  A five time WNBA All Star (1999-2003), Weatherspoon was also a two time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year.   She was also a champion in the NCAA (Louisiana Tech 1988) and the Olympics (United States 1988)

The Naismith Class of 2019 will be announced during the Final Four.

With Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Chris Bosh and Kevin Garnett on the horizon this is the year that the former players who are Finalists this year need to get enshrined for fear of a much longer waiting period.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com will certainly be paying close attention to what transpires next at the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame!

Sad news emerged from the world of Pro Wrestling as former Heavyweight Champion, Pedro Morales passed away today at the age of 76.

From Puerto Rico, Morales began wrestling in 1959 at the age of 17 and went right to work performing on the midcard all across the country.  He would first emerge on the main event scene in Los Angeles for the WWA where he would win the promotion’s Heavyweight Championship by defeating The Destroyer in 1965.  L.A. would be his main base of operations for the next few years where he would be a multi-time tag team champion and would also venture north to San Francisco where he and Pepper Gomez would be the tag team champions there.  After California, Morales ventured further west to Hawaii where he would stay for two years winning their Heavyweight Championship twice while also winning the tag titles on multiple occasions, but it was his next move, which would be where he would become most famous.

Morales joined the WWWF in 1970 and early in 1971 he would defeat Freddie Blassie in a tournament final to win their version of the United States Title.  The reigning World Heavyweight Champion, Bruno Sammartino was getting tired and he needed a break and requested time off and he would lose the championship to Ivan Koloff, who was meant to be an interim champion as McMahon saw money in Morales who drew the fervent Puerto Rican fanbase of New York City and he would defeat Koloff to become the World Wide Wrestling Federation Heavyweight Champion that year.  

While Morales title reign did not eclipse Bruno’s both in popularity and tenure, the 1,027 days at the top of the WWWF cemented him as a huge name not just among the Latino community but the wrestling one at large.  Morales would top the title to Stan Stasiak in 1973 so that Bruno could reclaim it nine days later and the Puerto Rican would stay in the WWWF for a couple more years before departing.

In the next five years Morales would travel across the country starring in San Francisco, the AWA, Championship Wrestling from Florida and in New Japan.  He would win titles everywhere where he was often at the top of the card but in 1980 he would return the WWF where he was positioned as the number two face in the company.  He would team with Bob Backlund at the Shea Stadium Show and defeat the Wild Samoans for the WWF Tag Team Championship, which he would only hold for one day as the WWF had a rule in place that did not allow double champions (Backlund was the WWF World Heavyweight Champion at the time).  Later in 1980, Morales defeated Ken Patera to win the WWF Intercontinental Champion and would become the first recognized Triple Crown winner in the organization.  He would lose the IC Title to Don Muraco in 1981 but would win it back from him a year later only to eventually lose it back to Muraco.

Morales would perform in Puerto Rico the next two years before returning to the WWF for a two year stint in a midcard role.  He would retire in 1987 and would be inducted into the then named WWF Hall of Fame in 1995.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our condolences to the friends, family and fans of Pedro Morales