Committee Chairman
Jake Roberts to the WWE HOF
Tonight on Monday Night RAW Jake “The Snake” Roberts has been named the second inductee to the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2014. Roberts; career began in 1974, and he would find success by the early 80’s in the Georgia Territory, as well as a successful run for Bill Watts in Mid South.
In early 1986, he made the jump to the World Wrestling Federation, though this time he was not just billed as “The Snake”, he carried one with him to the ring. On the May edition of Saturday Night’s Main Event, Jake entered into his first feud in the WWF when he DDT’s Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat. Roberts may have been the “bad guy” in the rivalry but slowly the fans wanted to cheer him.
It was not just the reptile that made him different. Jake was a master psychologist in the ring and was able to toy with emotions of the fans with ease. He eschewed the standard yelling that wrestlers did in interviews in favor of an ominous and soft spoken word. It was chilling and it forced viewers to turn up the volume rather than turn it down; basically he made you pay attention!
Roberts would turn “face” by the will of the fans and would have high level feuds with the Honky Tonk Man, “Ravishing” Rick Rude, Andre The Giant, Ted DiBiase and Rick Martel and return to as a methodical heel when he turned on Randy “Macho Man” Savage.
His first run in the WWF ended in 1992, after which he had a short stint in WCW, main eventing the Halloween Havoc Pay Per View and setting a buy rate record for the company at the time. Due to cutbacks, he left WCW shortly after and worked in regionals and in Mexico before returning to the WWF in 1996, where this time he lasted a year and a half, but was released after his issues with substance abuse returned.
The last ten years, fans awaited the news of his death as he was often doing appearances in no condition to work, and his segment in the wrestling documentary; “Beyond the Mat” was horrifying. Thankfully, with the help of Diamond Dallas Page, “The Snake” has kicked the demons that plagued for decades and on “Old School RAW” he made a surprise and triumphant return to the WWE, fueling speculation that the WWE would be ready to induct him feeling that he finally had gotten his life in order.
Jake will be inducted along with the Ultimate Warrior in New Orleans, the night before Wrestlemania XXX.
Omar Vizquel to the Indians HOF
The Cleveland Indians have announced that former Shortstop, Omar Vizquel, will become the 40th member of their club’s Hall of Fame. He will not be going in alone as they will posthumously induct long time broadcaster, Jimmy Dudley.
Vizquel played for the Indians between 1994 and 2004. He was named to three All Star Games and won eight Gold Glove Awards while playing in Cleveland. He would have a WAR of 30.1 with 1,616 Hits and 279 Stolen Bases there.
He may be a fringe Cooperstown Hall of Fame player, but he does deserve merit in the Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame and we congratulate him on this accolade.
A ceremony for Vizquel and Dudley will take place on June 21st, prior to their game against the Detroit Tigers.
Chuck Knoblauch to the Twins HOF
The Minnesota Twins have announced their latest entrant into their Hall of Fame. Chuck Knoblauch who played Second Base for Minnesota from 1991 to 1997 is the latest addition to their institution which began in 2000.
Knoblauch was a very productive player for Minnesota. He was the 1991 American League Rookie of the Year and won the World Series that year. Four times, he would be selected to the All-Star Game, contributing 1,197 Hits with a .304 Batting Average, 276 Stolen Bases and won two Silver Slugger Awards. He would have a 37.8 WAR as a Twin.
His time in Minnesota ended badly as he requested a trade incurring the wrath of the wins fans. He would win three World Series with his new team, The New York Yankees, but he was never again an All Star, and his defensive skills appeared to leave him completely necessitating a move to Leftfield. Knoblauch was heckled mercilessly upon his return to the Twin Cities and appeared unlikely that he would ever be forgiven.
Saying all of this, Knoblauch was a star while in Minnesota and his contributions while playing with the Twins were worthy of this accolade. The ceremony will take place before a game against the Detroit Tigers on August 23.
Coming soon this winter
The 2014 Rock and Roll Revisions in three weeks
The 2014 Baseball Revisions in six weeks
The 2014 Football Revisions in eight weeks
However, that is not all. Revising existing lists are great, but we want to keep growing and create more Pop Culture debate for all of you.
We have been very pleased with the reaction to the Fictitious Athlete Hall of Fame.
So...what comes next? Why the Fictitious Rock and Roll Hall of Fame of course! In the month of March, it will be up to all of you to determine who should be in the first class of the Fictitious Rock Hall, which is only decided by the public and not a bunch of stuffy Rock and Roll critics.
As always, we will continue to expand our site, and as always, we want your input as to what to do next!