While we wish that this would get more publicity from the WWE, we love how they instituted the “Legacy Wing”, which honors major wrestling names from the past who did not necessarily participate in the WWE.
In the midst of the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony that took place last nights, other names have been added to the Legacy Wing in the Class of 2018, all of which will be removed from our Notinhalloffame.com WWE List, which will be updated next month.
The new members of the WWE Hall of Fame are:
El Santo who is arguably the most known and important Mexican wrestler of all-time.
Stan Stasiak, who was a former WWWF Heavyweight Champion who bridged the title between Pedro Morales and Bruno Sammartino’s second reign.
Lord Alfred Hayes, an accomplished wrestler in his own right but was known prior to his WWF run as a manager in the AWA. In the WWF, he was a commentator and announcer.
Jim Londos, a former NWA Heavyweight Champion and major draw in the 1930’s and 1940’s.
Sputinik Monroe, a mainstay in Memphis who helped bridge racial divides in the city.
Dara Singh, an important figure in Indian wrestling history who would become a megastar in film and television as well as later becoming a politician in his native country.
Boris Malenko, a famed territorial wrestler who would later become one of the top trainers. He is the father of Dean Malenko.
Cora Combs, a female wrestler from the 1940’s and 1950’s.
Hiro Matsuda, a Japanese wrestler who performed throughout the territories and would later be known as one of the top trainers. His students included Hulk Hogan and Lex Luger.
We here at Notinhalloffame.com are thrilled that this process is continuing and are hopeful that one day we will see a physical presence honoring these great past performers.
A major announcement took place in the world of the National Hockey League as the Sedin twins of the Vancouver Canucks have announced their impending retirement at the end of the regular season.
Through clever maneuvering in the 1999 Draft the Canucks were able to draft Henrik and Daniel Sedin first and second overall to create the backbone of the franchise for the next seventeen years. While they did not join the NHL right away (they elected to play one more season professional in Sweden) they would slowly become an elite scoring tandem in the biggest professional league in hockey.
Playing Centre and Left Wing on the same line respectively, both Sedins will retire with over 1,000 career Points, which while it does not put them in the top 40 all-time in scoring is more than Hall of Fame worthy in the current era. The Hall of Fame also looks at the trophy case and with that the Sedins are more than adequately qualified.
In the 2009-10 season, Henrik Sedin won the Hart Trophy and the Art Ross. No player who has ever won both ever failed to get into the Hall. Throw in two First Team All Star selections and a King Clancy Award and the mantle seems stocked for Henrik.
Daniel Sedin may never have won a Hart Trophy, but in the 2010-11 season he won the Lester B. Pearson Award, which is the MVP award as voted on by the players. That year he was also an Art Ross Trophy winner and a First Team All Star.
In can’t be forgotten that the Hockey Hall of Fame considers international accomplishments. The Sedins were Gold Medalists in the 2006 Olympics and Silver Medalists in the 2014 Games. They were also Gold Medalists in the 2013 World Championships.
To be clear, the Sedins only said that they were retiring from the NHL and did not say whether or not they would continue to play in Europe. Should they do so, their Hall of Fame clock does not begin as the institution recognizes competitive play in Europe and deems those players active. As such, we will wait to see what transpires before we
Regardless it seems unlikely that the Sedins won’t get in immediately and will likely go in together.
We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Henrik and Daniel Sedin on a wonderful career in the National Hockey League and wish them the best in the post NHL career.
Recently we uploaded our updated Notinhalloffame.com Rock List. We have another major update as our Baseball list has now been altered following the selection of six new members entering the elite halls of Cooperstown.
Six former players left our list, four via the vote (Chipper Jones #3, Jim Thome #6, Vladimir Guerrero #9 and Trevor Hoffman #20) and two from the Veteran’s Committee (Jack Morris #11 and Alan Trammell #12). This clears up both the top portion of our list but the Hall of Fame voter’s ballot, which should allow for others who have been waiting to enter the Hall.
While four major names left the Hall of Fame ballot the voters have some new names to consider, three of which are in our new top ten with another making our top twenty.
Our new top ten is as follows:
The #1 position is actually split in three, which is how we have done this since the inception of our Baseball list. As Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson are not eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame, we have deemed them both “1A” and 1B”.
This means that Roger Clemens who is ranked “1C” is the highest eligible player. This is where he was ranked last year.
Barry Bonds remains at #2. Two years ago, Bonds held Clemens’ spot but your votes brought the switch. Regardless, we feel that both Clemens and Bonds are Hall of Famers.
The highest debut this year is Mariano Rivera, the greatest (no, we will not say arguably) reliever of all-time. The career New York Yankee enters our list at #3, but we suspect that he will enter the Hall on his first ballot.
Mike Mussina remains at #4. While he continues to gain support his name is a low-key in comparison to other candidates.
Another Pitcher debuts in the top five in the late Roy Halladay. The former two time Cy Young winner won 203 Games to only 105 Losses and he led his league in bWAR for Pitchers four times.
Bill Dahlen dropped from #5 to #6 while Curt Schilling moved up one spot from #8 to #7. Schilling traded spots with Manny Ramirez, who was #7 last year.
The top ten is rounded out by Lou Whitaker who moved from #10 to #9 and new entry Todd Helton is #10.
Another significant new entry is Andy Pettitte. The five time World Series winner debuts in #15.
There are three more entries with Lance Berkman #89, Miguel Tejada #95 and Roy Oswalt #104.
With these changes we now have 106 ranked former baseball players with our eventual intention to swell the number to 150.
You know what we want you to do!
Take a look at these new entries cast your votes and gives us your opinions as this does affect our future rankings.
While the majority of the inductees was leaked two days ago the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame has officially announced the Class of 2018.
The Class is:
Jason Kidd, a ten time All Star and former NBA Champion with the Dallas Mavericks in 2011 and two time U.S. Olympic Champion. Kidd retired second all-time in Assists and Steals and is a five time Assists Champion. He is also a five time First Team All-NBA and four time First Team All-Defensive Selection. He is likely to be the headliner for the class.
Another Point Guard, Steve Nash was also chosen. Born in South Africa and raised in Canada Nash is a two time NBA MVP. He also boasts eight All Star Game appearances, five Assists titles and a three time First Team All-NBA Selection.
Ten time All Star Ray Allen also enters the Hall. From UConn where he was a former National Player of the Year, Allen would win two NBA Titles and is the all-time leader in three pointers.
Coincidentally, Jason Kidd’s Co-Rookie of the Year winner, Grant Hill also was chosen. Hill was a two time NCAA Champion at Duke and was a seven time All Star in the NBA. He is also a one time First Team and four time Second Team All-NBA Selection.
In what could be pegged as a mild surprise, four time All Star Maurice Cheeks will also be inducted. The former Point Guard was a four time First Team All-Defensive Selection and was a champion with the Philadelphia 76ers in 1973.
Katie Smith is the all-time leading scorer in Women’s Professional Basketball through her career in the ABL and the WNBA. She is also a three time U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist and a two time WNBA Champion with the Detroit Shock.
Four time WNBA Champion with the Houston Comets and two time U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist Tina Thompson was also chosen. Thomson was a nine time WNBA All Star and is one of the most dominating female players of all-time.
Retired College Coach Lefty Driesell will be entering the Hall as well. Currently 11th all-time in Wins, Driesell has a 786-394 record and coached at Maryland, Davidson, James Madison and Georgia State. He would take the Terrapins to a NIT Championship in 1972.
Rod Thorn enters as a Direct Elect Contributor. A decent player in his own right, Thorn was the General Manager for the Chicago Bulls for six years and was the man responsible for drafting Michael Jordan. He would later serve as the NBA’s Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations and would later win the Executive of the Year while with the New Jersey Nets in 2002.
Rick Welts also enters as a Direct Elect Contributor. Welts is the current President and Chief of Operations for the Golden State Warriors. Previously he worked for the NBA and is credited for the creation of the NBA All Star Weekend and the marketing of the 1992 U.S. Dream Team.
Charlie Scott is this year’s Direct Elect Veteran. Scott was the 1971 ABA Rookie of the Year and was a two time ABA All Star and three time NBA All Star. He also won an NBA Title with the Boston Celtics in 1976.
Entering the Hall as the Direct Elect International inductee is Dino Radja. Radja played three and a half years for the Celtics, but in Europe he was a two time EuroLeague Champion and a EuroLeague Final Four MVP (1989). He also won two Silver Medals in the Olympics for Yugoslavia as well as a Gold Medal in the 1990 World Cup.
Ora Mae Washington was also chosen. More known for her tennis she played Basketball throughout the 1930’s and early 40’s where she was considered one of the greatest female athletes of her day.
Of the Finalists, Chris Webber was the most notable name not chosen.
With this announcement we will begin work on the revised Notinhalloffame Basketball List, which will reflect the subtraction of the new inductees and the addition of those who will now be eligible next year.
We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2018.