With his chiseled physique and arrogant demeanor, “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff was a top contender for years in the WWF and sold out stadiums and arenas during his run with Hulk Hogan. Orndorff was a natural athlete who was at his best when drawing heat from sell out crowds. He was still a very viable competitor well into his 40’s in WCW, and this was with a severely atrophied arm.
Many a Rock Star likely grew up with dreams of becoming one. In the case of the Replacements, we wonder if they dreamed about how to screw it up.
The main antagonist of the Rock and Wrestling Wars, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper could outtalk anyone in wrestling and frankly did just that. Fans shelled out good money to see Piper get his butt handed to him and he always found a way to escape harm and brag on television the next week. If Hulk Hogan was the biggest star for the WWF in the mid 80’s, Roddy Piper wasn’t far behind. This was another MUST induction for the WWE Hall of Fame.
One of the most naturally powerful wrestlers ever, Nikolai Volkoff escaped from the Communist Yugoslavia to the United States. Although he wasn’t Russian, he portrayed an evil Soviet competitor with more realism than anyone else ever could. Although most wrestling fans saw him when he was older, Volkoff was actually quite agile in his younger days and even though he was not in his prime during the Rock and Wrestling days, his singing of the Soviet National Anthem prior to every match allowed him to be a successful heel for years.
The next choice generated more debate from us in terms of their genre and not so much in terms of the band itself. Mötley Crüe was one of the many Metal bands to come out of L.A., but they were likely the band most closely associated with Hair Metal, and the debate we had is just how worthy that genre is.
Anyone who has heard the Iron Sheik lately should be amazed that there was no set incident during his induction speech from 2005. All jokes aside, the Iron Sheik may have been a surprise WWF World Heavyweight Champion when he defeated Bob Backlund, but the Sheik brought to wrestling a very legitimate amateur background that he parlayed into a fluid wrestling game. Excellent on promos, the Iron Sheik was easily among the best rule breakers of his day.
It is common on this list to talk about how important being a great live act is. Perhaps there is no other group on this list that had their career defined by that strength than Cheap Trick; whose take on Power Pop made them a must see attraction in the late 70’s.
After the infamous Montreal Screwjob, this was an induction that appeared could never happen. But as they say, “anything can happen in wrestling”, and time appeared to heal the deepest of wounds. Bret “Hit Man” Hart would become a five time WWE World Heavyweight Champion and the greatest technician of his day. He was an amazing in ring story teller, and his quiet brand of cool captured the imagination of fans. As much as fans thought that Bret’s induction would never come, you can believe they are all glad that it did.
If “Don’t Fear the Reaper” comes on the radio, can you hear that song without thinking “More Cowbell”? Many in the current generation can’t, which is a bit of a shame as The Blue Oyster Cult deserves to be remembered for more than that Saturday Night Live skit.
He was showered with “Beach Bum” chants through out the bulk of his WWE career, but Don “The Magnificent” Muraco was anything but lazy. Muraco was as entertaining as he was talented and the former two time Intercontinental Champion always put on a good show. Considered by many of his peers as one of the true good guys of the industry, many fellow wrestlers were happy to see him inducted.