Committee Chairman

A.J. Lee Retires

Apr 05, 2015

It was a bit of surprise (or maybe not really) that former WWE Diva’s Champion, A.J. Lee abruptly announced her decision to retire from professional wrestling. Lee had teamed with Paige at last week’s Wrestlemania to defeat the Bella Twins and is a former three time WWE Divas Champion.

A.J. signed with the WWE in 2009 after a successful indy run and would be assigned to Florida Championship Wrestling, the then developmental territory for the WWE. Lee would win the “Queen of FCW” and FCW Divas title but would be called up to participate in the third season of NXT, which was an all female season. With Primo as her “Pro”, A.J. would finish third in the competition and would embark on a tag team with fellow diva, Kaitlyn and would become a fixture on the main roster as the on screen girlfriend of Daniel Bryan.

This would lead to a high profile run where she became “unstable” and worked programs with John Cena, Kane, CM Punk and Dolph Ziggler and would win the first of three Divas Titles, and was regarded by many as the best female wrestler in the WWE.

At the age of 28, this may seem like an abrupt retirement, but the signs were there that Lee would leave the WWE and professional wrestling. She married CM Punk in real life, who had been burned out by the business and had left the industry fifteen months ago and is now pursuing a career with UFC. Lee, when accepting the WWE Diva of the year last December, which sounded like a farewell. She also made headlines when confronting Stephanie McMahon about equal pay on Twitter, when she responded to Patricia Arquette’s equal pay speech on the Academy Awards. She has also been off a lot this past year mending past injuries.

Lee is only 28 years old and could easily come back and we will hold off on ranking her on the Notinhalloffame.com WWE list, but will create a profile for her on the Futures List.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com wish A.J. the best of luck and look forward to see what she is up to next!

Houston Antwine to the Patriots HOF

Apr 03, 2015

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

Regular visitors to our website know that we will be launching in 2016 our fourth section which will discuss and rank the North American franchises from the four major leagues (MLB, NHL, NBA & NFL) and how they honor their past players and contributors.

With that in mind, it was announced by the New England Patriots Hall of Fame that former player, Houston Antwine has been inducted into their Hall by the Senior Committee.

Antwine would join the Patriots in 1961 where the Defensive Lineman was an eight round pick out of Southern Illinois. Antwine would make the All Star team in 1963 and would be chosen as an All Star five more times and would play 142 games for the Patriots. He would be chosen for the All Time AFL Team.

Antwine passed away in 2011 and is the second man inducted by the New England Patriots Hall of Fame Senior Committee. He will be joined by another “regular” finalist, which will be announced on April 16.

The New England Patriots are easily one of the better organization in North American sports in regards to how they honor their past players.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the family of Houston Antwine for receiving this accolade.

McCartney got Ringo inducted?

Apr 01, 2015

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

Ringo Starr told Entertainment Tonight that he will be entering the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame because of Paul McCartney.

“They were all surprised that I wasn’t in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and (Paul) talked to somebody and they’re going to put me in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and he’s going to give me away like I’m the bride and I will accept.

With a little help from my friends, indeed.

Starr will be inducted via the Award of Musical Excellence, and was not one of the nominees last year or any other year. This particular award was designed to not have any specifics as to who would be honored as the Hall states that this award “honors musicians, songwriters and producers who have spent their life creating important and memorable music. Their originality, impact and influence have changed the course of music history.”

With that ambiguity, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame can seemingly induct anyone without any real criteria, and many felt (including us) that the induction of Ringo Starr on his solo work was crowbarred in. This latest comment from Starr, makes it sound like this is done as a favor to McCartney, which had also been speculated on, and again by us.

While Starr did have significant chart success as a solo performer, he is not held in the same regard as the other three Beatles and was not perceived by many to be a snub for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Regardless, we here at Notinhalloffame.com will be watching the Hall of Fame ceremony, even if it is not exactly a dream class in our eyes.

WWE HOF Weekend

Mar 29, 2015

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

The WWE Hall of Fame has come a long way hasn’t it?

While they have yet to create a physical Hall of Fame, the profile has been raised immensely and has been a tool to mend fences with past performers. As part of Wrestlemania weekend, the Hall of Fame ceremony has become not just a huge part of the festivities but a vital part of the Wrestlemania experience. Seriously, can you imagine a Wrestlemania without it?

Last night gave us another great Hall of Fame night, and considering that many felt (including us) that it was an underwhelming class, it was a magical night.

The Usos gave a humorous tribute their father, Rikishi, who was a former Intercontinental and Tag Team Champion in the WWE. Rikishi spoke of being part of the legendary Anoi’a family and the legacy that the Samoans have had in wrestling. Fittingly, Rikishi danced his way off the stage.

Larry Zbyszko was inducted by Bruno Sammartino, his mentor and friend who he headlined Shea Stadium with 1980. “The Living Legend” was a former WWWF Tag Team Champion, AWA World Heavyweight Champion and WCW Tag Team and Television Champion. Zbyszko, who for years had been open about his hatred towards Vince McMahon in the past, gave a great speck and summed up how he was happy to be just a wrestling fan again.

Alundra Blayze was inducted by Natalya, which was not a bad choice as she is arguably the most talented female performer on the WWE roster. Blayze addressed the elephant in the room about how she threw away the WWE Championship in a trashcan on an episode on WCW Nitro. It was a fun speech and definitely one signifying female empowerment.

Dana Warrior, the widow of the Ultimate Warrior came out to present the “Warrior Award”, the first inductee of which was Connor Michalak, an eight year old superfan of the WWE who died of paediatric brain cancer. Michalak touched the hearts of the WWE roster and especially Daniel Bryan, who thanked him immediately in the stands after he won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestlemania last year. Bryan was then brought out and after his speech he introduced Connor’s father, Steve Michalak who did a great job considering he had never spoke publically before.

John Laurinatis came out to introduce the Luke Williams and Butch Miller, The Bushwhackers. The New Zealand tag team had a relatively speaking short speech, but touched comically on how they felt they would not be considered good looking enough to be good guys in the WWF.

Ric Flair came out to induct former WWF Junior Heavyweight Champion, NWA Champion and IWGP Champion, Tatsumi Fujinami. Fujinami, who has limited english, gave a brief speech, but considering how the WWE views themselves as a global brand, this was a nice way to continue that evolution.

Hulk Hogan came out next to induct Randy “Macho Man” Savage. Considering how the acrimonious relationship that the two had for over ten years, it was a bit of a curious choice, but considering that the two were at one time great friends and great in ring rivals, the two are intertwined. Lanny Poffo, Randy’s brother came out to accept the award and gave a nice speech honouring his late sibling.

Triple H inducted Arnold Schwarzenegger, this year’s celebrity inductee. The “Governator” spoke about the bond between bodybuilders and wrestlers and it was clear the affection and respect he had for the WWE.

The final inductee of the night was former WWF and WCW World Champion, Kevin Nash, who was inducted by Shawn Michaels, the man who he acted as a bodyguard for two years for when he debuted in the WWF. As expected, Nash gave a very entertaining speech and as was also expected, the fellow members of the clique (Sean Waltman, Scott Hall and Triple H) came out to close the show.

As you can expect, we here at Notinhalloffame.com will be updating our WWE list shortly.

We have already made the internal revisions and will be unveiling the next list in roughly three to four weeks.