WWE
Compared to the other Halls of Fame that we discuss on our website, this one is hands down the most fun and the hardest to calculate. Keep in mind, that there is no actual WWE Hall of Fame where fans can go and see their heroes. There are no set criteria to get in the WWE Hall of Fame. Wins and losses don’t exactly matter when the matches are predetermined. It does not even seem to matter if you even wrestled for the WWE as some of their inductees never drew a paycheck from Stamford. This is as subjective as they come so with that we made a criterion of our own which did incorporate (in no particular order) impact, ability, innovation championships won, legacy and their use in the WWE. The only two rules we set was that the wrestler in question was not currently an active competitor on a full-time basis unless that wrestler was 46 or over. Once a wrestler becomes 46 that individual moves from the Futures to the Main List at the time of revision.Until Then, Whatcha gonna do when Notinhalloffame.com runs wild on you!
Sincerely,
The Not in Hall of Committee.
It is hard to argue that most of the wrestlers we spoke of loved the wrestling business. Tojo Yamamoto loved it so much; he took his own life when he could no longer be a part of it. Yamamoto was another Hawaiian born wrestler who wrapped himself in the Japanese flag to get heel heat. Tojo never reached the big…
His only American run as “Loch Ness” came nearly twenty years past his prime, but that prime saw him as one of the biggest draws in England and was possibly the largest worker of his day. Giant Haystacks became an International star, though he failed to gain any real foothold in North America. The question with one of the heaviest…
Unlike other Japanese American wrestlers of the 1970’s, Dean Higuchi did not wrestle as a foreign heel bedecked in rising sun paraphernalia. Rather, His last name was replaced with Ho (an obvious play on popular Hawaiian singer, Don Ho) and he wrestled as a good guy for the bulk of his career. Ho would use technical skill, power and martial…
(“Flyboy” Rocco Rock & Johnny Grunge) Although it is hard to disagree that the WWE tenure of the Public Enemy was not a complete failure, “Flyboy” Rocco Rock and Johnny Grunge were the first true homegrown stars of Paul Heyman’s ECW. In many ways they were the guys who set the tone of the Philadelphia based promotion and were responsible…
A capable Canadian wrestler who competed in numerous territories, Billy “Red” Lyons became best known to Canadian audiences as the host of Maple Leaf Wrestling. He worked behind the scenes for the WWF, and was a decent broadcaster. Any Canadian wrestling fan growing up in the Greater Toronto Area remembers Lyon’s “Don’t You Dare Miss It” catch phrase inviting fans…
In terms of pure wrestling talent, in the early 1980’s there were few who could hold a candle to Jaguar Yokota, who was a top female Japanese wrestler. Yokota was not just a multi-time champion, but a trailblazer in terms of female athleticism. As she was never known in the United States, her chances here are weak, but guaranteed that…
Capitalizing on the MMA push of the late 1990’s, The WWF brought in “The Lethal Weapon” Steve Blackman who may have lacked personality but made up for it in bad assery. (yes we know that isn’t a word) Blackman would be one of the bright lights of the Hardcore division and probably deserves a higher place in terms of WWE…
A former World Champion from the 1930’s, Ed Don George was a former Olympian in the 1928 Games. He was a recognized World Champion in both Europe and the United States and following his career he would become a successful promoter in both the U.S. and in Cuba.
Oh boy…While we can all agree (except for Vince Russo himself) that he accelerated the demise of WCW and did nothing to help TNA, Vince Russo was one of the men who helped usher in a new attitude in the WWF and did assist them in winning the Monday Night Wars.
Brian Adams was brought in as “Crush” to replace an ailing Ax in Demolition. The last incarnation of Demolition just wasn’t the same, but Brian Adams would remain tied to the WWE for years after with various incarnations of the Crush gimmick and had a stable role in mid card feuds. He was big enough to work as a monster…
It defied logic, but the Jamaican born Dory Dixon became a major star in Texas and Mexico in the squared circle. He was a bodybuilder in his native country but during a meet in Mexico, he fell in love with the culture and stayed. With his physique, he was given a chance in EMLL and would be given the NWA…
Chris Candido may have been a former WWE Tag Team Champion but he was really shackled with the role of “Skip”, a fitness fanatic. Candido was far better (and more comfortable) wrestling under his own name and displaying the skills that he was a natural to do. His best work was in ECW, where he labeled himself “No Gimmicks Needed”…
The burly French Canadian, Jos LeDuc terrorized fans and opponents with his burly lumberjack persona for years.
George “Crybaby” Cannon made his mark as a wrestler with his immense size. He excelled as a manager, and was best known as the mouthpiece for the Fabulous Kangaroos and other duos. His ability to make his sweat look like tears earned him the “Crybaby” moniker and allowed him to draw heat. He booked, wrote and hosted programs and lived…
For decades, most wrestling fans got their information from the “Apter Mags”, namely the publications from Bill Apter. While those magazines maintained “kayfabe”, they were a major part of the life of wrestling fans and the WWE does use many of the pictures that Apter himself took today. While he never worked for the WWE, this could be a real…
Many mean Texas cowboys have populated the world of professional wrestling. Chances are fans of the WWF of the late 80’s, may remember “The Outlaw” Ron Bass who was one of the few heels in the large promotion to go without a manager at a time when even the best heel talkers were accompanied to the ring by somebody. Bass…
By the time Angelo Savoldi entered the World Wide Wrestling Federation in the 60’s, he was at the tail end of his career and did not exactly have a stellar won/loss record for what would become the largest wrestling promotion in the world as he was mainly used to wrestle in the undercard. However, after a solid run in the…
It felt that for a decade that Jun Akiyama was always in the shadow, and it was true as he competed in All Japan where Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi, Akira Taue and Stan Hansen dominated throughout the 1990’s. This isn’t to say that he didn’t have his moments, as Akiyama received title shots at the Triple Crown and had a…
The WWE run of Christopher Daniels was not exactly impressive. “The Fallen Angel” was regulated to tryout matches and C-Level shows but the charismatic figure would become a major force on the indy scene and as of this writing remains a fixture in Ring of Honor. Should Daniels ever find himself as a coach for the WWE, this is an…
We may have two Andersons ranked higher, but it is Gene Anderson who A: Actually is an Anderson and B: really was from Minnesota. Gene Anderson was an incredible tag team wrestler who along with his kayfabe brothers (Lars & Ole) captured numerous tag team straps in the Mid Atlantic and Georgia territories. He was a tough no-nonsense grappler whose…