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.
Known for his “cast iron stomach”, Pepper Gomez was a major force in California and in Texas and competed up and down the card. Physically, Gomez was ahead of his time and was built like a concrete sculpture, not typical of the wrestlers of his era. His feuds with Ray Stevens are still stuff of San Francisco legend.
From North Carolina, Shane Helms was a top flyer in southern independents. When the Hardy Boys broke through in the WWF, WCW countered by signing Helms and his friend, Shannon Moore, and placing them with Evan Karagias, and the three became 3 Count, a parody of boy bands. Helms would later be the breakout star of the trio, winning the Cruiserweight Title…
WCW was way ahead of the curve in terms of developing a cruiserweight division, and the WWE was far behind. In 1997, they tried to rectify that, and TAKA Michinoku became the centerpiece of that movement. Michinoku wrestled in his native Japan, making a mark for himself in FMW and Michinoku Pro, and it gave him the springboard to go to…
With her blend of beauty, strength and personality, Lisa Marie Varon portrayed “Vicotria” in the WWE, and though she was successful in the Women’s division, she probably could have done a lot more if she was given the right opportunity. Still, her athletic skills allowed her to shine in the ring; when permitted of course.
A constant performer in NWA Hollywood, Victor Rivera was a wrestler who appealed to the Hispanic demographic based not only on his race, but a decent workrate and likable personality. Rivera was a multi-time champion in Los Angeles in both singles and tag teams.
(Noriyo Tateno & Itsuki Yamazaki)It is not argued that there were not athletic women in wrestling before the Jumping Bomb Angels; there most certainly was. However, this was this female Japanese duo that became showcase moves that were not seen on American television before; by either men or women! They were able to get over with the WWF audience despite…
A lot of people only remember General Adnan as the Iraqi mouthpiece of Sgt. Slaughter during the former G.I. Joe pitchman’s run as an Iraqi sympathizer. Adnan didn’t wrestle much during that final National run, but that wasn’t his role at the time. With that said, Adnan wrestled a lot more in the past than most people realized.
The majority of wrestling fans who remember seeing King Curtis Iaukea would remember him as the mouthpiece for Kamala during his 1987 run and later as the figurehead leader of the unintentionally comical Dungeon of Doom in the mid 90’s. Prior to his managing stint, Iaukea was one of the most feared wrestlers and wreaked havoc in various promotions in…
Form many years, Willie Gilzenberg was the President of the World Wide Wrestling Federation, but this was not a “figurehead” President like Jack Tunney was in the 80’s and 90’s. This guy really was the President!
Robert Fuller’s biggest national exposure was as the heel manager, Col. Robert Parker in WCW, but fans in Tennessee had watched Robert Fuller for well over fifteen years prior in the ring. As the “Tennessee Stud”, Fuller ran rough shot throughout the South and even had a hand running the Continental Promotion for a spell. Should Fuller ever get a…
Another Japanese wrestler who is not well known to North American audiences (although he did have many matches here in the 70’s), Riki Choshu also was one of the top stars in Japan and was a constant fixture in the Heavyweight ranks there for decades.
Red Bastien was one of the better natural athletes of his day and according to his peers was one of the most pure talents. Bastien would win multiple championships across the country and bring merriment to every locker room he was in. Bastien’s travels also brought him to the WWWF in the 60’s and was featured on Madison Square Garden…
Although we kind of found the “Skinner” character a guilty pleasure, it was hardly a reflection of the great career of Steve Keirn.
Before “Stone Cold” Steve Austin was chugging beer on Monday Night Raw, there was the Sandman. He didn’t just drink beer; he took the empty can and smashed his forehead with it, often drawing blood. He also entered the ring smoking a cigarette with a kendo stick in hand, the latter of which would often find its way into his…
Quite often in the 1980’s, the WWE was able to take regional stars and break them into a National audience. Dick Slater was not one of those fortunate ones, as the “E” totally whiffed on him turning him into a happy redneck nicknamed “The Rebel”. Outside of Stamford, Slater was at his best as a rough heel, and he headlined…
Antonio Pena had a good career as a professional wrestler in Mexico where he performed in the mid-card and used multiple personas. His in-ring work was only a fraction of what he would become as he would have a genius like gift for showmanship and storylines and he would take over the booking role for EMLL. Pena was a large…
The in-ring career of John Laurinaitis (Johnny Ace) was better than he got credit for, as while he was a lower card wrestler in the NWA/WCW and one half of a lame tag team with Shane Douglas as the Dynamic Dudes, he emerged as an upper card wrestler, and a very good one with All Japan Wrestling.
There are many big men in wrestling and have been throughout its history. The Spoiler may be the first really tall wrestler to show incredible agility and would foreshadow that larger men could move like men half their size.
There are really two careers of Shirley Crabtree, the first where he was a giant chested heel who taunted the crowd with his strength and good looks. He did well, but it paled to what he did after his near decade sabbatical from the business. He returned with the same gigantic chest, though his midsection was considerably large too. He…
Arguably the man who put Quebec on the map in terms of Professional Wrestling, Yvon Robert was a star in the business for three decades and is a former NWA World Heavyweight Champion. Robert travelled across North America in his day and while he was based in Montreal, he would be known throughout the continent as a bona fide star.