Committee Chairman

Scott Hall to the WWE HOF

Mar 26, 2014

We never thought we would live to see the day that Scott Hall entered the WWE Hall of Fame. More accurately, we never thought that Scott Hall would live to see that day!

It was announced tonight on Monday Night RAW that he will be (what we expect) will be the final entrant to the 2014 Class. Hall had already achieved a level of success in the AWA, NWA and WCW when he entered the World Wrestling Federation in the summer of 1992, but it was there he took his game to the next level.

Rechristened “Razor Ramon” (which was a gimmick of his own creation), Hall was now a Cuban immigrant whose dialogue and character was influenced by the iconic 1983 film, Scarface. Ramon was never shown to be a drug dealer like Scarface was, but he did sport razors on his tights (a known implement for cocaine) and referred to himself as the “Bad Guy”.

Unlike in his previous promotions, Razor Ramon was a main event player, and following a face turn, he would become a four time Intercontinental Champion, in a period when that title was still valuable. His most famed title defence was at Wrestlemania X in New York City where in a Ladder Match he defeated Shawn Michaels. The work of Ramon and Michaels vaulted the Ladder Match into a staple of wrestling gimmick matches and one that proved to be difficult to top.

In 1996, along with Diesel (Kevin Nash), he moved back to WCW, only this time as a top star. He helped form the New World Order, which not only revolutionized wrestling, but took WCW to a front of the Monday Night Wars. Now using his own name, Scott Hall was the definition of a “cool heel”, a heel, whose actions were dastardly, but was someone who radiated an aura that you wanted to be a part of.

Unfortunately, it was around this time that alcohol and drug addiction began to be visually apparent. Hall was missing dates, and in a show of truly poor taste by World Championship Wrestling, his addictions were incorporated into the storylines. Hall’s problems became so bad, that he was finally taken off television, and he was not really seen until 2002, when the WWE revised the NWO, which he was a part off. He was only there for a few months, as again his demons caught up with him.

The past decade had not been kind to Scott Hall. His numerous mugshots have been in the pages of TMZ, and the WWE acknowledged that they have spent more on rehab for Hall than any other former talent. An ESPN piece two years ago chronicled his troubles, and those who saw it, witnessed an individual so troubled that they thought he would not last the year.

One of his former co-workers, Diamond Dallas Page, had developed a lifestyle system called “Yoga for Regular Guys”, which was far more than just a program to introduce Yoga to the uninitiated. It helped those who were suffering with weight and other issues get into regular shape; and Page reached out to Hall (as well as fellow 2014 Hall of Fame Inductee, Jake “The Snake” Roberts) and through the grace of God, he responded.

Scott Hall has sounded better and looked better than he has in the last seven years, and the WWE now feels confortable to induct a performer that they probably wanted to include years ago. We would like to formally congratulate Scott Hall for this accolade.

World Golf HOF changes induction procedures

Mar 25, 2014

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

When we started this website, we sought out someone to work on a Notinhalloffame.com Golf section. Upon finding someone, his response was quick:

“There is no point. The Golf Hall of Fame lets in everybody!”

Apparently, the institution based in St. Augustine, Florida came to same conclusion.

This year, there will be no inductees as the World Golf Hall of Fame has elected to revamp their induction procedures and resume induction in 2015. Instead of hundreds of writers, a sixteen person Selection Committee will now decide the future classes, with potential entrants being grouped into four distinct categories:

Mens Competitor

Women’s Competitor

Veterans

Lifetime Achievement

To receive induction, the nominees must get at least 75 percent of the ballot (at least 12 out of 16). In the past, there were people who earned a spot with under 50 percent of the ballot.

Many feel that these changes are necessary. Golf may be one of the most popular sports in the world, but the World Golf Hall of Fame has poor attendance. Furthermore, it is not an institution that is even held in high regard by many of the players, as they themselves do not visit the venue often.

Is it possible, that in a few years, that these changes will necessitate a Golf section on Notinhalloffame.com?

KISS and the RRHOF...Again.

Mar 21, 2014

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

Gang, we are going to try to make this the last article/editorial on KISS’s participation in the 2014 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

A few days ago, Joel Peresman, the CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame gave some insight as to why Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer would not be inducted:

Thayer and Singer “are fine musicians who basically have the same makeup and are the same characters that Ace and Peter started. It’s not like they created these other characters with different makeup and playing different songs. They took the persona of characters that were created by Ace and Peter.”

As expected, Paul Stanley had a rebuttal which was given on KISS’ official website:

“The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame continues to restore its questionable credibility and glimpses behind the façade with nonsense and half-truths. The truth is Joel Peresman and the rest of the decision makers refused to consider the induction of ANY former KISS members and specifically the late Eric Carr and Bruce Kilick who were both in the band through multi-platinum abums and worldwide tours and DIDN’T wear makeup.

There is no getting around the reality that the Hall of Fame’s favouritism and preferential treatment towards artists they like goes as far as ASKING the Grateful Dead how many members THEY wanted the hall to induct and following their directive while also including a songwriter who was never in the actual band.

Let’s just accept the truth as it is and move on.”

Polarizing sides isn’t it? The sad thing is both sides are one percent right…and one hundred percent wrong.

Peserman makes a valid point as Thayer and Singer have been performing in the last ten to fifteen years in the same get-up that Ace Frehley and Peter Criss created. KISS’s recording output over the last fifteen years had been sporadic and weak, and when in concert today, they plat 90 to 95 percent of 1970’s material; essentially the music popularized by the original foursome, thus rendering the creative contributions of Thayer and Singer to be minor at best and also rendering moot the point that Thayer and Singer appeared on Platinum selling albums, which again, they don’t play songs in during concert.

It should also be noted that legally, they are not even members of KISS; they are employees. By law, only Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley are members, and this was the case as far back as the late 90’s reunion tour, where Ace and Peter were employees.

Now, in regards to Paul Stanley’s comments, his claims about the Grateful Dead are true, and there have been numerous questionable instances where the Hall of Fame omitted people who had a solid contribution to the inducted band (Bob Welch of Fleetwood Mac for example), thus finding a discernable pattern is impossible; Basically the Hall does it wants, like Paul said.

Still, as we have written before, fans of the band are not exactly up in arms that Thayer and Singer were not included, and they more upset that a potential (and what could have been final) reunion of the four members on stage will not happen. That being said, when Rock and Roll Hall of Fame founder, Jann Wenner was on record as saying that KISS would not get into the Hall if “he had anything to say about it”, would you be accommodating in any way if you were Gene or Paul?

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame committee is largely made up of critics; most of which detest the style of music that KISS performs. The band has been eligible for the Hall since 1999, and had the Hall induct a band who they may not have respected, but had to acknowledge on their Rock and Roll legacy of the 1970’s alone, they probably would have gotten away with inducting only those four, as the tenure of Thayer and Singer would not have been an issue.

Of course, the real tradition of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, is the annual controversy that now comes with the ceremony itself, so why should this year be any different?

Now, we wonder how long we can go before bringing this topic up again!

The Basketball HOF to change induction procedures?

Mar 20, 2014

Published in Not in Hall of Fame News

We are only a few weeks away from the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announcement to complete their Class of 2014, and it looks like there will be might be changes coming to the process in 2016.

Currently, the Basketball Hall has five categories where one individual will bypass the voting process and receive automatic induction. They are the Contributors, ABA, Early African American Pioneer, International and Veterans. This was instituted in 2010, with the intention of finding those who may have “slipped through the cracks”. This process helped induct Artis Gilmore, Mel Daniels and Roger Brown; who may not have not been selected, had not been amended.

This is not to say that this changes is set in stone; at this point it is mostly based on speculation based on recent comments of Jerry Colangelo, who is the current Chairman of the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts:

“Let’s put it this way. This year, for the first time, we brought that up, to say, ‘You know, when we did this, we said it’s not forever.’ The concept was we felt people had slipped through the cracks. This was a catch-up kind of a thing, so we’re not locked in. We need now to review it each year, to say maybe we’ve taken care of what needed to be taken care of in this category or that category. But it’s just too early to say what we’re going to do.”

Colangelo indicated that if this were to take place; that it would not be next year.

This news did not receive much attention, which is an indicator of how little press the Basketball Hall of Fame receives. Much of this is due to the lack of knowledge in the general public as to what makes someone eligible for the Hall, and the watering down by putting an equal focus on collegiate accomplishments.

The potential changes do not mean that those people could not get inducted, as the proposal would place those people back to the previous platform where they would go through two ballots, but it would make the road to the Hall of Fame much more difficult.

We eagerly await to see what the Hall of Fame committee decides to do, though we know we are among the few who will be paying attention!