It is a sad day in the world of pro wrestling as it was announced this morning that Joe Laurinaitis, who performed as Road Warrior Animal passed away at the age of 60.  It was not revealed at this time how he died.

From Minnesota, Laurinaitis was trained to wrestle by Eddie Sharkey, who also mentored Rick Rude, Barry Darsow and Mike Hegstrand, who would later become Laurinaitis’ tag team partner.  Laurinaitis originally competed as the “Road Warrior” but he would paired with Hegstrand, where they would compete forever more as Animal and Hawk.

With their jacked-up bodies, studded leather outfits, and face paint, no other tandem looked like them.  

In 2011, along with the Hawk (posthumously) and Paul Ellering, Animal was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.  They cut their teeth in Georgia as the Road Warriors, destroying every team in sight.  They won the NWA National Tag Team Titles, and would later win the NWA World and AWA World Tag Team Titles in the 1980s. 

As phenomenal as they were, they often were not in tag title pictures, as they were a draw without the belts.  They main evented everywhere in the United States, and also in Japan, where they were just as popular.

The Road Warriors finally entered the WWF in 1990, and would win the Tag Team Titles, but they were no longer presented as the dominant team of old.  The 90s were turbulent for the team, as Hawk left Animal in 1992, and he sat out for a few years recovering his back.  The team reunited in WCW in 1996, but went back to the WWF, winning the belts again in 1997.  Hawk suffered from drug addiction (which was used in a tasteless angle) and the team only made sporadic appearances after.  

Hawk died in 2003, and Animal would return to the WWE as part of a new Legion of Doom with Heidenreich.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our condolences to the friends, fans and family of Joe Laurinaitis.

With Vice’s Dark Side of the Ring episode on the death of Owen Hart set to premiere tomorrow, Owen’s widow, Martha has been doing her media rounds. In an excellent interview with CBS Sports, she was asked about the possibility of Owen entering the WWE Hall of Fame, a hope that many WWE fans have been clamoring for.  She had this to say:

“There's always been this talk that, 'Oh, we want to put Owen in the Hall of Fame. "Their Hall of Fame? They don't even have a Hallway of Fame. It doesn't exist. There's nothing. It's a fake entity. There's nothing real or tangible. It's just an event they have to make money. They put it on TV and have a celebration, and it's just so ridiculous. I would never even entertain it. It's garbage.”

Hart is correct in that there is no physical building, and there are no plans at present to create one.  There are no set criteria for entry, and it is largely believed that Hall of Fame induction is based on the whims of their owner, Vince McMahon.  Her opinion is not hers alone, as wrestlers such as Scott Steiner has echoed similar sentiment.

Most WWE wrestlers past and present are open about their desire to be inducted, and it was not that long ago that Mick Foley lobbied hard for Vader to be enshrined before he passed away.  In his impassioned plea, he mentioned how much Vader himself wanted it to happen.  Mark Henry openly pleaded for Martha to allow it to happen, and Owen’s older brother Bret also believes he should be inducted.

Owen is currently ranked #7 on our Notinhalloffame WWE List, and when we first put up the list we knew Owen was not likely to ever get in. That seems like an impossibility now.

With all of the Hall of Fame related news being about the physical buildings shutting down, it is nice to talk about something else for a change.

In an interview with Tokyo Sports, Jushin “Thunder” Liger said that he will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.  This was confirmed by the WWE later today.

Born Keiichi Yamada, Liger made his debut in 1984, and after wrestling around the world, he took on the Liger persona in 1989.  Immediately, he took over the Junior Heavyweight division, and was renowned for his innovative high-flying style.

Liger would win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title eleven times, and would also with the unifying J-Crown in 1996.  Tournament wise, he won the Best of the Super Juniors three times. North American fans were treated to Liger in WCW, where he won the Light Heavyweight Title from Brian Pillman.

He officially retired from wrestling at this year’s Wrestle Kingdom show at the Tokyo Dome.

In the WWE umbrella, Liger only wrestled once.  He beat Tyler Breeze at one of their Takeover shows in 2015.

In our last update of the Notinhalloffame WWE list, Liger was ranked 28 of those to consider for the WWE Hall of Fame.

We will be revising out list after Wrestlemania (if it happens).

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Liger for obtaining this honor.

Last night on WWE Backstage, it was announced that John Bradshaw Layfield will be entering the WWE Hall of Fame this year.

After beginning his wresting career in 1992, Layfield signed with the WWE in 1995 as Justin “Hawk” Bradshaw, where the Texan was in full cowboy gimmick similar to Stan Hansen.  The character would see television time, but it was a lower-card gimmick that did nothing more than have a forgettable feud with Savio Vega.  

In early 1997, Bradshaw became “Blackjack Bradshaw” and formed the new Blackjacks with Barry Windham.  The team went nowhere, and Bradshaw would be a single again, though this time as a babyface.  He switched back to being a heel, this time forming a tag team with Faarooq and being part of the Undertaker’s Ministry of Darkness stable.  This was a winning tag team, and the Acolytes (their team name) would win the WWF World Tag Team Titles in May of 1999.  

Faarooq and Bradshaw stayed together for four years, and following the Undertaker’s sabbatical due to injury, the tandem became fan favorites as they morphed into cigar-shopping, beer-swilling, poker-playing tough guys for hire.  The fans responded, and they would win the tag titles two more times.  The tag team was broken up during the 2002 brand split, and Bradshaw was a mid-card face, who would win the Hardcore Title, but they were reunited a year later on the Smackdown brand.  

Around this time, Bradshaw became known for his investments, and would even have a book come out about it. The team would break up for good when Faarooq was put out to pasture by the WWE as an on-screen character, and Bradshaw would don a new character, that of John Bradshaw Layfield, a J.R. Ewing type of rich Texan.  It cliqued, and he would feud with Eddie Guerrero, and win the WWE Championship from him that year.  JBL would have his own stable, The Cabinet, and he would hold the title until he lost it to John Cena at Wrestlemania 21.  

JBL would remain near the top of the card, and at Wrestlemania 22, he defeated Chris Benoit for the United States Title.  He held that for a few months, and took time off away from the ring to be a commentator, and let injuries pile up.  He came back in 2007 and after more high-profile feuds, he would win the Intercontinental Championship and lost it to Rey Mysterio at Wrestlemania XXV.  He retired that day.  

He would go on to commentate for years after that, and would also develop philanthropic work in his new home in Bermuda. He would induct Ron Simmons into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2012.

At present, the New World Order (Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, and X-Pac), Dave Bautista and The Bella Twins have been confirmed for the Hall of Fame.  Davey Boy Smith was reported by the Wrestling Observer as also being inducted, but that has not been confirmed by the WWE Hall of Fame.

We will be revising our Notinhalloffame WWE list of those to consider for the Hall after Wrestlemaia.  For reference, JBL was ranked 29 on our latest list.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate JBL for his impending induction to the WWE Hall of Fame.

While this hasn’t been confirmed by the WWE, it was reported by WhatCulture.com that Bret “Hit Man” Hart will be the one who will be inducting the British Bulldog into the WWE Hall of Fame this year.

At one time, Bret and Davey were brothers-in-law, as Smith married Bret’s sister, Diana.  The two worked together often in Stampede Wrestling in Calgary, and when they arrived in the WWF together in the mid-80’s they wrestled against each other often in their respective tag teams, The Hart Foundation and the British Bulldogs.

By the early 90s, both Hart and Smith were singles wrestlers and at Summer Slam 1992, Smith defeated Hart for the Intercontinental Title in the main event at Wembley Stadium.  The two would later feud over the WWF World Heavyweight Title in the mid-90s, and would be part of the new Hart Foundation stable in 1997.

When Hart left the WWF following the Montreal Screwjob, Smith followed him to WCW.  Smith passed away in 2002 following a heartattack.

At last year’s ceremony, Hart was inducted for a second time as one half of the Hart Foundation tag team, with the late Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart.  During his acceptance speech, a crazed fan charged the ring and tackled Hart.  Many of the wrestlers in attendance quickly took out the attacker.  We are thrilled that this did not deter Hart from returning back to the ceremony.

As always, we will be watching!

Normally we wait until it is confirmed by the WWE, but when it is reported by Dave Meltzer of f4wrestling.com, we tend it believe that this is will come to fruition.  On his recent Wrestling Observer Radio show, Meltzer said that the late Davey Boy Smith will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame for the Class of 2021. 

From England, Smith would cut his teeth in Stu Hart’s Stampede Wrestling and Japan in the late 70s and early 80s.  Smith and his regular tag team partner, The Dynamite Kid, were brought into the WWF in early 1984, and the British Bulldogs would take their innovate style made everyone take notice.  At Wrestlemania 2, the Bulldogs would win the WWF Tag Team Championship over the Dream Team (Greg Valentine & Brutus Beefcake).  The reign was cut short, as Dynamite suffered a severe back injury in December of 1996 in Hamilton, Ontario.  The Bulldogs would promptly lose the tag titles to the Hart Foundation (Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart) the following month.  Dynamite would recover (though was never the same) and they Bulldogs would continue to work for the WWF until November of 1988 after asking for their release.

The Bulldogs would again work in Calgary and Japan, but after two years, the relationship between Smith and Dynamite deteriorated, and without telling him, Smith returned to the WWF alone as the British Bulldog.  Smith would become an upper-card babyface, and his popularity in Britain and Europe skyrocketed.

At SummerSlam 1992 in Wembley Stadium in London, Smith pinned Bret Hart in the main event to win the Intercontinental Championship.  He held that strap for three months until he was pinned by Shawn Michaels.  Behind the scenes, along with the Ultimate Warrior, he was fired for obtaining HGH.

Smith went to WCW which was brief, but he was involved in the high end of the card.  He came back to the WWF at Summer Slam 1994, assisting Bret against his brother Owen, and he would later team with Lex Luger as the Allied Powers. Luger left for WCW, and Smith turned heel and would challenge Diesel and later Bret Hart for the WWF World Heavyweight Title.  Smith would become part of Jim Cornette’s stable, and later the new Hart Foundation. When Bret left the WWF after the infamous Montreal Screwjob, Smith and Niedhart followed, bit it was a mess for the latter two.

Smith barely reached the lower mid-card in WCW, and his back was destroyed when he landed on a trap door (used for the Ultimate Warrior), and he was never the same again.  He was released shortly after.

After WCW, he went back to the WWF in September of 1999, but this run was not particularly good.  Smith was not in the best shape, and he with the exception of a six-pack challenge match for the WWF World Heavyweight Title Match at the Unforgiven PPV, he was used in a lower-card heel role.  He left the WWF in May of 2000.

Smith passed away at the age of 39, after suffering from a heart attack.  He was planning for a comeback in wrestling, and had appeared in independent shows tagging with his son, Harry.

In our latest Notinhalloffame.com WWE ranking, Smith was ranked at #10. After Wrestlemania, we will begin work to revise our WWE Ranking.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the family of Davey Boy Smith at this time.

It was announced today that WWE Hall of Famer, Rocky Johnson, passed away today at the age of 75.  

Born Wayde Bowles in Amherst, Nova Scotia, Johnson was a natural athlete who had initially trained to be a boxer.  While he once sparred with Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, his true calling was professional wrestling, which he began in 1964.  

Taking on the name of (which he would also legally change his name to) of Rocky Johnson, he would wrestled across North America, breaking out in 1970, when he won the NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship in Los Angeles.  Throughout the 1970s, he performed for various NWA promotions.  In 1971, he wrestled in San Francisco, where he was their United States Champion and later four-time Tag Team Champion, three of those reigns held alongside Pat Patterson.  “The Soulman” would also win other major singles titles in the United States, among which were the NWA Georgia Heavyweight (1974), NWA Florida Heavyweight (1975), NWA Texas Heavyweight (1976), and NWA Mid-America Southern Heavyweight (1976).

In the early 80s, a run in Mid-Atlantic would precede the WWF, where he teamed with Tony Atlas to defeat the Wild Samoans for the Tag Team Championship.  He would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2008, and prior to that his last major appearance for the company was appearing from the crowd to help his son (Rocky Maivia) at Wrestlemania 13.

In his personal life, he married Ata Maivia, the daughter of “High Chief” Peter Maivia, and the oldest member of the famed Samoan wrestling clan.  They had a son, Dwayne Johnson, who followed in his father’s footsteps in wrestling, becoming “The Rock”.  

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our condolences to the fans, friends and family of Rocky Johnson at this time.  

Less than an hour ago, it was announced that the New World Order (Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash and Sean Waltman) will be entering the WWE Hall of Fame.  It has how been announced that Dave Bautista will be joining them in the Hall. 

Dave Bautista cut his teeth in the WWE farm promotion, Ohio Valley Wrestling as “Leviathan”, and the 300 pound behemoth would be brought up shortly as “Deacon Batista”, the henchman of D-Von Dudley when he was doing his reverend gimmick.  That didn’t last, and he was moved to the RAW brand and placed in a faction with Triple H, Ric Flair and Randy Orton.  As his wins piled up, his momentum shot up, and he was placed in a program against his mentor, Triple H, who he defeated in the main event of Wrestlemania 21 for the first of what would be six World Heavyweight Championships. 

Batista left in 2010 to pursue an acting career, and he came back in 2014, winning the Royal Rumble, but he would not stay long.  He returned to acting, and became very successful, most notably as Drax the Destroyer in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Batista made one last comeback, and lost to Triple H at Wrestlemania 35

The Hall of Fame ceremony will take place on April 2, 2020, as part of the Wrestlemania 36 weekend.

Batista was ranked #9 on our latest Notinhalloffame.com list of those to consider for the WWE Hall of Fame.  He will be removed when we do our revisions in April.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our congratulations to Dave Bautista for his impending induction.

One of the most important things that we work on here at Notinhalloffame.com is our core lists, that being those who should be considered for various key Halls of Fame that we look at. As such we are very pleased that we have completed our revision on our list of those to consider for the WWE Hall of Fame.

As always, our revisions involve the following:

1. The removal of the entries who got in.

This was a huge amount especially in our top 100, which would see ten taken off the board.  Before we get there, we have been asked how we deal with wrestlers who have entered the WWE Hall of Fame, but in a different form than appears on our list.  Our perception is that once a wrestler is chosen be it as a single, a tag team or a faction, they are in even if they get in a second time. We began this rule when the Four Horsemen were inducted and despite Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard and Barry Windham having worthwhile careers on their own we elected not to keep them on the list.  Let’s call it our “Double A” rule.  

Make sense?

Let’s continue!

Leaving the list and entering the WWE Hall of Fame are Triple H (#4 entering as a part of D-Generation X), Bruiser Brody (#7 entering via the Legacy Wing), The Honky Tonk Man (#22), Wahoo McDaniel (#44 entering via the Legacy Wing), The New Age Outlaws (#47 who are entering as part of D-Generation X), Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart (#56 who is entering as part of the Hart Foundation), Chyna (#63 who is entering as part of D-Generation X), Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake (#71), X-Pac (#75 who is entering as part of D-Generation X), Professor Toru Tanaka (#82 entering via the Legacy Wing), Luna Vachon (#126 entering via the Legacy Wing), Jim Barnett (#137 entering via the Legacy Wing), “Playboy” Buddy Rose (#153 entering via the Legacy Wing), Torrie Wilson (#169), S.D. Jones (#185 entering via the Legacy Wing), Stevie Ray (#195 entering via Harlem Heat) and Hisashi Shinma (#356 entering the Legacy Wing).  

We have also added some wrestlers, but unlike the sports we cover wrestlers retire and come back all the time.  We have instated a mandatory age minimum of 46, which is when we bring Future Candidates automatically to the Main List regardless of how active they are.  This applied to only two wrestlers this year who we should have had a year earlier in Chavo Guerrero Jr. and Christopher Daniels. They enter at #71 and #242 respectively.

Through the suggestions of regular user, Dr. Clayton Forrester, we have added many new entries, most of which would be good Legacy Wing entries. The new entries are Salvador Lutteroth (#139), Antonio Pena (#152), Jess McMahon (#203), “The French Angel” Maurice Tillet (#210), Minoru Suzuki (#300), William Muldoon (#309), Billy Sandow (#318), Frank Sexton (#323), Penny Banner (#328), Tom Jenkins (#334), Jackie Sato (#340), Tyson Kidd (#342), Hiroshi Hase (#343), Evan Lewis (#345), Earl Caddock (#347), Phil Zacko (#350), Negro Casas (#351), The Duseks (#356), Ultimo Guerrero (#359), Rayo De Jalisco (#366), Kintaro Ohki (#369), Wladek Zbyszko (#372), Devil Masami (#375), El Satanico (#381), Gene Stanlee (#383), Lizmark (#384), Paco Alonso (#385), Kay Noble (#388), Bart Gunn (#389), Tracy Smothers (#390), Lord Littlebrook (#391), Gene LeBell (#392), The Warlord (#393), Spike Dudley (#394), Masakatsu Funaki (#395), Joe Savoldi (#396), Gladys Gillem (#397), Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker (#398), Nick Patrick (#399) and Ricki Starr (#400).  

The other component that we look at is your votes and comments.  This helps us move up or down our existing ranked former wrestlers.  

The new complete list can be found here.

The intent is for us to keep this list at a firm 400 going forward.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to thank you all for your support and we ask you to keep voting and offering your comments!

According to the very reputable website, pwinsider.com, there will be 10 new entrants in the WWE Hall of Fame via the Legacy Wing.  As per previous years, this came with no fanfare and is a group of names that run the gamut of wrestling history with carrying levels of importance.

The new inductees will be:

Jim Barnett:  Barnett was one of the most successful promoters in wrestling history beginning with Indianapolis and Detroit and in the 1960s would take over the Australian territory and take it to new heights.  He would buy into Georgia Championship Wrestling and raise its profile until he sold his interest to the WWF where he would become a Vice President from 1984 to 1987.  He would later serve as a consultant in WCW and again in the WWE.  Barnett was ranked #127 on our Notinhalloffame.com list.

Bruiser Brody:  If there was anyone who had more of a free and independent spirit in Professional Wrestling we don’t who it is!  Brody was trained by Fritz Von Erich and would be a freelancer throughout the world and an international legend.  The pioneer of the modern brawling style was killed in Puerto Rico by a fellow wrestler (and booker) when he was stabbed over a business dispute in 1988.  Through Brody’s widow, a Legends Contract is in place for Brody and has been for a while so there is little surprise.  Brody was ranked #7 by us on Notinhalloffame.com.

Primo Carnera:  Carnera is actually better known for being the Heavyweight Boxing Champion in 1933 but he would wrestle after his boxing career ended and he would receive world title shots against Lou Thesz.  We did not have Carnera ranked.

Joseph Cohen:  Cohen was the creator of the Madison Square Garden Network, which had a relationship with the WWE as they aired their shows at MSG on that channel.

Wahoo McDaniel:  A former member of the American Football League over nine seasons, Wahoo McDaniel would be a stalwart in the National Wrestling Alliance, mostly in the Mid-Atlantic Territory where he was multi-time champion.  He would also hold multiple championships in Texas, Florida and Georgia and among his peers was one of the most respected wrestlers in the business. McDaniel was ranked #44 by us on Notinhalloffame.com.  He passed away n 2002.

S.D. Jones:  Jones cut his teeth in the Mid-Atlantic and California territories and he would join the WWF in the early ’80s.  Jones was originally in the mid-card but as the organization exploded in popularity he would be used as enhancement talent, most notably putting over King Kong Bundy in 24 seconds at the first Wrestlemania.  While he lost the majority of his matches he would be a very popular figure.  Jones was ranked #185 on our Notinhalloffame.com list.

“Playboy” Buddy Rose:  Many remember Rose in his last run with the company where his weight was a punchline with the “blow away diet” but he was a top contender for the WWWF title in 1982 against Bob Backlund and under a hood was the Executioner, the first man to walk down the aisle at a Wrestlemania.  Rose was a major star in Portland where he held their version of the Heavyweight Championship many times.  Rose is ranked #153 on Notinhalloffame.com.

Hisashi Shinma:  Shinma was the figurehead President of the WWF from 1978 to 1984 but he was also a top executive and booker for New Japan and integral to their relationship to the WWE, which would see a lot of talent exchanges between the two.  He was ranked #356 on our Notinhalloffame.com list.

Professor Toru Tanaka:  From Hawaii, but portraying an evil Japanese villain, Professor Toru Tanaka would challenge Bruno Sammartino for the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship and along with Mr. Fuji would be a three time WWWF World Tag Team Champion.  Tanaka would also appear in multiple films.  He was ranked #82 on Notinhalloffame.com

Luna Vachon:  This was a little controversial for some as many would think that the induction of Vachon (albeit posthumous) should have taken place on the main stage especially considering her main run in the WWE took place in the Attitude Era.  In an era of Divas, Vachon was a wrestler and she should have entered the WWE Hall of Fame before other women who entered ahead of her.  She was ranked #126 on Notinhalloffame.com.

While we again reiterate that this is a strange group, we are happy for the families of this group and we congratulate them.  

We will now begin work on revising our list and hope to have that up next month.

As been suspected for nearly a month, the WWE Hall of Fame rounds out its Hall of Fame class with the announcement that Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake will be inducted this week.

Known as Ed Leslie on his personal identification, Beefcake got his start as Eddie Boulder the kayfabe brother of Terry Boulder (Hulk Hogan) and he would wrestler on the lower card of multiple promotion as that name and later Dizzy Hogan.  When Hogan was signed by the World Wrestling Federation in late 1983 and quickly became their Heavyweight Champion he was able to exert some influence and get his good friend (Leslie) a spot in the rising wrestling promotion.  

Now named Brutus Beefcake, his gimmick was a self-absorbed Chippendale like character and he would take on Johnny Valiant as his manager.  He would wrestle against David Sammartino in the inaugural Wrestlemania and a few months later with Greg “The Hammer” Valentine he would become one half of the WWF World Tag Team Champions when they defeated Mike Rotundo and Barry Windham. The reign lasted until Wrestlemania II where the lost to the British Bulldogs and they spent the rest of the year chasing them to regain their belts, though they would be unsuccessful.

Beefcake would turn face at Wrestlemania III when Valentine, Valiant and their cornerman Dino Bravo left him in the ring following their win over the Rougeau Brothers.  He would help “Rowdy” Roddy Piper defeat “Adorable” Adrian Adonis and cut the latter’s hair as revenge for Adonis erroneously cutting Beefcake’s hair in a televised six man tag team match.

This would lauch one of the more improbably high card babyface acts in the history of the World Wrestling Federation as Beefcake began cutting the hair of his opponents after he would beat them and the fans alike responded.  He would feud with his old partner and then with the Honky Tonk Man for the Intercontinental Title.  He was scheduled to face Honky at the first Summer Slam in 1988 but he was taken out by “Outlaw” Ron Bass who he then feuded with and defeated in a hair vs hair match on a Saturday Night’s Main Event.  

Following Wrestlemania V, he would feud with Randy “Macho Man” Savage and in his highest profile match he teamed with Hogan in the main event at Summer Slam 89 and defeated Savage and Zeus.  He would pin Mr. Perfect at Wrestlemania VI and was scheduled to face him for the Intercontinental Title at Summer Slam 1990 but a parasailing that shattered his face took him out of action and he would not wrestle again for three years until he wrested Ted DiBiase on Monday Night War.  DiBiase and his WWF World Tag Team Championship partner, Irwin R. Schyster tried to reinjure his face and put him out of action but would be rescued by a returning Hulk Hogan.  This led to Beefcake’s last high profile match in the WWF where he and Hogan challenged (and lost by disqualification) to DiBiase and Schyster.

Leslie would join Hulk Hogan in WCW where he would take on a multitude of personas as he was not allowed to be known as Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake there due to the WWE’s copyright on the name.  Over a four year period he would appear as Brother Bruti, The Butcher, The Zodiac, The Booty Man and The Disciple which would see mixed success but many televised appearances. 

Ed Leslie may not have been the best wrestler by any stretch of the imagination but in the late 1980’s and in 1990 he was one of the top babyfaces in a high money period in the WWF.  That shouldn’t go unnoticed and his induction reflects this.  We had him ranked #71on our last ranking of those to consider for the WWE Hall of Fame.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Brutus Beefcake on earning this honor.  

The WWE has announced that the Hart Foundation (Bret “Hit Man” Hart & Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart) will be inducted into their Hall of Fame.  This has been speculated over the last month and it was made official today.

Both Hart and Neidhart joined the World Wrestling Federation in 1985 as part of the deal where Vince McMahon bought out Stampede Wrestling.  They were not paired together when they arrived as Neidhart was put with Mr. Fuji as his manager and Bret was a babyface character but within a few months they were a heel duo under the management of Jimmy Hart.

The tandem would regular have the best matches on the card and they were usually competing against The British Bulldogs or The Killer Bees.  At Wrestlemania 2 they were the last two in the ring left with Andre the Giant (who won) in the 20 man Battle Royal and in January of 1986 they would defeat the British Bulldogs for the WWF World Tag Team Titles, which they would hold for eight months until they lost them to Strike Force (Rick Martel and Tom Zenk). Following Wrestlemania IV they would compete in singles as often as they teamed together and they turned babyface. At Wrestlemania VI they beat the Bolsheviks in under a minute and they would chase Demolition for the Tag Team Titles and would defeat them for the Championship at Summer Slam 1990.  This would last until Wrestlemania VII where they lost to the Nasty Boys.  Following this loss, the tag team would amicably disband with Bret going on to become a multi-time singles champion.

Bret Hart is already a member of the WWE Hall of Fame and he is the fourth person to be inducted twice.  This includes Ric Flair who was inducted a second time with the Four Horsemen, Shawn Michaels (who will be inducted a second time with D-Generation X) and Booker T (who will be inducted with Stevie Ray as Harlem Heat).  Neidhart is ranked #56 on our Notinhalloffame.com WWE list for those to consider for the WWE Hall.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate the Hart Foundation on becoming the lastest members of the WWE Hall of Fame.

The WWE Hall of Fame has announced that this year’s recipient of the Warrior Award is Sue Aitchison, a thirty plus year employee of the WWE who is currently serving as the Senior Director of Talent Relations.

This has received positive reviews from wrestling fans as the Warrior Award was allegedly conceived as a way to honor longtime behind the scenes employees of the WWE of which Aitchison certainly is.  

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Sue Aitchison for earning this honor.

We consider this one a bit of a surprise.

As we inch closer to Wrestlemania it also means that the WWE Hall of Fame is drawing closer.  New inductees were announced today and in what has to be a mild shock, it is former WCW World Tag Team Champions, Harlem Heat.

Booker T (Booker Huffman) & Stevie Ray (Lash Huffman) are half-brothers from Houston, Texas and they first gained exposure competing as the “Ebony Experience” in the Global Wrestling Federation where they would win their tag team titles three times.

The duo would be brought into WCW at the request of Sid Vicious who they would team up with (along with Vader) at the 1993 Fall Brawl. They would lose the match but a year later (with Sherri Martel as their manager) would win the WCW World Tag Team Championship on WCW Saturday Night in early 1995 by defeating the team of Stars and Stripes (The Patriot & Marcus Alexander Bagwell).  They would lose their belts to the Nasty Boys at Slamboree 1995, though they actually regained it on WCW Worldwide BEFORE they lost it due to the pattern of WCW tapings.  Dick Slater and Bunkhouse Buck won the belts in July and they would lose them back to Harlem Heat at Fall Brawl.  The reign lasted one day as they were beat by the American Males (Marcus Alexander Bagwell and Stevie Ray) though a week later they won it back.  

With all due respect to their opposition in 1995, 1996 would see an uptake in their competition.  On the January 22 Nitro they would lose to Sting and Lex Luger who would hold the belts for six months before losing them back to Harlem Heat in June.  Their fifth reign would last only a month as they were beaten by the returning Steiner Brothers but three days later they won their belts back.  This reign lasted two months until they were beaten by The Public Enemy who held it for one week before dropping it back to Harlem Heat but they would lose to the NOW team of Kevin Nash and Scott Hall.  

The loss ended their main run as Stevie Ray was injured and Booker T would become a single and would go after and win the Television Title.  When Stevie Ray returned he joined the New World Order and while the brothers were on opposite sides of the wrestling bubble they coexisted. They reunited in 1999 to win the titles two more times but they would break up and feud over the name Harlem Heat. After their feud, Booker T would go back to singles and would eventually win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Booker would take the WCW World Title to the WWE and he would win man titles in the WWE.  Stevie Ray would never compete in a WWE ring.

The induction of Harlem Heat marks the second one for Booker T as he was included as a single in the Class of 2013.  This makes Booker the third double inductee following Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels who will be inducted a second time this year with D-Generation X.  Stevie Ray was on our last Notinhalloffame.com list ranked at #195.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Harlem Heat for receiving this honor.

This would be the first of ten title reigns