Before I get to who I think should be inducted, I'd like to make some comments on some general thoughts/discussion topics about the HOF.
First off, contrary to popular belief, the HOF is nowhere close to running out of names to induct. Yes, the names of big 80's and 90's stars is getting smaller, but there's still a whole generation of wrestlers from the 2000's that are on the verge of retiring or will be retiring in the next 5 years or so that can headline at least another decade's worth of HOF ceremonies. Not to mention there is an astonishingly huge backlog of wrestling legends from the 1900's-1970's that deserve induction from all different continents. The WWE HOF isn't just about the WWE, they're about pro wrestling a whole, hence why they've inducted quite a few wrestlers that never had anything to do with WWE or very little.
So with that being said, I don't agree whatsoever with the HOF inducting too many people and that they should go down to 3-5 inductees, or as someone on here said, just induct Warrior and that's it. No one in their right mind would want to watch a three hour show pay tribute to one inductee. In this case the Ultimate Warrior. If the fans are there for a 3-4 hour ceremony, they're not gonna want to watch the show be about one person. And again, considering how huge the list of worthy inductees is, that would just be a poor route to go. That's the same problem that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has. Their classes are too small which has resulted in a huge backlog of snubbed artists.
Now, I don't think the WWE should go to 10-12 inductees like they did for the 2004 class (although that was necessary for that class because the Hall had been inactive for so long they had a lot of catching up to do), but going down to 3-4 inductees would just suck to put it plainly.
I think 6-8 inductees per year works just fine. Especially with the HOF ceremonies potentially airing on the network now, there's really no need for WWE to edit or cut short the inductees and presenters's speeches, for the most part anyway. Obviously no one needs to do 45 minute to hour long speeches, but they don't need to be cut down to 5 minute speeches either. I'm sure die-hard fans watching the ceremony on the Network won't mind sitting 5-6 hours watching the HOF ceremony anyway. WWE could do a live feed of the ceremony, especially beings it's being reported that WWE is planning on doing some live streams to test their streaming capabilities on the Network in the week leading up to Wrestlemania. The HOF ceremony would be a good place to start.
As for my opinion on this rumor about WWE inducting their match into the HOF, overall I'm against it, but only slightly. There's plenty of good reasons to do it. One is the entertainment factor you get from seeing multiple wrestlers/personalities together that you otherwise might not ever see getting to accept an award together. Imagine seeing Bret Hart and Steve Austin coming up on stage together to accept the award. How about Shawn Micheals and the Undertaker? How about Steve Austin and The Rock? How about John Cena and CM Punk (way down the road)? Even those against the idea have to admit it'd be cool to see those guys together on stage to accept an award. And the potential idea of the participants of the main event of Wrestlemania I being inducted together is highly intriguing. Everyone knows Mr. T and Roddy Piper hated each other, still probably do. There's always been tension between Hulk and Roddy (in real life too). It could be highly entertaining and intriguing. Plus there's the Grammy Hall of Fame that inducts songs and albums. So the matches could be a similar kind of thing. Plus there has been instances of other HOF inducting non-people into it's Hall. Having a match inducted each year could be a fun thing that would just add new controversy and another topic of good debate for the fans to discuss each year. Talking about why "this match" didn't get in, etc. The one problem I do see with it is that yeah, it's unconventional. And I kind of do agree that a Hall of Fame inductee should be a single person, and not some entity. Plus as someone else stated a week or so ago on here, haven't the inductees already been inducted for their body of work (aka: their matches)? The other problem is that it could really dilute the specialness of a HOF induction. I mean, Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart could both end up with 20 rings or so. It could get ridiculous, especially if Shawn gets inducted every single year while others sit out. So it could be a really cool idea, but overall I'm against it just a little bit no more. But I won't think it's a sham if they do end up doing it.
With that said, beings this is the 30th Wrestlemania (not Anniversary technically), this definitely needs to be the HOF class to end all HOF classes, which will be very tough to do as the 2005, 2009 (when considering all-time great wrestlers) and last year's classes will be tough as hell to beat. So it's gonna need some huge names with multiple potential headliners, much like last year's class.
In addition to having the biggest names and most memorable, it also needs to be an entertaining show, which means you can't have too many deceased inductees. However, I don't agree with this "unwritten" rule that only one deceased candidate can be inducted. Yes, the fans want to see the inductee there and hear a speech from them. However, I think when it comes to say Randy Savage, the fact that he is no longer here won't make the moment any less important or memorable. It will be a really sad, bittersweet moment for everyone, especially the fans, but I highly doubt the fans would rather have Randy not be inducted just cause he can't be there to accept. Randy's induction, even in death, will mean just as much to the fans as an induction for him while he was alive would.
So I think if the HOF inducts Randy Savage, I don't think that should eliminate the possibility of any other deceased inductee.
As for the big names that should make up this year's class, last years class worked on and succeeded in getting in the two biggest snubs of the WWWF era (Sammartino and Backlund) inducted. This year's class needs to work on the WWF era. And there's a big numbers of stars from the 1980's/early 1990's period that deserve induction and big ones too. Not just low-card guys.
Obviously the Ultimate Warrior is going in. The other big snub of that era is of course Randy Savage. That's why to me, just like Triple H and Co. worked on getting Bruno and Bob in, this year they need to get Warrior and Savage in. If they do that, then this could end up being the best HOF class ever just with those two alone.
In addition, there are two huge mid-to upper card talents that are more than worthy. Rick Rude and Jake Roberts. Both are shoe-ins as far as I'm concerned. And then there's the Honky Tonk Man, Rick Martel, and the Big Boss Man who definitely should be in as well. Not to mention tons of tag teams from that era, namely Demolition, the Hart Foundation, the Rockers, Strike Force, the Killer Bees, the Bushwhackers, the Fabulous Rougeaus, and the Powers of Pain. I would say Demolition is the big one of that group, but any of those teams would be worthy. If you go into the 90's era, to me Davey Boy Smith is probably the biggest snub with Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Owen Hart, Bam Bam Bigelow, Brian Pillman, and Sid being good candidates as well.
And beings they're in New Orleans, there's always the Mid-South connection if they want to go that route. Most of the big names from Mid-South have been inducted already, but there's a few still that could be good inductees. Namely the Fabulous Freebirds, Dr. Death Steve Williams, and of course Sting. Not to mention the Ultimate Warrior got a start in that territory as well.
Another possibility is that WWE could induct a wrestling pioneer to further legitimize the HOF or induct wrestlers from other territories or other countries. Any early wrestlers from the pre-NWA era all the way to the 70's/80's territory era could work.
However, like I stated before, I think the HOF should focus on big names from the next big period in WWE history (the 1980's/early 90's period). Being there's not really any headliners from the Mid-South territory left to induct, go ahead and skip it. As much as Lou Thesz (IMO the greatest pro wrestler ever) and Ed "Strangler" Lewis and Jim Londos and other early pioneers of the genre deserve to be in, I think the Hall should skip them this year. I don't think WWE needs to look to Mexico or Japan to induct some big foreign names. Eventually yes, but this year no. I think WWE should just stick to the big 80's and 90's snubs not yet in and go for them. And unfortunately many of them have passed on, however there is more than enough ones that are still alive to make this is a fun, entertaining, and bad-ass HOF class.
So with that being said, here would be my ideal 2014 HOF class......
The Ultimate Warrior
1 of 2 headlining inductees. One of the two biggest snubs of the Hulkamania era. Plus he's already confirmed, so obviously he's here.
Inducted by: John Cena (CM Punk, Triple H, or Edge as other candidates)
Macho Man Randy Savage
The other main headliner with the Ultimate Warrior. Getting both of these in would probably end the fan's bitching about the major snubs. Sure there's be plenty more, but with Backlund and Sammartino going in one year, and Savage and Warrior going in the next, suddenly there's really no more era-defining wrestlers from the first two eras left. Then the Hall can start moving forward to the Attitude Era and Ruthless Aggression Era headliners. Warrior can serve as the slightly less popular but living headliner, while Savage can be the true headliner but is deceased and thus can't be there to accept.
Inducted by: Bret Hart (CM Punk, Ric Flair, or Ricky Steamboat as other candidates
Why not Hulk Hogan? I would assume that Randy would not have wanted Hulk to induct him. Plus, I'd be more interested to hear Bret speak on Randy.
Why not Lanny Poffo? Probably the most appropriate choice and who Randy would've wished to do the honors, but unless Lanny and their father Angelo are inducted too, Lanny won't participate.
Jake "the Snake" Roberts
Mid-Card Main Inductee
Duh. He's the feel good story of the wrestling industry right now. Not to mention after Savage and Warrior, he's the biggest snub of the HOF IMO. So why not get the three biggest snubs inducted in one shot? Plus Jake is one of the few major stars that started out in Mid-South not in yet. So he can represent the Mid-South Connection.
Inducted by: Diamond Dallas Page (Ted Dibiase, Steve Austin, or Randy Orton as other candidates)
Demolition
Tag Team Inductee
Except for possibly the Hart Foundation, there was probably no tag team that meant more to the tag division in the late 80's/early 90's than Demolition. They still have the longest reign with the WWE tag belts ever. Of the tag teams from that period that didn't spawn major future singles stars (Hart Foundation, Rockers, British Bulldogs), Demolition is the No. 1 team that needs to go in.
I would probably just induct Ax and Smash, although if WWE decided to induct Crush as well, I would have no problem with it.
Inducted by: The New Age Outlaws (Mark Henry, Antonio Cesaro/Jack Swagger, or the Big Show as other possible candidates)
Why not Mr. Fuji? He's too old and frail at this point to probably make the HOF ceremony. Plus, it's not like he probably could give much of an intelligible speech anyway, lol.
Why the New Age Outlaws? I really struggled with figuring out who should induct them. The New Age Outlaws are another one of the greatest teams ever, and they're heavily involved with the company right now, so why not?
Paul Bearer
Non-Wrestler Inductee
This was heavily rumored last year that he would be inducted this year beings he passed away last year. I have no problems with it. Really, among WWE managers, he's one of the big two left waiting for induction, so why not?
Inducted by: The Undertaker and Kane (No one else as possible candidates, maybe do just Kane if Taker doesn't want to do it)
Miss Elizabeth
Female Inductee/Other Non-Wrestler Inductee
If Randy Savage goes in, Miss Elizabeth has to go in too. In wrestling lore, they will forever be linked. They made each other bigger stars, and they are to this day the all-time greatest wrestling couple. Not to mention, I'd say Elizabeth is the most deserving female candidate for the HOF. There was probably never a female in WWE history that was more over with the fans than Miss Elizabeth (yes, even moreso than Trish and Lita or Sable and Sunny back in the Attitude Era). And along with Paul Bearer, she is the last of the two big WWE managers of the 80's/90's period that need to be inducted. So yep, she needs to go in too.
Inducted by: AJ Lee (Nattie Neidhart, Stephanie McMahon, or Trish Stratus as other possible candidates)
The Honky Tonk Man
Other Mid-Card Inductee
Rick Rude is probably more worthy, but I already have three deceased HOF inductees, so Rick can wait this year, and Honky can go in to round out the wrestlers-portion of this class. Other than Rick Rude, Honky is probably the biggest heel of the Hulkamania era that needs to go in. He's the "Greatest Intercontinental Champion of All-Time" of course
So why not? And he'd give a good, entertaining speech.
Inducted by: Jimmy Hart (Jerry Lawler, Greg Valentine, and Cody Rhodes as other candidates
Mr. T
Celebrity Inductee
There's always a celebrity inductee, and with this being the 30th Wrestlemania, of course there's gonna be a celebrity inducted. And the biggest celebrity "snub" at this point is Mr. T If they're gonna induct the main event from Wrestlemania, then Mr. T obviously would make sense. In my ideal class they wouldn't induct the match, but just induct Mr. T instead. Of all the celebrities in WWE history, is there any that did more for WWE than Mr. T (maybe Cyndi Lauper and Mike Tyson, who's already in). As far as celebrities go, few are more worthy than Mr. T.
Inducted by: Hulk Hogan (Roddy Piper, Paul Orndorff, or Bob Orton Jr. as other possible candidates)
That would be my ideal class for 2014. Now for those that say. "8 inductees!" "That's way too many!" "They'll never get that many speeches in a HOF ceremony!!!" "You're crazy!!!" "Go jump off a bridge!!" Or whatever, lol.
Keep in mind, 3 of my 8 inductees are deceased and thus won't be there to give speeches. Those three candidates will most likely be represented by a brief acceptance speech from a family member. Plus, Mr. T will most likely not give that big a speech either. So it'll mainly be Warrior, Demolition, Honky Tonk Man, and Jake Roberts to be the meat of the inductee speeches.
And with my list of presenters being Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, John Cena, the Undertaker in his first ever HOF appearance, Kane, Diamond Dallas Page, and Jimmy Hart among others, that should make for one helluva entertaining HOF ceremony.
