Hogan the Right Person to Induct Randy Savage?

[OYDK]

On Raw last night, it was announced that the Macho Man Randy Savage will headline the 2015 Hall of Fame class, and will be inducted by none other than Hulk Hogan, who many know has had a tumultuous relationship at best with Savage. Honestly, I was a little put off by the announcement as I'd rather see somebody else speak about and for the Macho Man since he won't be there to do it himself, and Hulk just has a way of making everything feel so corny and fake nowadays. I'm not going to go into the whole Hogan/Savage relationship as I'm sure it will be brought up anyway, and I'm sure most on this site are familiar with it.

So, in your opinion is Hulk Hogan the right man to induct Randy Savage into the HOF, and if not who do you think should be the one to induct the Macho Man?

 

[Y 2 Jake]

He's not ideal. But they're inducting a dead guy, so as a headline inductee it's going to be a harder sell. This is why WWE should adopt the TNA way when it comes to their Hall Of Fame. A two hour broadcast celebrating the career of one individual.

 

[Navi]

No Hogan isn't ideal, but they had a long history between them and Hogan knew him well. I would really rather have someone that knew him talk about him in this circumstance, not someone who only maybe met him once or watched him wrestle.

I really hope that he keeps the bullshit out of the speech, and just focus's on what Savage did for the industry and what kind of wrestler he was. The only other person I can think of that would be able to do it is Flair, but Flair has a tendency to get real emotional at these things and I think Hogan will be able to hold it together better.

That being said, we've been waiting for this for a long time, and it will be a very moving and emotional speech, hopefully. Savage was larger than life and should be remembered that way.

 

[WhiplashUnited]

When it comes to the industry there probably isn't anyone still alive who knew Savage like Hogan did? At least imo the posthumous inductions by people none of the crowd know (family members etc) don't get much of a reaction and seem like 'filler' rather than a real representation of what the the new hall of famer meant. If Hogan and Savage cleared up all their bullshit before his passing, why not? Who else in the industry is there to induct Savage.

Flair? How well did he really know Savage?

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

They had a long history, full of ups and downs, but it is my understanding that the inductee has a say in who indicts them (within parameters) - in Savage's case, especially since it took a LOT of negotiating with Lanny Poffo to actually agree to the induction, I am positive the Poffo family would have had a big say in who inducted Savage; one assumes that Lanny will be there to act as recipient of the plaque/ring.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

No.


The pop and the buzz will be all about Hogan, and Hogan being Hogan, he will not hesitate to soak it in and allow it to be about him. Very poor choice.

I would have went with Ricky Steamboat, or The Genius.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

Sure. Liz is dead. No one else's career followed Savage's better than Hogan. From WWF to WCW Hogan was there for much of the time. That being said there may be other guys whose career crossed paths quite a bit with Savage like Mean Gene but, and with all due respect to Mean Gene, would you rather he get inducted by a huge talent or an announcer?

Savage was always rumored to be kind of a loner. He may have not had close friends or kept those close friends very long. And his family will probably accept the award in his honor. Having Hogan present it seems like the ideal situation.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Hogan's not the ideal guy to do it, but I think he's probably the best overall choice as there's not an ideal choice. Savage's biggest feuds have probably been against Hogan, Flair, Steamboat and Warrior. Warrior's dead, Flair would probably work well if he was needed and Steamboat doesn't have the star power. Hogan is probably more closely associated to Savage when it comes to talking about their careers. If Elizabeth were alive and if she & Savage had patched things up over the years, I think she'd probably be as close to ideal as possible.

 

[Mustang Sally]

The pop and the buzz will be all about Hogan, and Hogan being Hogan, he will not hesitate to soak it in and allow it to be about him. Very poor choice.

Exactly. On the one hand, we can understand their thinking; if an all-time great is going to be inducted, why not have the biggest name from the inductee's area do the honors? Savage and Hogan have ample history together, and despite the animosity that seemed to exist between them, it's somehow fitting to have Savage honored by his greatest enemy, both real and kayfabe.

On the other hand, this is Hogan, the biggest self-promoter in the history of pro wrestling, a guy who has put himself above everyone and wasn't hesitant to step on them in order to achieve his goals. Plus, who knows what might be planned during the induction ceremony.....another "spontaneous" (wink, wink) chant of "One more match" on Hogan's behalf? (During Hogan's own HOF ceremony, there are fans who actually believe that happened without being planned by WWE. Ha!)

Still, if Hogan is to do this, it could work out if he can keep his ego in check and make the ceremony about the Macho Man.

In other words, have Hogan not talk about vitamins, prayers and vegetables .....instead, talk about Randy Savage.....and then get his aged ass off the stage.

 

[MrMojoRisin]

According to Hogan, and this has been backed up by both Poffo and his mother, Hogan and Savage buried the hatchet before Savage passed away. Given that, if they're going through with this against Savage's wishes, then Hogan is the best choice for an induction (assuming that the Poffo family will be accepting)

Let's face it. Once Savage went to the WWF, Hulk Hogan and Elizabeth were the most consistent fixtures in his career... and only one of those people are still with us. Outside of Lanny, who will probably be accepting, and even if not, isn't the ratings draw they'd need for a deceased headlining induction, there really isn't anyone alive who can do this as good as Hogan can.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

I don't necessarily think we will have a deceased headliner this year.



[YOUTUBE]?v=12Wt7hGbO7Q[/YOUTUBE]

 

[chuckmdubya]

It's hard to say who is ideal for this. Lanny never got over much with the fans so no one would know who he was. When you think of Savage, you don't really think of one classic rival he had other than Hogan. And its a shame that Miss Elizabeth can't do it.

To me, Hogan is a good choice, but only second best available. The only issue I would have with Hogan, is that he better not try to make it about him. I am one of the few Hogan defenders on WZ, and even I realize that there is potential for him to try to steal the spotlight from Randy. I don't think he will, I believe he will honor Savage as much as possible. He better do it right, he could lose some lifelong fans if he doesn't.
There are two people I personally would rather see.
1. Sensational Sherry, she was his manager for a while, which was possibly the biggest part of his career when he was the Macho King.
2. Bobby The Brain Heenan. Bobby was not a manager of Savage, but he called many of his matches, and they were a great broadcast team together. Plus, Heenan is the best pro wrestling personality of all time, and he be sure to do a good job.

 

[Kidpolean]

Why even ask questions on this forum about whether or not wwe did something right? According to the majority of this forum, wwe has never done anything right in there entire existence.

Honestly, who else is there? Lanny is unknown by 99% of wwe fans so that would be dumb and out of the norm as far as these hall of fame ceremonies go. Steamboat? How well did they even know each other? Hogan is the only guy, still living, that I can think of that actually makes sense.

 

[MrMojoRisin]

There are two people I personally would rather see.
1. Sensational Sherry, she was his manager for a while, which was possibly the biggest part of his career when he was the Macho King.
2. Bobby The Brain Heenan. Bobby was not a manager of Savage, but he called many of his matches, and they were a great broadcast team together. Plus, Heenan is the best pro wrestling personality of all time, and he be sure to do a good job.

Dude

1. Sherri passed away 7 years ago.
2. Heenan's health is poor and it's hard for him to speak at all these days, let alone do a long speech about someone who honestly, worked in the same companies as him for years, but rarely worked with him specifically. Unfortunately, I doubt we'll ever see another public appearance from him, unless it's maybe a short visit to a CAC reunion or something like that.

 

[Vader]

I don't necessarily think we will have a deceased headliner this year.



[YOUTUBE]?v=12Wt7hGbO7Q[/YOUTUBE]

This would be interesting.

I've always thought Hogan overshadowed Savage. To me Savage has always felt like the Orton to Cena. I can't say I know the details of Savage's problems with Hogan, but I think in many ways Hogan kept Savage from being the face of the company; be it wcw or wwf, whenever they were on the same roster.

More than likely, it will be Hogan inducting him. This is disappointing given that Hogan has a propensity to steal the show. I would prefer Flair or Sting though. Flair probably has a little more history with Savage having worked with him several times whereas Sting and Savage weren't in the same company for quite as long.

 

[chuckmdubya]

Dude

1. Sherri passed away 7 years ago.
2. Heenan's health is poor and it's hard for him to speak at all these days, let alone do a long speech about someone who honestly, worked in the same companies as him for years, but rarely worked with him specifically. Unfortunately, I doubt we'll ever see another public appearance from him, unless it's maybe a short visit to a CAC reunion or something like that.

You know somehow I didn't know sherry was dead.

I know Heenan is in bad health, but I didn't realize it was so bad he couldn't travel and give a speech.

I guess that is more reason for Hogan to do it.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Not Sting, not this year... It'll be Rocky as the headliner and that makes a lot of sense.

When it comes down to inducting Randy, Hogan is the lesser of the evils. I've just listened to Lanny's "reasons" and it seems it came down to him not thinking Randy was 100% correct in how he behaved over the HOF and his stance of the whole family. I can see why it'd mean a lot to Randy but I think Lanny gets the perspective now that Warrior's gone, Randy's gone there's only Hogan left of those "Big 3" so it makes sense to get him in there now while Hulk can induct him and get him to where he should be... in that panthenon/Mount Rushmore of the HOF, not just inducted but top tier

I am annoyed that Liz wasn't also inducted...especially as she was such a part of the video they showed but Hogan works as it puts Randy on "THAT" level the same one Warrior, Hogan and Flair and Andre and to a lesser extent Bruno occupy... Though there's no official stratification, those guys always seem to be held above the next set of guys slightly, like Shawn, Austin, Bret etc and that's by WWE, not just the fans.

Steamboat would be fitting, but it would also make it more about one match than Randy's whole career, which Hogan was a major part of... I'm still not 100% Randy would be happy with it, but I think he'd respect his brother's call being for the sake of the fans if that's truly what it was..

 

[Navi]

They haven't finished listing the list of inductees yet, so Miss Elizabeth might still go in. It would be fitting if she went in this year as Savage is already on that list.

 

[Ultimate Randy Savage Fan]

I can see that there is not exactly a long list of candidates suitable to induct Macho....especially if your looking for star power to give the induction the "big event" feel it deserves but I'm not totally sold on Hogan doing the honours...Just gonna throw the name Bret Hart out there, Bret & Macho were in the WWE for 9+ years together & seemed pretty tight & Bret Hart has always spoken highly of him

 

[rmp0012002]

I don't know who should induct Randy since most of the people connected to him are deceased or if Hogan really did make peace with him but the problem with Hogan is even when it's not about him he has to make it about him, it's just the way he is. I just see Hogan making it about himself. And then Randy would drop an elbow on him from the heavens.

 

[wwesux]

Grandpa Hogan doesn't deserve to induct Randy Savage in the HOF he hogs the spotlight way too much to all the anti TNA fans who always bitched and complained Grandpa Hogan used to steal the spotlight again! Hogan shouldn tr be in the wwe hall of fame again neither should it be Flabby Flair
I think DDP should ve inducted Randy Savage they had a memorable feud and was a classic WCW feud ever to go down in history

Hogan is selfish, egotistical and always wants attention

 

[RusevHits]

You'd think if they gave Linda MacMahon the marching orders to induct Warrior that Vince would do the honours for Savage. But I can see Hogan being there as Vinces way of not giving Savage the full spotlight at Hall of Fame.

CM Punk threw his name in the hat for inducting Warrior last year and I'm sure if he was still around he would have tried to be the one to induct Savage.

 

[FlairFan2003]

Grandpa Hogan doesn't deserve to induct Randy Savage in the HOF he hogs the spotlight way too much to all the anti TNA fans who always bitched and complained Grandpa Hogan used to steal the spotlight again! Hogan shouldn tr be in the wwe hall of fame again neither should it be Flabby Flair
I think DDP should ve inducted Randy Savage they had a memorable feud and was a classic WCW feud ever to go down in history

Hogan is selfish, egotistical and always wants attention

The problem with that is Savage's one brief feud with DDP was next to meaningless. That would have been like having Brad Armstrong induct The Horsemen instead of Dusty Rhodes. Few fans remember Savage vs DDP as a card opener for about a month in 1997 and the ones who do acknowledge that while it was a nice bump for DDP (who at that point was a glorified jobber with a good ring entrance) it did nothing for Savage's career except confirm that by joining the NWO instead staying with the WCW faction his career was floundering.

Based on their career paths and how much they intertwined Hogan is the best choice. I cant get over the fact that Savage made it clear in just about every interview he did over the last 10 years of his life that he disliked Hogan immensely both personally & professionally and they never appeared to make any kind of peace (Hogan was pretty nasty publicly to him too back then). I cant think Savage would have wanted Hogan anywhere around the podium when he was inducted just like Brett Hart didn't want HBK, HHH, or Hogan on the dias during his moment. It would have been nice if Hart had mended fences with HBK before his induction as they seem civil now for Michaels to have done the intro (like with Dusty & The Horsemen, who had tons of backstage issues but still maintained respect for one another and maintained peace over the years since) but it wasn't meant to be. By all accounts Savage died before any such reconciliation could have occurred with Hogan, therefore Hogan should not induct him.

His brother Lanny, who has been the defacto keeper of his legacy since his death, surrounded by family, should do the introduction. If they needed an actual wrestler it should have been Steamboat or Flair, Savage's best opponents and the one's most linked to him outside of Hogan. Considering that Savage supposedly maintained good relationships with both over the years and his interviews before his death was always complimentary of both (unlike with Hogan) they were the best "alternative" choices but it should have been his brother & family.

 

[FlairFan2003]

They haven't finished listing the list of inductees yet, so Miss Elizabeth might still go in. It would be fitting if she went in this year as Savage is already on that list.

WWE isn't thrilled with Liz's drug use and overdose death, they wont want the publicity of inducting a confirmed drug addict who quit on the company years ago. It's the same reason Lex Luger, who clearly had a HOF career, has never been brought up and in fact was not even shown on camera in the audience yet alone included on stage during the Horsemen Induction a few years ago ... he is tied intrinsically to Liz's drug use and death and WWE doesn't want the negative publicity.

I get their point, although by inducting Scott Hall (who you can argue didn't deserve induction in the first place unless part of an NWO group Induction) WWE kind of shoots that argument in the foot, you can argue that Hall didn't drug OD himself to death (or be with someone who did) but his constant drug issues and legal entanglements due to drugs are well known, and very unseemly.

 

[MrMojoRisin]

WWE isn't thrilled with Liz's drug use and overdose death, they wont want the publicity of inducting a confirmed drug addict who quit on the company years ago. It's the same reason Lex Luger, who clearly had a HOF career, has never been brought up and in fact was not even shown on camera in the audience yet alone included on stage during the Horsemen Induction a few years ago ... he is tied intrinsically to Liz's drug use and death and WWE doesn't want the negative publicity.

I get their point, although by inducting Scott Hall (who you can argue didn't deserve induction in the first place unless part of an NWO group Induction) WWE kind of shoots that argument in the foot, you can argue that Hall didn't drug OD himself to death (or be with someone who did) but his constant drug issues and legal entanglements due to drugs are well known, and very unseemly.

I don't know if it's that... and hopefully they'll finish this years induction season with an Elizabeth induction (she deserves it and it's the best time to do it). I think the issue with Luger is more how he walked out on them and did the surprise appearance on Nitro (if you notice, the other two that showed them up that was, Rude and Madusa, haven't been inducted either). That, and as far as Elizabeth's dying of an overdose, I think many in the business always blamed Luger for that more than they thought less of Elizabeth over it. All reports seem to show that she was very well thought of by all who worked with her.