**MERGED** WWE Hall of Fame 2013 Discussion (Keep it in here!!!!)

[Jack-Hammer]

On the main page, there's a story revealing that WWE & WCW legend Macho Man Randy Savage won't be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame the night before WrestleMania in 2013.

This all comes after many months of talks with Savage's Brother, Lanny Poffo, who states that it was his brother's wish that he be inducted into the HOF with his brother and his late father, Angelo Poffo. It wouldn't be the first time WWE inducted a family into the HOF as they've done it with the Hart and Von Erich clans in the past. The report states that Savage won't be put into the HOF, for now, as Lanny Poffo is demanding.

For me, I can see both sides of this argument. On one hand, if it really was Randy Savage's wish to be inducted in this way, then I respect his brother honoring his wishes. When you consider that WWE has inducted some people who might not be thought of as deserving by some, mostly celebrities that were briefly involved in WWE angles or matches, then it makes it seem petty that WWE doesn't want to agree to this. After all, at least Angelo & Lanny Poffo were wrestlers. They may not have actually had HOF "worthy" careers all in all but it's WWE's own fault for some of their questionable past inductees.

On the other hand, when you look back over the careers of Angelo & Lanny Poffo, you can't really see much to be overly impressed about. Angelo's biggest claim to fame is owning and running International Championship Wrestling from 1978 to 1984. Lanny Poffo earned his biggest success, surprise surprise, while working for his father in which he was a dominant talent. While working for ICW, Lanny Poffo won their World Championship 4 times. The entire time of the existence of ICW, Lanny & his brother traded the title back & forth. The only wrestler from the company to hold the title that wasn't a Poffo was a wrestler named Paul Christy, and he only held it for about 6 weeks before Lanny won it for the final time on New Year's Day 1984. Savage went on to much bigger & better things. Probably the biggest happening in Poffo's career came on an episode of Saturday Night's Main Event in late 1989 in which he beat Hulk Hogan via countout due to help from Mr. Perfect. That was the same night in which Perfect & Poffo took a hammer to the WWF Championship.

At the end of the day, if his brother wants himself & his late father to ride Randy Savage's coat tails into the WWE HOF, I've got no problem with it. The WWE can put virtually all the attention on Macho Man and, let's be honest, he's the only one of the three that fans are going to know or give a shit about in the first place.

 

[Steve-O-Matt]

Well Jack, I don't think there's anything controversial going on at all, people can say that the WWE don't want Savage or people can say that Lanny is trying to use his brother's success to get in, but I don't think any of those are right. In my opinion I think this year is just about circumstance.

I think the WWE already has a nice big list of guys for the Hall of Fame in 2013 and that if they added the whole family, it might be a bit much, so they might just be saving it for the next year. Either way, I'm sure at some point Savage will find his rightful place, they all eventually do.

Also, this whole 'thing' that went on between Vince and Savage, I have no idea about, it was before my time, if someone can reply to me what went down, that would help a lot. Apparently Savage did something dodgy with Stephanie.

 

[Mustang Sally]

This all comes after many months of talks with Savage's Brother, Lanny Poffo, who states that it was his brother's wish that he be inducted into the HOF with his brother and his late father, Angelo Poffo.

And here, I had always believed it was Savage's wish to not go into the HOF at all. I always figured he might agree to the induction after Vince McMahon was dead; how ironic is it that Savage went first? At any rate, his death finally cleared the path to induction.....and now this. Is Lanny really low enough to pave his own way into the HOF by putting words in his dead brother's mouth? On merit alone, there's no way Lanny or Angelo deserve to go in.....and on merit alone, there's no excuse to keep Randy out.

On the other hand, maybe Leapin' Lanny is telling the truth; after all, Randy wasn't on speaking terms with WWE and there's no way to verify what was said between them. Was Randy actually talking about the WWE HOF while he was in exile from the company? Was the exile self-imposed or did Vince bring it about?

In all, it's too bad Randy ever left WWE in the first place. None of this would be a problem if he had stayed where he belonged. Yes, the WCW money was a strong incentive to leave, but if there was ever a performer solidly identified with a company, it was Randy Savage and WWE.

Conclusion?....put the three of them in there, if that's what it takes to get Macho Man into the Hall of Fame.

 

[obamartins]

Lanny Poffo revealed a lot in a recent shoot interview he did with Kayfabe Commentaries. WWE screwed his father in the 1980's & Randy NEVER forgave them & held a grudge until day he died. Randy said the day WWE didn't do a favour for his Dad that from now on "it's just business".

Randy said "the Poffo's are better then the Von Erichs because we don't fu*king kill ourselves". Randy's wish was to go in HOF as a family. If I was Lanny I would not break my dead brothers wish either.

As for WWE...to little to late. We wanted to see Randy inducted when he was alive. As for accepting Lanny Poffo's request I don't see what the problem is. WWE have already set the precedent with some people they have inducted (D List Celebs, Koko B Ware, Chris & Mike Von Erich etc.) so therefore anybody who says Angelo & Lanny don't deserve to be inducted is a deluded. I fail to see how hard it is to meet Lanny's request. You induct all 3 & Lanny will do the speech mostly talking about his brother. WWE is lucky Lanny is alive because although he won't be able to do a speech worthy of Macho Man his would be the most worthy of anyone.

Back to Randy not being able to get WWE to do his Dad a favour in 80's...as his father was dying Randy said "if they ever want me to go in HOF then I'll only go in as the Poffo family" which brought a smile to his Dad. The fact Randy couldn't get WWE to do his Dad a favour ate him up, he would put holes through walls with his fist.

 

[obamartins]

At the end of the day, if his brother wants himself & his late father to ride Randy Savage's coat tails into the WWE HOF, I've got no problem with it. The WWE can put virtually all the attention on Macho Man and, let's be honest, he's the only one of the three that fans are going to know or give a shit about in the first place.

Yet Lanny Poffo is the ONLY person who could give a worthy & heartfelt speech that you knew was legit. Without Lanny the induction of Macho Man would be pathetic.

 

[D-Man]

On a personal note, if this report is true, I'm extremely disappointed. Savage may be my #1 favorite wrestler of all time and I'm attending both the HOF ceremony and Wrestlemania this year at Metlife Stadium in NJ. It would have been epic to see his name immortalized.

Not for nothing, but I think Randy's induction is worth respecting the family's wishes. They can always make Randy the focal point. WWE has excellent editors and great writers. Surely there must be a way to give the fans what they want AND respect the Poffo legacy.

If they don't figure this thing out, I'll be pretty pissed.

 

[justtxyank]

In all, it's too bad Randy ever left WWE in the first place. None of this would be a problem if he had stayed where he belonged. Yes, the WCW money was a strong incentive to leave, but if there was ever a performer solidly identified with a company, it was Randy Savage and WWE.

It wasn't money exclusively. Vince wanted Savage to retire and become a commentator exclusively. This was in 1994. Savage wasn't ready to be done in the ring. He went on to win the World Title in WCW twice (when it still mattered) and had good feuds with Flair and DDP and was a big part of the nWo. He wasn't finished and Vince wanted him to be. Hard to be upset that he left under the circumstances.

 

[hatehabsforever]

I'm shocked to see that I actually disagree with both Mustang Sally and Jack-Hammer regarding a post, but I do have to disagree here.

Induction into the WWE is an honor for the wrestlers who get inducted, but it is an honor at the determination of the higher ups in the WWE. I don't think anyone would dispute the appropriateness of inducting Randy Savage into the Hall, and it's unfortunate that they couldn't do so while he was still alive rather than considering it posthumously. However, the other two guys definitely do not deserve induction into the Hall of Fame, and there's no way I'd be letting them blackmail their way into the Hall on the coattails of the Macho Man. Sure, we have no way of knowing now what Randy's wishes were, as he's no longer here to tell us, but I'm sure there was discussion of inducting him/them in the past and I would guess if that was truly Randy's wish, the WWE would already know about it.

Plus, I would argue that Macho Man was such a huge deal on his own back in the glory days of the WWF, that he deserves induction all by himself anyway, rather than being lumped in with a couple of yahoos who the casual fans wouldn't even know. Whenever Randy Savage gets inducted into the WWE, he should be the feature inductee that year, the focal point of the evening. Maybe WWE could do what they did with Flair and the Horsemen, namely, inducting Flair first all by himself, then bringing the Horsemen, with Flair, in together at a later date. Why not induct Savage this year, then bring the other dudes in down the road in a secondary capacity. That might work.

For me, there's no way I would be bullied into who gets inducted by some second rate dude who is trying to receive attention on the coattails of his brother. And the argument that other non deserving guys got inducted in the past, so why not, doesn't fly with me either. You don't make a mistake, simply because you have made some in the past. You correct them, and you do so here by induction of the Macho Man Randy Savage into the WWE Hall of Fame as a single entity, arguably the most glaring omission from the Hall at this stage of the game.

 

[silrock316]

On the main page, there's a story revealing that WWE & WCW legend Macho Man Randy Savage won't be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame the night before WrestleMania in 2013.

This all comes after many months of talks with Savage's Brother, Lanny Poffo, who states that it was his brother's wish that he be inducted into the HOF with his brother and his late father, Angelo Poffo. It wouldn't be the first time WWE inducted a family into the HOF as they've done it with the Hart and Von Erich clans in the past. The report states that Savage won't be put into the HOF, for now, as Lanny Poffo is demanding.

For me, I can see both sides of this argument. On one hand, if it really was Randy Savage's wish to be inducted in this way, then I respect his brother honoring his wishes. When you consider that WWE has inducted some people who might not be thought of as deserving by some, mostly celebrities that were briefly involved in WWE angles or matches, then it makes it seem petty that WWE doesn't want to agree to this. After all, at least Angelo & Lanny Poffo were wrestlers. They may not have actually had HOF "worthy" careers all in all but it's WWE's own fault for some of their questionable past inductees.

On the other hand, when you look back over the careers of Angelo & Lanny Poffo, you can't really see much to be overly impressed about. Angelo's biggest claim to fame is owning and running International Championship Wrestling from 1978 to 1984. Lanny Poffo earned his biggest success, surprise surprise, while working for his father in which he was a dominant talent. While working for ICW, Lanny Poffo won their World Championship 4 times. The entire time of the existence of ICW, Lanny & his brother traded the title back & forth. The only wrestler from the company to hold the title that wasn't a Poffo was a wrestler named Paul Christy, and he only held it for about 6 weeks before Lanny won it for the final time on New Year's Day 1984. Savage went on to much bigger & better things. Probably the biggest happening in Poffo's career came on an episode of Saturday Night's Main Event in late 1989 in which he beat Hulk Hogan via countout due to help from Mr. Perfect. That was the same night in which Perfect & Poffo took a hammer to the WWF Championship.

At the end of the day, if his brother wants himself & his late father to ride Randy Savage's coat tails into the WWE HOF, I've got no problem with it. The WWE can put virtually all the attention on Macho Man and, let's be honest, he's the only one of the three that fans are going to know or give a shit about in the first place.

Yeah I agree with the latter portion of your thread. I was and still am a HUGE Savage fan and while Lanny was a good athlete(and was better than Sandow IS for you fans that I have seen act as if Lanny was a poor version of Sandow you are CRAZY) he didn't have NEAR the career as some of the Harts and Von Erichs did. Most of the families WWE has inducted had at least 2 true HOF talents in the family.

I personally think Lanny is destroying Randy for no reason. I think its a jealousy thing. I never read anything prior to Savages death that if he was ever inducted into a hall of fame that he wanted his family going in with him. If there is something out there, I apologize for my ignorance but as I stated I have NOT seen anything so my opinion is that Lanny needs to be a brother and let Randys life long work finally be finalized.

 

[silrock316]

On a personal note, if this report is true, I'm extremely disappointed. Savage may be my #1 favorite wrestler of all time and I'm attending both the HOF ceremony and Wrestlemania this year at Metlife Stadium in NJ. It would have been epic to see his name immortalized.

Not for nothing, but I think Randy's induction is worth respecting the family's wishes. They can always make Randy the focal point. WWE has excellent editors and great writers. Surely there must be a way to give the fans what they want AND respect the Poffo legacy.

If they don't figure this thing out, I'll be pretty pissed.

What Poffo legacy dude? I mean for real, the rest of the family has NO BUSINESS being in the HOF. Im sorry. I love SAVAGE too and he also just might be my favorite of all time. Him and Austin are neck and neck but I want Savage inducted by HIMSELF. Let Lanny induct him..I mean christ his brother is dead, I would want my brother to have his moment if he was deceased.

 

[theBec2101]

They could always induct Randy and edit everyone else when they air it. If they are going to hold inducting Randy over your head to get what they want play nice till let them make their speech have another person there as well to say a few words then when the Lenny is watching it on TV there is nothing about him or anyone else being inducted just him excepting the honor on behalf of his brother they can cut out his speech and everything.

 

[D-Man]

What Poffo legacy dude? I mean for real, the rest of the family has NO BUSINESS being in the HOF. Im sorry. I love SAVAGE too and he also just might be my favorite of all time. Him and Austin are neck and neck but I want Savage inducted by HIMSELF. Let Lanny induct him..I mean christ his brother is dead, I would want my brother to have his moment if he was deceased.

The Poffo family is a long-standing name in the business of pro-wrestling. That's like not inducting the Colons because the family hasn't held a title in the top promotions, besides Carlito. I think they have a legitimate argument.

My selfish side wishes they weren't so stubborn about this but my family-oriented side completely understands where they're coming from. I'm sure there are a lot of things that the Poffo family has done for this business that IWC fans don't necessarily know about.

 

[#MrScissorsKick]

I didn't grow up and watch him wrestle in his runs with both the WWF and the WCW but i've seen past PPV's with him. I do hope Macho Man does make it into the WWE HOF sometime, maybe not this year, but in the near future. Obviously, Randy Savage had more success in the WCW than he did in the WWE. He had much success in the WWF winning the King of the Ring in 1987, winning the Intercontinental Championship once (back when that title had prestige), and winning the WWF Championship twice. Had a solid feud with Hogan, and yeah he definately was one of the better wrestlers in professional wrestling - both in-ring talent and entertainment talent as well. I don't see Savage elected this year, but posthumously i see Macho Man elected into the WWE HOF in the near future.

 

[justtxyank]

I personally think Lanny is destroying Randy for no reason. I think its a jealousy thing. I never read anything prior to Savages death that if he was ever inducted into a hall of fame that he wanted his family going in with him. If there is something out there, I apologize for my ignorance but as I stated I have NOT seen anything so my opinion is that Lanny needs to be a brother and let Randys life long work finally be finalized.

Considering how close the brothers were, I really doubt Lanny is lying. When Savage was in WCW in 94 he got his brother a job and made WCW induct Angelo into the WCW Hall of Fame. He was big on family and his father and brother were huge parts of his life. Wanting the Poffo family recognized doesn't seem that unlikely to me.

 

[ilapierre]

As long as Lanny Poffo is alive, Randy Savage will not be in the WWE HOF unless his brother and father are inducted. Good. The WWE Hall of Fame is a joke. The Macho Man is too big for a Hall of Fame that includes KoKo Beware and the Von Erich family. There aren't that many big names left to induct and WWE knows this and holds off on Savage. This is so they'll be able to have someone larger than life to induct for a memorable Wrestlemania down the road (as the ones these days are pretty dull). If it's true Vince wouldn't do a favour for Savage's father when he was alive then it's highly unlikely Vince will do him a favour now and WWE will wait this out until Lanny dies. If you think about it though, a Hall of Fame that doesn't include two of the 10 best eligible wrestling entertainers of all time isn't really a credible Hall of Fame. It makes no sense for any of us to get bent out of shape about something so insignificant. The wrestling hall of fame isn`t much of a hall of fame without 2 time 12 year champ Bruno Sammartino That would be like leaving Hank Aaron out of the MLB Hall of Fame. Leaving Savage out is pretty much the same thing. I get why WWE inducted Pete Rose and all. Clever. If the MLB and its HOF was second rate too perhaps they`d be just as clever and induct Savage for being the best wrestler of all time to play professional baseball. Savage contributed 100 times more to baseball than Pete Rose contributed to wrestling.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

I don't see why Lanny would keep Randy out because he wanted both his father and brother in there with him. The truth is Randy is the one people remember in WWE. Don't get me wrong I liked The Genius but he will be forever known as "that guy in Mr. Perfect promo's" whereas Angelo will be known as "that guy who can do a ridiculous amount of sit ups".

I wish WWE would induct Savage but I don't blame them in not if that's how Lanny is going about it. At the end of the day it's the WWE's decision and they should choose who they want to induct and who they don't want to induct. If they just want Randy then let them have Randy.

Personally if it was me I would propose that we induct Randy by himself and maybe do another induction for Angelo and Lanny, that way all 3 get in but Randy still gets to be the focal point and head liner as he truly deserves to go in by himself. The HOF feels incomplete without Savage and I would love to see him get in. Lanny and Angelo on the other hand, don't give 2 shits either way.

 

[dd23beatlesfan1]

In all, it's too bad Randy ever left WWE in the first place. None of this would be a problem if he had stayed where he belonged. Yes, the WCW money was a strong incentive to leave, but if there was ever a performer solidly identified with a company, it was Randy Savage and WWE.

I don't think it was the money that made Randy Savage leave. Sure he got paid even more (though I'm sure he was making pretty darn good money in the then WWF). Randy left because of creative differences, simple as that. Vince wanted to make Randy a commentator and a spokesman for the company, basically what the current legends like Bret Hart, Jimmy Hart, HBK, and others do today. Randy Savage wanted to continue wrestling, as he felt he still had plenty left in the tank (which he did). Once Randy saw Hulk go to WCW and get pushed to the top immediately upon arriving, it was only a matter of time before he left. And he did. It's just sad that he never came back. Though I think again that was both Vince and Randy. I think once WCW ended, Randy started getting more interested in other things like acting and his rap album he made. Then by the time he was done with those projects, that's when he was old enough to hang up the boots, which after a brief stint in TNA he did. He moved on. Meanwhile Vince, I think was still very hurt about Randy leaving, and kind of didn't forgive him for it for a very long time.

If only Vince had just used Randy more as a wrestler in the 1993-1994 period, the story would've been very different I believe. Very sad.

 

[dd23beatlesfan1]

I think there's a compromise in order here.

To appease Lanny and the supposed wishes of Randy Savage, induct all three Poffos in the same year. But to work in Vince's favor, don't induct them in one group as "the Poffos" or the "Poffo Family" (like they did the Von Erichs). Just induct each guy individually. Induct Angelo Poffo as one inductee (he could be the old school wrestler for that year's class). Induct "The Genius" into the HOF as he could fill the manager slot, which gets Lanny in. And finally induct Randy as "The Macho Man Randy Savage." Bingo, Randy gets his name recognition which Vince wants (according to this report), and all three guys get into the HOF "together" in the same year, as Randy wished. Problem solved. Though I think if there's any kind of chance that Bruno will finally accept the offer, then yeah, hold off on Macho Man for a year. This year should go to Bruno, Bob Backlund, and Mick Foley. That'd be one helluva group of headliners there.

 

[fenderjapan]

Lanny doesn't deserve to be within 1000 feet of the HOF. Angelo...I guess he could be inducted. Macho obviously deserves it.

But none of this matters because the WWE Hall of Fame isn't a real Hall of Fame. Its owned by a company. It's an honor to go in, yes, but it doesn't matter whats fair or right. It matters whats good for business.

The "real" pro wrestling hall of fame isn't known about by the majority of the fans...if the MLB ignored the National Baseball Hall of Fame no one would care about it either.

 

[multiverseman.com]

This is stupid all around for the Poffos.

1. It's stupid to insist your entire family be inducted for something you, singularly, are the the best at and known for. That's like Stephen King refusing a literary aware because they didn't give his son one too.

2. If Macho insisted his family go in, they can easily do that separately, next year. Induct Macho now, all of them together next year. Easy.

 

[d_henderson1810]

I would be interested to know if Savage's wife (the one who was the passenger in the car he died in) was ever asked about Randy's wishes, or whether he asked to be inducted?

Considering it is Owen Hart's wife who is stopping Owen being inducted, then why is Randy Savage's wife not approached for permission for Savage to go into the HoF 2013?

How do they hold off anyway? If one family member objects, then the wrestler doesn't go in? I think all family members should be asked (if the wrestler is dead), and the majority decide whether to induct or not. Why should someone not get inducted because one person holds out for whatever reason.

I suspect that, if Savage told Lanny about his "dying wish" in regard to the HoF, he may have mentioned it to his current wife as well.

Personally, I think the HoF should be like "This Is Your Life" and the recipient doesn't know about it until shortly before the show.

What is the illegality or otherwise in inducting someone without permission?

 

[lowandmighty]

I can see why Owen Harts wife doesn't want Owen in the hall of fame because she'd definitely hold wwe partially responsible for his death but I don't see why Macho Man can't be inducted with his family, they were responsible for bringing him up into wreslting. His father is already in the wcw hall of fame remembering a really old slamboree the macho man was main eventing.

 

[Wrestling101]

I'm sorry.....I understand everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but sometimes when that opinion is backed by so much dumbness, just keep it to yourself.

Whoever said Lanny deserves to be in and that he's better than Sandow needs to get his head checked.

Whoever said Savage accomplished more and is remembered more for his time in WCW needs to get his head checked.

Anyone claiming the Von Erichs don't deserve to be in needs to get their head checked.

Anyone claiming that 'If Koko B Ware is in the HoF, they should let Lanny in too' and using that as an argument needs to get their head checked. Just because one or more mistakes have been made in the past doesn't mean more should be made. By that logic, since Bill Mazeroski and Jim Rice made the MLB HoF, so should Phil Nevin and Ellis Burks and Eric Karros. You don't make another injustice because of a prior one.

I don't see a single reason why WWE should cater to the Poffo's blackmail-ish demands to induct anyone other than Randy Savage. I'd love him to be in as much as anyone, but to include Lanny in that is a major disgrace. I don't see why WWE can't decide for themselves that they'll induct Randy regardless of what Lanny says.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Randy left because of creative differences, simple as that. Vince wanted to make Randy a commentator and a spokesman for the company....

I honestly wasn't aware of that, but it seems crazy on Vince McMahon's part, no? Why would he take a legendary performer like Savage and make him a commentator? Back in the 80's, I remember that constipated-sounding voice of his. Watching him sit at the commentators' table in '93 with his gut hanging out, I wondered why they hadn't thought of a way to get him back in the ring quicker than they did. How valuable could he have been on the mic?

If Vince was so anxious to have Savage be a full-time announcer, why bother using him as a wrestler when the situation called for it? I remember him wrestling Crush (I think it was at Wrestlemania 10) while having to wear a shirt to cover that prodigious stomach. The match was fine but his appearance was embarrassing. I thought he just didn't care anymore, but now reading that Vince wanted him to stop wrestling, it makes a little more sense that he let himself go like that.

Then, to add to the mystery, Savage shows up in WCW with a flat stomach. Hell, maybe Macho Man was right to leave WWE. I sure didn't want him to stop wrestling. Why did Vince?

As for the Hall of Fame, others in this topic are calling it correctly. What does a performer receive if he goes in? What does his family get if he is inducted after he buys the farm? That's why I say they might as well induct the Poffo 3.

What's the difference, anyway?

 

[ilapierre]

Wrestling 101: You say 'anyone who doesn't think the Von Erichs deserve to be in the HOF should get their head checked'? Give me one good reason why 5 of the 7 Von Erichs who died before the age of 32 (and the one that's been on suicide watch for all these years) deserves to be in the HOF? What did any of them do that was so important for wrestling? Just because they were all involved in wrestling means nothing. If it did then you'd see all those jobber Villano brothers in there. Only one Von Erich ever even made it to the WWE and the Texas Tornado during his brief stint was really no bigger than Leaping Lanny in the territories or his Genius character in WWE. What I'm gonna say here is kinda awful but it's true.. besides Fritz, what did Larry, Curly, Moe or Kerry Von Erich do of any significance in life or in wrestling except overdose and blow their brains out? Killing yourself 20 years before you're even able to put together a Hall of Fame-worthy legacy is not grounds for Hall of Fame induction. But they're there and so is KoKo Beware and Pete Rose and Drew Carey and William Refrigerator Perry, Mike Tyson and Bob Ueker. So are career mid carders like Don Muraco, John Studd, JYD, Tito Santana, Sgt. Slaughter, Bob Orton, Paul Orndorff, Iron Sheik and Ron Simmons. If all these nobodies made it in then I don't see any problem with honouring Savage's wish to have his nobody father and brother inducted. The second rate HOF can't be any more disgraced than it already is. So Wrestling 101 you should get your own head checked before telling anyone else to be getting their head checked when it's pretty obvious you don't have very sound reasoning to back up your arguments.