Mil Mascaras in the HOF?

[The Man They Call WMD]

Super Luchas Magazine in Mexico is reporting that Mil Mascaras will be inducted into the 2012 Class of the WWE Hall of Fame and that they've confirmed that with Mascaras himself.

I don't know anything about him personally. So I have no opinion. Regardless congrats to him. Thoughts?

 

[Straight Edge Shark]

Unkle of Alberto Del Rio. Made 1 entrance at Royal Rumble. Anyway HOF is a joke.

 

[Peoples_Champ]

Since when do they have to star in the WWE to be admitted to the HOF? Freddie Blassie held 30 titles in NWA, 0 in WWF. Ernie Ladd was known for his WCW work, not with WWF. Bob Orton, Paul Orndorff, Verne Gagne, Nick Bockwinkle, Antonio Inoki, Mad Dog Vachon, Bob Armstrong and Abdullah the Butcher had more success in NWA or AWA or Japan, not WWF.

If WWE wants to claim to be a global brand, they need to incorporate the legends from other regions - regardless if American viewers know who they are. Mil Mascaras is a Mexican legend and anyone who doesn't know his work should go to Youtube and educate themselves.

Personally, I think this is great. I can't wait for more international stars to be honoured.

 

[justinept]

Don't know about Mascaras, then I recommend you either read Mick Foley's first book or Chris Jericho's first book. There is some humorous commentary about his shoddy work in Foley's book. Though, to be fair, Macaras was over 50 years old while working with Foley - but I believe one of the lines was "Damn Mil, have some respect for your work..."

Jericho's book talks a lot about Macaras' legendary ego. He gave an even less flattering portrayal of the Mexican legend than Foley did.

I know this has been reported to take place already - but the WWE can change course quickly. Keep in mind that when this rumor began, the WWE was reportedly trying to break the indoor record for most masks. It's possible that Macaras induction was meant to coincide with the attempt for that record.

With Sin Cara now being hurt and Mysterio looking unlikely to be ready by WrestleMania, it doesn't appear that WWE has the right mix of wrestlers to go for the indoor mask record. I wouldn't be surprised if they held out Macaras and inducted him in 2013 when a potential Mysterio/Sin Cara match could give them a real shot at that record.

 

[dd23beatlesfan1]

I think it's highly deserved.

In all actuality, Mil Mascaras did wrestle for the WWE at one time. And I'm not talking about that one-off appearance at the 1997 Royal Rumble. Mil Mascaras performed at numerous Madison Square Garden shows in the late 1970's, including a series of main event WWWF Championship matches with Superstar Billy Graham.

So if you're of the belief that only WWF/E wrestlers should be in the WWE Hall of Fame, then Mil Mascaras does fit the bill more than Antonio Inoki, Verne Gagne, Gorgeous George, and Nick Bockwinkel (Ernie Ladd is not in that category as he did have a long, successful career in the WWE during the 1960's and 1970's. He was long retired by the time "WCW" came to prominence).

Even still the WWE is trying to expand it's HOF into a legitimate pro wrestling HOF, and not just the WWE, hence why they have inducted some of the most important wrestlers in history regardless of whether they wrestled for the WWE or not. And with that said, Mil Mascaras is an essential inductee for the HOF.

Other than El Santo, Mil Mascaras is probably the most influential and famous wrestler in the history of Mexico. If I remember correctly he was the first masked wrestler to wrestle in Madison Square Garden, and he did a lot to help expose Mexican pro wrestling to America. He was a constant headliner wherever he went. He was a constant presence on all of the American wrestling magazines in his heyday. Many American pro wrestling fans of the 1970's and 1980's were introduced to Mexican pro wrestling due to Mil Mascaras. He is one of the most recognized wrestlers on a world-wide basis in history. He absolutely deserves it.

And if you're not going to include him "because of his massive ego" well, I guess we can't have a WWE HOF, then now can we? I mean what wrestler doesn't have a huge ego? I guess no Hulk Hogan, no Shawn Michaels, no Bret Hart, no Stone Cold, no Ric Flair.

 

[RyanAn]

It was actually announced serveral months ago after WWE toured Mexico I believe it was at a Smackdown taping. The video is on Youtube. Anyways, from what I remember of him, he just wrestled in one WWF match in the Royal Rumble. His lineage however usurps that and I consider it the WWE extending an olive branch to secure relations with our sister country. I feel it's a good thing as he's very deserving, being considerd the Hulk Hogan of wrestling in his native country. Think about the other people previously inducted who never even stood foot in a WWE ring.