Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame

[LynchCats]

For those who think the WWE Hall of Fame is the be all end all of wrestling Hall of Fames, I present to you the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame located in Amsterdam, NY. It was founded in 2002 with the initial class being Andre the Giant, Gorgeous George, Frank Gotch, George Hackenschmidt, Ed "Strangler" Lewis, Jim Londos, Buddy Rogers, Bruno Sammartino, Ricky Steamboat, Joe Stetcher and Lou Thesz. This years class includes among others Jerry "The King" Lawler, The Road Warriors with Paul Ellering, Dick The Bruiser, Billy Robinson, Ivan Koloff, and one Vincent Kennedy McMahon.

Now, this is going to require a little bit of research (I'll help by including the link to the PWHF here.

These are the requirements for eligibility per the PWHF website:

Eligibility For Induction into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame:
Age and Experience Requirements:
To be eligible for induction into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame (PWHF), certain criteria must be met as follows:

1. Any candidate must be deceased, or if living, must be at least 50 years of age.

2. Any candidate must have at least 20 years in the professional wrestling business unless their career has been shortened by injury, illness, or death.

Additional Criteria to be Considered where applicable:
For eligibility into the PWHF, the following additional criteria regarding each candidate will be considered:

3. Ability, Achievement, and overall credentials in the field of professional wrestling.

4. Performance skills.

5. Participation in the sport at large.

6. Contribution to society outside of the wrestling profession.

7. Moral character and personal integrity.

Keeping the categories that the PWHF uses, who do you believe should be included in the 2012 class that hasn't been elected? I'm not including the Pioneer, International, or Womens categories since I don't enough knowledge on those three subjects.

2 Television Era (from 1943 to 1984)
2 Modern Era (from 1985 to 1996)
1 Tag Team (obvious)
1 Non-Participant (commentators, promoters, bookers)

My candidates:
Television Era:
Fritz Von Erich. Patriarch of the Von Erich family. Former AWA Champ, 13 time NWA American Champ, promoter of WCCW before it folded.
Pedro Morales. Former WWA and WWF Champion. 2 time WWF Intercontinental Champion. Former WWF Tag Team Champion. First ever WW(W)F Triple Crown Champion.

Modern Era:
Curt Hennig/Mr. Perfect. Former AWA World Heavyweight Champion, Former AWA Tag Team Champion (with Scott Hall, former WWF Intercontinental Champion, Former WCW United States and Tag Team Champion. Career and life was cut short in 2003.
Eddie Guerrero. Former ECW TV Champion. Two time WCW Cruiserweight Champion. Former WCW United States Champion. Former WWE Champion. 4 Time former WWE Tag Team Champion. Former WWE United States Champion. Former WWF European Champion. Two time former WWF(E) Intercontinental Champion. Eleventh Triple Crown winner, sixth Grand Slam champion.

Tag Team:
The Original Blackjacks (Mulligan and Lanza). Spawned The New Blackjacks in the mid-1990s. Former WWWF Tag Team, WWA World Tag Team, and NWA American Tag Team Champions.

Non-Participant:
Jim Ross. Ross has been in the business as a commentator and road agent for close to 30 years, working with UWF, WCW, and the WWE. He is widely considered one of the best commentators to ever grace our screens every week, and has been influential in the signings of many of the great WWE talents in the past 15 years.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

Stu Hart, Johnny rougeau: These 2 guys are pretty much the reason Wrestling is popular in Canada. Stu Hart pretty much help bring wrestling to western Canada with Stempede wrestling and Johnny did the Same thing with wrestling in Quebec & his lutte internationale promotion. They are the patriach of 2 of the most famous families in canadian wrestling history.

Owen Hart: Really a great perfomer, won pretty much every title in WWE except for the WWE title. Died why too soon. I think it's time that somebody goes again Martha's wish and reconize the fact that Owen was a great wrestlers and a great person outside the ring.

Shawn Micheals: Really can't i say more about HBK that haven't be said before. At first i wanted to put Sting here since he's over 50 and deserve it but then i remember that he still wrestles so the next person in line for me was HBK. If their somebody that did more for WWE and the wrestling business then HBK? He won every title the WWE had, he main evented wrestlemania so many time and had so many great matches throughout the years it's not even funny anymore.

British bulldogs: You could really induct them as individuals but they were really greater as a team. they won the WWE tag titles, they won titles all around the world, they were great performers. Too bad they didn'T get along too well.

Lance Russells: pretty much the voice of Memphis wrestling for so many years and the reason i think Jerry LAwler is the star that he his down in Memphis. Lance had this gift of telling a story through the match and it's too bad that he never really got a chance to call matches in a bigger promotions because he was one of the great play by play guy back in the day.

 

[LynchCats]

These are all very good picks. I'm not very familiar with Lance Russells so I will defer to your knowledge on him. I thought about Stu Hart when I originally thought about this post (side note - I'm actually attending this weekend's induction ceremony and meet & greet), but when it came down to it I was surprised that Morales hasn't already been inducted so I went with him as well as Fritz.

 

[JWGunslinger]

Killer Kowalski
NWA Heavyweight Champion (3 times)
IWA Heavyweight Champion (5 times)
IWA Tag Team Championship (4 times)
WWWF Tag Team Championship (2 times)
WWF Hall Of Fame (Class of 1996)
Debut in 1947, trained by Lou Thesz, Kowalski was well known for being a big man with impressive agility for his size. He played one of the best ruthless heels in wrestling history and was the first man in pin Andre The Giant in North America. But what I believe his greatest accomplishment was would have to be his wrestling school and the future superstars that he trained. A few notable trained by Kowalski include Triple H, Chyna, Perry Saturn, A-Train and Frankie Kazarian.

 

[gaharris10]

Ric Flair should definitely be included in that list. Even though he's still competing (it's about time that he should call it a career) the "Nature Boy's" record and legacy speak for itself. One thing that I've wondered about Flair is whether he has faced John Cena in a one on one match. I can't really these two ever facing each other in the ring. If you guys know the date in which they faced each other, please list when and where the match took place.

 

[LynchCats]

No, not at all, it's all good. I wanted to distinguish and introduce the PWHF to those who aren't familiar that such a distinction exists, mainly because the induction banquet is this coming weekend so I thought the timing for a thread such as this was perfect. You aren't the first I've had to try to make this distinction to. Apologies for the confusion if some came up.

On KK, I'm actually a little surprised he wasn't part of the inaugural class in 2002, but I guess you can't put everyone in one induction

 

[JWGunslinger]

I gotcha now My apologies as well for misunderstanding your post. I am glad that we have the PWHF. The WWE HOF used to be somewhat respectable but when you start inducting people like Drew Carry then it just seems like nothing to be a hall of famer.

As for Kowalski I have to agree, he was(IMO) the first great ruthless heel. I remember my grandpa telling me about him back in the day, he definetly deserves his spot in the history books.

 

[gaharris10]

Come on people, DO YOUR RESEARCH!!!

Kowalski class of 2003.
Flair class of 2006.

Thanks LynchCats, for indicating Flair's induction status. I have to admit that I was a bit unfamiliar with professional wrestling hall of fame before I checked in this thread. Since his 2006 induction however, they have not bothered to update information like how his career concluded with the WWE or his time with TNA. Candidates that definitely should be considered for induction include "Classie" Freddie Blassie, Iron Sheik, Nickolai Volkoff, Jimmy "SuperFly" Snuka, "The Magnificent" Don Muraco as well as Mr. Perfect. Although I noted this earlier, I was wondering if you can recall whether Ric Flair has ever faced John Cena in a one on one match.

 

[ugotpwned999]

Why hasn't anyone mentioned Hulk Hogan??

Hulk Hogan is Pretty much the most popular superstar to ever step in the squared circle. He revolusionised modern wrestling and made wreslemania a household name. I'm not a fan of his, but you cant look much past Hulk.

 

[waylon p]

Why hasn't anyone mentioned Hulk Hogan??

Hulk Hogan is Pretty much the most popular superstar to ever step in the squared circle. He revolusionised modern wrestling and made wreslemania a household name. I'm not a fan of his, but you cant look much past Hulk.

Hogan was class of '03

I think PWHF is a great list.
For suggestions, I was thinking muta.

Larry zbysco must qualify. stanislas zbysco is in. I would like to see Larry make it.
Not that they are related, but it would be cool.

 

[dd23beatlesfan1]

Great thread. I think the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame is far more legitimate than the WWE Hall of Fame without a doubt.

With that said, there's still plenty of choices for the categories. So I think these would be my next choices for each categories....


Modern Era:

Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka: A pioneering high flyer who revolutionized the WWE and influenced many future wrestlers. He's one of the few major wrestlers from the late 1970's/1980's period that is eligible for the Hall of Fame and hasn't been inducted yet.

Jake "The Snake" Roberts: There's a number of mid card WWE guys from the '80s that could easily be inducted, but I tried to choose guys that are still alive, and Jake is probably the biggest one that hasn't been inducted yet, that is eligible, and hasn't passed away yet (which eliminates the likes of Rick Rude and Curt Hennig)


I've also seen Shawn Michaels mentioned as a modern era guy but he won't be eligible until 2015 when he turns 50 years old. The Undertaker and Mick Foley will also become eligble that same year, and Stone Cold Steve Austin will become eligible the year before that.

Sting is also another major possibility as he is eligible age wise.


Other possiblities (Living): Don Muraco, The Iron Sheik, Sting, Lex Luger, Rick Martel, Abdullah the Butcher, Jesse Ventura, Vader

Other possibilities (Deceased): Bruiser Brody, Rick Rude, Curt Hennig, Eddie Guerrero, Kerry Von Erich, Owen Hart


Television Era:

Pedro Morales: A perennial WWE Champion who carried the company for a number of years in the early 1970's. He's considered by many wrestlers to be one of the best ever, and he was the first Triple Crown champion in WWE history. He was immensely popular as well. He is quite possibly the biggest star of the television era

Jackie Fargo: I'm gonna go with kind of a different choice and include the original "King" of Memphis Wrestling in Jackie Fargo. He was the superstar of Memphis before Jerry Lawler, and helped to put the territory on the map.


Other possibilities: Fritz Von Erich, Crusher, Dr. Jerry Graham, Haystacks Calhoun, Pat Patterson


Pioneer Era:

Leroy McGuirk: One of the greatest light heavyweight wrestlers in history, he was an NWA Light Heavyweight Champion during the 1930's and 1940's and was probably the biggest light heavyweight star of that era.

"Whipper" Billy Watson: One of the biggest stars in Canadian wrestling history, who helped to put the wrestling scene in that country on the map.


Other possibilities: Stu Hart, The French Angel, I can't think of any others off the top of my head


Tag Teams:

The Wild Samoans: There's a lot of legendary tag teams that deserve induction, but I really think the Wild Samoans should be the next tag team inducted. Afa and Sika spawned the entire Samoan dynasty which would give us some of the best wrestlers ever. Not to mention they were hugely successful in the early 1980's.


Other possibilities: The Blackjacks, The Valiant Brothers, The Minnesota Wrecking Crew (Gene, Lars, and Ole Anderson), The Texas Outlaws (Dusty Rhodes and Dick Murdoch), Mr. Fuji and Prof. Toru Tanaka, The Fabulous Freebirds, The Rock and Roll Express, The British Bulldogs


International:

El Santo: The man who put Lucha Libre on the map. It's a crime he's not in yet.


Other possibilities: Blue Demon (Mexico), Gory Guerrero (Mexico), Dara Singh (India), Big Daddy (England), Jumbo Tsurtu (Japan), Tiger Mask (Japan), Carlos Colon (Puerto Rico)


Non-Participant:

Beings it really depends on which category they go with next year, I'll make a pick for a promoter, an announcer, and a manager....


Promoter: Jim Crockett Sr.

The leader of Jim Crockett Promotions aka: The Carolina territory which was the precursor to WCW. He was also one of the most powerful promoters in NWA history.


Other possibilties: Jim Barnett (Georgia Championship Wrestling), Eddie Graham (Flordia Championship Wrestling), Don Owen (Pacific Northwest Wrestling), Stu Hart (Stampede Wrestling), Fritz Von Erich (World Class Championship Wrestling), Bill Watts (Mid-South Wrestling/UWF)


Manager:

The Grand Wizard: He is the last remaining member of the "Evil Trio" of Managers in the WWWF during the 1970's that hasn't been inducted, as Freddie Blassie (as a wrestler) and Lou Albano have already been inducted. He's probably the next great manager that should be inducted.

Other possibilities: Arnold Skaaland, Jimmy Hart, Mr. Fuji, Sherri Martel, Miss Elizabeth, Jim Cornette, J.J. Dillon


Announcer:

Jim Ross: I agree with the original poster who stated that Jim Ross should be the next non-participant. If they go with an announcer, then yes Jim Ross should be the next inducted, as he is IMO (and the opinion of many in the wrestling business) the greatest commentator in wrestling history. He was also in many ways one of the architects of the "Atttitude Era" as he did more than anyone to put the roster of that era together.


Other possibilities: Lance Russell (the voice of Memphis wrestling), Ed Whalen (the announcer for Stampede Wrestling), Tony Schiavone, Jesse Ventura (the first major heel announcer), Howard Finkel (quite possibly the best ring announcer in history), Mean Gene Okerlund (the best interviewer in wrestling history)


And there you have it.