What Makes a Hall of Fame Career?

[DethMetal]

So, over the years, we've seen people like Shawn Michaels, Eddie Guerrero, Ted DiBiase, Ric Flair, Eddie Graham, Edge, and Steve Austin be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. There are certain hall of famers in the business today like the Undertaker, Triple H, and John Cena.

We've also seen people like Mike Tyson, William Perry, and Drew Carey be inducted into the Hall of Fame, which a lot of people can argue as people who should have never been inducted. There have also been people like Koko B. Ware, who were never the biggest of stars in the WWE. Whether it be loyalty, skill, or press and popularity, these people have been inducted into the Hall of Fame for some reason or another.

In your opinion, what makes somebody worthy of entering the WWE Hall of Fame?

 

[SWANTON]

BRING in lots money for WWE AKA vince and being loved by the fans and staying on vinces good side AND not jumping to TNA eg kurt angle jeff hardy are probably not going to be in the HOF

 

[Reflection]

Any person who has been loyal to the company for a good 10-12 years will eventually get inducted into the hall of fame, irrespective of the number of fake matches he won or lost.

 

[Raiden46]

You would think title reigns, but we all know how worthless titles have become in recent history. Titles account for very little when considering the HOF just because they represent props. They show swings in what fans want to see. On the other hand, I do think that the cumulative number of days a wrestler has held a given title over their career holds some water. Look at John Cena for instance. He has 10 WWE titles; an unprecedented number and one that would have been ludicrous to even fathom in the Attitude Era and prior. However if you look at Cena's cumulative number of days holding that belt, he is 4th all-time at 1058 days. The only people ahead of him are Sammartino, Hulk Hogan, and Bob Backlund.

I also think crowd response is heavily considered when looking at the HOF. Like it or not, John Cena is the most polarizing figure in the WWE today; maybe of all time. He always illicits a crowd response like nobody else. True, lately most of it has been boos but being a fan favorite is not necessary to get over. All you need to do is draw a response from the fans. HBK and Ric Flair were heels for a great chunk of their careers and they turned out OK.

 

[Danger Burger]

Apparently giving people hepatitis C for a living can get you in there too, even if you never wrestled for the WWE!! I'm with superstar Billy Graham on this one!! Its great and all for whoever gets in, but i'm not going to value it in any way while Larry Shreve (abdullah the butcher) is in it!

Other than that it just seems to be the popularity/loyalty and in some ways influence for regular wrestlers, and the occasional celebrity so that they get mentioned in a newspaper!!

 

[lowandmighty]

I think wrestlers who were well respected and contributed to wrestling's rise to mainstream popularity in some way is what used to get wrestlers into the hall of fame. However now that its an annual attraction and expected part of wrestlemania the criteria to be inducted has greatly diminished. Mr. T is one celebrity who deserves to be in the hall of fame without having a lengthy career, after all he was in the main event of the first wrestlemania. Drew Carey is not.

I remember seeing the wcw hall of fame ceremony once and all the inductees were geriatrics who only would've been known by their own generation whereas these days Shawn Micheals is in the hall of fame and he's still in his 40's. The hall of fame has simply become another tool to sell ppv's rather than focusing on recognising generations past.

 

[A_kennedy666]

The WWE Hall of Fame means nothing, what a damn disgrace. Their hall of fame is much akin to if Justin Bieber, Hilary Duff, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry and likes were to be inducted in the Rock Hall Of Fame. F'n mike tyson in wwe hall of fame

 

[Pedigree1]

Hmm what makes a HOF career?

Well i think said superstar needs to have that gimmick that stick with him/her. Get over with the fans whether they cheer or boo make them remember you! Stay on vinnie macs good side teach the younger superstars about the craft. Do media stuff ala signing autographs posing for pictures do make a wish stuff. Title reigns are important i believe you have to be champion on multiple occassions. Did you make an impact on the business?

did you maintain popularity in the mainstream media today? years after you retire do people still talk about you? stuff like that i think

 

[theBec2101]

Honestly. It depends if Vince likes you. I mean you could bring in money, be a great wrestler. Hell everbody from fans to other employees could want you in. But in the end it all goes back to Vince.

 

[2Sweet_4Life]

Anyone basically, obviously guys like taker,hbk,austin,flair will be in the HOF but vince seems recently to just put anyone in the HOF.

 

[DexVendetta88]

What makes a hall of fame career? Well the only thing that comes to mind is one thing, and one thing only and that's called "kissing Vince McMahon's ass". I can't remember who said it, but they said that the WWE HoF is the real "kiss my ass club".

 

[Remy LaCroix]

Hmm... Being a draw or kissing ass, you can't go wrong with either one. Loyalty is a plus, but that might fall under kissing ass... Contribution to the company too, I think. Relevance to pro wrestling as well, but that's a two-sided coin with valid points on both sides of the argument.

 

[ultramattman]

The WWE Hall Of Fame is not meant to be exclusive. Anyone who made a memorable impact in WWE (or pro wrestling as a whole) will eventually wind up in the Hall. Each year's class generally contains a couple of top-tier names, a couple of 'mid-card' names, a couple of 'historical' names, and one celebrity.

And I say there's room for all of them. What's wrong with a large Hall? Does it diminish Hulk Hogan's career if Koko B. Ware is standing next to him in the Hall? Why?

And that's not even getting into the 'I can't believe DREW CAREY is in the Hall of Fame WTF!!!' crowd. It's the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall Of Fame, a sideshow of famous people who've been involved in memorable WWE moments. WWE makes it pretty clear these people aren't 'proper' Hall Of Famers.

 

[Takerforeverandever]

Anyone who made a huge impact or was important to the wrestling universe.
Guys who are active right now like The Undertaker, Triple H, Kane, Christian, John Cena, Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, Sting or Jeff Hardy will be there in time for sure. They all have earned their spots in the HOF.
I don't know why other legends like Randy Savage haven't been inducted yet

 

[relentless1]

not much apparently, seeing as how edge got in before macho man, the hall of fame is a joke

 

[ITrippedTheShockmaster]

If you're speaking about actual wrestling, I'd say you have to meet most of the following criteria:

- Been a polarizing figure in the industry.
- Made Vince/WWE a ton of money
- Held numerous championships
- Been one of the top guys in the territories or the big companies back in the day
- Been an innovator in the industry in terms of style, marketability and popularity.
- Have wrestled for WWE or one of the folded companies that it owns the rights to (WCW, World Class, AWA, etc.)
- Die while working for WWE and not have committed heinous crimes while employed with WWE.
- Didn't piss off Vince McMahon at some point in your career. (coughcoughMachoMancoughcoughWarrior)

Or...

Be a mediocre B- or C-list celeb who needs money and is willing to get choke slammed, tombstone'd or some other form of public humiliation by Vince in order to sell/promote something.

But, as we all know, the WWE HOF is very politically driven. Vince picks who Vince wants, hence the "celebrity" wing. There are some great names in there, but it's not a true "Hall of Fame" based solely on wrestling merit because a wrestling company owns it.

 

[#BabyFace]

What SHOULD qualify as a Hall of Famer:
Someone was seen in most of his career on T.V., Is remembered even when he leaves, actually fights in more than 1 MATCH.

What DOES qualify Hall of Famers in WWE
Anything, and I dont really like it. Lets face it, Hornswoggle will likely make it into the WWE Hall of Fame. (Soak that in for a minute.) Guys like Cena, HHH, Taker of course should get in. Guys like Kofi Kingston, Santino, and Jack Swagger should be the lower guys in. HORSNWOGGLE should not.

 

[Attitude Era Junkie]

The WWE Hall of Fame is becoming a mess and I care less and less about who gets in or who doesn't. Abdullah the Butcher should never have been inducted and I know they have a separate section for the celebrities but none of them should be in it either. It makes me throw up to think of how much Vince cares about the entertainment part of the WWE these days. Even going so far as to tell his employee's to not use the word "wrestling" anymore. Vince you did great things for the WWE but now it's time to retire before you fuck it up even more.

For me I think to get in the Hall of Fame it just takes being loyal to the company for years and being a great worker. Titles don't matter as much anymore. Shawn Michaels only won the WWE Championship 3 times but a lot of people call him the greatest in WWE history including me.

 

[whoopin' ass]

positive impact on the business. to me, that is the main thing. being a jobber for 30 years does not mean you are worthy to be in the hall of fame. a lot of the people who go in do so because it is good for business - vince is trying to make a deal with someone so he says he will put so-and-so into the hall of fame. just look at the people who are not int he hall of fame and that tells you how it is run. you have Hogan but no Savage, Austin but no Rock, Flair is in there twice but what about Bischoff? all three of those guys changed the industry for the better, their peers are in the hall of fame but they are not.

 

[Fugazi]

Honestly I was worried that they would just throw anyone and everyone in the HoF but it seems they have slowed down a lot so I think they have upped their standards. Of course guys like Tyson and Drew Carey are going to be put it in. They walked in for a short amount of time and improved ratings and I mean it always helps when a celebrity shows that he enjoys the WWE.

I would like to see the HoF toned down a bit, maybe 2 superstars per year since before you know it they may feel obliged to just throw anyone in to make the ceremony last longer. Hell, even take a year off or something. Theres a lot of candidates obviously but if they don't spread it out more then the HoF will be a joke.

Also, lol @ Hornswoggle. If he gets in I doubt people will be able to take it seriously anymore.

 

[Shotaro]

I think outside of the celebrity wing it has to really be people whose careers are either legendary or will endure. Out of the current full-timers only John Cena and Chris Jericho should be dead certs for the hall of fame right now. CM Punk and Randy Orton will probably find their way to that status in the future and guys like Big Show, Christian, Kane etc will most likely be inducted.

 

[daddyJ_t]

alot of drama through some of these posts with who and who should not be in. ill try to refrain from singling out certain people. i will mention gimmicks....... now for what i would consider to be a hof er .
longevity should go a long way, not jus being round past your prime, but being relevant such as the undertaker. he wrestles 1 match a year and still puts on a helluva show and match. and remains a threat to carry the company if needed in some compacity.
next...along with the relaventcy, staying fresh and not getting old. being able to reinvent yourself such as the godfather/papashango/kama/goodfather. get it. the man went through several changes to withstand the changing of the industry. he went dark then joined the nation, thenthe million $ corperation then rtc. when times changed, he changed and stayed fresh with the crowd. not to mention the previous 2 gimmicks have stood the test of time and stayed popular throughout. now on to career in the ring. everybodies goal is to win the world title which ever it may be or have been. wcw,wwf/wwe, tna, ect ect. now the career should be based on the ladder they have to climb and how hard it is to reach the pinnicle of success. ala steve austin. he had to work his way up through king of the ring, then the royal rumble, then go through dx jus to win the first time. which leads to my next point. the opponents and opposition one has jus to hold on to the title and remain the champ. also like austin battling the "MAN" himself vinny mac and what all was thrown his way to derail him like the triple threats with kane and undertaker and so forth. one has to be able to be remembered through their matches, like brett hart. his matches with owen and austin are some of his greatest. granted he prevailed in most of them, but he did so also making both look like gold and elevating both in the process. he could have buried them amoung others but he gave back by having legendary matches with them and others.. hell he could make hornswoggle look like he could end the streak. a great talker is a great quality also. piper and the rock can tell a story equal to what most can tell in the ring and some would rather watch those talk then see santino marella wrestle. i know ive jumped around, but ive tried to give quality reasons to what should make a person hof worthy as opposed to this guy is a fan favorite or he kisses ass, lets put this guy in.

 

[Trill Co$by]

The WWE Hall of Fame means nothing, what a damn disgrace. Their hall of fame is much akin to if Justin Bieber, Hilary Duff, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry and likes were to be inducted in the Rock Hall Of Fame. F'n mike tyson in wwe hall of fame

What are you 8? If there's any celebrity that should be inducted into the Hall of Fame, besides Mr. T, it's Mike Tyson. The guy pretty much gave Austin another life when he sided with him at Mania 14 and it was a memorable moment that people still talk about. Also, putting Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, and Justin Beiber in the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame might not be too far off the wall. All three of them sell countless of records and do quite well. I mean if the Hall of Fame of anything goes by sales value, beiber should already be in it by now...


Anyway, what I think merits a WWE Hall of Fame career is innovation or being a personification of a generation. Edge's induction at the Hall of Fame was about way more than him being a ten time world champion... it was about everything he did within his 20 years of being in WWE. 20 years is a long time, and within that time, he did some very innovative stuff. Stone Cold was the personification of the Attitude Era. Shawn Micahels and Bret Hart personified the Classics Era... Just like in years to come, Orton and Cena will personify the PG era... and when he gets in, HHH will personify the Ruthless Aggression Era.

Then there are celebrities who brought in tons of money for WWE that they're honored by being inducted into their hall of fame. Say what you want, but most of the celebrities deserve it in their own ways.