WWE Hall of Fame: Class of 2007
It may be weaker at the top but it’s very strong throughout.
Dusty Rhodes
While not much in the WWE, he was HUGE elsewhere and one of the most influential people in the history of wrestling. If you want to talk about someone who is a lifer in wrestling, Rhodes is a good place to start. He debuted 45 years ago and is still active in wrestling today. Think about that for a minute. That’s a LONG time to do anything, let alone be in wrestling. Rhodes is a yes, and if you’re not familiar with some of his stuff from the 70s, look it up. It’s far different than what he’s most famous for.
Curt Hennig
Hennig is one of those guys where the more I see of him, the more I’m impressed by him. He had nearly unlimited talent and one of the best gimmicks in wrestling history. Hennig came as close to living up to the name Mr. Perfect as you could get and the various sports vignettes he had were some of the best promos ever. He never won the WCW or WWF World Title but he had a year long reign as AWA World Champion which is still solid enough to count for something. This is another easy yes.
Jerry Lawler
Lawler is another guy that is legendary in the indies and one in particular, but he’s equally if not even more famous for being the co-voice of Monday Night Raw and therefore the WWF as a whole. Lawler has been doing commentary for about twenty years now as well as still wrestling occasionally. He’s never won a title in the WWE but he’s never needed to. Lawler has long since been at the level where his reputation is safe no matter what he does. Lawler is another yes and one of the few people who would make it into both the WWE Hall of Fame and any other wrestling Hall of Fame as well.
Nick Bockwinkel
This is another name that isn’t that well known by a lot of young fans but he certainly should be. Bockwinkel was the father of the smart heel, as he was very crafty but also very skilled in the ring. Before him, most heels were monsters that a hero would have to vanquish. Bockwinkel came along and changed the entire idea, showing that heels could win with their minds instead of brute force. He’s very similar to Ted DiBiase in that regard, which makes him a very influential man indeed. He held the AWA World Title for over eight years combined and the tag titles for over three years. That alone makes him an easy yes vote.
Mr. Fuji
I love Mr. Fuji! (Five points if you get that reference) This one might surprise you. Fuji was a pretty lame manager, but he was a very accomplished tag wrestler. He was a five time WWF Tag Team Champion and holds the record for most days spent as a tag team champion. He held a tag title for 932 days. Billy Gunn is second at 916 and had twice as many reigns. The next place down is over seven months shorter. Fuji managed Demolition during a large portion of their record tag title run and also managed Yokozuna to the WWF Title. On top of all that, he was in FUJI FREAKING VICE (look that up if you want some old school hilarity). I was thinking no at first but a little research says he belongs in the Hall of Fame.
Jim Ross
If Jerry Lawler is in, Jim Ross has to be in too. He’s been the voice of the WWE for what seems like ever now and he continues to be a great commentator. His acting isn’t exactly top notch half the time and he can be more than a little annoying, but the best way I can sum up JR is this: he and Lawler on commentary just feels right. Ross was also a force behind the scenes as he was VP of talent relations for a long time. He’s a jack of all trades in wrestling and again I have no problem with him being inducted.
The Sheik
Not the Iron Sheik but just the Sheik. This is a guy you probably haven’t heard of but if you’re a fan of ECW or Mick Foley or Terry Funk, you need to research this guy. He’s arguably the father of hardcore wrestling in the US and was legendary in his main territory of Detroit. Sheik also trained Raven and Sabu, which may or may not be a good thing in your eyes. As for being in the Hall of Fame, this is more of a personal issue but I’m saying no. Hardcore wrestling has done more to hurt wrestling than anything else and Sheik introduced the style to the world. I’m saying no based on that alone.
The Wild Samoans
This is the team that started the entire tradition in the wrestling world. From The Rock to Yokozuna to Rosey to Roman Reigns, it all started here. The Wild Samoans were a very successful tag team and won multiple tag titles over the years. Afa also has been a successful trainer and trained Mickey Rourke for the movie The Wrestler. This is another team that is a yes, although there are a few other teams I would put in over them.
This is one of the most stacked classes from top to bottom ever and probably the best one yet with no huge negatives.
In my opinion anyone who is a pioneer of anything deserves recognition.
I’m fine with pioneers going in if it doesn’t hurt wrestling in general. Hardcore has done a lot of bad things to wrestling over the years.
Two questions based on the Sheik entry:
How do you think hardcore wrestling has damaged wrestling overall?
And why is it that you seem to be against hardcore wrestling, yet your favorite wrestler seems to be Foley, who was pretty big into it?
Not that I’m judging you for the second one. I love Foley as well. But I’m curious.
1. Hardcore wrestling is just like anything else in wrestling: it’s fine when it’s used right and can make stories a lot better. However, that brings me to your second question.
2. I remember hearing this somewhere before.
“There are a hundred wrestlers that can throw themselves through furniture and cut themselves open. There’s one that can do it and main event Wrestlemania and his name is Mick Foley.”
The difference is Foley gives you a reason to care and can back it up on the mic. Instead of just getting hit in the head with a blunt instrument, that’s part of what his character does. With a lot of hardcore people, that IS their character. Foley won me over with his character who wouldn’t give up on his dream and one day got there. The hardcore stuff was just a part of that.
Nick Bockwinkel gets put over big time by Bret Hart in his book. Ironically enough, Shawn Micheals talks extensively in his book about how he hated Bockwinkel and had huge heat with him, although he does also admit that most of it was probably totally underserved and was down to Micheals weirdness rather than any actions on Bockwinkels part.
Perfect was just brilliant, can’t believe how good shape he was in when he came back for the 2002 Rumble. The best thing Perfect did was put over Bret and Shawn like nobody’s business. He made those 2 legit singles contenders. A Great One