by Adam
**SPECIAL EDITION**

THE HITMAN'S ICON
APRIL 2008: THE HALL OF FAME
Some time ago, there was a discussion among users of the Retro's Message Board, and the topic of the WWE Hall of Fame came up. While there are several inductees, most of them obvious choices and deserving of the honor, the majority of the Hall of Fame's Class of 2008 was questioned as to whether or not they should have been inducted, or if there were others that should have gone in before some of the others. From there, I threw in my two cents, giving my own suggestions as for who I thought deserved a shot in, and then added a question that's been on my mind since the Hall of Fame's inception. I'll get to that in a moment.

Every major sport in this country has a Hall of Fame, and each has specifications. For the most part, they require at least "X" number of years played, having a certain impact on their sport, and a waiting period of 5 years after their retirement before Hall consideration (with a rare few exceptions, where specifications are called for). They are clearly defined. But the WWE has never really defined the criteria for Hall consideration. So the question comes: What exactly IS the criteria for the WWE Hall of Fame?

Wrestling is unique in the fact that there are no real statistics to keep a record, other than titles. Every other major sport has statistics, most coming into play for consideration for their respective Halls of Fame, usually in the form of a "magic number" in a specific stat that more or less assures that player as a shoo-in for the Hall. In hockey, it's 500 goals. In basketball, it's 20,000 points. In football, it's 30,000 yards passing, 10,000 yards rushing, or 10,000 yards receiving. In baseball, it's 500 home runs and/or 3,000 hits for batting, and 300 wins and/or 3,000 strikeouts for pitching. There's no such "magic number" for wrestling.

I wrote to the WWE via their Website and asked various departments to help me to know what the criteria, and not one person could give me an answer. So really, what's left? The Retro's own Bob (author of the Novak's Notebook) probably summed it up best: "Politics". It's as if the issue is, who doesn't have unresolved issues with Vince McMahon, who's on his good side, and who's apparently been recently kissing his ass.

Andre the Giant. Hulk Hogan. Ric Flair. Freddie Blassie. Curt Hennig. Bret Hart. Captain Lou Albano. The Fabulous Moolah. The Iron Sheik. Gorilla Monsoon. Gene Okerlund. Bobby Heenan. No question, these are all first-ballot Hall of Famers who each deserve to be there. The same will be said of the Undertaker, Triple H, Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, Mick Foley, Rey Misterio, Trish Stratus, and The Rock when their time comes. But who are to say about others who got in?

Certainly the Brisco Brothers are deserving to get it, but how did they get in well before other deserving tag teams? Cases in point: the Legion of Doom, the Hart Foundation (OK, Bret's in, so why not add Anvil?), the British Bulldogs, the Nasty Boys, and Demolition. Other decorated champions who are not yet enshrined but certainly deserve consideration would include Bruno Sammartino, Bob Backlund, "Macho Man" Randy Savage, Jake Roberts, the Honky Tonk Man, Rick Rude, Owen Hart, and Ted DiBiase. I’d even make a case for Miss Elizabeth (being the original Diva) and Sable (the one who more or less defined the WWE Diva). I suppose the only thing about having teams in is, if you induct tag-teams, then sooner or later you induct legendary stables/factions. At that standpoint, there are three I can think of right off the bat who should be in (the original versions, though): the Four Horsemen (being the original), D-X (who were instrumental in making the WWE what is has become in the last 10 years), and the nWo (the faction of factions, and arguably the most successful angle/storyline of all time). Again, wrestling is unique that you could do that. After all, sports cannot induct ENTIRE teams (sake for the Harlem Globetrotters for basketball), because how would you induct the entire 1927 New York Yankees team, or the 1972 Miami Dolphins teams, who were arguably the greatest single-season teams of all time in their respective sport?

Another questionable, yet at the same time deserving, inductee of the Class of 2008 was Gordon Solie. He was known as the legendary voice of WCW for years, yet apparently never did work for the WWE at all. So now, career WCW people are getting into the WWE? Granted, the WWE owns WCW and the "old" NWA, so they're apparently entitled to that. So if that's the case, then they might as well induct Sting, Lex Luger, Arn Anderson, the Steiner Brothers (as a team), and Vader. But if career WCW and NWA wrestlers are going in, why not drop the "WWE" from the Hall and simply call it "Wrestling Hall of Fame"? Come to think of it, there is one of those. It's in Waterloo, Iowa, but primarily related to days when wrestling (all kinds, including pro) was considered as "real". Access their site at: www.wrestlingmuseum.org

Other questions came into play in the chat regarding Peter Maivia and Rocky Johnson. I guess I'm in the same boat with the current generation of wrestling fans when we say the only reason we know of the "High Chief" is because he was The Rock's grandfather. And then Rocky Johnson, aside from being The Rock's father, was a Tag-Team Champion with Tony Atlas (who was and has not been enshrined), and their tag-team really wasn't entirely dominating or significant. While I have no question that Mae Young should be there, my only issue regarding Eddie Graham goes back that he was in the NWA and not the WWE.

The Hall had also once been perceived as a joke when Pete Rose (of all people) was enshrined, and his only contribution to the WWE was having 3 consecutive years of Wrestlemania run-ins with Kane, only to be on the receiving end of a tombstone piledriver on all three occasions. Even William Perry, the popular Chicago Bears defensiveman, who stayed in the Battle Royal up until the last 4 men at Wrestlemania 2, being his only wrestling appearance. What other criteria is there?

A person's character, or, how they live their life, has been an issue in the last 20 or so years when it came to the Hall of Fame, but let's also remember that, up until the 1970's, most of these things got swept under the rug. I mean, Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle were alcoholics and womanizers. Ty Cobb was a known gambler and racist with a violent temper. Joe DiMaggio was a wife-beater. Reggie Jackson and Tom Seaver had ego's the size of a planet. Ted Williams spit at fans and constantly was at odds with the press. Wade Boggs had an extramarital affair via sex addiction for 4 years. Steve Carlton never gave interviews. O.J. Simpson was guilty of domestic abuse with his first wife, long before his accusations for murder. Lawrence Taylor was easily guilty of drug addictions. Trouble with wrestlers is, most of the "character" issue completely goes out the window, since today most will say they've used steroids, painkillers, recreational drugs, or cheated on their spouses. Hey, nobody’s perfect.

And I know you're probably asking, "What about the Ultimate Warrior?" "What about Goldberg?" "What about Brock Lesnar?" I don't think that someone who made a splash for a short time and then vanished in the blink of an eye should be in. You could probably make a case for the Warrior, seeing how he had the longest career of those three. Yet, he peaked for about 3 of those years, and, again, was only around for about 5 years in the WWE before he disappeared for the first time. Goldberg was only around 3 years, and while immensely popular and made an impact as far as fan following, didn't have the longevity of, say, a Bret Hart or a Roddy Piper. Lesnar was around for, what, 2 years, and then abruptly left. No-go there.

One last thing: What happened to the Slammy Awards? They were a popular award, something most fans could look forward to on the eve of Wrestlemania, and were voted on by the fans. If wrestling is truly about “what the fans want”, as Vince always claims, then bring back the Slammys. The awards were an annual event for the first 13 Wrestlemanias, but not returned from 14 on, supposedly (the first time) because McMahon had paid too much money for Mike Tyson’s appearance, and for some reason were never brought back. BRING BACK THE SLAMMYS!!!

So let's figure something out. It's called the Hall of FAME, not the "Hall of Very Good" or the "Hall of Memories", or even the "Hall of Popularity".

Back to my car,
Adam

Questions? Comments? Feedback? Love it or hate it? E-mail the author at: hitman97icon@yahoo.com