Here’s The Thing About WWE Hall of Fame

WrestleMania season is truly upon us and with the announcements regarding WWE Axxess, NXT TakeOver and WrestleMania itself comes my favorite non-in-ring wrestling event of the year and the only “award show” I am likely to sit through for the foreseeable future: the WWE Hall of Fame.

This is the place where the superheroes that destroy their bodies for our entertainment on a weekly basis slip out of the costumes and come together to celebrate the titans of their industry. To reunite with old friends and mourn legends lost to time. It’s a gathering of wrestlers and fans alike, squashing any beefs and reliving the glory days for just a few hours.

That being said, it’s not always comfortable to watch.

As much fun as it is to see our childhood favorites come out and reminisce, and in some cases, beat the crap out of “helpless” backstage workers (like when the Dudley Boyz were inducted), there remains an air of controversy surrounding the event each year. It begins with the long, drawn out process of announcing the inductees. And with every announcement generally comes loud anger and vitriol that your favorite or your favorite’s favorite was snubbed. Especially when someone, who in your mind, is less deserving gets the go ahead or even worse, when certain performers die before being inducted.

While complaining is simply part of the online culture, of the names announced thus far, this is probably the most deserving class of entertainers in recent memory.

D- Generation X

I don’t necessarily feel like I need to defend the Hall of Fame merits of DX to anyone who was paying attention to wrestling in the mid ‘90s or has paid attention to the business since then. After all, they are thee ‘90s faction, more so than the NWO. They catapulted WWE into an era of “extreme” and brought a sense of realism to the product that was sorely needed at the time. The original incarnation with Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Rick Rude and Chyna was absolutely dominant and ran roughshod over anyone who had the misfortune of crossing their paths.

DX then reinvented themselves with talent such as X-Pac and The New Age Outlaws, extending their run as a faction by several years. DX as a whole is absolutely deserving of their place in the Hall of Fame.

The Honky Tonk Man

While his reign as the WWF Intercontinental Champion is certainly hall of fame worthy (and a record that has yet to be touched), the Honky Tonk Man earns his place more on the merit of entertainment. Through the magic of the WWE Network, I’ve been able to go back and watch some of the Honky Tonk Man’s greatest moments, which usually included him weaseling his way out of matches or exploiting his “champion’s advantage” to the full extent of the rule. His 400-plus day run serves as the blueprint of the modern day craven heel. WWE can thank Honky for setting the standard, which has been copied ad nauseam over the past 30 years. See Carmella’s botched run with the Women’s Championship.

Torrie Wilson

In the same vein as The Honky Tonk Man, Torrie Wilson’s claim to the WWE Hall of Fame comes purely in the entertainment side of the business. She made her debut with the NWO in WCW in 1999, and later was a consistent midcard competitor in WWE. While she does not have the long list of great matches to fall back on, no one can argue that she was not a main draw in WWE during her time. She brought a metric ton of mainstream attention between her use of sexuality to get what she wanted in the ring as well as her two shoots with Playboy. She was not only the face of the women’s division in the early 2000’s, but was actually a very solid worker who would be looked at as more of a Mandy Rose-type of performer if she was to enter the company today.

Harlem Heat

There is a minor argument to be made against Harlem Heat because they were a strictly WCW tag team and didn’t do enough in WWE to merit a HOF bid. You could also argue Booker T does not deserve a second bid so soon after his first induction. But if Shawn Michaels is going to be inducted twice, possibly three times for his career (single’s, DX and Rockers), Booker T is absolutely deserving of admittance twice. As for the WCW argument, the company’s library and intellectual property are owned solely by WWE, meaning the product and performances qualify for WWE Hall Of Fame admittance.

The Hart Foundation

The original mutation of this long-running and ever-evolving stable consisted of Bret “The Hitman” Hart and Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart, who electrified audiences from their debuts in 1978 and 1979, respectively, to the creation of their team in 1985, all the way to their controversial and abrupt exit from the company in 1997 following Survivor Series. The Hart Foundation’s effects are continually being felt in WWE and across the wrestling world not only due to their innovative tag team offense and truly entertaining promo style, but also their willingness and ability to adapt to the way the business seemed to shift beneath their feet. While many fans may argue that the later evolution of the foundation, which included Davey Boy Smith, Brian Pillman and Owen Hart, are more deserving of a bid overall than the initial incarnation of the team, I would argue that the team itself was much more influential over the business as a whole than the faction that ran roughshod over the WWF in 97.

Owen’s widow’s issues with WWE as a whole, as well as the current Hart Foundation’s run (Teddy Hart, Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Brian Pillman Jr.) in MLW, may have played a roll in the decision of who makes it and who does not. That doesn’t cheapen the legacy of two absolutely deserving performers in any way. They had absolutely incredible matches before and after the other names were attached to theirs. There is also an argument to be made that if not for the team of The Anvil and The Hitman, the Foundation as we know it would have never existed at all.

The Hart Foundation exemplifies a subsect of wrestler that is bigger than the title they should be chasing. Having only held the titles twice as a team, they did not seem to suffer from their sparse runs with the gold. Actually, they were almost above it. They knew they were the best in the world and didn’t care if you hadn’t clued into it yet. While we all may wish that this had come sooner so that we may see The Anvil and The Hitman on a WWE ramp together one more time, I am happy to see them inducted at all.

Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake

Rounding out the class of 2019, Beefcake’s career with the then-WWF began in 1984 as a cheap Gorgeous George knockoff and male stripper. He worked David Sammartino at the first WrestleMania to a double count out. He also had long standing feuds with Hillbilly Jim and the immortal Hulk Hogan. Plus, he had a longstanding team with Greg “The Hammer” Valentine, leading to an eight-month reign as the Tag Team Champions. The Barber is synonymous with some of the best feuds all through the 1980’s and 90’s, facing off with such stars as “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Honky Tonk Man and Mr. Perfect (he’s also the first person to pin Mr. Perfect, which still gives Conrad Thompson agita). Who can forget his endless series of gimmicks: The Butcher, The Man with No Name, The Zodiac, The Booty Man, The Disciple, etc. His almost 20-year career is infinitely deserving of a Hall Of Fame induction.