Roundtable: WWE Hall Of Fame 2019

Who are you most looking forward to see get inducted?

John Corrigan: The greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time! Hope he has Peggy Sue beside him and the Colonel in the back, cause he’s riding into Brooklyn in a pink Cadillac.

Juan Bautista: The Hart Foundation. A lot has changed since Bret’s induction and this could be a moment of reflection on career filled with so much gained and lost. It could be very emotional.

Matthew Smith: ARE YOU READY?…because I know I am. Getting to see DX go into the Hall of Fame is going to be just as fun as watching them throughout the years. They were one of the first groups that blurred the lines on how we viewed heel characters. We are supposed to boo these bad guys? Yeah, right. I’m also excited for DX because I truly believe this is the only way we are going to get to see Chyna in the HOF.

Chad Gelfand: Harlem Heat. Despite what some people may say, Harlem Heat is definitely worthy of induction into the Hall of Fame. They were one of the premier teams in WCW and were the launching pad for Booker T’s six-time World Heavyweight Champion career.

Neal Wagner: DX deserves their spot in the Hall of Fame and with the stories that they all could tell, it will be great. I want to see how WWE and DX, especially Triple H, handle Chyna during the induction more than anything else.

Steven Jackson: I was going to say the Honky Tonk Man, but now that Harlem Heat are being inducted, definitely the 10-time WCW Tag Team Champs!

David Gibb: Sean Waltman. He pretty much invented today’s style in the mid-to-late-90s, then was laughed out of wrestling at a time when people claimed what he did wasn’t very good, and finally emerged happy and healthy just in time to add an incredibly valuable voice to a wrestling business whose main event stars now work and look more like him than most of the main event stars of his era.

Who will induct DX?

Anthony Mahalis: A rival should induct them. Vince McMahon is the easy choice. Could conceivably do Shane, but that rivalry was more the latter days of DX. I’d be all for Mick Foley or Stone Cold to do it, but I doubt they go that route. An out-of-the-box choice would be Mike Tyson. That would be highly entertaining.

Sam Gladen: The best person to induct DX is Vince McMahon. The perennial heel to DX’s new way of doing things, it would be the perfect cherry on top of a long and thoroughly entertaining set of careers. One final humiliation for Mr. McMahon.

Corrigan: The Rock. From leading The Nation of Domination against DX to battling Triple H over the WWE Championship, The Great One was constantly a foil to the supergroup. Plus, Brooklyn is definitely a place for Rock to make a special appearance.

Bautista: It should have been Rick Rude. It will probably be Kevin Nash due to the Monday Night Wars and how NWO and DX kept raising the bar.

Smith: Would there be anyone better than Sgt. Slaughter? He was critical to their character development and how they rebelled against the system. They made it cool to fight the system and question everything Sarge said.

Gelfand: I would love if The Rock could do the induction due to The Nation’s rivalry with DX. But someone who could actually be a good inductor is Stephanie McMahon. She’s obviously Triple H’s wife, but she was also closely associated with DX during the McMahon-Helmsley Era. Plus, it would be interesting to hear her talk about Chyna.

Wagner: It would be appropriate for Vince McMahon to induct DX based off of their history both on and off camera. Both Shawn and Hunter badgered him to start the group almost a year before DX was actually a thing. This is also taking into account the 2006 rivalry during Shawn and Triple H’s reunion.

Jackson: Looking back at the genesis of DX and their most iconic moments, it has to be Mike Tyson.

Gibb: It has to be Stone Cold, Mr. McMahon or The Rock. If they want a cute celebrity pick, though, why not Mike Tyson?

Will Chyna ever go in solo?

Mahalis: I do not think Chyna ever gets inducted solo. Her past prevents that.

Gladen: The inclusion of Torrie Wilson makes the best argument against the WWE’s PG scrubbing of Chyna’s post-WWE career. If Torrie can pose nude and be honored, why can’t Chyna?

Corrigan: No chance in hell.

Bautista: No. This was WWE’s way of giving her recognition, but not giving her the full spotlight. All the other multi-time hall of famers went in solo before going in with their respective groups. Unfortunately, due to backstage politics allegedly and being a grown woman deciding to do whatever the hell she wanted to do, Chyna may never go in by herself.

Smith: This one I really don’t ever see happening. I was pretty shocked to see her included with all of DX. Vince has shown in the past he is willing to forgive and forget, but this is more of a thing between Steph and the late Chyna. We all know she does deserve the nod to go in by herself. Her wrestling career did not just start and stop with DX – she is one of the first female wrestlers I can recall going toe to toe with the guys and keeping pace. Her matches against Jericho and Eddie were amazing, so here’s to hoping that time will heal everything and Chyna gets the credit she deserves.

Gelfand: I don’t think that Chyna will ever go in solo. Inducting her with DX was the WWE’s way of getting Chyna in the WWE Hall of Fame without actually having to induct her solo. Chyna is very deserving of going in by herself as she was a trailblazer and one of the most unique wrestlers WWE has ever seen.

Wagner: For everything that she did for the company and women’s wrestling during the Attitude Era, she needs to go in solo and with the group. Chyna was the first woman to compete in both the King of the Ring tournament and the Royal Rumble match, opening the door for men and women to mix it up together. She doesn’t need to be omitted based off of bad history with two members of the front office or what her other occupation was before her passing.

Jackson: Because she has been inducted as part of DX, I’d say no. But she should absolutely be inducted as a solo performer. I’m just not holding my breath on that one.

Gibb: I could see it if the McMahons sell. In a McMahon-owned company run by Triple H and Stephanie, though, it seems like a sticky wicket. With that said, all her supposed sins have already been forgiven for other Hall of Famers (being a prima donna and being tough to negotiate with: Jarrett and Warrior; nude modeling: Torrie Wilson and Sunny; struggling with mental health and addiction: many great wrestlers).

Does Torrie Wilson belong in the WWE Hall of Fame?

Mahalis: On wrestling merit, absolutely not. But she was a big enough part of the early 2000s to warrant her entry. She was a part of many memorable storylines from her rivalry with Sable to the angle with her dad and Dawn Marie.

Gladen: Absolutely. She was greatly entertaining and always did the best with what was given to her.

Corrigan: Of course not! She actually lowers the bar from Koko B. Ware. She was SmackDown’s hot blonde for a spell, but that shouldn’t warrant Hall of Fame induction.

Bautista: She probably does. The issue we all have is that there is a very long list of living and deceased wrestlers that deserve the honor, but for one reason or another, they’re being passed over.

Smith: In terms of wrestling ability, absolutely not. As far as bringing eyes to the product, then yes, she more than deserves her spot in the HOF. With women’s wrestling being taken more serious than ever, a lot of people will say she doesn’t deserve it, but not all the blame can fall on her. She was around in the generation of bra and panties matches and bathroom breaks. She wasn’t the only woman on the roster that did it, but she did separate herself from the pack by constantly being in a storyline or being in the media for her looks alone. Would Torrie vs. Sable ever main event a WrestleMania like Becky, Flair and Rhonda are about to do? Again, absolutely not, but we do need to give her the credit she earned. Besides the throw away matches and things of that nature, she brought eyes to the product and, as Vince has said many times, it’s about entertainment. On that note, she is very worthy of her Hall of Fame spot.

Gelfand: Torrie Wilson was one of the most popular women during her era. Was she ever a good wrestler? No, but that wasn’t the role she was put in. The environment in the company at the time was not conducive to her being a good wrestler or having the ability to put on great matches.

Wagner: I was a Torrie fan, so I’m happy to see her go in. But no, she doesn’t deserve it, solely based on a wrestling perspective. She never held a championship and she wasn’t remembered for her time in the ring. She was good for her sex appeal, bikini contests and Playboy shoots. She was a face to put in front of the camera for media appearances, too. For her contributions there, then yes, she should go in, but on a wrestling basis, this is why it is so controversial to fans.

Jackson: We all know the WWE Hall of Fame has a ton of performers and celebrities who shouldn’t have been inducted. In regards to Torrie Wilson, I don’t see a problem in her being inducted. She was a member of the roster for a number of years as well as the face of a lot of promotional campaigns. Look, if Drew Carey can get inducted, what’s so wrong with Torrie?!

Gibb: She was one of WWE’s most featured female acts for several years and is by all accounts a nice person. Remember: Koko B. Ware.

Is Honky Tonk Man the best shoot interview?

Mahalis: I have legitimately never heard an interview with Honky Tonk Man.

Gladen: My vote for the best shoot interview currently would have to be Jake “The Snake” Roberts since he got clean. But Honky Tonk Man is a great one as well.

Corrigan: Yes. He holds nothing back, burns every bridge and cracks me up.

Bautista: There’s tough competition, but since he did a shoot interview backstage literally after a match, it’s a tie between him and Scott Steiner.

Smith: I think he is certainly up there with the best, but the best shoot interview will always be The Pipebomb. CM Punk did something that evening that blurred the lines of what was real and what was scripted. He brought wrestling back to the front of news stories and even fooled a lot of diehard fans.

Gelfand: Jim Cornette’s and Kevin Nash’s Kayfabe Commentaries shoots surpass the Honky Tonk Man. Also, who can ever forget that one Nash shoot interview where he’s struggling to scarf down ravioli the entire time?

Wagner: I’ve never seen a HTM shoot interview, but I have heard of them. If he has that many opinions and that many stories to tell, he should really do a tell-all book. Do a series like Mick Foley and he could become a name again in wrestling.

Jackson: Honky Tonk Man is one of the best shoot interviews. He isn’t the best, but one of the best. Any wrestler can give a great shoot interview when talking about a suitable topic. Honky is definitely one of the most entertaining and candid shoot interviews, but in the words of the Iron Sheik, “He is gud, he is de best, but you know shootin wise…I can beat da Fack out of him!…FACK!”

Gibb: Was Hulk Hogan the best wrestler of the ’80s? I don’t know, but most other wrestlers would’ve made a lot less money doing it if not for him.