The Hall of Fame has lost its prestige to me

[Deleted]

Back in the day, I used to think the Hall of Fame was the absolute peak of a wrestlers career. But as I got older, I realized it’s just another show like the rest.

“Inductees” are given scripted speeches, and in general, the show has a lower card, a midcard and a “main event”. So... no different to an episode of Raw then.

A real Hall of Fame is a physical Hall of Fame. It’s not an award ceremony where Vince McMahon PAYS people to go in. It should be an honor. But the more the years pass, the more I just roll my eyes at the inductees they choose.

Besides the obvious “Koko B. Ware”, I’d like to add Rikishi, The Godfather and now The Honky Tonk Man to the list.

Look, all of them are memorable characters. I’m not saying they didn’t contribute to the business in some way, shape or form. However... “Hall of Famers”? Come on.

When I think of Hall of Famers, we should be thinking about Bruno, Hogan, Bret, Shawn, Austin... the title of being a Hall of Famer has completely lost its prestige because the whole qualification for being one now seems to be “Worked in the company for a long time and is on good terms with Vince!”

It’s not “This Guy was amazing! He really changed the business!”

There’s certain midcard guys that I think DO deserve the nod. Guys like Mr. Perfect, Roddy Piper, Ricky Steamboat etc. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the likes of MVP or Carlito getting put in the next few years.

Am I alone in thinking it should be strictly reserved for the “GOAT’s” of the business?

[Feargus McReddit]

It has no prestige because it never had prestige.

Like you said, it's for whose good with Vince and who is avaliable. That's it. That's all it's ever been and will be.

It's like when people were annoyed Hogan got "taken out" of the Hall. I mean...he wasn't. You could still access the page if you looked hard enough. And again, there's no hall to go into.

I have NO doubt it means a lot for people to go in and for fans to see people do speeches and I have no problem with that. But...yeah, it was never prestigious.

[Deleted]

Feb 26, 2019 12:39:15 GMT -5 Feargus McReddit said:

It has no prestige because it never had prestige.

Like you said, it's for whose good with Vince and who is avaliable. That's it. That's all it's ever been and will be.

It's like when people were annoyed Hogan got "taken out" of the Hall. I mean...he wasn't. You could still access the page if you looked hard enough. And again, there's no hall to go into.

I have NO doubt it means a lot for people to go in and for fans to see people do speeches and I have no problem with that. But...yeah, it was never prestigious.

Yeah, that was a weird one. It’s like “Hogan was taken out?... taken out of what?”

He did the speech. He got his little plaque and ring and we all witnessed it. How can you rewrite the past and act like that didn’t happen?

Even if Hogan went to prison tomorrow or something, history will always state he is a WWE Hall of Famer.

[realist]

I respectfully disagree on the basis that wrestling is fake. I say that with no disrespect intended, but it is really difficult to have a Hall of Fame career if the bookers scripted a guy to lose every single match. The only difference between a jobber and a main eventer in the wrestling world is a push. I don't think that people should only be allowed into the Hall of Fame if the bookers liked them enough to give them the world title 16 times or let them hold it for 8 years or whatever. Wrestling is not a sport. It is a business. Tony Schiavone once said that Arn Anderson always wore very nice cologne in his matches because he looked at his opponent as his business partner and they wanted to make money together. That is how I see the wrestling business. Each of those guys are business partners. If it is Koko B. Ware's role to be fed to a monster heel to make him look strong so that he can take the leg drop from Hulk Hogan in a headline program on the house show loop to draw strong so that everyone on the card makes more money, so be it. Everyone had a role to play and everyone did as they were instructed. I view the Hall of Fame as a way for WWE to remember its past and celebrate guys who either played their given role to the best of their ability or are remembered and beloved by the fan base.

[The Heartbreak TWERK]

The Hall of Fame is an annual ticket to sell before Mania and a moniker to attach onto older performers so it has a little extra heat when Baron Corbin and the Corbinettes beat them up.

That's about it.

[Deleted]

These guys go out there and could get paralyzed for life - and have - and they don't have a union.

Let the luckier ones make money and have a feel good moment with the hall of fame.

[Deleted]

Feb 26, 2019 12:44:49 GMT -5 realist said:

I respectfully disagree on the basis that wrestling is fake. I say that with no disrespect intended, but it is really difficult to have a Hall of Fame career if the bookers scripted a guy to lose every single match. The only difference between a jobber and a main eventer in the wrestling world is a push. I don't think that people should only be allowed into the Hall of Fame if the bookers liked them enough to give them the world title 16 times or let them hold it for 8 years or whatever. Wrestling is not a sport. It is a business. Tony Schiavone once said that Arn Anderson always wore very nice cologne in his matches because he looked at his opponent as his business partner and they wanted to make money together. That is how I see the wrestling business. Each of those guys are business partners. If it is Koko B. Ware's role to be fed to a monster heel to make him look strong so that he can take the leg drop from Hulk Hogan in a headline program on the house show loop to draw strong so that everyone on the card makes more money, so be it. Everyone had a role to play and everyone did as they were instructed. I view the Hall of Fame as a way for WWE to remember its past and celebrate guys who either played their given role to the best of their ability or are remembered and beloved by the fan base.

I see what you mean. However, you could argue it’s a lot more than just “the bookers liked Austin more than Barry Horowitz”

Austin brought in the money. He sold out the arenas. While everyone DOES have a role to play, everyone in the business should be aiming for more than just jobbing out every single night. There should be a motivation there. Wrestling is fake yes... but the competition behind the scenes is still very much real. Everyone wants that spotlight and very few actually get it.

[Deleted]

Feb 26, 2019 12:52:17 GMT -5 The Heartbreak TWERK said:

The Hall of Fame is an annual ticket to sell before Mania and a moniker to attach onto older performers so it has a little extra heat when Baron Corbin and the Corbinettes beat them up.

That's about it.

I think you got that backwards. It's meant to pop the crowd watching the old dudes beating up Where's the Remote?!.

[Final Countdown Jones]

Is there any hall of fame accepting a broad spectrum of people who only looks for the absolute most tip-top all time greats? I also don't see how it's at all de-legitimizing that the show structures its inductions to have a big top inductee go in last. "No different to an episode of Raw" is a baffling way to describe just like. Building to your big induction. But I think you're more broadly missing the point of what the hall of fame is; it's a way for WWE to celebrate people who worked for it. Griping about it not having prestige is losing sight of what its actual purpose is.

[Deleted]

Feb 26, 2019 12:57:20 GMT -5 @jdogindy said:

Feb 26, 2019 12:52:17 GMT -5 The Heartbreak TWERK said:

The Hall of Fame is an annual ticket to sell before Mania and a moniker to attach onto older performers so it has a little extra heat when Baron Corbin and the Corbinettes beat them up.

That's about it.

I think you got that backwards. It's meant to pop the crowd watching the old dudes beating up Where's the Remote?!.

is that officially our name for that faction?

[Push R Truth]

I, personally, have always treated the level of prestige by the caliber of talent that is NOT in the Hall of Fame (for all sports not just wrestling). When a bunch of "pretty goods" are in the Hall of Fame, it honestly might as well be called the Hall of Pretty Good. When all the "pretty goods" are staring at the window because they just didn't have the talent to make it in... then it's a Hall of Fame that truly promotes greatness.

[Deleted]

Lost?

[Spider2024]

At the very least I hope all the inductees get a decent pay day for going in. And they get to enjoy the cheers from the fans once more.

Honestly though, isn't that what all Hall of Fames are for really? Even the ones with actual buildings, and even the ones where they immortalize every inductee with a bronze statue made to look like their specific head? Even the "real HoFs" are mostly for the ceremony day, where the athletes/entertainers get one more glorious chance to entertain for the fans that they spent their entire lives hoping to entertain. Plus they get plenty of free perks as well as one more full day or two of everyone telling them how great they are.

You could argue that the sport HoFs like the baseball one and the pro football one, and even the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, are the serious ones that "officially" enshrine the greatest of the greatest. But again, those Hall of Fames are more or less a glorified Top 10/50/100/500/etc. list of greatest of all time, just that it's a very glorified one with a physical museum attached to it. My point here is, every entertainer and athlete gives it their all in their pro career of choice, and when they retire they know that they gave every ounce of their all in terms of physical ability and mental desire & focus. All of them do it that way. A hall of fame induction doesn't 'confirm' that for a great player, nor does it 'anti-confirm' that for anyone that doesn't make it in.

[MAD TITAN]

What is the WWE Hall of Fame anyway?

A webpage on the Internet.

There's no physical location to visit and study the history of the business or see/touch wrestler's boots. It's just a cash grab to get more money from the people who pay for the whole Mania experience.

[Deleted]

Feb 26, 2019 12:44:49 GMT -5 realist said:

I respectfully disagree on the basis that wrestling is fake. I say that with no disrespect intended, but it is really difficult to have a Hall of Fame career if the bookers scripted a guy to lose every single match.

To be fair, how is this different than saying an actor doesn't deserve an Oscar because his character always dies at the end?

[Deleted]

Feb 26, 2019 13:01:42 GMT -5 @mrsirdrdaddy said:

Feb 26, 2019 12:57:20 GMT -5 @jdogindy said:

I think you got that backwards. It's meant to pop the crowd watching the old dudes beating up Where's the Remote?!.

is that officially our name for that faction?

No. That's just my pet name for them.

[Cela]

Feb 26, 2019 13:33:02 GMT -5 @wvguitar said:

Feb 26, 2019 12:44:49 GMT -5 realist said:

I respectfully disagree on the basis that wrestling is fake. I say that with no disrespect intended, but it is really difficult to have a Hall of Fame career if the bookers scripted a guy to lose every single match.

To be fair, how is this different than saying an actor doesn't deserve an Oscar because his character always dies at the end?

Less dies at the end, and more is only given bit parts.

Still, some characters can still develop a heck of a following despite this.

And honestly, if someone was a big part and of wrestling and massively over for a period. Which Honky, Rikishi, and Godfather were. Then cool, recognize them in the hall.

[wildojinx]

Feb 26, 2019 13:17:07 GMT -5 MAD TITAN said:

What is the WWE Hall of Fame anyway?

A webpage on the Internet.

There's no physical location to visit and study the history of the business or see/touch wrestler's boots. It's just a cash grab to get more money from the people who pay for the whole Mania experience.

You can say the exact same thing about the Wrestling Observer HOF, and they dont even have a ceremony.

[Legion]

Meh.

It makes some old people who have given so much feel good for a night. It doesnt need to be prestigious. It just needs to do that.

WWE might make some cash from it, but they are a business, that's the point of them.

[King Boo]

I absolutely hate it when people say things like "WELL KOKO B. WARE IS IN THERE..." or whomever you want to fill in the blank.

These guys and gals love pro wrestling more than I ever will because they went out there, night after night, and put their bodies through hell to try and entertain people. They sacrificed time with their families and friends in hopes those in the crowd had a good time. Wrestling isn't like other athletic endeavors - a card may have a major main event that sits atop everything else, but every single performer, from the first match to that main event, is needed for a show. They're all important in their own way, and they all helped create memories. They've all earned recognition and a thank you - which is what this really is anyway - and if someone wants to give it to them, then I'm all for it. Who am I to tell them otherwise?

And if the HOF isn't "prestigious", then what does it matter who goes in anyway?