2021 Observer Hall of Fame

[Crappler El 0 M]

Kazuchika Okada, Los Brazos (Brazo de Oro, Brazo de Plata aka Super Porky, and El Brazo), Jim Crockett, Jr., and Don Owen were voted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame.

Okada was inducted in his first year of eligibility with 92 percent of the vote. Kenta Kobashi and Jushin Thunder Liger are the only candidates inducted with a higher percentage of votes.

Initially, Dave Meltzer believed Mistico (the original Sin Cara) had been inducted, but he received 59.7 percent of the votes in his category, missing the 60 percent threshold.

Sgt. Slaughter and Rollerball Mark Rocco came close as well with 58 percent.

Dropped from next year's ballot for failing to receive 10 percent of the votes are the following: The Hollywood Blonds (Buddy Roberts & Jerry Brown w/Sir Oliver Humperdink), Buddy Colt, the Fabulous Ones (Stan Lane & Steve Keirn), Nikki Bella, Charlotte Flair, Kamala, Rick Martel, Jon Moxley, Seth Rollins, Ultimate Warrior, Kyoko Inoue, Katsuyori Shibata, Takashi Sugiura, Psycho Clown, John DaSilva, Roger Delaporte & Andre Bollet, Takaaki Kidani, Stephanie McMahon.

Mr. Wrestling II Johnny Walker will be dropped from next year’s ballot due to being on the ballot for 15 years and failing to receive 50 percent.

Added to the next ballot will be Argentina Rocca & Miguel Perez, Ricky Steamboat & Jay Youngblood, Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada, Jack & Jerry Brisco, Roman Reigns, Becky Lynch, Roy Welch, Shingo Takagi, and Rossy Ogawa.

[cornettesracket]

My one big issue with the observer hall of fame is that there are active wrestlers on the ballot. I just don’t understand why that is when any on the list. I mean even the WWE HOF for the most part doesn’t put fully active wrestlers in. I’m sure people will disagree with me but it’s one thing I don’t think should be allowed. Also, how the hell are rocca and Perez not in as a tag team already ? Talk about a legendary tag team and they aren’t in. If I had a suggestion it would be for there to be a class of wrestlers who CLEARLY should be in but for whatever reason aren’t in.

[asuka007]

It’s simple, because Pro Wrestlers (unlike most other sports), very rarely truly fully “retire.” Jerry Lawler for example is STILL wrestling. As is Negro Cases into his 60’s. Terry Funk has retired and comeback more times that Big Show heel and face turns.

Also Dave believes that the best time to evaluate a wrestlers impact is shortly after their era.

So simply, you have to set a baseline for when it’s acceptable to start looking at wrestlers career. You don’t often have the same luxury to wait until a wrestler retires because that very well might never truly come.

[Feyrhausen]

Jan 15, 2022 13:37:57 GMT -5 asuka007 said:

It’s simple, because Pro Wrestlers (unlike most other sports), very rarely truly fully “retire.” Jerry Lawler for example is STILL wrestling. As is Negro Cases into his 60’s. Terry Funk has retired and comeback more times that Big Show heel and face turns.

Also Dave believes that the best time to evaluate a wrestlers impact is shortly after their era.

So simply, you have to set a baseline for when it’s acceptable to start looking at wrestlers career. You don’t often have the same luxury to wait until a wrestler retires because that very well might never truly come.

Its a good point about evaluating wrestlers when they are fresh. A lot of names that are not getting the votes now might have when they were fresher in everyones minds.

That has both good and bad sides though.

[Stone Coke Miami Watson 🥃]

Jan 14, 2022 11:51:45 GMT -5 Crappler El 0 M said:

Initially, Dave Meltzer believed Mistico (the original Sin Cara) had been inducted, but he received 59.7 percent of the votes in his category, missing the 60 percent threshold.

Leave it to him to botch his HOF nomination…

["Playboy" Don Douglas]

The Observer Hall of Fame has never and will never make sense to me.

[J. Hova]

If you thought the yearly awards are a joke, then the HOF is beyond a joke.

Sgt. Slaughter drew money everywhere (pre 1991 WWF) and was hugely over as both a heel and face.

Don Owen was one of the longest tenured territory promoters and worked with some of the biggest names of the last 45 years.

Roy Welch is the patriarch of the biggest and greatest Southern wrestling families and was a successful promoter in Tennessee.

I'm not even going to go into the others that are also slam dunks because I'm tired (Briscos, Steamboat and Youngblood, Rocca and Perez, and ugh, the Ultimate Warrior).

[The Summer of Muskrat XVII]

Jan 15, 2022 17:15:33 GMT -5 "Playboy" Don Douglas said:

The Observer Hall of Fame has never and will never make sense to me.

People get ballots to vote on their 10 choices for Hall of Famers, anyone who gets more then 60% of the votes from their region gets into the hall of fame.

A hall of fame being a symbolic award saying they were one of the best in their field as selected by peers and journalists.

[Milkman Norm]

Jan 16, 2022 3:06:49 GMT -5 J. Hova said:

If you thought the yearly awards are a joke, then the HOF is beyond a joke.

Sgt. Slaughter drew money everywhere (pre 1991 WWF) and was hugely over as both a heel and face.

Don Owen was one of the longest tenured territory promoters and worked with some of the biggest names of the last 45 years.

Roy Welch is the patriarch of the biggest and greatest Southern wrestling families and was a successful promoter in Tennessee.

I'm not even going to go into the others that are also slam dunks because I'm tired (Briscos, Steamboat and Youngblood, Rocca and Perez, and ugh, the Ultimate Warrior).

I think of it like the Baseball Hall of Fame where the bar for entry is high so you end up with several people who are close but notm quite at the minimal % for years. Sometimes there is a push to get them in, sometimes their candidacies fade away.

[Feyrhausen]

Jan 16, 2022 10:57:46 GMT -5 Milkman Norm said:

Jan 16, 2022 3:06:49 GMT -5 J. Hova said:

If you thought the yearly awards are a joke, then the HOF is beyond a joke.

Sgt. Slaughter drew money everywhere (pre 1991 WWF) and was hugely over as both a heel and face.

Don Owen was one of the longest tenured territory promoters and worked with some of the biggest names of the last 45 years.

Roy Welch is the patriarch of the biggest and greatest Southern wrestling families and was a successful promoter in Tennessee.

I'm not even going to go into the others that are also slam dunks because I'm tired (Briscos, Steamboat and Youngblood, Rocca and Perez, and ugh, the Ultimate Warrior).

I think of it like the Baseball Hall of Fame where the bar for entry is high so you end up with several people who are close but notm quite at the minimal % for years. Sometimes there is a push to get them in, sometimes their candidacies fade away.

Yeah I mean there are criteria for who is eligible. The selection is done by voting. The voters are all wrestlers and associates. There are a few people in there that Dave just put in but I think that was all early on and I dont know if he does that anymore.

I said in another post that maybe some people dont get in because its been too long since their heyday and thats a shame. But really a hall of fame that has strict criteria on selection and voting is a joke when the other major hall of fame is all based on one mans attitude at that time?

[Crappler El 0 M]

The first two classes of the Observer Hall of Fame were not voted on, but chosen by Dave with input from others. The second class was basically the people that Dave and others felt were left off as an oversight. Over the years Dave has indicated that Edouard Carpentier, Ole Anderson, Fabulous Moolah, and Dick Murdoch were considered to go with the inaugural class, but Dave or others felt like there was enough debate with them that they would not be included with these inaugural inductees. Dave did end up adding Carpentier in the second class, but the others were added to the ballot, but never voted in. The only candidate automatically added to the Hall of Fame where I have heard some criticism was with Ted DiBiase. Some feels people who have failed to be voted-in are just as worthy as Ted DiBiase who was automatically included.

The 1998 class was the first with voting.

Occasionally, historical/pioneer candidates like promoter Eddie Quinn and pioneer wrestlers Colonel J.H. McLaughlin and Paul Pons have been added to the Hall of Fame without voting.

[Milkman Norm]

Jan 16, 2022 11:59:06 GMT -5 Feyrhausen said:

Jan 16, 2022 10:57:46 GMT -5 Milkman Norm said:

I think of it like the Baseball Hall of Fame where the bar for entry is high so you end up with several people who are close but notm quite at the minimal % for years. Sometimes there is a push to get them in, sometimes their candidacies fade away.

Yeah I mean there are criteria for who is eligible. The selection is done by voting. The voters are all wrestlers and associates. There are a few people in there that Dave just put in but I think that was all early on and I dont know if he does that anymore.

I said in another post that maybe some people dont get in because its been too long since their heyday and thats a shame. But really a hall of fame that has strict criteria on selection and voting is a joke when the other major hall of fame is all based on one mans attitude at that time?

Slaughter falls in the latter category imo. His ~1979-1984 run was fantastic. From 1985 on not so much.

[fw91]

Are you dropped from the ballot permanently? Charlotte and The Shield members should be shoe ins for any hall of fame down the road.

[Feyrhausen]

Jan 16, 2022 12:34:21 GMT -5 Milkman Norm said:

Jan 16, 2022 11:59:06 GMT -5 Feyrhausen said:

Yeah I mean there are criteria for who is eligible. The selection is done by voting. The voters are all wrestlers and associates. There are a few people in there that Dave just put in but I think that was all early on and I dont know if he does that anymore.

I said in another post that maybe some people dont get in because its been too long since their heyday and thats a shame. But really a hall of fame that has strict criteria on selection and voting is a joke when the other major hall of fame is all based on one mans attitude at that time?

Slaughter falls in the latter category imo. His ~1979-1984 run was fantastic. From 1985 on not so much.

Sarge is a perfect example of someone that according to Daves criteria would not be in when it feels like he absolutely should be. Slaughter never carried a promotion as a face or heel. He did some amazing work but was never “The Man”. But with how well known he is from GiJoe it seems he would be a lock. He is perfect for the WWE hall of fame with its more entertainment emphasis.

Of course he is being voted on not selected. And the voters must also feel that way. And if Dave did just put Ted Dibiase in then he is being a hypocrite because Ted is the same boat as Sarge.

[Mozenrath]

Jan 16, 2022 12:40:53 GMT -5 fw91 said:

Are you dropped from the ballot permanently? Charlotte and The Shield members should be shoe ins for any hall of fame down the road.

I am under the impression it just means you're not on the next year's ballot, but I am not overly clear on it, myself.

["Playboy" Don Douglas]

Jan 16, 2022 10:44:35 GMT -5 The Summer of Muskrat XVII said:

Jan 15, 2022 17:15:33 GMT -5 "Playboy" Don Douglas said:

The Observer Hall of Fame has never and will never make sense to me.

People get ballots to vote on their 10 choices for Hall of Famers, anyone who gets more then 60% of the votes from their region gets into the hall of fame.

A hall of fame being a symbolic award saying they were one of the best in their field as selected by peers and journalists.

Oh I get the process. I don't get the results.

[The Summer of Muskrat XVII]

Jan 16, 2022 13:27:14 GMT -5 "Playboy" Don Douglas said:

Jan 16, 2022 10:44:35 GMT -5 The Summer of Muskrat XVII said:

People get ballots to vote on their 10 choices for Hall of Famers, anyone who gets more then 60% of the votes from their region gets into the hall of fame.

A hall of fame being a symbolic award saying they were one of the best in their field as selected by peers and journalists.

Oh I get the process. I don't get the results.

That I can understand. You should listen to some of the Observer Radio’s covering HoF results, even Dave is completely mindf***ed by the results sometimes.

[Crappler El 0 M]

If you fall off the ballot for lack of support, you can be put back on in the future. Dave (or people making a case to Dave) would argue that new developments and accomplishments in their career mean that they should be given another look. Another way you can return to the ballot is if more time elapses and you go on as a historical candidate (rather than modern).

This former scenario happened with AJ Styles. AJ Styles was first put on the ballot in 2013. He received less than ten percent of the vote and fell off. He was added back in 2015 and again fell off the ballot due to lack of support. However, people lobbied for him to be put back on the ballot again in 2017, arguing that his success in New Japan and WWE now gave him a reason to be added back. AJ Styles was inducted this time.

Roman Reigns is being added back to the next ballot after failing the first time with people feeling that his latest run as a heel with Paul Heyman gives him more of a case.

[Jindrak Mark]

Is Sting in yet? I remember on the Observer board a few years ago Meltzer saying Sting didn't have a good enough argument to get in which seemed insane to me.

[KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!]

I just one year for Meltzer to have an actual ceremony where he is the MC. The awkward pauses, the stammering, the needless Bugsy McGraw references!

It would be memorable anyway.