Wrestling Osbserver HOF Thread

[cgstong]

Decided to start a WO HOF Thread so we can talk about it

WRESTLING OBSERVER HALL OF FAME


1996 INDUCTEES

Abdullah the Butcher
Perro Aguayo
Andre the Giant
Bert Assirati
Shohei “Giant” Baba
Jim Barnett
Wild Red Berry
Fred Blassie
Blue Demon
Nick Bockwinkel
Paul Boesch
Bobo Brazil
Jack Brisco
Bruiser Brody
Mildred Burke
El Canek
Negro Casas
Riki Choshu
Jim Cornette
The Crusher
Alfonso Dantes
The Destroyer
Ted DiBiase
Dick the Bruiser
Dusek family
Dynamite Kid
Fabulous Kangaroos
Jackie Fargo
Ric Flair

Tatsumi Fujinami
Dory Funk Jr.
Dory Funk Sr.
Terry Funk
Verne Gagne
Cavernario Galindo
Ed Don George
Gorgeous George
Frank Gotch
Karl Gotch
Superstar Graham
Eddie Graham
Rene Guajardo
Gory Guerrero
George Hackenschmidt
Stan Hansen
Bret Hart
Stu Hart
Bobby Heenan
Danny Hodge
Hulk Hogan
Antonio Inoki
Rayo de Jalisco Sr.
Tom Jenkins
Don Leo Jonathan
Gene Kiniski
Fred Kohler
Killer Kowalski
Ernie Ladd
Dick Lane
Jerry Lawler

Strangler Lewis
Jim Londos
Salvador Lutteroth
Akira Maeda
Devil Masami
Mil Mascaras
Dump Matsumoto
Earl McCready
Leroy McGuirk
Vincent J. McMahon
Vincent K. McMahon
Danny McShane
Ray Mendoza
Mitsuharu Misawa
Joe "Toots" Mondt
Sam Muchnick
Bronko Nagurski
Pat O'Connor
Kintaro Oki
Atsushi Onita
Pat Patterson
Antonio Pena
John Pesek
Roddy Piper
Harley Race
Dusty Rhodes
Rikidozan
Road Warriors
Yvon Robert
Billy Robinson
Antonino Rocca

Buddy Rogers
Lance Russell
Bruno Sammartino
El Santo
Jackie Sato
Randy Savage
Billy Sandow
The Sheik
Hisashi Shinma
Dara Singh
Gordon Solie
El Solitario
Rick Steamboat
Joe Stecher
Tony Stecher
Ray Steele
Ray Stevens
Nobuhiko Takada
Genichiro Tenryu
Lou Thesz
Tiger Mask (Satoru
Sayama)
Jumbo Tsuruta
Frank Tunney
Mad Dog Vachon
Big Van Vader
Johnny Valentine
Fritz Von Erich
Whipper Billy Watson
Bill Watts
Jaguar Yokota
Stanislaus Zbyszko


1997 INDUCTEES

Edouard Carpentier
Toshiaki Kawada
Jimmy Lennon
William Muldoon
Chigusa Nagayo
El Hijo Del Santo

1998 INDUCTEES

Dos Caras

1999 INDUCTEES

Lioness Asuka
Jushin Liger
Keiji Muto
Jim Ross

2000 INDUCTEES

Steve Austin
Mick Foley
Shinya Hashimoto
Akira Hokuto
Bill Longson
Frank Sexton
Sandor Szabo


2001 INDUCTEES

Black Shadow
Diablo Velasco
Lizmar
Bull Nakano
El Satanico

2002 INDUCTEES

Martin "Farmer" Burns
Jack Curley
Kenta Kobashi
Wahoo McDaniel
Manami Toyota

2003 INDUCTEES
Chris Benoit
Earl Caddock
Francisco Flores
Shawn Michaels

2004 INDUCTEES
Kazushi Sakuraba
The Undertaker
Bob Backlund
Masahiro Chono
Ultimo Dragon
Kurt Angle
Carlos “Tarzan” Lopez


2005 INDUCTEES

The Fabulous Freebirds
Triple-H
Paul Heyman

2006 INDUCTEES

Eddie Guerrero
Hiroshi Hase
Masakatsu Funaki
Aja Kong (Erika
Shishido)
Paul Bowser

2007 INDUCTEES
The Rock
Evan “Strangler” Lewis
Tom Packs

2008 INDUCTEES
Paco Alonso
Martin Karadagian


2009 INDUCTEES

Konnan
Everett Marshall
The Midnight Express
Bill Miller
Masa Saito
Roy Shire

2010 INDUCTEES

Rey Mysterio Jr.
Chris Jericho
Wladek Zbyszko

2011 INDUCTEES
Curtis Iaukea
Steve Williams
Kent Walton

2012 INDUCTEES
Mick McManus
Dr. Alfonso Morales
John Cena
Hans Schmidt
Lou Albano
Gus Sonnenberg




2013 INDUCTEES

Takashi Matsunaga
Henri Deglane
Dr. Wagner
Atlantis
Kensuke Sasaki
Hiroshi Tanahashi

2014 INDUCTEES

Rock 'n' Roll Express
Ray Fabiani

2015 INDUCTEES

Brock Lesnar
Shinsuke Nakamura
Perro Aguayo, Jr.
The Assassins
Ivan Koloff
Carlos Colon

2016 INDUCTEES

Daniel Bryan
Gene Okerlund
Sting
James McLaughlin


2017 INDUCTEES

Mark Lewin
AJ Styles
Ben & Mike Sharpe
Minoru Suzuki
Pedro Morales

2018 INDUCTEES

LA Parka
Jerry Jarrett
Jimmy Hart
Bill Apter
Howard Finkel
Gary Hart
Yuji Nagata

[cgstong]

2019 Ballot:

The following candidates will be dropped from next year's ballot unless they are elected in or garner 50% of the vote:

Jun Akiyama
Don Owen
Villano III

Monday, 4:57pm
DylanWaco's avatar
Dylan Hales @DylanWaco
no problem

More options
Monday, 4:52pm
cgstong's avatar
Chris GST @cgstong
Gracias

More options
Monday, 4:50pm
DylanWaco's avatar
Dylan Hales @DylanWaco
It's time for the 2019 Hall of Fame elections.

This ballot is being sent out to major wrestling stars, past and present, major management figures in the industry, writers and historians.

If you are getting this, you are being asked your opinion on who should be inducted into this year's Hall of Fame class. The criteria for the Hall of Fame is a combination of drawing power, being a great in-ring performer or excelling in ones field in pro wrestling, as well as having historical significance in a positive manner. A candidate should either have something to offer in all three categories, or be someone so outstanding in one or two of those categories that they deserve inclusion.

The names listed below are those under consideration for this year. To be eligible, a performer must have reached their 35th birthday and completed ten years since their debut as a full-time performer, or be someone who has been a full-time pro wrestler for at least 15 years.

Longevity should be a prime consideration rather than a hot two or three year run, unless someone is so significant as a trend-setter or a historical figure in the business, or valuable to the industry, that they need to be included. However, just longevity without being either a long-term main eventer, a top draw and/or a top caliber in-ring performer should be seen as relatively meaningless.

The election is broken down into a number of categories. You should check each category for wrestlers that you feel you are familiar enough with based on geography that you've either traveled or are familiar with, and based on the time you have followed pro wrestling. You do not have to vote for a wrestler in every category you've checked.

The ballot is also broken down to wrestlers and those who are not pro wrestlers but have been valuable parts of the industry.

The maximum number of wrestlers that you can vote for all the categories is ten. You can pick as few as zero if you don't believe anyone on this list deserves inclusion.

For wrestling executives, managers, announcers and other outside the ring performers, you can vote for them and they are not counted against the ten. You can vote for as many as five of them.

All responses are confidential. There is nothing to worry about politically about any involvement in this process. Your selections will not be revealed unless you choose to do so yourself.

Anyone who receives mention on 60% of the ballots from the geographical region and time frame (broken down as Continental United States & Canada; Mexico; Japan; and the rest of the world) will be added to the Hall of Fame in the class of 2019.

If you are unfamiliar with any of the candidates due to geography of having never seen them, that is fine. Ballots are sent to many people from all over the world and from different wrestling cultures so that everyone has as fair a shot at possible.

The breakdown for modern and historical performers is 30 years ago, or 1989. So if the last year the person was a headliner, or was a key figure in the industry, was prior to 1989, they would be in the historical class.

All performers who receive mention on 10% to 59.9% of the ballots from their geographical region or era will remain on the ballot for consideration next year. All those who receive less than 10% of the vote will be dropped from next year's ballot. They can return in two years based on if there is significant feedback from voters who say they will vote for them. This is mostly for wrestlers who are still active who may improve their career legacy, but can be for retired wrestlers if voters believe they should be put on or returned to the ballot.

In addition, in following the lead of the baseball Hall of Fame, which is the model here, we have a 15-year-rule. The following candidates have been on the ballot since 2005. In baseball, this would be their last year of eligibility. Here, if they don't get at least 50% of the votes in this year's election they will be removed from the ballot. If they are modern candidates, they can be brought back in the historical performers era in two years if it is more than 30 years since their career as a Hall Fame level performer is up:

The following candidates will be dropped from next year's ballot unless they are elected in or garner 50% of the vote:

Jun Akiyama
Don Owen
Villano III

Please return this ballot by October 20th. You can e-mail the ballot back to dave@wrestlingobserver.com or fax it to 408-244-3402 or mail (please do so by October 15th) to Wrestling Observer, P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228.

Please check by every category you are familiar with

I FOLLOWED THE HISTORICAL PERFORMERS ERA CANDIDATES
June Byers
Wild Bull Curry
Cowboy Bob Ellis
Don Fargo
Archie "Mongolian Stomper" Gouldie
Chavo Guerrero Sr.
Rocky Johnson
Jose Lothario
Sputnik Monroe
Blackjack Mulligan
Johnny Rougeau
Dick Slater
George Steele
Enrique Torres
Jimmy & Johnny Valiant
Von Brauners & Saul Weingeroff
Bearcat Wright

I FOLLOWED THE MODERN PERFORMERS IN U.S/CANADA CANDIDATES
Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson w/J.J. Dillon
Junkyard Dog
Edge
Bill Goldberg
Matt & Jeff Hardy
Rick Martel
Randy Orton
C.M.Punk
Sgt. Slaughter
Trish Stratus
Kerry Von Erich
Ultimate Warrior

I FOLLOWED WRESTLING IN JAPAN CANDIDATES
Jun Akiyama
Cima
Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan
Yoshiaki Fujiwara
Hayabusa
Kota Ibushi
Tomohiro Ishii
Tetsuya Naito
Kenny Omega
Meiko Satomura
Akira Taue

I FOLLOWED WRESTLING IN MEXICO CANDIDATES
Los Brazos (Brazo de Oro & Brazo de Plata & El Brazo)
Caristico
Ultimo Guerrero
Karloff Lagarde
Los Misioneros de la Muerte (El Signo & El Texano & Negro Navarro)
Huracan Ramirez
Villano III
Volador Jr.
Dr. Wagner Jr.

I FOLLOWED WRESTLING IN EUROPE/AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND/PACIFIC ISLANDS/AFRICA
Sypros Arion
Big Daddy
Dominic DeNucci
Billy Joyce
George Kidd
Killer Karl Kox
Mario Milano
Kendo Nagasaki
Jackie Pallo
Rollerball Mark Rocco
Johnny Saint
Ricki Starr
Otto Wanz

NON-WRESTLERS
Lord James Blears
Dave Brown
Bob Caudle
Jim Crockett Jr.
Jim Crockett Sr.
Gedo
Jim Johnston
Larry Matysik
Stephanie McMahon
James Melby
Don Owen
Morris Sigel
George Scott
Naoki Sugabayashi
Ted Turner
Stanley Weston
Grand Wizard

[famicommander]

Meltzer's personal HOF is completely worthless to me.

[Reaper G]

How many votes would we get in each category?

[dhads7161]

If I was a voter my ballot would be Archie Gouldie, Sputnik Monroe, Dick Slater, George Steele, The Valiants, Tully/Arn/JJ, Jun Akiyama, TenCozy, Hayabusa, Viliano III
Non wrestlers-Jim Crockett, Sr, Jim Crockett, Jr, Larry Matysik, Don Owen, Grand Wizard.

[dhads7161]

Meltzer's personal HOF is completely worthless to me.

Even though it's not his personal hall of fame, people within the industry vote who is in every year.

[famicommander]

Meltzer's personal HOF is completely worthless to me.

Even though it's not his personal hall of fame, people within the industry vote who is in every year.

It's still stupid and meaningless.

[dhads7161]

Meltzer's personal HOF is completely worthless to me.

Even though it's not his personal hall of fame, people within the industry vote who is in every year.

It's still stupid and meaningless.

So is the WWE's not even a real hall of fame just a live event so they can keep butts out of independent show's seats on WM weekend.

[famicommander]

WWE Hall of Fame is the worst of all. A rogues gallery of murderers, rapists, thieves, and Donald Trumps.

Also a bunch of random ass midcarders that don't belong in any context.