Love it, hate it, or be indifferent to it; the WWE Hall of Fame is the most important place in all of professional wrestling to honor and remember the greatest of the previous generations. For many, it’s the honor of a lifetime. Some of the speeches are moving. Some of them are funny. All of the Hall of Famers are deserving of…
Well, ok, most of the people in the WWE Hall of Fame deserve to be there. Many, not so much.
The 2022 HOF Class includes one of the greatest pro-wrestlers of all time, The Undertaker. On his heels is a man who had a mediocre run in the WWE but is an all-time great from WCW and Japan, Vader. Sharmell (Queen Sharmell), a long-time manager, and Booker T’s (he’s a HOFer, too) real-life wife deserves her place. The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott) should’ve been in the WWE HOF years ago, but finally, make their way in. With the Warrior Award, a real-life hero and tag team standout performer, Shad Gaspard, gets his posthumous honor.
Overall, the 2022 class looks like a great lineup. This is often not the case. At all. Sometimes the inductees are insulting, and pointless, and quite a few have an uncomfortable past that makes their induction feel a little wrong. There are also quite a few wrestlers who never were involved with the WWE who deserve some Hall of Fame spot but are overlooked because, well, this is the WWE (and WCW and ECW) Hall of Fame.
Who are the most deserving who haven’t gone in? Japanese legend Giant Baba, amazing big man Bam Bam Bigelow, monster heel Ivan Koloff, promoter Jerry Jarrett, tag team Demolition, Referee Earl Hebner, the Big Show, Japanese legend Hayabusa, Raven, and Rick Martell immediately spring to mind. All and legends with important contributions beyond many already inducted. Some deserving will certainly never go in (Owen Hart), but it would be nice if a few of these names make it, especially those who are still alive who can have their time to shine.
On the other end, there are a few names that are so… undeserving, that it becomes bizarre.
Celebrity inductions are fine for the WWE Hall of Fame. One celebrity more than deserving of putting wrestling into the public eye? Andy Kaufman, be he definitely isn’t in and probably won’t ever be.
Here are those people who shouldn’t be near any pro-wrestling HOF, but got in because they are famous and once or twice showed up to an event (or promoted one): Pete Rose, Donald Trump, Bob Uecker, and Royal Rumble entrant Drew Carey. There are also quite a few people in the WWE Hall of Fame who allegedly or literally did some pretty terrible things and should probably be removed or not have been inducted. That can be said for every Hall of Fame, though.
The WWE Hall of Fame certainly isn’t perfect, but it kicks off Wrestlemania weekend and it’s a lot of fun. I personally saw Trish get inducted and that was… amazing. The crowd quickly turned on her husband and then turned him face with chants. It’s moments like that – where the crowd gets involved and reality blurs – that make pro-wrestling so much fun.
But please, induct Demolition already!
For more on wrestling, make sure to check back to That Hashtag Show.
