To be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame is a great honour in the world of professional wrestling. It acknowledges a superstar or talent’s fantastic contribution to WWE and the industry. Whilst there are some very questionable entries that demean the legitimacy of the Hall of Fame (Drew Carey, Donald Trump, Snoop Dogg), it is still a wonderful accomplishment to be honoured and acknowledged for your hard work. Some superstars like The Rock, Kurt Angle or The Undertaker will absolutely be inducted one day, however I think it’ll be in a few years time once they’re officially inactive from the business.
Here are 5 people that I feel should go into the Hall of Fame this year.
John Bradshaw Layfield
It feels like JBL has been around forever, since debuting with WWE in 1995, he’s won so many titles that he is now a Triple Crown Champion and was the 11th Grand Slam Champion. Maybe best known as one half of the Acolytes with Ron ‘Farooq’ Simmons’ (The APA), or being Smackdown’s longest reigning champion with his final match being at Wrestlemania 25. Since his retirement in 2009, he’s been an important part of WWE broadcasting, as well as a stint as NXT commissioner. Many fans forget how much JBL has done within the world of professional wrestling, and whether you like him as a commentator or not, there’s no denying his accomplishments should be recognised with a place in the WWE Hall of Fame.
Molly Holly
Since catching my eye in her debut alongside ‘cousins’ Hardcore & Crash Holly in 2000, Molly Holly has always been one of if not my favourite women competitors of all time. She doesn’t get enough credit for how groundbreaking she was, the first woman to refuse magazine deals to strip down to her bikini, and instead let her in-ring wrestling define her. Her versatility as a performer was demonstrated by her willingness to adapt to any role presented to her. As well as her involvement with Hardcore Holly & Crash Holly, there was her romance angle with Spike Dudley (which brought together the Dudleyz v Holly’s modern interpretation of Romeo & Juliet storyline) and her brief stint as superhero ‘Mighty Molly’ alongside The Hurricane. Her singles run was very successful, holding the women’s title twice, and courageously being involved in an angle where she would have her head shaved, she was never afraid to dive into anything required of her.
It saddens me that she is often forgotten in the conversation of greatest female wrestlers, but I think she is a class above most of the female superstars we’ve seen along the years and should be rewarded. Fun fact, she was actually (briefly) the Hardcore Champion.
Eric Bischoff
I recently watched his DVD, and it highlighted how important Eric Bischoff was to professional wrestling. He is not only one of the smartest businessmen in the industry, but not afraid of a challenge and the ability to take things to the next level. He started off as a backstage announcer, and through hard work and determination eventually found himself as a dominant figure within the WCW management. The Monday Night Wars would not have been the same or even happened had it not been for him, which produced some of the best wrestling content from both WCW and WWE as a result.
Even his WWE run was excellence, a natural heel and a natural on the microphone and in front of the camera, you could argue that some of his best work of his career came as RAW General Manager. I would urge anyone to watch his DVD, because regardless of what you think of him personally (or his on-screen persona), you will respect everything he’s done for the professional wrestling business.
Jim Johnston
So many superstars come and go, there are a lot of unsung heroes behind the scenes, Jim Johnston is certainly one of them. Many people might be unaware of him, or his work, which is a crying shame since he is actually the man responsible for creating some of professional wrestling’s most loved entrance themes. Whilst the WWE themes of today are put together by duo ‘CFO$’, up until 2014, it was in fact Johnston that spent hours tirelessly working to put together such iconic entrance themes such as Vince McMahon’s ‘No Chance in Hell’, Edge’s ‘You Think You Know Me’, as well as Shawn Michaels, The Rock, Mankind, The Undertaker and of course the legendary glass shattering of Stone Cold Steve Austin’s theme.
I remember buying ‘WWF The Music Volume 3’ and listening to it constantly, the same with ‘Volume 5’, Chris Jericho’s theme must have been played 100 times on the first day I got that one!
I do think this man should be inducted into the Hall of Fame to acknowledge his outstanding contribution to some of the sounds of our childhood, they certainly were the soundtrack to mine.
Christian
This seems to divide a lot of people, but I feel like it’s a no brainer. Whilst Edge has already been inducted due to his retirement (maybe a bit too soon many feel), it was well deserved, so I think it’s time Christian was rewarded for his contributions also.
As part of ‘The Brood’, Christian debuted as a mysterious gothic type character alongside on-screen brother Edge and their manager Gangrel. It’s a testament to all 3 superstars that The Brood are still references today whether it’s for their unique gimmick or their cool as hell entrance to the ring. Arguably his tag team run with Edge was his most popular and successful era, winning the tag team titles, as well as establishing themselves as one of the best tag teams in history when they defined a new era in wrestling during their iconic ‘TLC’ match. His solo run after breaking away from Edge was packed with variety through storylines with Trish Stratus, Diamond Dallas Page and Chris Jericho.
Perhaps his defection to TNA in 2005 played a part in WWE refusing to acknowledge him in such accolades, but once he returned in 2009 he picked up right where he left off on the ECW brand capturing the heavyweight title. A lot of people forget he was actually a 2 time World Heavyweight Champion (although perhaps most forgettable his 5 day reign). Unfortunately injuries plagued the remainder of his in ring time in WWE and has since quietly retired without fanfare, although an induction to the WWE Hall of Fame would be a very well deserved reward for ‘Captain Charisma’.
Who you DO you think should be in the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2017?
Does Christian deserve a place?
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