The First WS Wrestling Hall of Fame Class

horrorfan_1986 · 05-25-2008, 04:18 PM

After a good amount of procrastination by yours truly, I am pleased to announce the first class of WS' Wrestling Hall of Fame:

Although Wrestlers may get the most attention, those wrestlers depend on a multitude of other men to help put the show on. Whether it's being the brains of a company by being the owner, setting everything up as a booker, getting wrestlers over whether you're a manager or valet, calling all the action as does a commentator or announcer, keeping the wrestlers informed throughout the match like a referee or lastly training all the young men and women so that they can one day entertain fans all around the world. This category is for all those men and women.

May I present WS's first non wrestler induction:

In a surprise, there was a tie for this category.

Vince McMahon Jr. - Older fans may remember Vince calling the action in the weekly Allentown PA shows. As time went by, McMahon began calling the action on Saturday Night Main Event, Monday Night Raw and many early-mid 90's PPVs. It was in 1997 that Vince McMahon first stepped out of the role of commentator by becoming a character. Through his feud with Steve Austin, the long time commentator quickly found himself to being the most over heel of the WWF. To this day, McMahon still portrays the character of Mr. McMahon. That withstanding, Vince McMahon did far more than just the on air work. In 1983, McMahon bought the WWE from his father and slowly transformed the world of professional wrestling. He began broadcasting his shows all around the country, ran live shows in other men territories and starting airing supercards on Pay Per View. As the owner of the WWE for over 25 years, Vince McMahon no doubt deserves a spot in the WS Hall of Fame.

Stu Hart - The patriarch of the famous Hart wrestling family. Prior to becoming a professional wrestler, Stu was an accomplished amateur wrestler. While in the Canadian Navy, Stu started training in the sport of professional wrestling. However, Hart is most well known for his 2 major contributions to pro wrestling. First, there was the creation of one of Canada's most famous wrestling companies, Stampede Wrestling. The company was well known for being one of the best places to see a wide variety of talents from all over the world. In 1984, 4 years shy of their 40th anniversary, Stu sold his company to the World Wrestling Federation. While Hart's last few talented wrestlers (Davey Boy Smith, Dynamite Kid and Bret Hart) all got WWF contracts, it would not remain long before Stu was able to buy it back. However, by this time, unless you were the WWF, you had a difficult time keeping a company afloat. Most companies ended up either being bought out (Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling aka WCW) or going out of business. Sadly, Stampede would be the latter. Before the demise of Stampede, Stu began training wrestlers in his basement in his own house. Known as The Dungeon, Hart trained several future World Champion such as his own son Bret, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Billy Graham and Edge. For not only creating an exciting past, but for also helping the future of this sport, Stu Hart is inducted as a non-wrestler.

While the real money may be in singles action, many men throughout history has relied on tag team wrestling to get their feet in the business and remain there. A team must have a different strategy and set of moves to stand out and be successful compared to singles wrestling. It is perhaps the earliest form of gimmick dating back decades upon decades ago.

May I present WS's first tag team induction:

The Road Warriors - They were the complete opposite of most tag teams that came before them.These two big Chicago men came to the ring while the PA blasted rock music. They were one of the early men to wear colorful paint on their face. They are perhaps the first wrestlers to be booked in constant squash matches, making Hawk and Animal look unbeatable. Before Hawk's untimely death in 2003, The Road Warriors were together off and on for 20+ years. No matter where they went, they were instantly pushed as a top tag team. They began their journey in Ole Anderson's George Championship Wrestling winning their tag team championship and PWI's rookie of the year in 1983. After that, it was time to conquer the land of the rising sun winning AJPW's tag titles. Back to America, they went home and to Verne Gagne's AWA, winning their tag titles. From there it was onto the NWA's lead territory of JCP (Future WCW). No surprise, they won the tag titles, various tag tournaments and even a 6 man tag title reign with Dusty Rhodes. Once that was finished, it was time for the home of the biggest US company, the WWF. Going by their old Legion of Doom faction name, they'd win their tag titles. Hawk on his own would head back to Japan teaming with Kensuke Sasaki as the Hellraisers. The Hellraisers would win NJPW's Tag titles before Hawk reunited with Animal back in America. They went back to WCW and was a top tag team. Before they could win the tag titles again, they headed back to the WWF and to the shock of no one, won the tag titles one last time. After leaving, Hawk and Animal appeared a few times in early TNA shows before having their final TV match against then-WWE World Tag Team Champions, RVD and Kane on Raw. Their impact is still felt to this day though. In 2005, Animal returned to the WWE and won the WWE Tag Team Titles with their partner Heidenreich. Near the end of 2007, Animal would return to Japan and team with Hawk's old tag team partner, Kensuke Sasaki. The Power Warriors as they were known won the UWA Tag Titles. One of the most popular indy tag teams today, The Briscoe Brothers, uses a modified Doomsday Device as their tag finisher. Perhaps no team has ever created such a "Rush" as the Road Warriors

Lastly, every kid who ever laces up a pair of wrestling boots hopes to one day be "The Man." To hold World Championships all over the place and be one of the most famous wrestlers of that time. To be one of the few that even after your last end bell rings, to be remembered long afterwards. For many, that remains to be just a dream, but for the lucky few, they will have their names remembered for years to come.

May I present the first to inductions of the WS's singles wrestler Hall of fame:

Ric Flair - It was a career that should have been over before it really began. In October of 1975, a very young Flair, who had only been wrestling for a couple of years got on a plane that would crash down in Wilmington, North Carolina. The pilot died after shortly afterward, wrestlers Mr Wrestling and Johnny Valentine was forced into retirement. As for Ric, he suffered a broken back. Doctors told Ric that he would never be able to wrestle again. Flair returned to the ring in February of 1976. Having defeated his toughest opponent to date with the plane crash and broken back, Flair went on to main event the Mid-Atlantic (Eventually WCW) for close to two full decades. It was in the mid 80's that Flair along with Tully Blanchard and the Andersons created the Four Horsemen. They were essentially the blue prints for every successful stable that would come after them. After many disagreements with the future of his character, Flair left WCW to head to Vince McMahon's WWF in 1991. After just a few months, Flair would win the WWF World Title at The Royal Rumble in 1992. Before the end of the year, Flair would win the title again. By early 1993, Ric could see that the WWF was going in a new direction and that WCW could once again be the place for him. Flair jumped ship again and before the end of the year won the WCW World Title at WCW's biggest event of the year, Starrcade. It just so happened that it marked his 10 year anniversary of his biggest win of his career (at the time) when he won the NWA World title for the second time against Harley Race. For the rest of the 90's, Flair would see a lot of ups and downs with WCW. He would win many more titles, be "Fired" a few times, but whether he was in the arena or not, you could always see someone raising their hand up in the air with the four showing. After WCW's demise in 2001, Flair eventually ended back to the WWF. In those 7 years, Flair was able to once again make believers out of fans that age is just a number and that he could still put on a fantastic match. All good things must come to an end though. At Wrestlemania 24, Ric Flair lost a retirement match against Shawn Michaels, thus ending a 4 decade long run in the business. He may currently be gone, but whether it's hearing a "Whoo" after a chop or seeing some distant fan raise their four fingers, Ric Flair will live on forever.

Hulk Hogan - Many men tried to kill it, but 3 decades in, no one has been able to even come close. It's said that Hulkamania will never die, judging by Hulk Hogan's reaction whenever he does make a rare appearance, it seems as if it's correct. But how exactly did a chubby boy from Georgia become one of the biggest names of all time? Having grown up watching Championship Wrestling from Florida, Hulk was trained by Hiro Matsuda. What is most interesting is the fact that Hogan has admitted on several occesions that he had came so close to giving up the business. He had been wrestling for a few years, but struggled to really breakout. Wrestling in Vince McMahon Sr's
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Hogan was offered a major deal to act in Rocky 3. McMahon gave Hogan a choice, to be in the film or to keep his job. Hogan ended up taking the film role and headed to Verne Gagne's AWA. Originally booked as a heel, Hogan kept getting major babyface cheers. Once Verne decide to have him be face, Hulkamania was born. For the next couple of years, Hogan would be the company's top babyface. However, up north in the
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McMahon Sr sold his company to his son and Vince Jr changed the landscape of wrestling forever. The newly named WWF, started raiding promotions offering major money for it's top stars. One of those stars would be Hulk Hogan. Starting in early 1984 after defeating The Iron Sheik for the WWF Title, Hogan would be the WWF's main guy for 9 full years. It was during this time that wrestling saw a major boom in business. In 1993, Hogan decided to retire and concentrate on acting. While in Orlando shooting a TV show, Ric Flair and others approached Hogan to join WCW. Finally, at Bash at the Beach in 1994, Hogan made his debut and defeated Flair for the World Title. Hogan really made his mark 2 years later when he turned his back on the company and created the new World order with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. With that, once again Hogan led pro wrestling into another boom. Eventually though, the WWF started to gain and surpass WCW in ratings and fan support. By 2000, Hogan and the WCW ended their 6 year relationship. Starting in 2002, Hogan would began to make semi regular returns to the WWE. At Backlash, Hogan won his 6th World Title, more than 9 years since he won his last. In the past 6 years, Hogan has wrestled in dream matches against The Rock, Steve Austin, Triple H, Kurt Angle, Randy Orton and Shawn Michaels. While he might not be a regular on TV anymore, Hogan remains one of the most well known wrestlers of all time and is very fitting to be a member of the WS Hall of Fame.

KenTheKiller · 05-25-2008, 04:31 PM

Great post. L.O.D., Vinnie Mac, Stu Hart, The Nature Boy, and Hogan all have done so much for the sport it is a great thing that they were chosen.

King Steventon · 05-25-2008, 04:36 PM

Glad Stu Hart got it, really great contributer to the wrestling world.

However the lack of Jumbo has most certainly confirmed that Gary will be getting stabbed in the neck.