WWE Hall of Fame 2016: Which Superstars Should Be Inducted?
By Josh.0
The WWE Hall of Fame has made is abundantly clear that there is no specific criteria for entrance, but why are some obvious choices still left out?
As we head down the Road to WrestleMania we will also be introduced to the WWE HOF Class of 2016. There are several wrestlers whose exclusion thus far borders on criminal negligence. Perhaps this will be the year some of these wrongs are finally corrected.
Ravishing Rick Rude
If you are a fan of 80s and early 90s wrestling then this should make you gnash your teeth with rage. Rude was a four-time world champion, a one-time Intercontinental Champion, and a one-time United States Heavyweight Champion. He was a founding member of D-Generation X along with Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and Chyna, a fact that alone should warrant his induction. On November 17, 1997, Rude became the first and only wrestler to appear on Raw Is War (which at the time was taped) and Monday Nitro (which was filmed live) on the same night. His promos were second to none and set a new standard for how a heel can be viewed by the female fan base.
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Kurt Angle
As everyone who remembers him knows, Angle is two-time gold medalist, winning one in freestyle wrestling at the 1995 World Wrestling Championships and another for freestyle wrestling at the 1996 Summer Olympics. He is one of only four people to complete an amateur wrestling Grand Slam by winning a gold medal at the junior nationals, NCAA, World Championships and Olympics. In 2006, he was named the greatest shoot wrestler ever by USA Wrestling.
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Angle has won 13 world championships and 21 total championships during his time with WWE, TNA, and Japan. He is the only professional wrestler to win the WWE, WCW, TNA, and IWGP world championships in his career. In 2010, Wrestling Observer Newsletter named Angle the Wrestler of the Decade for the 2000s and he was inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame in 2013. Seriously, what the hell is taking so long, WWE?
Owen Hart
Surprised? You should be. Among other accolades, Owen was a one-time world champion, having held the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship during the USWA’s partnership with the WWF. He was also a two-time WWF Intercontinental Champion, a one-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, a one-time WWF European Champion, and a four-time WWF World Tag Team Champion. His steel cage match at SummerSlam in 1994 against Bret Hart remains one of only five WWE matches in history awarded a full five stars in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. He is regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers in WWE history by his peers and would likely already have been inducted if he were still alive today.
The Fabulous Freebirds
While their 1984 run in the WWE was very short, the group is mostly known for their work in the WCW, AWA, World Class, UWF and the Global Wrestling Federation. During their tag team championship run in the NWA, “The Freebird Rule” was created which allowed any two of the three members of a team to defend the title on any given night. This rule is now used across various promotions to include the WWE. Examples include: The Wolfpac, Demolition and most recently, The New Day. There are more than a few obscure tag teams in the WWE HOF already and none of these teams have a rule named after them.
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Bam Smack Pow
The Rock
He is the greatest sports entertainer of all time. Period. His professional accolades alone are worthy of induction and are all too numerous to list here. Amongst the most notable, he had 17 championship reigns in WWE, including 10 as world champion. He main evented the most-purchased worldwide PPV in WWE history (WrestleMania XXVIII), the most-purchased domestic PPV in WWE history (WrestleMania XVII), the second highest-attended show in WWE history (WrestleMania 29) and was the first wrestler to be part of a title match at five consecutive WrestleManias. Rocky main-
Rocky main-evented the 9 highest rated RAWs in history and 10 out of the 15 highest rated SmackDowns. Stone Cold Steve Austin was inducted into the WWE HOF in 2009 and The Rock was arguably just as influential to the business if not more so during that same time period. If he doesn’t go in 2016, I need to start experimenting with whatever drugs the WWE HOF voters are currently taking.
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Unfortunately for fans, the WWE Hall of Fame is not a real place. For that, you must travel to Wichita Falls, TX and visit the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum which includes wrestlers from various promotions and eras.