Hall Of Fame Nominees
Posted by Douglas Nunnally
on 02/15/2006
Originally posted on September 27, 2004
Mystique: Good afternoon everyone and welcome to the second meeting of the Wrestling Roundtable. I am Mystique, the moderator; and unfortunately Mr. Nunnally could not join us this afternoon. Therefore, I have two guests today, Mr. Martin Daniels and Mr. Scott Stover. Welcome both of you gentlemen.
Scott Stover: Thank you for inviting me, but you are already digging me up after one week of retirement?
Martin Daniels: Thanks for having me, Mystique.
Mystique: Now the topic for this meeting is, "If you had one person to nominate for the WWE Hall of Fame, who would it be and why?”. Who would like to begin?
Matt Green: Me.
Mystique: Go ahead, Matt.
Matt Green: Well first, I was hugely split on this topic between three people: Bret Hart, Bill Watts, and Terry Funk. I have cases for all three, but in my personal opinion, it has to be Terry Funk. He's been in the business almost 40 years. He's worked all over the world, and quite frankly he's one of the few men in this business who has ever adapted his style to change with the times from the old school “wrasslin'," southern brawling, the hard hitting Japanese style, and in latter years most noticeably hardcore. This guy deserves credit because he has changed the business, and he has changed with the business. He's drawn for WWF, NWA, WCW, Japan, and numerous Indies, not mentioning that he helped ECW more than anyone in the early years of the promotion. Vince doesn't like to credit people who haven't done huge amounts for his promotion, but this is one man who he should credit.
Mystique: I have a question for you, Matt.
Matt Green: Fire away.
Mystique: Much of what you said can also be applied to Mick Foley. What makes Funk more deserving than Foley?
Matt Green: I'd have to disagree. Not a lot of this applies to Foley; he never really drew outside of WWF and ECW. He was never over hugely in Japan. Foley's style never really deviated from the hardcore wrestler that was ready to put himself through everything. Terry Funk is compared to Foley very much in recent years. But would you crucify a once great worker for his latter day sins? Terry Funk is one of the best workers this business has ever seen and is so more versatile than Foley ever was. Funk deserves it. Foley is great, but he never did enough for the business to deserve it.
Shak: I think the problem with inducting Terry Funk to the hall of fame is that he achieved his success outside of WWE, which counts a lot against him. It is the WWE Hall of Fame after all, and we all know Vince doesn't like to acknowledge other companies too much. That could be what stops Terry Funk getting inducted, though he deserves worldwide recognition for his contribution to wrestling, and the Hall of Fame would certainly give him that.
Martin Daniels: For me, Hulk Hogan should definitely be in the WWE Hall of Fame. Granted, Hogan and McMahon have never really seen completely eye to eye over the past year or so, partly because of the Mr. America rubbish, but I think Hulk Hogan not being in the Hall of Fame is a bit of a let down. I don't know if Vince prefers to honor these guys when they have retired, but my first reaction is the one and only Hulk Hogan.
Scott Stover: My choice was for Hulk Hogan as well. Regardless of the past between himself and Vince McMahon, you need to look solely at his merits. His championship credentials are outstanding with six WWF/E Championship reigns and a brief WWE Tag Team Championship reign with Edge. He was a main eventer for the first nine Wrestlemanias. He also had major bouts at Wrestlemania X8 and XIX. He is probably one of the most recognized figures in the history of professional wrestling because of his television and movie appearances. And when you look at his past with Vince McMahon, there is no way to be sure if Hogan was not around in the fold, if the last twenty years would go the way they did. My final argument is that he is currently the only "active" wrestler to be in the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. He has been elected but has not been enshrined. He will be after his official retirement.
Mystique: While both Martin and Scott make a good case for Hogan, should he not be excluded due to his unscrupulous dealings with Vince?
Martin Daniels: I don't think so. I think Hogan's involvement in wrestling, not just WWE, is a credit to the "sport."
Mystique: After all, if baseball can ban Pete Rose for gambling, why should we let Hogan be inducted? After all the man DID testify against Vince in the 1990's and for that maybe we should take a second look...
Scott Stover: Maybe so, but hall of fames in many cases look solely on the merits of achievement. Pete Rose is a special case, and if it were not for the life time ban, he would obviously be let into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Mystique: Then why not allow Pete Rose in Baseball’s Hall of Fame? To me it's the same principle.
Scott Stover: Agreed. However, it is the ban that is keeping him from his enshrinement. There is no ban on Hogan. Vince forgave him once and let him back into the WWE in 2002. He may do so again at a later date.
Mystique: Professional wrestling has fought so hard to become respectable, and to allow someone with Hogan's past would be a big blow to sports entertainment.
Matt Green: I think one fact that always diminishes Hogan’s importance to the business is the fact that every promotion he has ever been associated with was always more financially profitable before he was there compared to by the time he had left.
Shak: I think it's unfair to say that about Hogan. He put wrestling on the map, and Hulkamania is one of the most popular, if not the most popular, phenomenon in wrestling history. To say financial issues cloud that is fair enough but, at the end of the day, fans care about the great performers, not the financial revenue they brought in. That's what the Hall of Fame is about, not who helped most financially.
Matt Green: Going back to Hogan and popularity that he brought wrestling to damage the business. It took wrestling to the masses when wrestling isn't meant to be for the masses. Sure there are people who capture the imagination of fans, like Hogan, Austin, and The Rock, but once their popularity drops to that of just a wrestler, the business doesn't do well. Wrestling is for people who can suspend their belief for each show and take their favorite product for what it is worth. Having anywhere between eight to twelve hours of wrestling a week from one promotion kills wrestling. Vince McMahon let that happen with guys like Hogan. That is why Hogan isn't Hall of Fame material; in my opinion, guys like him screw the business for a bunch of money, and once he's done he doesn't give a damn about the future of it.
Martin Daniels: Well, I have to disagree with you, Matt. It doesn't matter whether Hogan is popular now. During his somewhat prime, Hogan was one of the most popular characters in wrestling history with his "Hulkamania" gimmick. Hogan has been successful in both WWE and WCW, and in both, he used separate gimmicks to get over. In WCW, he used the nWo to give his career a boost, and of course, in WWE he had "Hulkamania." In fact, Hogan was so popular with "Hulkamania" that WCW used the gimmick in Hogan's last months with the company. His contribution must be honored, and the only way it can be honored correctly is to have the guy inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Shak: My choice would have to be “Mr. Perfect” Curt Hennig. For me, he is one of the greatest pure wrestlers the business has ever seen. He personifies everything good about the business, and it would be a shame if he was somehow overlooked. He was technically sound, had a fantastic gimmick, and was an all-round entertainer. It was a shame he never went on to become a mainstay in WWE main-event scenes, as he could have been every bit as good a heel as Bret Hart in my opinion. He is one of the few characters I never tired of and a wrestler who truly was (you’re not going to believe what I say now, not predictable in the slightest) perfect!
Mystique: My pick for the WWE Hall of Fame is the Phenom, the Deadman, the Undertaker! The reason why I have selected him is he has been a leader in the WWE locker room for over 14 years. Taker works hard, gives everything he has, and has never done anything to stab the company in the back. I mean, the guy only has a few championship reigns to his credit, but he's never complained about not getting a title shot. He's always a class act, good to the fans, generous to several charitable organizations, and still can perform like a champ in the ring.
Matt Green: I think championship credentials are a very poor way of estimating people's credibility for Hall of Fame material. I would, however, agree Taker is worthy on a Hall of Fame place. Not on his 2003-2004 work, but his work from 1996-1998 and 2000-2002 is unquestionable, and the ORIGINAL gimmick is that of legend. One thing, Mystique; he probably wasn't a locker room leader until 1995 or 1996.
Martin Daniels: Well, I basically agree with Mystique. The Undertaker has been one of the most inspirational characters in the WWE and that certainly must be credited.
Shak: The thing that makes Taker so worthy for me is that he is the guy who has been there for so many years and has never left the company for when so many others were. He is the backbone of WWE, and is an absolute guarantee for the Hall of Fame.
Scott Stover: I think we have made great cases for all the wrestlers we have talked about. My feeling is that just like in any other Hall of Fame, the committee that selects who is enshrined has to go through the same process we are. And we only scratched the surface! We talked about Terry Funk, Hulk Hogan, and The Undertaker. There are others we have not even touched yet like Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Roddy Piper, and many more. We could sit here all day and discuss who should be elected. Politics aside, the WWE Hall of Fame is a great honor. The only problem is all of us (fans included) have our own standards for enshrinement.
Mystique: And I think this discussion will have to continue at a later date. Thank you all for coming, especially our two special guests, Scott Stover and Martin Daniels. I would say, "Say good night," but this in the middle of the afternoon for some of us anyway!
Shak: Not here!
Martin Daniels: Not here either guys!
Matt Green: Not here either.
Scott Stover: Just say good night then boys!
Matt Green: Au revoir, IWC. I don’t know the French phrase for "good night."
Shak: Good night then boys.
Scott Stover: Don't forget to lock the gate Shak. We do not want any strange girls coming in from the psych ward!
Shak: Actually, there's a psych ward near my house!
Scott Stover: Oh, help me lord...
Martin Daniels: And good night!
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