Sadly, even that might be beyond Butch Miller, who has been plagued by health problems.
But good for them. The Bushwhackers should feel good about what they gave to the business.
Rikishi? Just a mid-card guy. A way to give the Usos a boost. But, again…Ray Stevens.
Larry Zbyzsko’s induction intrigues me. He’s the greatest staller of all time. If that’s your thing, OK.
Zbyszko married into the AWA world title, and then the promotion promptly died. Draw your own conclusions, “spudheads.”
I liked Zbyszko’s WCW tag team with Arn Anderson. As a WCW announcer, he specialized in bathroom humor and self-promotion. “New World Odor”? Did even one person laugh at that? The self-promotion thing, I really can’t criticize.
But Zbyszko was at the center of one of the biggest angles of all time. It drew huge money. It was the equivalent of hitting 70 home runs in a season. For that, alone, Zbyszko deserves this. His induction keeps Bruno Sammartino in the frame, which is very important to WWE and Triple H.
The Bruno-Zbyszko angle was huge, and made Zbyszko’s career.
WWE did very few turns then, and this one was marvelous: Beloved icon, ungrateful protégé, pool of blood, stunned silence…it had EVERYTHING. The program main-evented for the best part of 1980, and drew big money. Over 36K attended the cage match at New York’s Shea Stadium.
Pittsburgh was the hometown for both (and me), and the atmosphere for Bruno-Zbyszko matches in Pittsburgh was like the Roman Colosseum. My late grandmother HATED Zbyszko. If she were alive today, her hate would not be diminished. Bruno Nation was that outraged.
But, after the feud ended, WWE saw little value in Zbyszko and let him go. Zbyszko was still serviceable after that, but never approached those heights.
I’m glad to see Zbyszko make the HoF. He deserves it. He too often lets himself get trapped in the Bruno vortex, but he’s OK. Guys like Zbyszko built wrestling. It’s not just about main-eventers. It’s also about competence, and contributing.
Follow Mark on Twitter: @MarkMaddenX
