There is a place where all the greats come together, former rivals and mortal enemies standing side by side gladly, a place which means you’ve made it to the top, there isn’t a level above or a step more needed to be made, the finish line is behind you and you only ought to enjoy the fruits of your lifelong labor. That is the WWE Hall of Fame.
Ever since 1993 and its foundation when Andre the Giant was posthumously inducted, every fighter, past or current, has been thinking about the speech he would like to give after receiving this monumental recognition. There have been critics complaining about who got into the Hall Of Fame, but even one of the biggest critics – the legendary Bruno Sammartino was a big attacker on the policies of inductions, refusing to join the company of dozens of other WWE legends, choose to get the honors he deserved in 2013.
Considering that wrestlers rarely retire in their 30s or 40s like other athletes, and mostly do it when they can’t perform at all anymore due to injuries, the process of inducting is a quick one and Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair, and Edge were inducted a year after they retired.
Even though there hasn’t been a building built to actually represent the Hall of Fame and facilitate the 147 inductees, it is still the place to be, and the WWE has looked into constructing a structure for this purpose, with memorabilia waiting in a warehouse. And we know it’s packing with the collectibles of the following fighters even though they, fortunately, haven’t ended their careers.
Current WWE Champions Who Are Destined to Become Hall of Famers
John Cena
This is a no-brainer as even people who haven’t watched a single WWE match have heard of John Cena and what he represents to the organization and the sport. The most polarizing figure in wrestling, and possibly in U.S. sport, the fans either adore him, or hate him, but none can deny the mere numbers that stand by his name – 15-time WWE World Heavyweight Champion, five-time U.S. Champion! That is the most championship reigns in history, and the multi-talented star is one of seven men that have reigned as champions for more than a year at a single time. Even his biggest haters soften up when they hear that Cena granted the most wishes for the famous philanthropic Make-A-Wish Foundation. “Hustle, Loyalty, Respect” will definitely find its place in the future Hall of Fame building.
Dwayne The Rock Johnson
The Rock has made his transition from a professional wrestler to a movie star, but he still finds time and desire to come back to the ring once in a while, making him in a way – half-retired. No matter how big his movie stardom becomes The Rock will always be known as one of WWE’s biggest superstars, and that is a unanimous decision, as most people, his wrestling colleagues too, kick out the “one of” part of that sentence. Inducting into the Hall of Fame will be nothing new for the Johnson family as both The Rock’s father and grandfather, “Soulman” Rocky Johnson and “High Chief” Peter Maivia, are waiting for their descendant there. The Rock likes going back to his roots and to WWE but it’s possible that the ambitious man will decide to completely call it quits on wrestling in order to pursue different goals and we could see him among the Hall of Famers sooner rather than later.
The Undertaker
When someone is in the organization for 26 years there’s in doubt to his importance, and The Undertaker is a legend of the sport just for that fact, but when you add his other accolades to this it’s no wonder or disputing that he’s making this list justifiably. A scary, supernatural, slow walking legend now only fights at the events that made him into a myth – WrestleManias, as he had The Streak there, a run of 21 victories which was ended by a loss to Brock Lesnar. The Master of Pain is a four-time WWE champion and has brought a lot of other legends to despair over time, as he had won against Triple H, Randy Orton, Kane, Shawn Michaels and so on. We are grateful that he didn’t choose to pursue playing basketball in Europe in his early years, but opted to bring the fear to the WWE.
Randy Orton
When you earn a nickname as awesome as “Legend Killer” you’ve one giant step closer to Hall of Fame, and Orton got it pretty early in his career, going to stardom at maximum speed. He also comes from a line of professional wrestlers, and in 2005 he inducted his father Bob Cowboy Orton into Hall of Fame, and we can expect the reverse anytime Orton decides to retire. Hopefully, that will not be that soon as the 14 championships winner is one of the most dominant fighters in the ring, a true predator that is always looking like the one in command, and the one with the coolest, most dangerous finishing moves – the RKO. No doubt that one day Orton will be in the company of the legends he “killed” during his career.
Triple H
This one is also a sure bet, but the one that is pretty far from happening as Triple H has stepped into the suit and into the McMahon family, and it doesn’t seem likely that Terror Rising will soon stop. Even though Triple H won’t be in that many brawls, we can expect him to teach someone a lesson once in a while, and with the support of the McMahon dynasty, The Game can become even more dominant. The King of Kings is already a member of 2015 International Sports Hall of Fame, but the 14-time WWE World Heavyweight champion deserves to find his spot among the greats that defined wrestling.
