My latest column for upgruv.com, a site with trending news and entertainment stories, is looking at the WWE Hall of Fame. Here’s an excerpt:
The WWE Hall of Fame is not like the others. Nor should be the arguments about who deserves enshrinement.
Unlike most halls of fame, there are no criteria to get the call for the WWE’s highest honor. Active performers have gone in. So, too, have non-champions, mid-carders, baseball’s Hit King and a future President of the United States.
And, indeed, some of the company’s most important wrestlers have waited far too long to join the ranks.
But every wrestling fan already knows the WWE Hall of Fame isn’t perfect. Most also know match winners are predetermined, but they’re willing to accept that.
Why is there such considerable controversy every year when the WWE predetermines which of its “best” will be honored as part of a Hall-of-Fame class?
Here we go again
The latest member of the 2017 class is Beth Phoenix. At age 36, she’ll be the youngest performer inducted into the WWE’s Hall.
Not surprisingly, the announcement of her inclusion instantly garnered criticism on social-media sites. Fans questioned her career and worthiness.
To borrow from Chris Jericho: stupid idiots!
Drafting a Hall class for the WWE is akin to drawing up a wrestling card. A headliner is needed. So is a tag team. A woman is preferred. A special attraction (Pete Rose) or a celebrity (Donald Trump) is desired.
It’s called casting, and WWE does it well enough for its Hall of Fame ceremony to generate coverage by the mainstream media. Given the ceremony’s placement over WrestleMania weekend, that coverage is of the utmost importance for a publicly traded company.
For that reason alone, WWE’s Hall classes can’t always cull from past top draws or main-event attractions. Those waters would run deep awfully fast. There are a lot fewer all-time wrestlers than there are baseball and football players.
So, the WWE’s Hall (and the build to its ceremony) must be driven with politics, public relations and ticket sales in mind.
Which is not to suggest the WWE fails to legitimize its Hall classes. Far from it.
Legendary wrestlers such as Sting, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin have headlined previous classes for the same reason Pittsburgh’s own Kurt Angle will top the 2017 group. As they were when they wrestled, those guys are top-of-the-card performers — and that’s their role when they enter the Hall of Fame, too.
Also, by providing a headliner, WWE generates genuine appreciation from its loyal audience, many of whom pack the place where the Hall ceremony is staged the night before WrestleMania. Those diehard fans want to shower these legends with one final ovation after hearing one last promo.
Why Owen Hart isn’t a lock to be in the Hall of Fame. Chyna’s situation, using statistics and more of the rest of the column—CLICK HERE TO READ.
