HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The WWE Hall of Fame is a
hall of fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...
which honors
professional wrestlers Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...
and professional wrestling personalities maintained by WWE. Originally known as the "WWF Hall of Fame", it was created in 1993 when André the Giant was posthumously inducted with a video package as the sole inductee that year. The 1994 and 1995 ceremonies were held in conjunction with the annual King of the Ring
pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program g ...
events and the 1996 ceremony was held with the Survivor Series event. After an eight-year hiatus and after the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) had been renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in 2002, the promotion relaunched the Hall of Fame in 2004 and has held the ceremonies in conjunction with WrestleMania ever since. Since 2005, portions of the induction ceremonies have aired on television and since 2014, the entire ceremonies have aired on the WWE Network, which was extended to
Peacock Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera '' Pavo'' and '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female peafowl are r ...
in 2021 after the American version of the WWE Network merged under Peacock that year. As of 2022, there have been 234 inductees, with 124 wrestlers inducted individually, 46 Legacy inductees, 18 group inductions (consisting of 51 wrestlers within those groups), 12 celebrities, and 8 Warrior Award recipients. Eight wrestlers have been inducted twice (individually and as part of a tag team/group):
Ric Flair Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American professional wrestler. Regarded by multiple peers and journalists as the greatest professional wrestler of all time, Flair has had a career spanni ...
,
Shawn Michaels Michael Shawn Hickenbottom (born July 22, 1965), better known by his ring name Shawn Michaels, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE as Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative. Widely regarded as one ...
,
Booker T Booker T or Booker T. may refer to * Booker T. Washington (1856–1915), African American political leader at the turn of the 20th century ** List of things named after Booker T. Washington, some nicknamed "Booker T." * Booker T. Jones (born 1944 ...
,
Bret Hart Bret Hart (born July 2, 1957) is a Canadian-American retired professional wrestler, currently signed to WWE under a legend's contract. A member of the Hart wrestling family and a second-generation wrestler, he has an amateur wrestling back ...
,
Hulk Hogan Terry Eugene Bollea (; born August 11, 1953), better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is widely regarded as the most recognized wrestling star worldwide and the most popular wrestler of the 19 ...
,
Scott Hall Scott Oliver Hall (October 20, 1958 – March 14, 2022) was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his tenures with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) under his real name and under the ring name the Diamond Studd and with the ...
,
Kevin Nash Kevin Scott Nash (born July 9, 1959) is an American actor and retired professional wrestler, currently signed to WWE under a legends contract. He is best known for his tenure with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) where he performed under his ...
, and
Sean Waltman Sean Michael Waltman (born July 13, 1972) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE under a legends contract. He is best known for his appearances for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) under the ring names 1–2– ...
(Waltman's two inductions were both as a member of a group, D-Generation X and the New World Order). 59 members have been inducted posthumously.


History

The
World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and var ...
(WWF) established the WWF Hall of Fame in 1993. It was first announced on the March 22, 1993 episode of ''
Monday Night Raw ''WWE Raw'', also known as ''Monday Night Raw'' or simply ''Raw'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that currently airs live every Monday at 8 p.m. ET on the USA Network in the United States. The show ...
'' where André the Giant, who had died nearly two months prior, was announced as the sole inductee. In the proceeding two years, induction ceremonies were held in conjunction with the annual King of the Ring pay-per-view events. The 1996 ceremony was held with the Survivor Series event, for the first time in front of a paying audience as well as the wrestlers, after which, the Hall of Fame went on hiatus. In 2002, the WWF was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and the promotion relaunched the now WWE Hall of Fame in 2004 to coincide with
WrestleMania XX WrestleMania XX was the 20th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It featured professional wrestlers from both of the promotion's two brands divisions – Raw a ...
. This ceremony, like its predecessors, was not broadcast on television. However, it was released on DVD on June 1, 2004. Beginning with the 2005 ceremony, an edited version of the Hall of Fame was broadcast on
Spike TV Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Media Networks. The network's headquarters are located at the Paramount Pictures studio lot in Los Angeles. The channel was ...
(2005) and on the
USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madi ...
(2006–present); these were aired on tape delay. Since 2005, the entire Hall of Fame ceremony has been packaged as part of the annual WrestleMania DVD release, and from 2014, has been broadcast live on the WWE Network streaming service. The 2021 ceremony, however, was pre-taped on March 30 and April 1 and aired on April 6. In addition to the WWE Network in international markets, the event also aired on
Peacock Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera '' Pavo'' and '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female peafowl are r ...
in the United States after the American version of the WWE Network had merged under Peacock in March that year. Although a building has never been built to represent the Hall of Fame, WWE has looked into constructing a facility. In 2008, Shane McMahon, then-Executive Vice President of Global Media of WWE, stated that WWE had been storing wrestling memorabilia in a warehouse for years, with all items categorized and dated in case a facility is created.
Ric Flair Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American professional wrestler. Regarded by multiple peers and journalists as the greatest professional wrestler of all time, Flair has had a career spanni ...
stated in 2020 that WWE was in the process of creating a building for the Hall of Fame and that it would be in
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...
in the Orlando area, but plans had been delayed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
.


Specialty inductees


Celebrity wing

The "celebrity wing" of the Hall of Fame is dedicated to celebrities that have made memorable appearances on WWE programming, and/or have had longtime associations with WWE, who have been very successful in other fields.


Warrior Award

In 2015, WWE introduced the Warrior Award for those who have "exhibited unwavering strength and perseverance, and who live life with the courage and compassion that embodies the indomitable spirit of
the Ultimate Warrior Warrior (born James Brian Hellwig; June 16, 1959 – April 8, 2014) was an American professional wrestler and bodybuilder. Best known by his ring name The Ultimate Warrior, he wrestled for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) from ...
." While WWE promotes Warrior Award recipients as Hall of Fame inductees, they are not included in the Hall of Fame section at WWE.com and an image gallery which shows "every WWE Hall of Famer ever" does not contain any recipient. The award was created following the Ultimate Warrior's death. During his April 2014 Hall of Fame speech shortly before his death, he proposed that there be a special category called the "Jimmy Miranda Award" for WWE's behind-the-scenes employees. Miranda, who died in 2002, was part of the WWE merchandise department for more than 20 years. Former WWE ring announcer Justin Roberts expressed disappointment at how WWE used portions of Warrior's Hall of Fame speech to promote the award but left out Warrior's intentions of honoring WWE's off-screen employees. WWE responded, "It is offensive to suggest that WWE and its executives had anything, but altruistic intentions in honoring Connor and his legacy with The Warrior Award", adding that "moving forward the award will be given annually to acknowledge other unsung heroes among WWE's employees and fans". Since 2019 all recipients have been either current or former WWE employees. Traditionally, Dana Warrior, the widow of the Ultimate Warrior, presents the award.


Legacy inductees

In 2016, WWE introduced a new category for the Hall of Fame called the "Legacy" wing. Inductees in this category are from several eras of wrestling history, going back to the early 20th century. All but two inductees,
Hisashi Shinma Hisashi Shinma (born March 22, 1935) is a Japanese booker and promoter. Shinma is noted for being an on-screen authority at the World Wrestling Federation, from 1978 to 1984, billed as the President of the promotion. He was succeeded by Jack ...
and
MSG Network The MSG Network (MSG) is an American regional cable and satellite television network, and radio service owned by MSG Entertainment, Inc.—a spin-off of the main Madison Square Garden Company operation (itself a spin-off of local cable prov ...
creator Joseph Cohen, have been inducted posthumously. Legacy inductees are recognized with a video package at the ceremonies. The Legacy wing also has some criticism around it, specifically regarding the abbreviated way of the inductions. Journalist Dave Meltzer said "this is the category they (WWE) use to honor people who, for whatever reason, they don't feel are marketable names to the modern audience to put in their actual Hall of Fame". Promoter and manager Jim Cornette criticized the fact that recognizable names like Jim Londos or
El Santo Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta (23 September 1917 – 5 February 1984), known professionally as El Santo or in English The Saint, was a Mexican luchador enmascarado (Spanish for "masked professional wrestler"), actor and folk hero. He is one of the ...
were part of a video package. Legacy inductees are not announced before the ceremonies and families of posthumous inductees are not notified of their inductions. This practice has been criticized by family members of Legacy inductees Bruiser Brody and Ethel Johnson.


Classes


Class of 1993

WWF Hall of Fame (1993) was the inaugural class of the WWE Hall of Fame. During the March 22, 1993 episode of ''Monday Night Raw'' a video package announcing André the Giant's induction was shown. No ceremony took place, and André was inducted posthumously. In March 2015 a condensed version of the 1994 ceremony was added to the WWE Network. Due to no original ceremony, the 1993 induction of André was discussed by Gene Okerlund and Renee Young as part of the 1994 commentary.


Class of 1994

WWF Hall of Fame (1994) was the event that featured the introduction of the second class to the WWE Hall of Fame. The event was produced by the WWF on June 9, 1994, from the Omni Inner Harbor International Hotel in
Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore wa ...
. In March 2015 a condensed version of the ceremony was added to the WWE Network. Due to the original ceremony only being partially recorded and not originally intended to air, Gene Okerlund and Renee Young host the program with added commentary.


Class of 1995

WWF Hall of Fame (1995) was the event that featured the introduction of the third class to the WWE Hall of Fame. The event was produced by the WWF on June 24, 1995, from the
Marriott Hotel Marriott Hotels & Resorts is Marriott International's brand of full-service hotels and resorts based in Bethesda, Maryland. As of June 30, 2020, there were 582 hotels and resorts with 205,053 rooms operating under the brand, in addition to 160 ...
in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...
. The event took place the same weekend as King of the Ring. In March 2015 a condensed version of the ceremony was added to the WWE Network. Due to the original ceremony only being partially recorded and not originally intended to air, Gene Okerlund and Renee Young host the program with added commentary. The 1995 class featured two posthumous inductees.
Antonino Rocca Antonino Rocca (born Antonino Biasetton; 13 April 1921 – 15 March 1977) was an Italian Argentine professional wrestler. He tag teamed with partner Miguel Pérez. He was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as a member of the class ...
was presented by his wife, and The Grand Wizard was represented by Bobby Harmon.


Class of 1996

WWF Hall of Fame (1996) was the event which featured the introduction of the fourth class to the WWE Hall of Fame. The event was produced by the WWF on November 16, 1996, from the
Marriott Marquis Marriott Marquis is a hotel brand owned by Marriott International and denotes flagship, large-format hotels similar to Hyatt's Hyatt Regency brand. Notable hotels using this branding include: * New York Marriott Marquis in Times Square, New York Ci ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
. The event took place the same weekend as Survivor Series. In March 2015 a condensed version of the ceremony was added to the WWE Network. Due to the original ceremony only being partially recorded and not originally intended to air, Gene Okerlund and Renee Young host the program with added commentary. Due to Vincent J. McMahon's death in 1984, he was posthumously inducted by the McMahon family.


Class of 2004


Class of 2005

* ''Class headliners appear in boldface''


Class of 2006

* ''Class headliners appear in boldface''


Class of 2007

* ''Class headliners appear in boldface''


Class of 2008

* ''Class headliners appear in boldface''


Class of 2009

* ''Class headliners appear in boldface''


Class of 2010

* ''Class headliners appear in boldface''


Class of 2011

* ''Class headliners appear in boldface''


Class of 2012

* ''Class headliners appear in boldface''


Class of 2013

* ''Class headliners appear in boldface''


Class of 2014

* ''Class headliners appear in boldface''


Class of 2015

* ''Class headliners appear in boldface''


Class of 2016

* ''Class headliners appear in boldface''


Class of 2017

* ''Class headliners appear in boldface''


Class of 2018

* ''Class headliners appear in boldface''


Class of 2019

* ''Class headliners appear in boldface''


Class of 2020

Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, the 2020 Hall of Fame ceremony did not take place. As such, the Class of 2020 was inducted alongside the Class of 2021 at the 2021 ceremony. * ''Class headliners appear in boldface''


Class of 2021

* ''Class headliners appear in boldface''


Class of 2022

* ''Class headliners appear in boldface''


To be inducted


Future class


Ceremony dates and locations


Reception


Omissions and refused inductions

In 2012, ''
The Post and Courier ''The Post and Courier'' is the main daily newspaper in Charleston, South Carolina. It traces its ancestry to three newspapers, the ''Charleston Courier'', founded in 1803, the ''Charleston Daily News'', founded 1865, and ''The Evening Post'', f ...
'' columnist Mike Mooneyham noted that the Hall has garnered criticism due to the inductions of questionable performers, and the omissions of major names within the industry. Bob Backlund declined induction multiple times, and The Ultimate Warrior wrote that he refused the honor in 2010; they were eventually inducted in 2013 and 2014, respectively. Randy Savage was long recognized as being noticeably absent; Chris Jericho said that the Hall achieved a level of legitimacy by inducting Savage in 2015. Mick Foley long described Vader as "the most glaring and obvious omission from the #WWEHOF"; this was later corrected when he was posthumously inducted as part of the Class of 2022.
Chyna Chyna (born Joan Marie Laurer; December 27, 1969 – April 17, 2016) was an American professional wrestler, bodybuilder and television personality. She first rose to prominence in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in 1997, where s ...
is also a topic of conversation of whether or not she should be inducted due to the nature of her post-WWE career, Ultimately, she was posthumously inducted as a member of D-Generation-X in 2019, although fans, family and fellow wrestlers have since started petitioning for her solo posthumous induction. Bruno Sammartino, the longest-reigning WWWF World Heavyweight Champion, was once critical of the Hall of Fame. Sammartino disapproved of celebrity inductees such as Pete Rose and William Perry, and said of the ceremony: "What's the point to a Hall of Fame? Is it a building I can actually go to? No. Give me a break". Sammartino declined previous induction offers, before accepting in 2013. Paul Levesque (Triple H) said that it was important for Sammartino to be inducted from a "legitimacy standpoint" and
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
said that his induction was an opportunity to legitimize the Hall of Fame. After being announced as an inductee, Sammartino said he considered the Hall to be legitimate.


Quality of inductees

Ric Flair has stated there are several wrestlers in the Hall of Fame that didn't deserve it, but he didn't name names. Koko B. Ware, who worked as an
undercard In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...
wrestler in WWF, is often billed as a controversial inductee since he was selected before wrestlers such as Randy Savage or Bruno Sammartino. Caleb Smith of ''Slam Wrestling'' questioned how Ware was inducted, but former WWWF World Heavyweight Champion
Ivan Koloff Oreal Donald Perras (August 25, 1942 – February 18, 2017) was a Canadian professional wrestler, better known by the ring name "The Russian Bear" Ivan Koloff. He was the third wrestler to hold the WWWF Championship. Early life Perras was ...
never was before his 2017 death. '' 411Mania'' writer Steve Cook defended his Hall of Fame status since he was very popular with fans and some of his losses were historic, while Kevin Pantoja described him as "the floor for inductees". Superstar Billy Graham publicly slammed the hall and demanded that WWE remove him from it, due to the 2011 induction of Abdullah the Butcher. Graham wrote: "It is a shameless organization to induct a bloodthirsty animal such as Abdullah the Butcher into their worthless and embarrassing Hall of Fame and I want the name of Superstar Billy Graham to be no part of it". In 2018, Bret Hart, who headlined the 2006 ceremony, criticized the omissions of several wrestlers, primarily Dynamite Kid and his brother
Owen Owen may refer to: Origin: The name Owen is of Irish and Welsh origin. Its meanings range from noble, youthful, and well-born. Gender: Owen is historically the masculine form of the name. Popular feminine variations include Eowyn and Owena. ...
, as well as the inductions of the likes of The Rock 'n' Roll Express and The Fabulous Freebirds, who experienced little success in WWE. Hart said he would not go to another ceremony until WWE inducts "proper, deserving candidates". However, Hart attended the 2019 ceremony as he was inducted for a second time as part of The Hart Foundation. Hart also asked WWE to remove Goldberg from the Hall of Fame, stating that "he got in there for hurting everybody he worked with". In 2021, after the storming of the United States Capitol, Mick Foley asked Vince McMahon to remove Donald Trump from the Hall of Fame. Dave Scherer of '' PWInsider'' has questioned how WWE can sustain the 2004–present Hall of Fame model, due to legends being rapidly inducted. He wrote: "There are only so many people that they can have headline a class. They really need to make more new stars to ensure that they can keep filling arenas for the ceremony". 411Mania's Ryan Byers said WWE standards are "weird" since several inductees have Hall of Fame careers, but other "they’ve made it in for political reasons, longstanding loyalty to the promotion".


Praise and criticism

Owen Hart's widow,
Martha Hart Martha Joan Hart (née Patterson; born October 31, 1966) is a Canadian philanthropist and researcher who is the widow of professional wrestler Owen Hart. After her husband's death in an accident at Over the Edge, Hart sued the World Wrestling Fe ...
, responded to calls for him to be inducted by stating: "They don’t even have a Hallway of Fame. It doesn’t exist. There’s nothing. It’s a fake entity. There’s nothing real or tangible. It’s just an event they have to make money. They put it on TV and have a celebration, and it’s just so ridiculous. I would never even entertain it. It’s garbage." Sabu also criticized the Hall of Fame, saying "I'd only do it because I need the money... I don't consider it a real Hall of Fame". Others have offered praise for the Hall of Fame. World Wrestling Council promoter and 26-time WWC Universal Heavyweight Champion Carlos Colón Sr. said that his 2014 induction was a "realization of a dream". Arn Anderson, who was inducted in 2012 as part of The Four Horsemen, said that the induction was the "pinnacle of iswrestling life". 2015 Hall of Fame headliner Kevin Nash stated that two things in the professional wrestling business are real: "When you win your first championship and when you get inducted into the Hall of Fame". Nash claimed this is a sentiment to which colleague Ric Flair also subscribes. During his 2013 induction, future U.S. president Donald Trump said that the honor meant more than "having the highest ratings in TV, being a best-selling author or getting a spot on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Calif ...
".


See also

* WWE Hall of Fame statue


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wwe Hall Of Fame Awards established in 1993 *
Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...
Professional wrestling halls of fame
Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...