March 6, 20178 yr comment_5790503 Even from a kayfabe perspective, why is Beth Phoenix being inducted? She might be the least credible inductee ever, including the Celebrity Wing.
March 6, 20178 yr comment_5790505 Right or wrong, it seems fans view her as a great wrestler from a bad era. I remember when she was supposed to come in and save us from Kelly Kelly as champion. It didn't really happen, but I guess the idea kind of stuck.
March 6, 20178 yr comment_5790521 Wrong thread. On Beth, they can play up that she's an X Time Women's Champion and was one of only two women in the Royal Rumble (plus she eliminated Great Khali). She also had the Glamazon look and Santino run that made her stand out from the pack of Divas Era girls, I guess. She's a strange choice but there's a career there.
March 6, 20178 yr comment_5790571 Even from a kayfabe perspective, why is Beth Phoenix being inducted? She might be the least credible inductee ever, including the Celebrity Wing. I agree that she's the weakest inductee so far amongst regular inductees. Can't say celeb wing tho, given there's a few one-offs in there. At least kayfabe-wise, she had the title a few times, but it was a total afterthought then. Half of her induction video focused on that joke Royal Rumble deal where she eliminated Khali. When you book your HoF classes like a wrestling card rather than have real elections and standards, you have to save names. Or you'll run through them and Val Venis headlines in 2021. But think about this, the first inductee born in the 1980s is Beth Phoenix. That's mind-blowing.
March 6, 20178 yr comment_5790609 Yeah she definitely doesn't deserve it. Before HOF rumors started circulating--no on was talking about Beth. No one. Without doing a super deep dive in the WWE archives, I can't think of an outstanding Beth Phoenix match. Not one. Definitely shouldn't be in. The problem with the HOF when it comes to the women has been the booking over the past decades. Outside of Liz, Chyna, Sunny, Sable, Trish, Lita, Jackie-- there is no one post Attitude Era that I would honestly put in at this time. Sure Charlotte, Sasha, Becky, and Bayley are all going in there in about 15-20 years from now. But people like Eve Torres, Beth Phoenix, Melina, Kelly Kelly, etc. while some of them were entertaining at times (for various reasons), none of them have that career that anyone is naturally talking about and discussion of their work only comes up when people are forced to talk about it as it is in this case with Phoenix's HOF induction. But I guess they needed non-controversial women from the new era and Beth was the girl.
March 6, 20178 yr comment_5790613 Phoenix basically had what, a five year run? Plus OVW. I'm really curious about the logic. Is it that she's still in good shape and isn't as old as Ivory/Molly/Terri/etc so she's more photogenic for press releases or what not? Did Edge push for it? Is it a way to troll people who want Chyna in? It almost has to be the last one, right? Because a lot of the arguments for Beth (as few as they are) are a lesser version of the Chyna arguments (which aren't so great to begin with). Now they can say they don't need to put Chyna in because they had someone who did similar things.
March 6, 20178 yr comment_5790660 Can a HOF case be made for any woman post 2002 outside of those who are already in? I can see WWE doing something silly like putting in Eve Torress, but who else will WWE try to sell as a 'legend' within the next 3-5 years.
March 6, 20178 yr Author comment_5790662 Can a HOF case be made for any woman post 2002 outside of those who are already in? I can see WWE doing something silly like putting in Eve Torress, but who else will WWE try to sell as a 'legend' within the next 3-5 years. Mickie James?
March 7, 20178 yr comment_5790678 Mickie James is a six-time Women's Champion. Melina is a five-time champion, first and only Tough Enough alum to win Women's Title. Beth Phoenix is a four-time champion and held the belt longer (in total) than anyone in her era. Nikki Bella has the record for the longest Divas Title reign. Michelle McCool was the first Divas Champion. Candice Michelle was the first Diva Search girl to win the title. AJ Lee had that 300 day reign, she was also Raw GM and in lots of important angles. Victoria is a two-time champion, was in the first women's cage match and is seen as a good worker. Molly Holly is also a two-time champion, was the first woman to get her head shaved in WWE, also seen as a worker. I'm not advocating for anyone and I agree that cases from this era of the women's division are paper thin, but there are kayfabe things they could come up with if they wanted to start inducting them. With Beth, I'm guessing it's because women's wrestling/feminism is "in" and they want a woman in, and Beth is young, looks good, speaks well, gets along well with the company, has enough of a career that they can sell it, and was unique and athletic enough that they can sell her as a role model for the current women. Chyna will go in eventually, but inducting her will be a little morbid and I don't think that's the tone they want at this point.
March 7, 20178 yr comment_5790679 Chyna will go in eventually, but inducting her will be a little morbid and I don't think that's the tone they want at this point. After doing gang bang videos with guys disguised as Mean Gene and John Cena (that anyone can find online), I'd say the odds are rather slim.
March 7, 20178 yr comment_5790681 Yeah well exactly, and that's the main reason why she's not going in now. I think it was Hunter or Steph or someone who admitted publicly that she should be in but for the porn thing. So I guess whenever in the future that the porn thing stops being a dealbreaker, she'll go in. Who knows when that will be though.
March 7, 20178 yr comment_5790754 I could see Torrie Wilson and/or Stacy Keibler going in someday. Even if they weren't "workhorses", they both had lengthy runs and were big stars for the company.
March 13, 20178 yr comment_5791666 Former Rutgers defensive tackle Eric LeGrand, who was paralyzed while making a tackle in 2010 in a game against Army and has gone on to become renowned motivational speaker, has been named the recipient of the third annual Warrior Award by the WWE, ESPN.com has learned.
March 13, 20178 yr comment_5791676 Rick Rude is a long time coming & one of the main names that I've been championing for a few years now. Should have been in awhile ago but I'm glad he'll get his due now. One of my all-time favorite wrestlers & a helluva worker. When I put on WWE Network nowadays, even if it's just for background noise, I usually find myself choosing shows from either WCW or WWE from the 1988-1993 time frame and almost always it's a card that involves Rick Rude. I love his 30-minute Iron Man match with Ricky Steamboat.
March 15, 20178 yr comment_5791934 So is this the full class now? I would say no until the go-home Raw.
March 20, 20178 yr comment_5792589 Jim Cornette has been announced to induct The Rock & Roll Express.
March 20, 20178 yr comment_5792600 Jim Cornette has been announced to induct The Rock & Roll Express. Holy shit.
March 20, 20178 yr comment_5792602 Jim Cornette has been announced to induct The Rock & Roll Express. Had heard that rumored but hadn't seen confirmation anywhere yet. I'm interested to hear that speech, for sure. Overall, I'm really pleased with this year's class.
Create an account or sign in to comment