Posted September 17, 20205 yr comment_5928550 This year's ballot got posted on the F4W board. New additions for 2020 are in bold. Spoiler THE HISTORICAL PERFORMERS ERA CANDIDATES Ole Anderson Bob Armstrong Jerry Brisco June Byers Haystacks Calhoun Wild Bull Curry Cowboy Bob Ellis The Fabulous Ones (Stan Lane & Steve Keirn) Don Fargo Pampero Firpo Black Gordman & Great Goliath Archie "Mongolian Stomper" Gouldie Chavo Guerrero Sr. Rocky Johnson The Masked Interns (Jerry Hester & Billy Garrett & Tom Anderson) w/Dr. Ken Ramey Sputnik Monroe Blackjack Mulligan Miguel Perez Sr. Johnny Rougeau Enrique Torres Jimmy & Johnny Valiant Von Brauners & Saul Weingeroff Johnny "Mr.Wrestling II" Walker THE MODERN PERFORMERS IN U.S/CANADA CANDIDATES Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson w/J.J. Dillon Junkyard Dog Edge Bill Goldberg Scott Hall Matt & Jeff Hardy Kamala Rick Martel Kevin Nash Randy Orton Brian Pillman C.M.Punk Roman Reigns Sgt. Slaughter Trish Stratus Rick & Scott Steiner Kevin Von Erich Kerry Von Erich Ultimate Warrior WRESTLING IN JAPAN CANDIDATES Jun Akiyama Cima Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan Yoshiaki Fujiwara Hayabusa Kota Ibushi Kyoko Inoue Tomohiro Ishii Tetsuya Naito Kenny Omega Meiko Satomura Akira Taue I FOLLOWED WRESTLING IN MEXICO CANDIDATES Medico Asesino Los Brazos (Brazo de Oro & Brazo de Plata & El Brazo) Caristico Sangre Chicana Jerry Estrada La Fiera Karloff Lagarde Pirata Morgan Alberto Munoz Huracan Ramirez Rito Romero WRESTLING IN EUROPE/AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND/PACIFIC ISLANDS/AFRICA Sypros Arion Wayne Bridges Big Daddy Dominic DeNucci Billy Joyce George Kidd Killer Karl Kox Mario Milano Kendo Nagasaki Jackie Pallo Rollerball Mark Rocco Johnny Saint Ricki Starr Adrian Street Otto Wanz NON-WRESTLERS Lord James Blears Dave Brown Bobby Bruns Bob Caudle Jim Crockett Jr. Joe Higuchi Jim Johnston Takaaki Kidani Larry Matysik Stephanie McMahon James Melby Don Owen Morris Sigel Tony Schiavone George Scott Kevin Sullivan Mike Tenay Ted Turner Stanley Weston Grand Wizard
September 17, 20205 yr comment_5928556 So with Stan Lane already in with MX are we in the era of having multiple inductees? Also hopefully this is the year that Akiyama/JYD gets, damn shame they have to wait this long.
September 17, 20205 yr comment_5928559 I'm following this thread in case some of the voters have an answer to the Stan Lane problem. It's super weird to see him on the ballot again while the decision was made to put Perez on as a single. Rocca & Perez outdrew practically everyone in 58-59, single or tag, and should get in easily while Perez as a single was just another mid-card guy.
September 17, 20205 yr comment_5928565 Quick initial thoughts. HISTORICAL ERA: First, weird to see the Fabs listed here. A lot of candidates I look at and say "sure, they could be a Hall of Famer." But none of them really stand out. If you HAD to induct one (and only one), who would it be? MODERN ERA: Some intriguing candidates. I wonder if Goldberg, Edge will get boosts from being in high profile spots over the past year. Nash is long overdue for a look. He dropped off the ballot before he even won the WCW World title. Yes or no, it seems silly that candidates like him, Luger, etc. never even got their entire careers voted on. Which is a problem of combining the RnR style eligibility rules with the Baseball drop off the ballot rule. You can be ineligible while still building your resume. One thing I note in general. There are about 31 wrestlers born in the '50s who are in, 30-31 from the '60s. There are nine from the '70s, two from the '80s. So I tend to grade candidates like CM Punk, Edge, Randy Orton higher than others on this board. I'm grading on a curve. JAPAN: The sentiment here is Jun Akiyama. It seems early yet for Kenny Omega and Tetsuya Naito. MEXICO: Huracan Ramirez should've gone in years ago. EUROPE, ETC: Curious to see what Adrian Street pulls. NON WRESTLERS: When you can pick five and there's 20 on the ballot, how do you form a consensus around anyone on this list. Go back to the historical era question. If you had to pick one, who?
September 17, 20205 yr Author comment_5928568 Taue and Akiyama both should have been in years ago. Looking at his drawing power at his peak, Caristico should be a no-brainer or close to it. But the WWE run killed him. Looks like we'll have to wait for that run to fade from voters' memories for him to be given a fair shake. I've been skeptical of Owen's candidacy, but if Crockett Sr. is in, he should be too. Roman Reigns is an interesting case. Unless WWE business collapses or he ends up in the doghouse (both very real possibilities), he'll likely end his career having headlined more events that drew in excess of 50,000 fans in history by a wide margin. You can say that he's a beneficiary of the WWE machine and plenty of guys could be plugged into his spot and do just as well, but the same could be said for Bob Backlund and his MSG sellouts as WWF champion. At the end of the day, they're the ones who did it and that can't be taken away from them.
September 18, 20205 yr comment_5928597 Everyone needs to vote for Enrique Torres. Seriously overlooked historical figure!!!
September 18, 20205 yr comment_5928600 Dave has confirmed that multiple inductions are not against the rules, but he's personally not a fan of them. "Cheesy and waters things down" he says.
September 18, 20205 yr comment_5928606 Just now, paul sosnowski said: Everyone needs to vote for Enrique Torres. Seriously overlooked historical figure!!! Does anyone who has a vote even post here any more though?
September 18, 20205 yr comment_5928642 I can see Ole getting in now that he's not part of The Andersons. Which people were on before, dropped off, and added again? Were the Steiners, Hall and Nash on before? Also, LOF'NL at Roman Reigns being on a HOF ballot in 2020. If dude doesn't go hollywood he's got another decade as a top guy
September 18, 20205 yr comment_5928644 He's eligible to be voted in now because he's 35 years old and has been wrestling 10+ years. It's been remarked on before that Dave's criteria for eligibility is a bit outdated as wrestlers are older than they used to be.
September 18, 20205 yr comment_5928645 I know. It comes up every year this time. It's still ridiculous when you see someone like Reigns hit the ballot
September 19, 20205 yr comment_5928653 2 hours ago, cm funk said: Which people were on before, dropped off, and added again? Were the Steiners, Hall and Nash on before? This is the 3rd time on the ballot for the Steiners. They dropped off in 1998 and 2007. 2nd time for both Nash & Hall who also dropped off in 98.
September 19, 20205 yr comment_5928667 2 hours ago, ethantyler said: This is the 3rd time on the ballot for the Steiners. They dropped off in 1998 and 2007. 2nd time for both Nash & Hall who also dropped off in 98. Thanks Not sure what has changed, with Hall/Nash especially, other than the dearth of modern candidates Edited September 19, 20205 yr by cm funk
September 19, 20205 yr comment_5928678 The weirdest addition to the ballot is Kevin von Erich as a single candidate. There must have actually been people petitioning Dave to put Kevin there, which seems to strange. Also Joe Higuchi seems to be a weird candidate. What is the draw here? Being a long-time referee or being the liaison for gaijins? Either way, there is nothing about him that screams "Hall of Fame" in the slightest.
September 19, 20205 yr Author comment_5928683 According to Higuchi's Observer obit, he was universally regarded in Japan as the GOAT referee. He was especially great at things that a typical fan wouldn't notice like not obstructing ringside photographers (a huge deal given how important wrestling magazines were back then). But even given all that, having him on the ballot for the first time well after when he would have benefited from a death bump is rather bizarre.
September 20, 20205 yr comment_5928722 One thing I've seen mentioned that I tend to agree with: if we're going to hold folks to the same standards of drawing ability, then no one from the post PPV WWE era can ever be elected to the WON HOF ever again. We're lucky if we know the non Mania PPV numbers anymore, so who's to know if anyone is ever a draw anymore? I suppose you can look at week to week TV bumps, but it's not like you can look at buyrates anymore and clearly show that wrestler X added this many buys to the show. In a company where the directive is the BRAND is the draw rather than any one person, how can anyone be considered a Hall of Famer by the standards set by the Observer?
September 20, 20205 yr Author comment_5928732 Isn't that basically the same argument used against Akira Taue as as worker? That just about anybody could have had great main events working with Misawa and Kawada and Kobashi? Again, the closest historical parallel is Bob Backlund. The WWF title was strong enough, and the MSG cards were loaded enough, that they could've put the belt on any number of guys and drawn well. And he virtually fell off the face of the Earth while the WWF kept going strong after they let him go, which pretty well indicates that the brand was the main draw. But 41 MSG sellouts is 41 MSG sellouts. Maybe WWE's stadium business would be exactly the same with R-Truth in main events, but any guesses would be pure speculation. Wrestlers can only be evaluated on what they did, not what they hypothetically would have done on Earth-Prime.
September 20, 20205 yr comment_5928733 Right, but now more than ever WWE is built specifically to make sure no one particular person is a large enough draw they can't be replaced. I feel like modern WWE wrestlers get graded on standards that no longer exist. How can we determine if, say Drew or Keith Lee, are draws anymore?
September 20, 20205 yr comment_5928735 Once again encouraging people on this forum to research and vote for CIMA. Please come to me with any questions you may have about his candidacy.
September 21, 20205 yr comment_5928757 Slightly off-topic, but an odd thought I had: which wrestler in the HOF (inducted primarily as a wrestler) had the fewest main events during their career? I wonder if it's Liger given he spent the bulk of his career in one promotion where he maybe only had a handful of main events.
September 21, 20205 yr comment_5928765 Hiroshi Hase might be a candidate. I am sure he had his number of tag team / six man tag main events but apart from that? In New Japan he was not far enough up the card to get lots of main events, I suppose, and afterwards he did not wrestle that much (he has no year with more than 30 matches after he left NJPW). There are other guys who did not main event much during their more prolific eras, but had main event runs early on in their careers in territories (e.g. Dynamite Kid or Bobby Eaton). How much did Mildred Burke main event?
September 21, 20205 yr comment_5928775 4 hours ago, Robert S said: How much did Mildred Burke main event? More than you think. She's no Moolah. That's all I'll say.
September 22, 20205 yr comment_5928909 I know CIMA worked primarily in promotions where stables were the key as opposed to one or two performers, but can you talk a little about the biggest shows CIMA worked as a headliner? I'd love some match recs too. I really want someone to drop like 150 Dragon Gate recs for the GME Project. Have you ever done a Gordy list for cima? Kyoko Inoue on the ballot is crazy. Megumi Kudo, Shinobu Kandori, Dynamite Kansai and Mayumi Ozaki from the same era are all considerably better candidates.
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