Hunter has done miracle level work in the past smoothing out beefs so I wouldn't be surprised if that happened here as well.

On 3/22/2025 at 12:49 AM, sek69 said:

Hunter has done miracle level work in the past smoothing out beefs so I wouldn't be surprised if that happened here as well.

With Kamala?

Pretty sure Hunter's powers are limited to interacting with people who are still alive. 

In terms of the family I mean. I'm sure they were aware of his feelings towards WWE (which lets be honest, in that context just means Vince).

7 hours ago, C.S. said:

Pretty sure Hunter's powers are limited to interacting with people who are still alive. 

Damn, you got me good with that one. ?

The induction of Kamala *now* would be in itself another case of "jokes write themselves at this point". I was joking about how they should induct Col. DeBeers, but really in term of incredibly racist gimmick, Kamala was up there, especially since he actually had a run on top against Hogan. The fact the guy spoke ill of the company for being financially exploited and they would induct him after his death would be an amazing 1-2 punch of whitewashing *and* putting focus on a black guy being portrayed in the most racist way imaginable this side of Saba Simba. Like I said, jokes are writing themselves these days, it's not even funny.

To be fair, Kamala was a pretty legit heel back in the 80s, people were even doing stretcher jobs for him. It wasnt until the 90s WWF run when they turned him into a goofy cartoon character (sadly, that became his default mode even up to the end of his career).

I would say that in 92 up until the casket match he was intimidating. I was 8 and this my only exposure to him but I have no doubt he was surely intimidating before. I liked the matches he had respectively George “The Animal” Steele than 20 years later with Umaga, where he paid it forward the sell job Steele had done for him leading up to the brief run he had with Hogan in between the Orndorff and Andre feuds.

 

There is no "to be fair" with Kamala's gimmick. One of the single most insane gimmicks in US wrestling history. The only pass for WWE is that it wasn't them that came up with it. 

2 hours ago, strobogo said:

The only pass for WWE is that it wasn't them that came up with it. 

I was going to say…as a fan, the first time I ever saw Kamala was in the Montreal territory, managed by Eddie Creatchman.

That was before his second WWF run, but after he’d already been in Memphis, Mid South, World Class, the AWA, and then his first WWF run where he feuded with Andre.

If people are going to assign blame for that gimmick, there’s plenty to spread around, probably starting with Jarrett and Lawler in Memphis.

Not only did the gimmick play into the most vile and offensive racial stereotypes, James Harris believed that years of wrestling barefoot were at least partially responsible for the foot problems that led to both of his legs being amputated. So no, you do not, under any circumstances, gotta hand it to Kamala (the gimmick, not the wrestler). For what it's worth, Harris thought that Lawler, who came up with the gimmick, was not racist himself but knew how to exploit the racism of fans to sell tickets.

Personally, I never liked the idea of wrestlers working barefoot in the first place, too much risk for injury. Back on topic, apparently Ken Shamrock is also being considered (surprised it took this long).

Now they're inducting individual matches, first up is Austin vs Bret from WM13:

https://www.si.com/fannation/wrestling/wwe/steve-austin-vs-bret-hart-wrestlemania-13-match-to-be-inducted-into-wwe-hall-of-fame

Fun debate about Kamala. He's one of my all-time favorites.

I could relate to him more than most of the other wrestlers.

No, I wasn't a "jungle savage" from "deepest darkest Africa" - obviously not - but he didn't have a ridiculous superhero steroid physique that was completely unattainable by anyone not abusing their bodies with gallons of drugs, and that made him a breath of fresh air to me.

The racist gimmick was the creation of Lawler and/or Jarrett, not the WWF, but Vince obviously ran with it too. The WWF in the '80s wasn't exactly a progressive place. Neither is the WWE of 2025, truth be told (Paul "I don't see race" Levesque). 

But Kamala was at least self-aware enough to admit in a shoot interview that his gimmick was "bad for the blacks" (I'm 99% sure this was his exact wording). 

Whether the optics are good or not, I think Kamala is more than deserving of being in the WWE Hall of Fame - pretending for a second that there's actually any actual criteria for entry, which we already know there isn't. 

On 3/28/2025 at 10:04 PM, JRH said:

Now they're inducting individual matches, first up is Austin vs Bret from WM13:

https://www.si.com/fannation/wrestling/wwe/steve-austin-vs-bret-hart-wrestlemania-13-match-to-be-inducted-into-wwe-hall-of-fame

Wonderful idea. And I can’t think of a better match to start this wing of the institution with.

19 minutes ago, flyonthewall2983 said:

Wonderful idea. And I can’t think of a better match to start this wing of the institution with.

For years I know it had been rumoured that WWE was going to start inducting individual matches into the Hall of Fame, and I remember a couple of years ago the heavy speculation was that the Main Event of the first Wrestlemania was going to be the first match inducted. I have to say I am much happier than it is going to be this one, because this is actually a good match.

I don't have a great feeling with them titling this "Immortal Moments". How long until the DX invasion of WCW gets another spotlight thanks to this?

41 minutes ago, Cowboy Hats 4.0 said:

I don't have a great feeling with them titling this "Immortal Moments". How long until the DX invasion of WCW gets another spotlight thanks to this?

Good point. And you just know the Foley/Taker Hell in the Cell is going in, because Lord knows nobody ever talks about that one.

4 hours ago, The Thread Killer said:

Good point. And you just know the Foley/Taker Hell in the Cell is going in, because Lord knows nobody ever talks about that one.

I get it, but if they are going to start inducting matches that kinda has to be one of them.

1 hour ago, sek69 said:

I get it, but if they are going to start inducting matches that kinda has to be one of them.

I get that HitC is a seminal match in WWE (and Pro Wrestling) history. But on a personal level, much like the TLC matches and the “Monday Night War” if I never heard another word about it, I would be perfectly happy with that.

You're out of luck. The current crew running things are from the Attitude Era, and there aren't many 80s and earlier matches where you can have one or both guys to pop up. It's similar to the AFI 100 list where the voters are all guys from the 70s and so it is heavily skewed to 70s movies all their friends made and the 40s/50s movies they liked as kids.

The legacy wing is back with Kamala, Dory Funk Jr, and Ivan Koloff being inducted. People have been wanting Ivan in there for a long time so this is pretty big (Also, every WWF champion from Bruno through Shawn Michaels is now in the HOF).

32 minutes ago, JRH said:

The legacy wing is back with Kamala, Dory Funk Jr, and Ivan Koloff being inducted. People have been wanting Ivan in there for a long time so this is pretty big (Also, every WWF champion from Bruno through Shawn Michaels is now in the HOF).

Somehow people will still complain about it but all three are worthy and glad to see it happen. 

It's actually Dory Sr not Jr. The Funk bros were inducted way back

Too bad this couldn't have been done while Ivan was still alive, because it was important to him, but still good to see

 

I didnt watch the whole HOF but Luger's speech and the speeches by Tenta's family and Fred Ottman were genuinely touching (it's a shame that Fred will only be known for the Shockmaster falling over, as he seems like a truly nice individual).