John Cena: First ballot Wrestling Observer HOF'er

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Ernesto Ocampo, editor of SuperLuchas magazine, submitted a full ten person ballot that did not include Dr. Wagner Sr, who came up one vote short.

He's taking some heat.

Last year, Wagner Sr was accidentally left off of the ballot by Meltzer completely due to an oversight. Dr. Wagner Jr got a spike in votes because a few people were confused. What a disaster.

Does he just not like Dr. Wagner?

[Warner2BruceTD]

He said on twitter "now I feel guilty"

idk. he liked ten people better I guess

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Everytime I get into a discussion about the Observer Hall of Fame...it just baffles me some of the guys that aren't in...nevermind that there are major discussions over not including them.

Of the guys not mentioned here...

Mr. Wrestling II...HUGE in Georgia.
Gene and Ole Anderson...the top heel tag team in possibly the country during periods of the late 70's.
Gary Hart...when history tells the story of World Class...the Von Erichs are Chapter 1...Gary Hart is Chapter 2.

[Warner2BruceTD]

It's really hard to get in. 60% doesn't sound like much, but it's hard.

Here is the less smarmy description of the criteria, btw

The basic criteria for the Hall of Fame is a combination of drawing power, being a great in-ring performer as well as having historical significance in a positive manner. A candidate should have something to offer in all three categories, or be someone so strong in one or two of those categories that they deserve inclusion.

Longevity should be a prime consideration rather than a hot two or three year run, unless someone is so significant as a trend-setter in the business, or valuable to the industry, that they should be included. However, just longevity, without being either a long-term main eventer, a top draw and/or top caliber worker should be seen as relatively meaningless.

[Warner2BruceTD]

There is currently a 72 page, 1800 post thread complaining about Big Daddy being snubbed. LOL ENGLAND

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

It's really hard to get in. 60% doesn't sound like much, but it's hard.

Here is the less smarmy description of the criteria, btw

What ends up happening there, is they try to be so "elite" in their voting, and on another hand, "worldly" that they end up leaving out more qualified candidates for the sake of worldliness.

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

To be fair, Big Daddy is a huge pop culture figure in England. HUGE.

[Warner2BruceTD]

I dont know enough about Big Daddy to judge. All I know is he dropped from 44% to 20%, and the voting is regionalized so it's brits keeping him out.

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Much like British humor, its just one of those things that is tough to get. I've always had a comparison of him to King Kong Bundy, but in a different generation and era...there was a charm about him and a certain novelty that was gotten by the English.

Oh, and he did kill a guy in the ring.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Albano is only the fourth inductee who is in primarily for being a manager. The others are Wild Red Berry, Bobby Heenan, and Jim Cornette.

I figured there would be more, but now that I think about it, I can't come up with many. Jimmy Hart goes back on the ballot next year. I think he was dropped at one point for falling under 10%. I think he has a case.

Sherri Martel? I lean yes. JJ Dillon? I lean no.

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Managers...

Sherri is a yes.
JJ is a yes.
I'd lean yes to Jimmy Hart.

Did Paul Ellering get in with the Road Warriors?

If you are going old school...who would be worthy to even mention? Arnold Skaaland? The Grand Wizard?

Interesting case...Paul Bearer?

[Senser81]

Gorilla Monsoon - Fondly remembered if you are under 40, but considered a terrible announcer by people at the time. I lean yes, when you factor in a borderline HOF wrestling career, influence as a part owner of both WWF & WWC, etc.

I don't see how mediocre "wrestlers" like Jesse Ventura and lame managers like Capt. Lou Albano can garner HOF support, yet Gorilla Monsoon is lost in the shuffle with stooges like Wendi Richter and Stan Hansen. You can't tell the story of pro wrestling without mentioning Gorilla Monsoon. He excelled in every area of the sport. The guy was a great ambassador for the sport. When you look back on the history of pro wrestling, there are a lot of bad marks, eyesores, and scandals...yet Gorilla Monsoon was always a man of character. He's like the baseball player that performed well in the Steroid Era yet wasn't on steroids.

[FedEx227]

Meltzer and a lot of the guys within the industry weren't as big of fans of Monsoon as fans on the outside were. His announcing was by and large pretty awful, it's just familiar.

I think he's worth at least some mention or merit, but I can easily see how he's out.

Ventura and Albano both played a huge part in shaping the world of wrestling as it is today. Albano was one of the top heels in the late 70s/80s WWWF/WWF and was the connection McMahon had to Cindy Lauper, which spawned the timeslot on MTV, which spawned Rock n Wrestling, which spawned WrestleMania and the rest is history.

Ventura, a little bit less so, I'll agree. Pretty meh wrestler, but drew decently, great announcer with WWF, horrid/lazy announcer with WCW, I wonder if what he's done post-wrestling has helped that candidacy as well.

[FedEx227]

Overall:

My favorite issue of the year, read it all last night. So good.

[Senser81]

Ventura and Albano both played a huge part in shaping the world of wrestling as it is today. Albano was one of the top heels in the late 70s/80s WWWF/WWF and was the connection McMahon had to Cindy Lauper, which spawned the timeslot on MTV, which spawned Rock n Wrestling, which spawned WrestleMania and the rest is history.

Sounds like Cindi Lauper should be in the wrestling hall of fame.