*By Request*
“I thought it was cool to see Demolition enter the WWE Hall of Fame this year. They were probably the biggest snubs until this year. With them being in, who do you think are the biggest remaining snubs?”
I love me some straightforward column requests like that.
Yeah, the argument could definitely be made that, prior to this year, Demolition were the biggest WWE Hall Of Fame snubs. Even if you didn’t have them at the top of that list, they were right up there in the running for the top spot. Now that Ax and Smash are Hall Of Famers, though, who else is at or near the top of that snubs list?
For this exercise, I won’t be including anyone still working at least a semi-regular schedule, nor will I be including people that just retired. Yes, John Cena is an obvious Hall Of Famer, but he has only been retired for six months. Relax.
I’m also not going to include Batista here. He’s another obvious choice to be in the Hall Of Fame, but his case is a unique one. As many of you already know, he was supposed to be inducted as a member of the Class Of 2020, but when the COVID pandemic broke out, he was quietly removed and was told that he will be a member of a future class when everyone’s schedules can match up. Technically, he isn’t a “snub” if that’s the case.
Everyone else, though, is fair game here.
As I usually do with columns like this, I will be listing things in no particular order.
Let’s talk snubs!
Earl Hebner: I’ve seen a lot of talk from people saying that it’s a shame we don’t have referees in the WWE Hall Of Fame, but technically, that isn’t true. In 2023, longtime ref Tim White was inducted, given the Warrior Award posthumously, nine months after he passed away. That makes White the first, and so far, only, referee to be a member of the WWE Hall Of Fame.
If you are going to induct referees… and I think you should… Earl Hebner needs to be there. He got started with Jim Crockett Promotions in the 1980s, and was involved in some major moments even before ever signing with the WWF. Earl was the referee for the legendary “I Quit” Cage Match between Magnum TA and Tully Blanchard at Starrcade 1985, and was one of the ringside referees at Great American Bash 1987 for the first ever War Games match. He then debuted for the WWF at the very top, coming in as the “evil twin” of referee Dave Hebner, costing Hulk Hogan the WWF Title to Andre The Giant on an episode of The Main Event that scored a 15.2 rating and pulled in a whopping 33 million viewers.
Earl has been in the ring for some of the WWF’s biggest and best matches and moments, and became as much of a household name as a wrestling referee can be with his involvement in the “Montreal Screwjob” in 1997, which is something that wrestling fans never let him forget about. He was a solid and memorable part of WWF’s Golden Era and Attitude Era, even being a major contributor to the Ruthless Aggression Era and beyond until his WWE release in 2005. Even now, 21 years later, Earl continues to work in the business, having two lengthy runs with TNA and even a relatively brief stint with AEW.
He’s the most famous, and infamous, referee in the history of pro wrestling, and has been around for so many legendary moments. If there was ever going to be a referee in the WWE Hall Of Fame, it would, and should, be Earl Hebner.
Jim Cornette: Corny is someone who can evoke a lot of negative emotions from people. Some people hate his political stance. Others think he’s a sexist, misogynistic relic from the past. Some people think he’s a racist, again tied to him being from an era when that type of thinking was more accepted.
No matter where you stand on those topics, one thing you can’t say is that Jim Cornette doesn’t belong in the WWE Hall Of Fame. He’s one of the greatest Managers in the history of the sport, often placed on the Managerial Mount Rushmore in the minds of many fans. It isn’t just Manager work that has him listed here. He has been a Jack-Of-All-Trades over his 50 (!!!) years in the sport, starting off as a photographer, eventually working his way up to ring announcing and timekeeping, but he has also found success as a promoter, booker, agent, color commentator, trainer, and more. In recent years, he has gone on to have a wildly successful career as a podcaster, with two of the most popular shows in a very crowded market.
I think he deserves to go in just for his work as a manager. Everything else is merely icing on the cake, really. The Midnight Express, Vader, Yokozuna, Barry Windham, Rock N Roll Express, Owen Hart, The British Bulldog, Big Bubba Rogers, Jeff Jarrett, Dan Severn… the list of people he has managed through the years is extensive.
One of the greatest managers, and still one of the greatest “talkers,” in the history of the business? Yeah, he needs to be in the Hall Of Fame.
Bam Bam Bigelow: When it comes to the best “big man” wrestlers in the history of the business, you aren’t going to be taken seriously if you don’t at least have Bam Bam Bigelow in the conversation. Billed at 6’4″ tall and weighing 390 pounds, with a distinctive look that included a gigantic flame tattoo that covered his bald head, he was as surprisingly and deceptively agile as anyone you’d ever see in a wrestling ring.
His career started off strong, seeing him win the award for Rookie Of The Year in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter in 1986, thanks to his work in World Class Championship Wrestling and in the Continental Wrestling Association.
At the start of 1987, he went to Japan and had a stint with New Japan, immediately becoming one of the top gaijin and competing against Antonio Inoki for the IWGP Heavyweight Title. It was this brief run that helped get the attention of the WWF, who brought him into the mix in May 1987. This was right after WrestleMania 3, when the company was absolutely on fire, and Bam Bam became a star right away. By the end of the year, he was teaming with Hulk Hogan at the inaugural Survivor Series event, and even spent a chunk of 1988 teaming with Hogan to feud with “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase and Andre The Giant.
He’s not someone who has a lengthy list of accomplishments as far as titles won. In fact, he never won a title of any kind in the WWF, but he found success everywhere he went, even if it was only for a brief stint. He’s a former ECW World Champion and ECW Television Champion. He has a reign (with Big Van Vader) as an IWGP Tag Team Champion, one reign as the WCW Hardcore Champion, and two (one with Diamond Dallas Page and one with DDP and Kanyon under “Freebird Rule”) reigns as a WCW Tag Team Champion. WAR, CWA, NWA Northeast, World Class… all places where Bam Bam was a champion.
Perhaps most importantly in the minds and eyes of many fans, Bam Bam was trusted enough to have a WrestleMania main event match with NFL legend Lawrence Taylor. To me, that says everything. Do you realize how much pressure is on a pro wrestler to get in the ring with a celebrity of any kind? Not only do you have to work harder to make the match something watchable, but you also have to make sure this big-time non-wrestler doesn’t get hurt out there. Now, amplify that pressure by approximately two million by making the match the main event of WrestleMania. Not Diesel defending the WWF Title to Shawn Michaels, not Bret “The Hitman” Hart facing Bob Backlund in an “I Quit” Match with “Rowdy” Roddy Piper as the Special Guest Referee, and not matches for the Intercontinental Title or the Tag Team Titles. No, Lawrence Taylor and Bam Bam Bigelow went on last that night in 1995. Wild.
Miss Elizabeth: While she wasn’t the first female valet/manager in pro wrestling history, you could make an argument that Miss Elizabeth is the best of them all, even after all these years.
She was the PERFECT addition to the on-screen presentation of “Macho Man” Randy Savage. He was loud and boisterous, while she was quiet and reserved. She was movie star gorgeous and classy, while he was an over-the-top cartoon character that looked like he was a little dangerous.
Now, I’ve seen some scuttlebutt online that WWE might be avoiding an induction for Elizabeth because it would draw attention to her death, and more specifically, the events that led to her death. The line of thinking is that, even though WWE won’t say “oh, she overdosed on drugs and died” on the air, their fear is that young fans who don’t know about Elizabeth will go online to look her up and they’ll find all the sordid details of her passing.
While I get that line of thinking, it didn’t stop WWE from inducting Lex Luger in 2025, did it? Lex was there when Elizabeth died, and had been arrested in the past for battery after a domestic dispute where he allegedly struck her during the argument. There’s even the talk that Lex is the one who helped introduce Elizabeth to the pills that eventually took her life. It seems ridiculous that anyone would hold Liz to a different standard than other people who are currently in the Hall Of Fame, but… spoiler alert… I’ll have more to say about that in another entry in this column.
It is impossible to tell the story of the WWF’s rise to global phenomenon status without talking about Randy Savage, and it is impossible to tell the story of Randy Savage without talking about Miss Elizabeth. She played such an important and pivotal role in his success for years, and it’s a shame that she has yet to get the Hall induction. For a while, it seemed like Randy himself would never be inducted, for reasons that perhaps only he and Vince McMahon knew, but that came to an end in 2015, when he was inducted on WrestleMania 31 weekend. Here we are, 11 years later, and Miss Elizabeth is still without that same call.
Brian Pillman: April 15th, 1996. October 5th, 1997. Those two dates are the reason Brian Pillman is listed here, in my opinion.
The first date was when Brian was involved in a car accident after falling asleep at the wheel of his Hummer and hitting a tree. Among the various injuries he suffered in the crash was an ankle that was completely destroyed, forcing doctors to fuse it together in a fixed walking position. He was never close to being the same athlete again after that.
The second date was when Brian was found dead in his Bloomington, Minnesota hotel room at the age of 35. It would eventually come out that he died from a heart attack caused by previously undetected heart disease.
I say that those dates are the reason he’s listed here because I feel that he wouldn’t be a “snub” without them. Had he not gotten into that accident in 1996, and had he not passed away a year-and-a-half later, I think he would’ve been an easy call to be in the Hall already.
Brian played a very huge role in the rise of the “Light Heavyweight” style in North America during the early part of the 1990s, helping to recondition the thinking that the only way to succeed in the business was to have the size and physique of someone like Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, Lex Luger, and people of that nature.
He was also someone who found a lot of success as a tag wrestler, starting with his early days in Stampede Wrestling, teaming with Bruce Hart to win the Stampede International Tag Team Titles twice, and then teaming with “Z-Man” Tom Zenk to win the NWA United States Tag Team Titles in WCW. It was his pairing with “Stunning” Steve Austin that really opened a lot of people’s eyes (for both men), though. Their work as the Hollywood Blonds was so, so good, and it led to two different title reigns for the duo.
When he signed with the WWF in 1996, less than two months after his accident, fans were excited. Would he reunite with Austin, who would set the wrestling world on fire two weeks after Brian signed with the WWF when he dropped his “Austin 3:16” promo at King Of The Ring? What about getting a chance to work with Owen Hart again, after the time they spent together in Stampede? There really were a lot of possibilities, but that ankle injury just wouldn’t allow much of it to come to fruition. Brian only wrestled 15 televised matches for the WWF before he passed away, but he was still able to make a lasting impression during his brief time there. “Pillman’s Got A Gun” remains one of the most shocking and legendary segments in wrestling history, and his time with the newly formed Hart Foundation stable saw him participating in one of the more red-hot storylines of the entire decade.
He didn’t get to have a lengthy run at the top of the sport, but he contributed so much in so many ways, and I didn’t even get to cover everything here. A real “what if” case if ever there was one, but I think he’s done more than enough, and is responsible for more than enough, to justify a WWE Hall Of Fame induction.
Chyna: There might be a bit of an asterisk on this one. Well, two of them, actually. One, Chyna is a member of the WWE Hall Of Fame already, getting inducted in 2019 as one of the founding members of Degeneration X. Obviously, this is about her as a solo induction, and that’s where the second asterisk comes in.
Paul Levesque himself is on record saying that a Chyna solo induction is “definitely happening” at some point. He said that it’s going to happen “when the time is right,” with no word on when that might be. He said it after last year’s WrestleMania, and obviously, Chyna wasn’t inducted this year, so I guess the time wasn’t right in 2026.
Back in 2015, that very same Paul Levesque appeared on an episode of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Sessions podcast on the WWE Network, and in discussing Chyna not being in the Hall Of Fame, he basically said that she can’t be inducted because of her past in the adult film industry. The line of thinking was that young fans would be introduced to Chyna through the Hall Of Fame, then they’d go online and look her up to learn about her, where they would be introduced to her brief past as a porn actress.
I understand that line of thinking. Trust me… I do. However, what’s to stop young people from looking up The Fabulous Moolah and learning about the scandals she was a part of? What about looking up Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka and the death of Nancy Argentino? How about Pat Patterson and the numerous scandals he has been involved in? Hulk Hogan, anyone? Jerry “The King” Lawler? Ric Flair? Steve Austin himself? Sunny, who was not only CONVICTED of killing a man in a car crash that saw her driving drunk, but who also has a past in the porn industry? Mike Tyson? Donald Trump? Jake “The Snake” Roberts? Ultimate Warrior? Jesus Christ, the list of people who are currently in the WWE Hall Of Fame that have pasts that you might not want children learning about is very long. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think starring in a few pornos is anywhere near as bad as what some Hall Of Fame members have been involved with through the years.
Chyna changed the game for women’s wrestling, altering things forever, opening the doors for multiple generations of women to enter the business even if they don’t look like a cookie-cutter “Barbie” type. She was the first woman to enter the men’s Royal Rumble match, as well as the first woman to be involved in the King Of The Ring tournament, and the first woman to win the Intercontinental Title, and the first woman to be named the #1 Contender for the WWF Title. Working in an era that included MEGA STARS like Steve Austin, The Rock, Mankind, The Undertaker, and so on, she was always one of the most over people on the roster, earning huge reactions from fans all over the world.
Let’s cut the bullshit, WWE. She deserves to be in the Hall Of Fame all by herself, and no matter what spin doctoring you want to put on things, we all know the REAL reason why she hasn’t been inducted yet.
Raven: The list of WWE Hall Of Famers that have worked for ECW at one point or another is decently long. However, if you narrow it down to the list of people who would be considered “ECW people,” the list becomes a lot smaller. Yes, people like Dusty Rhodes and Lita have been in ECW, but nobody on this planet or any other planet would immediately place them there when they think about their careers.
Obviously, you have Paul Heyman, who was inducted in 2024. There’s also Rob Van Dam, who was inducted in 2021. We can also count The Dudleys, who were inducted in 2018. That’s the entire list, though. I thought 2024 would’ve been a good time to have an ECW-themed ceremony, since it took place in the company’s home of Philadelphia, but Heyman was the only ECW connection that year.
When I think about ECW, its characters, and its success, Raven is someone that comes to my mind almost instantly. After some early success in his career while wrestling for Pacific Northwest Wrestling based in Oregon, he first made national waves (pun intended) as the surfer-type character Scotty Flamingo in WCW, winning the Light Heavyweight Title in 1992, but his time with the company didn’t last long. After a relatively short, uneventful time in the WWF as Johnny Polo, that’s when he started in ECW and everything changed for him.
Check out this Wikipedia description of the Raven character…
Inspired by the poem by Edgar Allan Poe and by Patrick Swayze’s manipulative Zen master of crime in the film Point Break, the Raven character was a depressed, sociopathic, stoical, nihilistic misanthrope who would deliver eloquent, philosophical promos peppered with literary allusions and ending with the catchphrase, “Quoth the Raven ‘Nevermore'”
That’s incredible. Fans had never seen anything like the Raven character, and that was before we added the additional backstory for his legendary feud with Tommy Dreamer, where it was said that he and Tommy attended a summer camp together when they were growing up, where Tommy had spurned an overweight camper named Beulah McGillicutty, who then became Raven’s girlfriend. All those years later, Raven brought Beulah to ECW, where it was revealed that she lost a bunch of weight and became a complete knockout.
He was off to the races from there, and it led to tons of success in ECW, including two reigns as the ECW World Champion and two reigns as an ECW Tag Team Champion. His success in ECW allowed for WCW to come calling for him in 1997, and he went back during the peak of the Monday Night War. More success in WCW, including a United States Title reign and a Tag Team Title reign, led to a return to ECW, where he won the Tag Team Titles two more times in a brief run before heading back to the WWF. He was involved in the entertaining Hardcore Title division for a while before becoming a part of The Alliance during the Invasion storyline. While he didn’t become a top talent there, he did win the Hardcore Title more than anyone in company history.
If that’s not enough success for you, he would go on to NWA: TNA and would win the NWA World Heavyweight Title there. The man would even get the nod to be inducted as a member of the TNA Hall Of Fame in 2022.
Success, of varying degrees, everywhere he went for well over a decade. The type of legendary character, and connection to the grunge “scene” that was dominating pop culture at the time, that helped to define who ECW was and what ECW was about. Great promos and moments throughout all of the top wrestling promotions in the United States.
What else does he need to be a WWE Hall Of Famer?
Cyndi Lauper: As of the moment I type this, there are currently 15 celebrities in the WWE Hall Of Fame. In chronological order of induction, those celebrities are: Pete Rose, William “Refrigerator” Perry, Bob Uecker, Drew Carey, “Iron” Mike Tyson, Donald Trump, Mr. T, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Snoop Dogg, Kid Rock, William Shatner, Ozzy Osbourne, Andy Kaufman, Muhammad Ali, and “Rodzilla” Dennis Rodman.
Quite the group.
Right off the bat, a few of those names absolutely, positively belong in the Hall. Mike Tyson helped to launch the “Austin Era” with his inclusion at WrestleMania 14, changing the course of the Monday Night War forever. Donald Trump not only had his name attached to WrestleMania 4 and 5 by hosting (his casino hotel was the primary sponsor for the shows, so they referred to the Atlantic City Convention Hall as “Trump Plaza” for both events) them, but was involved in the hugely promoted “Battle Of The Billionaires” with Vince McMahon at WrestleMania 23. Mr. T helped to bring mainstream media attention to both WrestleMania 1 and 2, helping to get Mania off the ground with his involvement. Andy Kaufman was someone that, even though his work took place outside of the WWF umbrella, had one of the most legendary celebrity “runs” in wrestling history working with Jerry “The King” Lawler in Memphis in 1982. Muhammad Ali was another celebrity whose involvement in the very first WrestleMania helped to make the show the success that it ended up being, but Ali’s 1976 fight against Antonio Inoki in Japan was a Boxer vs Wrestler contest that many view as the precursor to modern MMA, and was a huge box office attraction that was viewed by an estimated 1.4 BILLION people worldwide and saw Ali walk away with a purse of $6 million, which is over $35.1 million in today’s money. Dennis Rodman was not only a huge celebrity hook for the overall WCW product and the nWo, but he did so as a member of the Chicago Bulls NBA dynasty, even skipping a practice during the middle of the 1998 NBA Finals to appear with the nWo on an episode of Monday Nitro.
There are a couple other names that I’d listen to an argument for if you were trying to debate their inclusion in the Hall Of Fame, and there’s a few more names that still have zero business being in the Hall.
Then there’s Cyndi Lauper.
You could make a case that there wouldn’t be a WrestleMania without Cyndi Lauper. No WrestleMania (or no smashing success at WrestleMania 1) means there probably isn’t a WWF after a certain point, and obviously, if there’s no WWF after a certain point, there is no Hall Of Fame for any of these people to be inducted into.
After a chance encounter with legendary pro wrestling manager “Captain” Lou Albano on a flight to Puerto Rico, Cyndi would get involved in the wrestling business, making appearances and helping to launch the “Rock N Wrestling Connection” that the WWF would launch, merging the worlds of wrestling and music. MTV was only a couple years old at the time, and at that time, Cyndi Lauper was one of the biggest stars on the channel, and in all of music. The tremendous success of the Lauper-led events had the company feeling a lot more confident in their ability to make WrestleMania the industry-changing event that it needed to be.
How in the world has she not been given a Hall nod yet? It has been 42 years since her first appearance in the WWF, and… nothing.
It was recently announced that Mattel would soon release a Rock N Wrestling Connection action figure set, featuring “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, “Captain” Lou Albano, and, in her very first wrestling action figure… Cyndi Lauper. Could that be the first sign that the relationship between WWE and Cyndi Lauper has improved beyond what she called a “weird” phase near the end of their working relationship? We shall see, I guess.
Ken Shamrock: Compared to a lot of people already in the Hall Of Fame, Ken Shamrock doesn’t have a ton of championship accolades, especially under the WWE umbrella. One reign as the Intercontinental Champion, one reign as a Tag Team Champion, and he won the 1998 King Of The Ring. To some people, that’s not a ton, but those people aren’t looking at the full picture.
First of all, you can’t ignore that he won the NWA World Heavyweight Title in 2002. More importantly, though, he was one of the first MMA fighters to successfully cross over to the world of pro wrestling and find success there. Yes, I’m aware that he was a pro wrestler before he was in the MMA world, but he hadn’t come close to making a “name” for himself at the time, especially in the United States. It was viewed as a really big deal when he was announced as the Special Guest Referee for the Submission Match between Bret “The Hitman” Hart and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin at WrestleMania 13. By that time, Shamrock had become a legend in MMA. He had already won the Openweight Title for Pancrase and the Superfight Championship for the UFC. His rivalry with Royce Gracie was viewed as the first “feud” in UFC history, and one of the first in the entire history of MMA, helping to launch UFC from a start-up company to one of the hottest entities in all of sports. Seeing him on WWF programming, next to two of the biggest stars in pro wrestling, was super cool. Even if you didn’t watch any of his fights, the WWF did a great job in how they promoted him and getting the point across that he wasn’t going to back down if guys like Bret and Austin got in his face.
Like I said, he might not be a ten-time WWF Champion or anything, but it’s difficult to ignore and deny his legacy. Look at all of the MMA crossover that we’ve seen in the last three decades. That’s because of him. Look at the usage of the Ankle Lock as a finisher in wrestling. That’s because of him.
Put the man in already.
Jim Johnston: In my first draft of this column, Jim Johnston wasn’t included. Not that he isn’t deserving of a Hall Of Fame induction, but more because I’m aware of the relationship between him and the company these days.
I still remember him doing an interview with Chris Van Vliet from the COVID days, and he was very careful with his words about the company. He talked about how “uncomfortable” it would be to return for a Hall Of Fame induction after they fired him nearly a decade ago, and also mentioned that there are a “number of people” in the company that he would be “thrilled not to see and not to have to shake their hand,” without naming names. Naturally, Vince McMahon is the first name that comes to mind when he says that, but in that same interview, he also mentions the admiration he has for Vince and how he could’ve worked for Vince for the rest of his career under a handshake agreement. Does that mean he’s talking about Paul Levesque, John Laurinaitis, Stephanie McMahon, Bruce Prichard, or other people in the WWE hierarchy? We might never know the answer, but it’s definitely something to keep in mind when you think about why Jim Johnston hasn’t been brought back for anything in nearly a full decade.
He certainly deserves a spot in the Hall, though. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, The Undertaker, The Rock, Shawn Michaels, Degeneration X, Vince McMahon, Kurt Angle, Daniel Bryan, The Shield, Fandango, Goldust, Sycho Sid, Razor Ramon, Bret “The Hitman” Hart, Jeff Jarrett, The Brood, New Age Outlaws, Triple H, Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero, Sunny, Kane, Lita, Ultimate Warrior, Edge, The Godfather, Brock Lesnar, Trish Stratus… everyone I just mentioned, and many, many more, all have entrance themes that were in some way, shape, or form put together by Jim Johnston. He either composed the music, performed the music, wrote the lyrics, or sometimes all of the above. He was responsible for the soundtrack to generations worth of pro wrestling fans, and over the last decade, his career only looks stronger thanks to the mostly subpar work that CFO$ and Def Rebel have done since they took over WWE’s music department.
Should he go in? Absolutely. Will he go in? It seems as though there are some major hurdles that need to be cleared for that to happen. Johnston himself has said he doesn’t think an induction will ever be proposed for him, and even if it did, it doesn’t seem like he’s going to be quick to accept right away.
Vince McMahon: Whether you like him or not… whether I like him or not… there is no Hall Of Fame conversation without Vince McMahon. There is no Hall Of Fame, period, without Vince McMahon.
Say whatever you want about his shortcomings, both in and out of the wrestling business, but you can’t look at the pro wrestling industry today and not take notice that it’s where it is because of Vince McMahon.
Vince buying the company from his father in 1982 helped to set off a chain reaction that changed the sport forever. Scooping up talent left and right from nearly every wrestling territory on the map gave the roster enough depth and star power to build on a national takeover, which was almost unheard of in the business up to that point. This ultimately led to the launch of WrestleMania, which would cause the plans for a national takeover to become plans for an international takeover. The company would continue to grow, and so would Vince’s bank account, until he would become a billionaire. Today, even though Vince is no longer with the company (wink, wink), WWE is a global entity that just saw an overall revenue of $1.709 billion in 2025, which continues their streak of 16 consecutive years of revenue growth, 12 consecutive years of breaking their own record for yearly revenue, and five consecutive years of revenue being over the $1 billion mark.
One of the worst kept secrets in wrestling was Vince McMahon not wanting to be involved on-screen at the WWE Hall Of Fame ceremonies. He didn’t want to induct anyone, although he would break that rule in 2009 (for “Stone Cold” Steve Austin), 2013 (for Donald Trump), and 2022 (for The Undertaker). In fact, he didn’t even want his name to be mentioned during anyone else’s speeches, instead wanting all the focus to be on the people being inducted.
With Vince not in charge anymore (nudge, nudge), does that allow for him to be inducted at some point? It’s not as if people like Paul Levesque and Stephanie McMahon hate Vince and want nothing to do with him anymore. Vince’s reactions from live crowds would be very interesting to see. The last time we saw him on WWE programming, live crowds were showering him with love and adoration, thanking him for his contributions to the sport, and propping him as a cultural icon. This was after the stories of hush money settlements and non-disclosure agreements were made public, but it was also before anything involving Janel Grant became public knowledge. If you’ve been on the internet at any point over the last two-plus years, you know that the online sentiment about Vince has changed a lot in the wake of the Grant lawsuit. However, if you’ve been on the internet at any point over the last three-plus decades, you also know that the internet reactions to wrestling personalities and storylines doesn’t always match up to live crowd reactions to wrestling personalities and storylines. If you ask someone on social media, they’d tell you that The Bloodline is the worst thing going in wrestling right now, but live crowds continue to eat up everything Roman Reigns and crew does.
If… and that’s a big if… things go Vince’s way with the Grant lawsuit, it wouldn’t surprise me if WWE tested the waters for some sort of Vince McMahon “return.” It would probably start off small, maybe by having his name mentioned by someone in a promo and seeing how the crowd responds. Then, if the reaction to his name is positive, you put him in a video package or something and see how the crowd reactions to seeing him. If THAT reaction is also positive, then you see about bringing him back, whether it’s the announcement of a Hall Of Fame induction or being involved in a segment on television.
That’s not what I would do, mind you. As I said, it’s just something that wouldn’t surprise me if we saw WWE do it in the future. Saudi Arabia reportedly wants the absolute biggest possible WrestleMania next year, and I think Vince McMahon returning for a Hall Of Fame induction certainly fits the criteria for making WrestleMania as big as possible.
Who do YOU think are the biggest WWE Hall Of Fame snubs right now? Am I missing anyone on my list? As always, feel free to hit me up in the comments section below, on Twitter (@HustleTheSavage), or on Bluesky (@aaronhyden.bsky.social), and let me know what’s on your mind.
Now, let’s get to my Weekly Power Rankings before closing things out for the week with the list of songs I was listening to as I put this column together.
Weekly Power Rankings
Je’Von Evans vs Jey Uso: Realistically, this is something that I could see as a pay-per-view World Title main event. As it is, they had a television main event, competing for a spot in the Finals of the King Of The Ring tournament. They were given a really good amount of time to work with, and they had themselves a really fun match. There was something on the line, and both men wrestled like it. I say it every week now, but it’s amazing how simple that is. Give your wrestlers something to wrestle for, and they’ll put in extra work.
Hazuki vs Mercedes Moné: I don’t think anyone thought she would win, but this Owen Hart Cup run was quite the AEW debut for Hazuki. Watching Mercedes wrestle any of the women from Japan is a lot of fun, and it’s probably due to her love for the Japanese style.
Carmelo Hayes vs Ricky Saints: I like Ricky Saints, and I have no problem with him being pushed in any fashion. With that said, I have no idea what WWE is doing with Carmelo Hayes. Melo lost the United States Title to Sami Zayn three months ago, but it feels like three years ago at this point. Since losing the title, he has wrestled seven matches on television, losing five, having one thrown out, and winning one. That win came almost a month-and-a-half ago. Live crowds are giving Melo their support, but it hasn’t led to much of anything yet.
Jacob Fatu: That was quite the attack on actor Eric Andre. All credit in the world to Mr. Andre for the way he sold everything, too, but Jacob looked like the monster he’s supposed to be here. More of that, please.
Charlotte Flair vs Roxanne Perez: When it comes to in-ring work, there aren’t many women on the WWE roster that can say they’re better than Roxanne Perez. Unfortunately for her, though, she often plays third fiddle for the Judgment Day women. Liv Morgan is the big star and the current Women’s World Champion. Raquel Rodriguez is the six-foot-tall badass powerhouse. Then, you have Roxanne. I think we’re beyond time for her to get a big singles push on the main roster.
Bandido & Brody King vs Jon Moxley & Daniel Garcia: Viva La BroDido! I enjoyed seeing them team up again. It was their first time teaming up in seven months. I would much prefer to see them both getting singles pushes, but seeing them teaming up for a one-off like this is perfectly fine.
Charlotte Flair vs Liv Morgan: This was a good in-ring week for Charlotte facing the women of Judgment Day. Going back to what I said earlier, it really shows you the tiers of the Judgment Day ladies, with Charlotte defeating Roxanne, then losing to Liv four days later.
Jaida Parker vs Nattie: Props to Nattie for another stint in NXT, working with the younger girls and helping to boost their profiles. This was one of Jaida’s best matches in her relatively brief career to this point, showing that she can “hang” with her two-time World Champion opponent.
Mark Briscoe, Orange Cassidy, Roderick Strong, Kyle O’Reilly, Darby Allin & Konosuke Takeshita vs MJF, Andrade El Idolo, Kazuchika Okada, Kyle Fletcher, Jake Doyle & Kevin Knight: There is a lot of people involved here, with a lot of moving parts at all times. The match was overly chaotic, but the main thing this did was tell me how much of a clusterfuck the upcoming Steel Cage Match at Forbidden Door is going to be. Having 12 men in a regular match was a mess at times, but putting 12 men inside of a single Steel Cage is going to be a nightmare.
Lola Vice & Kendal Grey vs Zaria & Kelani Jordan: The more I watch Kendal Grey wrestle, the more I become confident in her ability to be a huge star for WWE. She’s just special in the ring, and she’s only 25 years old with just over two years of pro wrestling experience. I’ve said it before, but she’s ready to be on Raw or Smackdown right now, but I like seeing her rise through the NXT rankings first.
Maya World vs Athena: Before this Owen Hart Cup, Maya World has never been involved in a win on AEW programming. She beat Skye Blue, and that was viewed as something of an upset, but then she was going up against Athena. You know… the woman who has been the Ring Of Honor Women’s World Champion since December 10th, 2022. With a spot against Mercedes Moné in the Finals up for grabs, surely Athena would win this and set up another big match. Wrong! I would say that this is one of the biggest upsets in AEW history, but as I’ve said a million times in the past, Tony Khan seems to have a fetish for showing that there is a major gap between being a big deal on RoH programming and being a big deal on AEW programming. In RoH, Athena is working on a title reign that is approaching the four-year mark, but in AEW, this is the sixth time that Athena has been on the losing end of a singles match. Good for Maya World, especially in the wake of her brother passing away recently, but having Athena lose here makes the RoH Women’s Title look really bad. What’s even the point anymore?
This Week’s Playlist: “DUMMY” by Key Glock… “Bye Bye Bye” by Sleep Theory… “R.I.P.” by Motionless In White & Skylar Grey… “To The End” by Silent Theory & Brandon Saller… “Until We Disappear” by Any Given Sin… “Change” by Stephen Stanley & bodie… “I’ll Find You” by Bryce Savage… “Crying” by The Chain Gang Of 1974… “outta time” by Kelela & A.K. Paul… “You Got Me” by The Roots, Erykah Badu & Eve… “Gangsta Lovin” by Eve & Alicia Keys… “Who’s That Girl?” by Eve… “What Ya Want” by Eve & Nokio… “Ruff Ryders Anthem (Remix)” by DMX, Jadakiss, Styles, Eve & Drag-On… “Ryde Or Die” by DMX, The Lox, Eve & Drag-On… “Scenario 2000” by Eve, DMX, The Lox & Drag-On… “The Bomb! (These Sounds Fall Into My Mind)” by The Bucketheads… “Show Me Love” by Robin S… “Ain’t Nobody” by Rufus & Chaka Khan… “Fresh” by Kool & The Gang… “Caribbean Queen (No More Love On The Run)” by Billy Ocean… “I’ll Be Around” by The Spinners… “I Wanna Get Next To You” by Rose Royce… “Sukiyaki” by 4PM… “Freddie’s Dead” by Curtis Mayfield
