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This class really illustrates a few things:
- They haven't done a very good job of distributing inductions over the years, with way too many big and mid level names getting inducted either in the 90's (before the HOF was as big a deal as it is now) or in the early years of the modern HOF era ('04 onwards). Hell, '05 alone had Hogan, Piper, Jimmy Hart, Iron Shiek, and Nikolai Volkoff. Now, I realize that this is wrestling and you've got to work around whose died before fifty, whose not talking to who at that particular time, who has a bad substance abuse problem, etc. But as 2005 illustrates, that single year took up several recognizable names that could have been spread out over time.
- Sort of a corollary of the first one, they're inducting 90's/00's wrestlers REALLY quick now. For example, you could sit on the HBK induction for a while, give his legacy and reputation time to grow, etc. But nah, they're cashing that shit in as quick as possible.
- The glaring omissions (Savage, Sammartino, etc.) that won't ever be in.
Of the list:
HBK- Obviously deserves it, but I believe they're putting him in too soon. But whatever.
Hacksaw- I think he deserves it, but he's pretty close to a marginal selection. A midcard worker who was over enough to kind of elevate his career to something a bit more.
Bob Armstrong- Jobber to the stars whose getting in because he's been doing it for fifty years. Longevity is great, but on its own I don't think it's a Hall of Fame worthy achievement. I wouldn't have put him in.
Sunny- Shouldn't be in. Her WWE career was about three years long, she wasn't a worker, and the only thing she contributed to the industry was the rise of eye candy which had the double effect of A) killing the concept of Managers as characters and B) harming women's wrestling by bypassing legit workers for untrained models. Not a fan of this choice.
Drew Carey- Even as a celebrity induction this is lame. The other three celeb inductions (Uecker, Pete Rose, and William "The Refrigerator" Perry) all had memorable turns at one point or another. I don't even remember what Carey did (Something with Kane, maybe?)
Abdullah the Butcher- I don't really have a huge problem with him being in, but really, I think he's even more marginal than Hacksaw. He was a pioneer of garbage wrestling, which I'm not a huge fan of. But on the other hand, if Bob Armstrong is viable I guess he is too.
Overall, just a pretty mediocre class. I think it's going to get worse in the next few years, though. What'll be interesting to see is if, eventually, midcard guys that were over during the Attitude Era get the call. Because by some of the criteria previously established by HOF voting, The New Age Outlaws (feuding with Vince aside) or Too Cool are certainly viable HOF candidates.
And that's all kinds of fucked up.
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Modern Science: Where a crappy answer is better than no answer at all.
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