The Piledriver Report 02.09.12: Looking at the 2012 Hall of Fame Class (SPOILERS INCLUDED)

Posted by Ronny Sarnecky on 02.09.2012

With most of this year’s WWE Hall of Fame class announced, or about to be announced, Ronny Sarnecky takes a look at the members of the class, as well as who he thought would be headlining this year’s inductions.

On Saturday, March 31st, the WWE presents their latest Hall of Fame inductions as part of the upcoming WrestleMania XXVIII weekend festivities. The latest list of inductions include Mil Mascaras, Ron Simmons, the late Yokozuna, Mike Tyson in the celebrity win, and the co-main event of the Four Horsemen, along with Edge.

The Hall of Fame ceremony is one of my favorite activities during WrestleMania weekend. I love hear the long induction speeches given by wrestlers of yesterday telling stories of days on by. That's one of the main reasons why I always rushed out to get the WrestleMania DVD the day it would be released. Watching the chopped up USA Network broadcasts didn't do these men any justice. However, the WrestleMania DVD would air each speech in its uninterrupted entirety. Unfortunately, over the last few years, the WWE has given these legends awfully short time constraints that helped rob these men and women of their last true night in the spotlight. I'm hoping that this year, as I do every year, the WWE allows these former greats the freedom to talk to the audience for as long as they would like. Even though I have hopes, I highly doubt that the WWE will allow these wrestlers to talk as long as they need to.

THE NOT-MAIN EVENT INDUCTEES



Despite my little grip, I always look forward to the announcements on who the latest inductees will be. This year was no exception. Looking at the inductees for this year's class, I must admit that it has turned out a lot different than I expected. Ever since the WWF purchased WCW, the fans expected to see Randy Savage eventually return home to the WWE. However, for some reason unbeknownst to us all, Vince McMahon has always shot down any suggestion of bringing Randy Savage back into the fold. Sorry conspiracy theorist, but I refuse to buy the rumor that Savage popped an underaged Stephanie McMahon's cherry. If that was the case, Vince, as any normal father, would have had him arrested, not have Savage blackballed from the WWF/E. Plus, you never hear anyone mention, on the record, that Savage hooked up with Stephanie. Last year, Randy Savage passed away following an auto accident. I felt that Vince would finally let bygones be bygones, and he would induct the "Macho Man" into the WWE's Hall of Fame.

The other co-main event in this year's Hall of Fame class, I expected to be The Rock. It seemed like all of the pieces were in place for this year to be the year that The Rock would get inducted into the Hall. The Rock has an extremely busy schedule, so you really have to take him when you can get him. With The Rock performing at this year's WrestleMania, there were no worries about The Rock not being available to attend the ceremony. Plus, this year's WrestleMania is being held in The Rock's backyard on Miami, Florida. It's not that the fans wouldn't go just as crazy if The Rock was inducted at a WrestleMania in Indianapolis, as they would in Miami. It's just that having The Rock inducted in his hometown will make the induction feel even more special.

Looking back, I understand the WWE's logic for not putting The Rock into the Hall of Fame this year. You are already going to have a sold out Hall of Fame event with 70,000 people in town to see The Rock wrestle the next day. It shouldn't be that difficult to get 20,000 of these people to attend the Hall of Fame. You want to save The Rock's induction for a time when you need you need him to pop a rating or to sell a bunch of tickets. You have him this year already, why not hold off, and now you get him for a second year (or third year if you include last year's WrestleMania).

RATED-R ENSHRINEE

While I would have loved to have The Rock and Randy Savage in the Hall of Fame this year, that was not meant to be. Instead, we have a very solid Hall of Fame class. I was very surprised that Edge is the main inductee this year. Don't get me wrong, I feel that Edge definitely deserves to be in, not only the WWE's, but any professional wrestling Hall of Fame. My surprise is that he just retired less than a year ago. The WWE could have definitely held off putting Edge in the Hall. I expected him to be enshrined when the WWE held the next Toronto WrestleMania. Plus, Edge is still young. When you think of a legend, you don't think of a 38 year old wrestler who called it quits ten months ago. You think of a guy who is in his late forties, or has been out of the business/spotlight for a few years. You don't think of a guy who wrestled in one of the main title matches at the previous year's WrestleMania. Even so, Edge's induction is well deserved.

THE HORSEMEN RIDE AGAIN

The co-main eventer is the Four Horsemen stable of Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Barry Windham, and J.J Dillion. It's another well-deserved induction. However, with Ric Flair in TNA, it's a very surprising entrant. While Ric Flair has already been inducted into the WWE's Hall of Fame, the rest of the stable deserved to be in the Hall of Fame on their own merits. Tully Blanchard is a former WWF and NWA World Tag Team champion. He's held the NWA Television title, and the United States championship. Arn Anderson is a five time NWA/WCW World Tag Team champion, a four time Television title holder, and has one WWF World Tag Team title on his resume. Barry Windham is the most decorated Horseman not named Ric Flair. Windham is a one-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, a one-time United States Heavyweight Champion, a one-time Television Champion, a one-time Western States Heritage Champion, a four-time NWA (Mid Atlantic)/WCW World Tag Team Champion and a one-time NWA United States Tag Team Champion with Ron Garvin. In WWF, he was a two-time World Tag Team Champion with Mike Rotundo. J.J. Dillion was the manager that held the group together. Alone, each man deserves their own spot in the Hall. I actually expected Arn Anderson to have been inducted last year as his own man. However, one year later, and going in as part of the greatest stable in wrestling history isn't a bad way to be inducted.

THE BADDEST MAN ON THE PLANET

In the WWE's celebrity wing, the newest inductee is Mike Tyson. Out of all of the celebrities to have appeared in the history of WrestleMania, there are two celebrities who deserve to be included in the WWE's Hall of Fame above all others. These men are Mr. T and Mike Tyson. The WWE wants you to believe that WrestleMania became WrestleMania because of Vince McMahon and Hulk Hogan. Roddy Piper wants you to believe, and rightfully so, that he was just as responsible for the success of the first WrestleMania. However, Mr. T deserves as much credit as anyone in regards to the success of the first WrestleMania. Without Mr. T, the WWF would not have gotten anywhere near the publicity for the first WrestleMania that they did. Do you honestly believe that Hulk Hogan would have hosted Saturday Night Live the night before WrestleMania I if Mr. T wasn't his tag team partner?

As vital as Mr. T was to the success and promotion of the inaugural WrestleMania, Mike Tyson was just as important to the WWF in kicking off the "Attitude Era." It was early 1998. While the WWF's Monday Night RAW was arguably the better wrestling program at the time, WCW's Monday Nitro was the ratings king. Even though the WWF was the home to the industry's next breakout star in Steve Austin, the WWF had to contend with the extremely negative backlash of the 1997 Survivor Series Screwjob of Bret Hart. The WWF was in the first year of entering the more adult-oriented "Attitude Era." The WWF brought in the always controversial Mike Tyson to give an added punch to the new attitude that the WWF was embarking on. Mike Tyson didn't just bring in the controversial figure that was the perfect person to help the WWF in this stage of the company. Tyson brought in the kind of publicity that not even Mr. T in his prime would have been able to provide. Everybody covered the WWF during Tyson's three month stint. Besides the publicity, Tyson didn't steal WCW's audience. Instead, he brought with him a whole new audience to the WWF. Both Nitro and RAW drew monster ratings on their own, and combined together professional wrestling became the hottest thing on television. Not only did Tyson bring in the viewers, but when "Iron Mike" left the WWF, those fans decided to stick around. It wasn't long after that the WWF took back the ratings battle and would go on to win the "Monday Night Wars." Would the WWF, with the iconic Austin/McMahon feud, combined with the rise of The Rock, eventually overtake World Championship Wrestling? Probably. However, Mike Tyson gave the WWF the spark that they needed when the WWF needed it the most.

YOKOZUNA

The first WrestleMania that I attended in person was WrestleMania X. I couldn't wait to see Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart, Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon, and if things broke right Bret Hart vs. Lex Luger in the main event for the WWF World championship. The one performer that I didn't care to see was Yokozuna. I didn't see what the WWF saw in the him. I liked the more athletic workers, like Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels. I thought that Yokozuna was slow and boring. However, looking back on things, even though I stand by my opinion, I understand why Yokozuna is being inducted into the WWE's Hall of Fame. Yokozuna represented a very important part of the WWF's history. He was the man that killed Hulk-a-mania in the WWF. After his destruction of Hulk Hogan, the "Hulkster" wouldn't be seen in a WWF ring until 2002.

DAMN!

Ron Simmons is a very deserving Hall of Fame inductee. Simmons is the first African-American to hold a major World singles championship in professional wrestling. Simmons was an amazing athlete, as a member of the College Football Hall of Fame. Despite being a former WCW World Heavyweight champion, Simmons probably received his greatest exposure in the WWF. It was in the WWF that he led a "Black Panthers" type faction called the Nation of Domination , which gave Rocky Maivia the platform to turn himself into the "people's champion" called The Rock. Later, Ron Simmons would form his most recognized tag team John Bradshaw Layfield called the APA. Even after the days of the APA, and the Simmons was past his prime, he still made an entertaining contribution with his "DAMN!" catchphrase. Like Arn Anderson, I expected Ron Simmons to have been inducted last year. One year later, and his induction is still well deserved.

THE MASKED CRUSADER


THE PRESENTER

In a move that was probably made in order to boost interest in the Latino and Mexican markets, the WWF is inducting Mil Mascaras. His nephew is Alberto Del Rio, so that doesn't hurt him from being inducted either. That's not to say that Mil Mascaras isn't deserving of being in the WWE's Hall of Fame. Mascaras is a legend in Mexico. While he did make spot appearances in the WWF from time to time in the 1970s, Mascaras never planted any roots in the company. He is one of the few wrestlers to be inducted for his career outside of the WWF/E, and not for his time in the McMahon wrestling empire. This is a good thing, as there are hundreds of performers who never had an impact in the WWF/E that deserve to be inducted in the Hall of Fame. Mil Mascaras is one of these men.

Over the past few years, the WWE Half of Fame ceremonies have been littered with the biggest stars in the history of the business. Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, and Steve Austin have each main evented the Hall of Fame induction ceremony. While Edge is a big star in the industry, he doesn't have the name value that these other men have, and having another Ric Flair induction is more "been there, seen that" in terms of being seen as something unique and special. However, this year's line-up features one of the most solid classes in the last several years. The 2012 WWE Hall of Fame class should be a memorable class, and one of the most deserving. See you there.