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Tag: Hall of fame

  • Snoop Dogg, Joan Lunden to be honored at WWE Hall of Fame ceremony

    The WWE’s final two honorees for the Hall of Fame ceremony will be Snoop Dogg and Joan Lunden.

    Snoop Dogg, who is related to Sasha Banks and has been on WWE television a few times over the years, will be the celebrity inductee. It had been rumored within wrestling for weeks and reported in past Wrestling Observer Newsletters that they were talking, and in wrestling circles, the belief was that it was a done deal.

    Also reported at the time was Lunden, who will receive the Warrior award.

    While the Snoop Dogg announcement was made via email, John Cena made the announcement on Lunden Monday morning on The Today Show. Lunden will be presented with the award on Saturday night by Dana, the widow of the Ultimate Warrior. Lunden, best known for her hosting Good Morning America was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014, and very publicly battled through chemotherapy and radiation treatment.

    “It is truly humbling to be honored by WWE and receive this year’s Warrior Award at the 2016 Hall of Fame induction ceremony,” said Lunden to WWE.com. “After being diagnosed with cancer, my first thought was to survive, but soon after, I changed my focus from my cancer to the fight against cancer, and my life took on a whole new purpose. WWE has welcomed me into their family, offering me warmth and support, as have so many of the WWE fans from around the world.  It is a privilege to receive this honor.”

    The ceremony will air live on the WWE Network with an edited verson airing on post-Mania Thursday after Smackdown on USA.

  • The New Day inducting The Freebirds into the WWE Hall of Fame

    The WWE announced today that The New Day would be inducting The Freebirds into the WWE Hall of Fame on 4/2 in Dallas.

    The connection is that The New Day as a three-man tag team championship team, where any two men can defend the titles, was taken from The Freebirds, of Michael Hayes & Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts, who may have been the first team to do so with their Freebird rules.

    The Freebirds scheduled for induction are Hayes, currently a WWE producer, Jimmy Garvin, Gordy and Roberts.  The latter two, who have passed away, will be represented by their sons who became pro wrestlers, Ray Gordy, who worked for WWE as Jesse, and Buddy Roberts Jr., an independent wrestler in Illinois.

    Yesterday the company announced that Vader would be inducting Stan Hansen.  Vader and Hansen had a memorable match at the Tokyo Dome in 1990 where Vader’s eye came out of its socket.  It was a dream match at the time, as Vader was the foreign monster for New Japan Pro Wrestling, while Hansen had a similar spot with All Japan.

  • WWE opening a physical Hall of Fame & restaurant?

    As has been expected for many years, WWE looks to be finally be opening a physical Hall of Fame in Orlando, FL, at Universal Studios.

    Universal Studios sources told Attractions Managementthat the WWE will be opening up a museum for its Hall Of Fame and a restaurant which will be open in 2017, before WrestleMania that year comes to Orlando, an announcement that was made Monday.

    Also from sources at the park, the location would replace NBA City at the Universal City Walk, adjacent to the theme park — the same location reported on more than a year ago in the Wrestling Observer newsletter.

    It’s said that the restaurant will be similar to “The World” — the WWE’s failed attempt at a Times Square restaurant years ago that was closed after bleeding tens of millions of dollars. The new place will feature a merchandise store and screens that would constantly air WWE action.

  • Stan Hansen and Jacqueline Moore last 2016 WWE Hall of Fame inductees

    The new WWE WrestleMania 32 magazine in the list of the 2016 Hall of Fame class confirmed Jacqueline Moore and Stan Hansen as the final two inductees for this year.

    Moore had been on the list that had leaked several months back.  Hansen was not.  Hansen had two runs in WWF, once challenging Bruno Sammartino in 1976, including the match where he broke Sammartino’s neck by dropping him on his head on a bodyslam, which inadvertently ended up making his career when the return match saved the Ali vs. Inoki show at Shea Stadium.

    He also had a run with Bob Backlund as champion.

    Hansen is generally considered the greatest foreign star in Japan, for his long tenure as a fixture for All Japan Pro Wrestling.

    Moore was in as the female inductee that they want in every year.

    This would mean that plans for John Layfield were changed, which had been obvious when they announced he would be helping induct The Godfather.

  • Big Bossman to enter WWE HOF

    WWE through CBS Sports today announced that Ray Taylor, better known as the Big Bossman, will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on 4/2 in Dallas.

    Traylor, who really was a prison guard in Cobb County, GA who got his break as an enhancement talent for Jim Crockett, was a surprise and likely a late addition as on the various lists that had gotten out his name wasn’t mentioned. It’s also a surprise since the company likes to not have too many wrestlers who passed away young on the same docket due to wrestling’s issues with young deaths, and this year’s class included Terry Gordy, who passed away at 40.

    Traylor was a 350 pound plus prison guard who impressed Dusty Rhodes and others because of how agile he was and how he got up for Tully Blanchard’s slingshot suplex and was hired as Big Bubba Rogers, the huge bodyguard for Jim Cornette.

    He left Crockett Promotions in 1988 for the WWF, and had a major feud with Hulk Hogan that was one of the best drawing programs of Hogan’s run on top, as well as frequently headlined against then-WWF champion Randy Savage. The Hogan vs. Bossman feud was blown off in a number of cage matches, including on a Saturday Night’s Main Event on NBC, where Hogan superplexed Bossman off the top of the cage.

    He then turned babyface after turning on Ted DiBiase and became Hogan’s tag team partner at times, and then had a run against various members of the Bobby Heenan family. His most memorable match was a jailhouse match at the 1991 SummerSlam card as the key match of his feud with The Mountie, played by Jacques Rougeau Jr.

    He left the WWF in 1993, and had a brief run with All Japan, before signing with WCW later that year. He started as The Boss, but WWE legal sent threatening letters to WCW, so he became The Guardian Angel, a gimmick that didn’t fly, before reverting back to Big Bubba Rogers and at the end was using the name Ray Traylor. He wasn’t being used well, and returned to WWF in 1998 and worked there until being let go in 2002.

    He briefly worked as a trainer for WWF, and passed away from a heart attack on September 22, 2004, at the age of 41.

  • Charles “Godfather” Wright riding the train right into the WWE Hall of Fame

    WWE officially announced Monday through Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Snowden that Charles “The Godfather” Wright will join Sting in the 2016 WWE Hall of Fame class.

    The Freebirds, Jacqueline and announcer John Bradshaw Layfield are also expected to be announced in the upcoming weeks, while the Wright announcement is expected to be announced on Raw tonight.

    Wright, who started his career as the Soul Taker in Memphis, was a Monster Factory trainee after being a high school basketball star in San Jose, CA. Mark “Undertaker” Calaway, who had been friends with him before both were in WWE, arranged for him to meet with WWE officials. They liked his size at 6-foot-5 and 320 pounds at the time which was a lot of what main events were based on in that era.

    He started as Papa Shango, doing a voodoo gimmick, feuding with Ultimate Warrior. The character got a big push and a lot of attention, but had a mixed reaction. He had a second run as Kama The Supreme Fighting Machine, modeled after Kimo, a UFC star in that era. He then changed to Kama Mustafa in the Nation of Domination before eventually finding the role he’s most remembered for as The Godfather, who started as a heel but became a strong show opening babyface, mostly for his ring entrance coming to the ring with distinctive music with his “ho’s”, and then mostly doing short matches.

    Between stints and after wrestling, Wright worked managing a strip club in Las Vegas.

  • WWE Hall of Fame tickets on sale now!

    Act quickly, as tickets are currently on sale for the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony on 4/2 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

    The ceremony is advertised for a 6:30 p.m. local start time and will be headlined by Sting. 

    The pre-sale started this morning and we have received two different codes, being WWEVIP and AACVIP.

    Tickets will be available until 11 p.m. Central time tomorrow night before they go on sale to the public on Friday.

    Tickets for the event are expected to sell out quickly as the set up is usually about 10,000 seats and with so many people coming to the host city, the shows are a routine sellout.

    As has become a yearly tradition, there is a group from this site that usually attends together. You can look for that thread on the Board~! under the Empire Get-Togethers “folder” or create your own. For more information on our website’s Wrestlemania meet-up info, you can email EdinSanantonio at F4Wfan@hotmail.com – yes, Ed is the one keeping hotmail alive. 

  • A look at Sting’s road to the WWE Hall of Fame

    WWE officially announced today that Sting will headline its 2016 Hall of Fame Class to be inducted Wrestlemania weekend in Dallas, TX. He was expected to be the lead inductee this year given he lives near Dallas and that the timing worked out.

    Steve “Sting” Borden was one of the biggest stars in pro wrestling during the 1990s with WCW, where he was a six-time WCW world champion and two time International world champion.  He was also a two-time NWA champion and four time TNA champion.

    Borden started his career working for Jerry Jarrett in late 1985 after only a few weeks of training under Red Bastien and Billy Anderson, as Power Team USA. He was discovered working in a Southern California gym by Rick Bassman, who was trying to put together a group of bodybuilders to capitalize on the popularity of the Road Warriors. Borden and Jim Hellwig, who became the Ultimate Warrior, left the camp and Bassman on their own after sending photos to all the different promotions.  Only Jarrett responded, but the team only lasted a few weeks before Jarrett got rid of them.

    Bill Watts hired the two based on potential.  Watts had trouble with Hellwig, who quit and went to work for World Class wrestling, and then found his way to WWF.  Sting started as a heel and was put under the wing of Eddie Gilbert, who turned him face just as the UWF was being sold to Jim Crockett Promotions.  Most of the UWF talent got buried, but Sting was kept on as a prelim guy, who started gaining popularity.

    His star exploded in one night when he was booked to do a 45 minute draw with Ric Flair on the first Clash of the Champions in 1988.  From that day on, he was always considered a major star, and when Crockett Promotions told to Turner Broadcasting in 1989, Sting was considered the heir apparent as the company’s top star after Flair. The decision was to change the title in February 1990, ironically, on Flair’s 41st birthday in Greensboro. However, Sting suffered a bad knee injury in an angle building up the match, and the title change was moved to Baltimore and the Great American Bash that summer.

    He remained as a top star with WCW until the promotion closed.  He retired after not making a deal with WWF, but then came back for a lucrative deal with TNA.  He agreed to come in 2006 and every year, he expected it to be his last. And every year, Dixie Carter offered him a new deal and he remained with the company until his last contract expired in early 2014.  At that point, TNA could no longer afford him, and he opened up talks with WWE, later debuting at the 2014 Survivor Series in the show-closing angle.

    Sting wrestled a few matches with WWE until suffering a neck injury at the 2015 Night of Champions after taking a power bomb into the turnbuckles in a match with then-World Champion Seth Rollins.  He noted when talking with Ric Flair that he requires neck surgery, although has not gotten surgery yet.

    He is also a TNA Hall-of-Famer.

  • FREE TODAY! WOL 11/6: Seth Rollins injury, Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame discussion

    Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with a FREE show today talking all the news in WWE regarding Seth Rollins and where they go from here, the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame issue available now for subscribers and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!

    Information on how to read the new Wrestling Observer Newsletter 2015 Hall of Fame issue is here!

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  • WOR 11/5: Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame recap plus all of the news in wrestling and MMA

    Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer returns today to discuss the 2015 Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame with Matt Farmer — the winners, the losers, who dropped off the ballot, and tons more! Then, a look at all the news in wrestling and MMA, Seth Rollins’ injury, WrestleMania tickets, a busy weekend upcoming and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!

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