5 former WWE Champions who need to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame

The WWE Hall of Fame was established way back in 1993, originally as a way to pay tribute to the passing of much loved WWE legend, and former WWE Champion, Andre the Giant who had died two months earlier.

It was a wonderful idea in theory as the company sought to celebrate the three-decade history of the promotion by celebrating the legends of it's past. The legacy of the WWE Championship was tied into the Hall by one of its former champions being the sole original inductee.

However, after Andre's enshrinement, initially, very few former of WWE's former WWE champions were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, primarily because many of the stars that WWE boss, Vince McMahon would have chosen to induct into his Hall of Fame were unavailable due to the fact they worked for his competition in WCW and ECW.

Names such as Hulk Hogan, Macho Man Randy Savage and Ric Flair would have been ideal candidates for induction in the mid-1990s but the problem for McMahon was that they were no longer under his employ.

Hogan, Savage and Flair were finally inducted in 2005, 2015 and 2008 respectively.

As of 2019, there have been 23 former WWE Champions inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. They are still many more former Champions awaiting induction.

No doubt, there are still some massive, glaring omissions among the former WWE Champions when it comes to WWE's Hall of Fame.

This slideshow looks at the five names that must be inducted as soon as possible, in order for the Hall of Fame to fully recognise it's stars of the past.

Active or semi-active WWE wrestlers such as Randy Orton, John Cena have not been included for consideration for this list; only retired or very soon to be retired superstars.

So, let's see which former WWE Champions have yet to receive the call.

#5 Sycho Sid

Sycho Sid: Two time Wrestlemania main eventer

Many of the stars of the 1990s have already tasted induction into WWE's hallowed Hall of Fame. However, one name conspicuous by his absence is former two-time WWE Champion, Sycho Sid.

Sid was initially brought into WWE by Vince McMahon during the summer of 1991 as a long term replacement for Hulk Hogan, whose popularity was waning after seven years as the company's top attraction. Sid main evented Wrestlemania VIII opposite the Hulkster but lost the bout via Disqualification. Post-match, Sid was due to serve a suspension for a failed drugs test but quit the promotion instead.

He enjoyed much greater success during his final run in the company which commenced in the summer of 1996. He ended Shawn Michaels's first WWE title reign at Survivor Series 1996 before he dropped the belt back to the "Heartbreak Kid" at the 1997 Royal Rumble. Sid would soon recapture the gold the following month when he beat Bret Hart before he lost to The Undertaker in the Wrestlemania 13 headliner.

Sid's collective title runs only lasted 97 days but Sid's reigns are still fondly remembered over two decades later. His long career in WWE and WCW and other promotions mean he fully deserves his Hall of Fame spot in the future.

#4 Ivan Koloff

Ivan Koloff: Ended Bruno Sammartino's record WWWF title reign

It is quite incredible that Ivan Koloff does not have a spot in the WWE Hall of Fame. Had he not passed away in February 2017, there is every likelihood that we would have been enshrined in the main ceremony in 2017 or 2018.

The 2019 Hall came and went with no mention of Koloff yet again.

However, he is more than worthy. Koloff is most famous for being the man to end Bruno Sammartino's record-breaking seven-year reign with the WWWF Championship (the forerunner to the WWE Championship, currently held by Kofi Kingston).

On January 18, 1971, Koloff defeated Sammartino to lift the strap to the sound of stunned silence in Madison Square Garden. Sammartino famously stated that he believed he had gone deaf due to the lack of noise. Koloff's reign was a transitional one as he dropped the title to Pedro Morales the following month.

However, despite the brevity of his solitary title run, the significance of the reign that he terminated ensures that Koloff is one of the biggest omissions from WWE's Hall of Fame.

Koloff enjoyed a long career before and after his title run for many different companies and was a superstar everywhere he went.

This induction is long overdue and perhaps it will finally happen in 2020.

#3 Batista

Batista's in-ring WWE career ended this past WrestleMania at WrestleMania 35 in a decent, if overlong, encounter with his former mentor and longtime friend/enemy, Triple H.

That bout ended a WWE career that had begun in early 2002. Batista is a superstar more synonymous with the now-defunct World Heavyweight Championship which he won four times between 2005 and 2008 before he won his first WWE Championship.

His first WWE title reign came on June 7, 2009, when he upended his former buddy, Randy Orton in a Cage Match. That title run lasted just two days before he was forced to vacate the strap due to injury.

Batista's second and final WWE title run occurred the following year when he pinned John Cena in an impromptu bout after Cena had won the title seconds earlier after a gruelling Elimination Chamber encounter.

Batista dropped the title back to Cena at WrestleMania XXVI before he departed WWE a few months later.

The Hollywood megastar has a future focused on films but his WWE legacy is assured and a WWE Hall of Fame induction will likely occur in the near future.

#2 The Undertaker

The Undertaker following his first WWE Championship win

The WWE Hall of Fame will always feel incomplete without WWE's finest ever gimmick performer being a part of it.

The Undertaker has been an active performer in WWE since November 1990. Almost 30 years later, he is still competing in the promotion as a special attraction at the age of 54.

His first WWE Championship win came way back in November 1991, when he pinned Hulk Hogan to win the belt. That reign only lasted a few days, but Taker's second run which occurred six years later was far more significant.

Taker beat Sycho Sid in the main event of WrestleMania 13 to kick off a title run which lasted until Summerslam and encompassed memorable successful defences versus Mankind, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Vader and others before he dropped the strap to Bret Hart.

Undertaker won and lost his third title to Stone Cold in the summer of 1999 before winning his fourth and final WWE title from the man he defeated for his first strap, Hulk Hogan at Judgment Day 2002.

The long-awaited Hall of Fame induction will likely occur in 2020 or 2021.

#1 The Rock

It requires little explanation as to why The Rock deserves a Hall of Fame spot. In fact, it is baffling that Rock has not already received the call from WWE to be enshrined.

Perhaps, it's Rock's Hollywood career that makes him unavailable to accept the honour but what cannot be denied is the "Great One" is the most deserving of the former WWE Champions yet to be inducted.

Rock's first WWE title run began way back in November 1998 at the Survivor Series, when he defeated Big Boss Man, Ken Shamrock, The Undertaker and finally Mankind to lift the strap. The Corporate Champion, Rock traded the belt with Mankind in a classic series of matches and entered Wrestlemania XV as a three-time defending champion, before he dropped the bout to Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Rock had to wait a year for reign number four which he earned in a sports entertainment classic encounter versus Triple H. Rock's fifth reign was his longest, spanning from June 2000 up to October of that year when he put Kurt Angle over, for the Olympian's first WWE Championship win.

Rock's eight and final WWE title reign began in January 2013, at the Royal Rumble, when he ended CM Punk's modern era record 434-day run as champion and ended at Wrestlemania 29 when John Cena defeated him in a rematch of their match at Wrestlemania 28.

Rock's induction is inevitable. The only question is when will it happen?

Edited by Anirban Banerjee