As the WWE prepares to host the 2017 Hall of Fame at the Amway Center in Orlando, fan speculation has already begun, wondering what wrestler or group will be inducted into the Hall of Fame. While there will be more than 5 inductees, listed below are who I believe will be inducted on April 1, 2017.
#1 The Rock
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The People’s Champion remained a staple in the WWE from his Rocky Maivia days to his initial departure in 2004. After feuding with John Cena in 2011, culminating with matches in two consecutive WrestleManias, he went under the knife to repair his torn abdominal and adductor tendons from his pelvis.
As he is a part of the history of wrestlers from the Anoa’i family, he is also a dual American-Canadian citizen because of his dad Rocky Johnson. Many top superstars have praised him, including John Cena, Diamond Dallas Page, and Hulk Hogan.
His wrestling achievements include 17 championship reigns in WWE, the sixth Triple Crown Champion in WWE history, and the winner of the Royal Rumble in 2000. All of this makes a very impressive resume for the man whose wrestling career also created his acting career in Hollywood.
There are a lot of people who could and would induct him into the Hall of Fame, which makes for a tough decision come ceremony time.
#2 Rey Mysterio
Mysterio arguably was the best cruiserweight on Smackdown during his peak with WWE. His high flying style made him an instant fan favourite and it showed especially when he was billed as the underdog in matches against super heavyweights like Batista and Great Khali.
He won twelve championships during his 13-year career, including the WWE Tag Team Championship a record-tying four times. Mysterio also won the 2006 Royal Rumble. The highlight of his WWE career occurred when he defeated Randy Orton at WrestleMania 22 to become the World Heavyweight Champion and thus the underdog reached the top as champion.
Despite the last 2-3 years of his career being injury plagued, it would be unfair to say that it overshadows all of the success he had with WWE. There is no doubting the impact he had with fans in his native country of Mexico. Chavo Guerrero could be seen as one to induct Mysterio into the Hall of Fame, given that Rey was a close friend of Chavo’s late uncle, Eddie Guerrero.
#3 Honky Tonk Man
As seen with his unique and iconic hairstyle mirroring the late Elvis Presley, he has the record as the longest reigning WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion for 64 weeks. Although his rival in the storyline, he was good friends with the late Macho Man Randy Savage, whose reign was only 40 days shorter, good for second all-time.
He could have already been in the Hall of Fame as he mentioned when WWE contacted him about inducting him in 2010. The ceremony, held in Phoenix, would have taken place the same weekend as Wizard World of Comic Con in Toronto that year.
Honouring a commitment, he went to Toronto to fulfil it. Whether WWE forgave him for not taking up their opportunity is yet to be seen, but a PG WWE should be embracing the idea of honouring commitments, especially as he was contracted to be there.
Fellow Memphis resident and cousin Jerry Lawler would be the one to induct him into the Hall of Fame.
#4 Eric Bischoff
A controversial choice perhaps, however, Controversy Creates Cash. That’s what Bischoff’s mentality seemed like. He was known for being the Executive Producer of now defunct World Champion Wrestling, the General Manager of Monday Night Raw, and Executive Producer of TNA Impact Wrestling.
The Monday Night Wars between WCW’s Monday Nitro and WWE’s Monday Night Raw was a fierce battle in which Vince McMahon was arguably at his biggest test with stiff competition.
It was a complete rebrand by WWE that put the final nail in the coffin for WCW, from family friendly material to what many know as the Attitude Era. It was a rare time where both brands brought out the best product to better the other.
WWE had a lot to handle, with no viable competitor after WCW folded and was bought out by WWE. While Bischoff was in a high leverage situation where one wrong angle or storyline could have led to the demise of the company, ultimately he made decisions he believed was right and stuck with them.
Like Vince McMahon, he is a business oriented individual who has a booming opinion and personality. I think McMahon appreciates how much Bischoff contributed to the peak of professional wrestling with the Monday Night Wars angle and it would be interesting if he inducted Eric into the Hall of Fame.
#5 D-Generation X
A wrestling stable that had its peak from 1997-2000, different members continued the stable until 2010, shortly before co-founding member Shawn Michaels retired.
Voted the greatest WWE Tag Team Champions of all time in a 2013 WWE viewer poll, the group has a unique distinction that they were prevalent in the Attitude Era and afterwards, where DX (Michaels and Triple H) had many feuds with Shane and Vince McMahon, along with the late Umaga and the Spirit Squad.
Since Triple H has cut his signature hairstyle and assumed a business persona as Chief Operating Officer, he would want to induct his group at the right moment to honour how much the group meant to the business from the start.
2017 would be a 20 year anniversary and the theory would be that he’d want to induct the other four prominent members all at once (Shawn Michaels has already been inducted in 2011). Putting Vince McMahon as the one to induct them would be an option while other options would be open to interpretation as there are quite a few to pick from.
