In my last installment, I talked about my picks for the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame – which, BTW, is the only credible fake wrestling HOF. The one without Koko B. Ware, that is.
From the list of modern performers, I chose Daniel Bryan and Brock Lesnar.
Here’s who I didn’t pick: Junkyard Dog, Edge, Curt Hennig, Randy Orton, C.M. Punk, Big Show, Sgt. Slaughter, Sting, A.J. Styles and Ultimate Warrior. For the most part, I see them as mere cogs in a nationally televised machine. I can’t give any one too much credit, nor can I give many individuals much blame for the machine currently malfunctioning. The brand used to draw. Now the brand sucks.
Edge and Orton aren’t even close in my mind. Both solid. Both quality. But neither has anything to hang his hat on. I can’t apply the word “special.” Predetermined title wins don’t matter.
Punk, I may come around to. I liked his character. I liked his work. His persona was unique. But his big-time career was relatively short. He mined the fool’s gold of the Internet wrestling community. But that means zero.
Hennig, b/k/a Mr. Perfect, was a beloved character in a foolproof era. Solid in-ring, solid on the mic. But it’s a Hall of Fame, not a hall of very good. The Observer HoF has done a better job than most of avoiding such dilution. Every HoF from baseball to rock ‘n’ roll would do well to remove, not add.
JYD was excellent in Mid-South, a joke in WWE. Everybody’s got to make a living. Not everybody has to make a Hall of Fame.
