The International Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame has scheduled the induction ceremony for its first class of wrestling legends. The event will take place during the IPWHF Hall of Fame Weekend on August 27-28, 2021.
The ceremony will honor 24 legends from across wrestling history, ranging from living stars such as Ric Flair and Hulk Hovan to posthumous honors to everyone from Bruno Sanmartino to the Terrible Turk.
??FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE??
ALBANY/CAPITAL REGION, NY TO HOST 2021 IPWHF HALL OF FAME WEEKEND #ipwhf #halloffame #hulkhogan #ricflair #prowrestling #wwe #aew #nwa #wcw #impact pic.twitter.com/kaGUjFvJU6
— International Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame (NY) (@IPWHF) December 14, 2020
The initial class for the hall of fame was announced via YouTube over the weekend and a full list of stars entering the hall is reproduced below:
- Martin “Farmer” Burns
- Frank Gotch
- Evan “Strangler” Lewis
- William Muldoon
- George Hackenschmidt
- Great Gama
- Paul Pons
- Terrible Turk
- Ed “Strangler” Lewis
- Buddy Rogers
- Bruno Sammartino
- Lou Thesz
- Shohei Baba
- Rikidozan
- Andre the Giant
- Stanislaus Zbysko
- Tatsumi Fujinami
- Antonio Inoki
- Mil Mascaras
- Satoru Sayama (Tiger Mask)
- Ric Flair
- Terry Funk
- Danny Hodge
- Hulk Hogan
Back in February, WrestleZone spoke with IPWHF co-founder Tony Vellano about the creation of the organization and getting back into the game. Vellano was also the founder of the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame, and he was excited even then about the prospects for this new venture:
We’re starting with nothing. Zero. We’re starting with zero, but you know what? Our ticket sales are good, we’ve got some fundraisers going, we have a couple of politicians to talk to in the near future, things are looking upward, not downward. So I don’t know what to expect, I’m in it for the ride.
Ticket and hotel information for the weekend (which will take place in Albany, NY) will be available in the coming weeks.
