This year's WWE Hall of Fame inductees include wrestling legends, a manager, and an iconic comedian. It's the smallest class in recent years with only five inductees: Rey Mysterio, the Great Muta, Stacey Kiebler, referee Tim White, and Andy Kaufman. This is the 24th overall class, which started in 1993, with Andre the Giant being the sole inductee. Since then, it's become part of Wrestlemania weekend, usually seen as a torch-passing with the current generation and to give a chance to celebrate former stars. Last year's class included the Undertaker, Queen Sharmell, Vader, and the Steiner Brothers.
These individuals will join the other 234 inductees which include names like Bret Hart, Hulk Hogan, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Trish Stratus, and Jushin "Thunder" Liger, but there are still huge names that have yet to be inducted. Let's take a look at some notable performers who have yet to take their place among the other immortals in the WWE Hall of Fame which include dominating champions and pop culture figures that brought wrestling to the mainstream.
This year's ceremony will take place on March 31, 2023 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, the day before Night One of Wrestlemania 39. It will air live at 7 PM PT / 10 PM ET on Peacock in the United States and on the WWE Network internationally, immediately after the airing of WWE's regular Friday night program, SmackDown.
The Rock
Debuting at Survivor Series 1996, the then-Rocky Maivia had big things in store, but a cultural shift and an injury threw things momentarily off course. First billed as a constantly smiling blue chipper, fans returned his shining charisma with chants of "die, Rocky, die." He soon won the Intercontinental Championship and even defended it successfully against the likes of Bret Hart and Hunter Hearst-Helmsley--both future WWE Hall of Famers. A knee injury would take the budding star out for four months, but he would return with a new attitude, and a moniker he would later become synonymous with for decades to come: The Rock. Now going by his real name, Dwayne Johnson, he was a staple of the Attitude Era and quickly became a legend in his own and became a pop culture icon before he was 30. Johnson has left wrestling behind for the most part, making brief appearances once every few years or so, but he cemented his legacy years ago.
Paul Heyman
Wrestling fans may forget that Paul Heyman's start in the wrestling business happened when he was in high school, being a published photographer for Pro Wrestling Illustrated at the age of 14. From there he was seen as a manager in numerous territories before helping found ECW, Extreme Championship Wrestling, after rechristening Eastern Championship Wrestling in 1994, becoming the sole owner just a year later. Although he's forever tied to ECW, his WWE career has also been the stuff of legend, being a manager to six world champions, while also providing commentary, writing, and booking Ohio Valley Wrestling (WWE's developmental branch at the time), resurrecting ECW, and writing Smackdown. For the past two years, he's provided "counsel" to Roman Reigns, leading him to the longest championship reign in the modern era at almost 1,000 days.
Bam Bam Bigelow
The Beast from the East. Bret Hart once described Bigelow as "possibly the best working big man in the business." During his career, Bigelow wrestled for the biggest promotions of the time, capturing championship gold in most of them. His only award won in WWE is a Slammy Award, but that didn't stop Bam Bam from main-eventing in the first Survivor Series, King of the Ring '93 and '95, and Wrestlemania XI. Bigelow is a one-time ECW World Champion, ECW TV Champion, IWGP Tag Team Champion with WWE Hall of Famer Vader, and two-time WCW Tag Team Champion with Kanyon and DDP as part of the Jersey Triad. With his trademark flaming head tattoo, Bigelow established himself early in his career as a big man who could do it all and deserves his place among some of the greatest of all time.
Demolition
Having their names already carved in tag team champion history as holding the record for the most combined days as reigning champions (before the Raw and Smackdown tag titles were split), Demolition's absence in the Hall of Fame is truly mind-boggling. Often compared to the Road Warriors, Demolition was garbed in Mad Max-esque gear resembling Lord Humungus, with makeup similar to KISS underneath their masks. A pillar of WWF's tag team scene for years, eventually winning the tag championship three times, Ax and Smash would continue to team up years later across different promotions.
Bull Nakano
Often imitated, never duplicated. For American wrestling fans, Nakano might be best remembered for her rivalry with Alundra Blayze, with Nakano defeating Blayze for the title in the Tokyo Dome in 1994. The event was part of a working agreement between WWE and All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling. Nakano also wrestled several times for WCW in the '90s, again being the antithesis of what women's wrestling was usually showcased as. However, when she joined the then-WWF, she was already an almost 10-year veteran. Nakano captured her first championship in Japan at the age of 16, just a year later capturing the AJW (All Japan's Women) Championship. Beth Phoenix recently paid homage to Nakano's iconic makeup and hair when she teamed with Edge at this year's Royal Rumble. Already an inductee of the All Japan Women's Hall of Fame (Class of 1998) and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter's Hall of Fame (Class of 2001), Bull Nakano needs to be a part of the WWE Hall of Fame as well.
Cyndi Lauper
How is Cyndi Lauper not in the Hall of Fame already? She was integral to the crossover appeal with WWF and the MTV generation it was trying to attract. Her time in the company started by accident after meeting "Captain" Lou Albano on a plane. She invited the wrestler-turned-manager to appear in the music video for her hit song "Girls Just Want To Have Fun." From there, Lauper appeared many times on WWF television and had a colossal presence at the first Wrestlemania. The pop megastar even accompanied Wendi Richter to ringside as Richter defeated Leilani Kai for the Women's Championship. Lauper, alongside Mr. T, were huge celebrity factors that brought wrestling into mainstream pop culture. There's definitely an argument to be had about if she belongs in the celebrity wing, or in the proper Hall of Fame. It should be noted that she's one of the very few people from Wrestlemania I not to be inducted yet.
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