*By Request*
“I know we’re a really long way away from Wrestlemania season, but I’d like to know who you think should go in to the Hall of Fame next year.”
Easy enough. It’s actually fairly fitting, as we’re perfectly halfway between WrestleMania 41 and WrestleMania 42.
Funny story… when I first started typing this column out, my mind completely forgot that WrestleMania is in Las Vegas again next year. I got about 1000 words deep before I realized that Saudi Arabia is hosting the FOLLOWING year’s WrestleMania, not the one taking place in 2026. I’m glad, because I was getting nowhere in that column. I don’t know what WWE’s plans are for the Hall Of Fame in 2027, but having Mania week in Saudi Arabia is certainly going to make things more interesting for the ceremony, if they even decide to hold it over there.
Now that I’ve remembered where WrestleMania 42 will be, I’ll get this thing back on track. I’m going to talk about who I’d like to see inducted, instead of predictions about who I think will be inducted. Recent years have seen WWE take the Hall Of Fame in a different direction, and it’s a lot more difficult to predict what they’re going to do.
Let’s put some people in the Hall Of Fame, shall we?
Stephanie McMahon: Easy pick, since it has already been announced that she’ll be going in next year. I’ve been very critical in the past about her on-screen character. As a heel, she was often able to emasculate men time and time again, without any sort of consequences or repercussions, and that got really old really quick. As an off-screen piece of the puzzle, though, she has been very important to the growth of the company, and specifically the women’s division, for years. If you’re looking for someone to induct her, I think Mr. Paul Levesque is an easy choice, but if Hunter is looking to be more of a backstage guy like Vince McMahon always wanted to be at Hall Of Fame ceremonies, I think Shane McMahon would be a great choice to do the induction speech.
John Cena: No offense to Stephanie, but if Cena is going in, he’s the slam dunk headliner for this class. WWE has constantly referred to Cena as the greatest to ever do it, so he’s going to be the headliner in whatever class he’s involved in, no matter who else is there. Fresh off of his retirement, it would be the perfect time to put Cena in the Hall. The only “argument” that can be made against putting him in next year is if Saudi Arabia has made a call that they want Cena involved in their Mania week. As far as who inducts him, you have a similar situation to Cena’s retirement tour… there are numerous names that would make sense. Randy Orton? Yup. CM Punk? Absolutely. The Rock? Sure. Batista? Indeed. Triple H? Yeah. There are a bunch of names to go with, and all of them make a ton of sense for one reason or another.
Demolition: Three reigns as the WWF Tag Team Champions, with their first reign lasting 478 days, which was a company record that would stand for 26 years until it was bested by The New Day’s second reign as WWE Tag Team Champions. Demolition was one of the most dominant and instantly recognizable tag teams of the 1980’s and 1990’s. Unfortunately, both Bill Eadie and Barry Darsow have been involved in lawsuits filed against WWE over the years, and that led to a very strained relationship between them and the company. It could be a coincidence, but the aforementioned record-breaking reign of The New Day was happening when Eadie and Darsow were involved in a huge lawsuit against WWE, accusing the company of covering up the risks of brain injuries back in the day. Sure enough, after the lawsuit was filed, New Day were able to continue defending their titles and only lost the belts after beating Demolition’s mark by a mere five days. It seemed like the relationship would remain strained forever, but earlier this year, it was announced that Demolition had signed Legends Deals with the company. With that hurdle cleared, the door is absolutely open to them being inducted, and I think they’re long overdue for the honor. When it comes to people who could induct them, I think you could go with Bret “The Hitman” Hart, Arn Anderson, or Tully Blanchard. Arn and Tully were the team to end Demolition’s 478-day reign in 1989, while Bret and Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart ended Demolition’s third and final WWF Tag Team Title reign in 1990. If the company is concerned with finding someone more “modern” to do the induction, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods are right there, as well.
Jim Cornette: The potential for an all-time great speech is a huge part of why I have him listed here. It’s not like he isn’t deserving, though. He’s one of the greatest Managers in the history of the sport, working with champions in both singles and tag divisions. That speech, though, folks… my goodness, it would be must-see television. Who could induct Corny? It won’t be Vince Russo, that’s for sure. When you think about Jim Cornette, one of the first acts of his that comes to your mind might be The Midnight Express. Cornette managed two different pairings under the Midnight Express name, Dennis Condrey and Bobby Eaton, and then Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane. The problem there is that Eaton passed away in 2021. Would you have Condrey and Lane induct Cornette, even though Condrey and Lane didn’t team until they were already retired and on the “legends circuit?” Many of the names Cornette managed in the WWF are either deceased or under contract to AEW. The Heavenly Bodies are in a somewhat similar situation as The Midnight Express, as the team that Cornette managed in the WWF features one man who is currently deceased (“Gigolo” Jimmy Del Ray), but if you work with Cornette’s Smoky Mountain Wrestling run, the Heavenly Bodies duo of “Doctor” Tom Prichard and “Sweet” Stan Lane could be good options, especially with Prichard’s extensive working relationship with the WWF and WWE through the years (as well as him being the older brother of WWE Executive Director Bruce Prichard). Honestly, does it even matter who inducts him? No offense to so many of these names, but their speeches would be forgotten pretty quickly once Corny gets on the mic.
I don’t even want to begin thinking about the “Immortal Moment” nominee, as I have no idea where to go with it. There are a million different moments to choose from, without a doubt. Predicting what WWE might do is even more difficult. Bret “The Hitman” Hart vs “Stone Cold” Steve Austin from WrestleMania 13 is my all-time favorite professional wrestling match. With that said, I have no idea how WWE chose that as the very first Immortal Moment induction. Last year’s Hall Of Fame wasn’t in the same city that WrestleMania 13 was in. Bret Hart and Steve Austin weren’t involved in last year’s Hall Of Fame. The closest thing to a connection is that Austin has a ranch that is about a seven-hour drive from Allegiant Stadium. As much as I love that match, I would’ve thought the company would go with something “bigger” for the first induction. Something like Hulk Hogan vs Andre The Giant at WrestleMania 3, or Hogan & Mr. T vs “Rowdy” Roddy Piper & Paul Orndorff from WrestleMania 1. With Hulk’s passing earlier this year, I think a good bet would be that he’ll be involved in the Immortal Moment next year.
Just for the sake of mentioning something, though, I’ll go with the 1992 Royal Rumble match, with Ric Flair lasting 60 minutes to hang on and win the WWF Title.
Last year’s Hall Of Fame class featured three individual inductees, one group inductee, and the Immortal Moment inductee. I figured that would be a good outline to use here, as I have three individual inductees, one group inductee, and the Immortal Moment inductee. Just for fun, I should just include Batista every single year, no matter who else is included in the class, until he actually goes in.
What do you think about my Hall Of Fame class? Who do you think should go in next year? Who do you think will go in next year? As always, feel free to hit me up in the comments section below, on Twitter (@HustleTheSavage), or on Bluesky (@aaronhyden.bsky.social), and let me know what’s on your mind.
Now, let’s get to my Weekly Power Rankings before closing things out with the list of songs I was listening to as I put this column together.
Weekly Power Rankings
Iyo Sky vs Mayu Iwatani: I haven’t been keeping up with Marigold as much as I would like to, but when Iyo is heading over there to wrestle, I make sure I’m able to watch. Wrestling against each other for the first time since 2018, Iyo and Mayu picked right up where they left off, adding another chapter to what many feel is the greatest in-ring feud in women’s wrestling history. A tremendous match, with multiple callbacks to their previous encounters, and Iyo truly getting the opportunity to let loose in the ring. Iyo going to Japan to face Itami Hayashishita was my 7th best match of 2024. It remains to be seen if this match makes my top ten for 2025, but if it misses the cut, it won’t be by much. Great stuff here.
Kazuchika Okada vs Bandido: It remains a crying shame that most of Bandido’s biggest moments in AEW are done “hidden” on Ring Of Honor, so it’s always a welcome sight to see him having great matches on AEW television. Do more with him, Tony Khan.
Finn Bálor & JD McDonagh vs AJ Styles & Dragon Lee: The brand new tag team of… AJ… Lee… setting the world on fire to become the brand new World Tag Team Champions. Really fun match with a surprising outcome.
Ilja Dragunov vs Aleister Black: I’m very glad that Dragunov is continuing the Open Challenge series for his newly won United States Title. I’ll make sure not to write about who I’d like to see him face, as he’ll just lose the title immediately thereafter.
Je’Von Evans & Leon Slater vs Mr. Iguana & La Parka: A really entertaining combination of high-flying action, Lucha Libre chaos, and comedy spots that had the Halloween Havoc crowd excited to start the show. Hard to ask for more than that out of a show opener.
Jurassic Express & JetSpeed vs The Young Bucks & FTR: I’ve said it before, but I hate these matches where an arbitrary amount of money is put on the line for the winners. Tony Khan does them all the time. Literally… all… the… time. It makes things weird for the rest of the matches on the show. If you’re not competing in those matches, are you fighting for the stereotypical hot dog and a handshake? What I’ve also said before, though, is that I make an exception for the current storyline of The Young Bucks. It’s silly, yes, but it makes sense that the Bucks would be fighting for money, both to stay rich and then to become rich again once they’ve spent all their money. Will it grow tiring if it continues on? Sure, but that’s the case with just about everything in wrestling, isn’t it?
Orange Cassidy, Mark Briscoe & Roderick Strong vs Claudio Castagnoli, Daniel Garcia & Wheeler Yuta: It still feels weird to have Daniel Garcia in the Death Riders group. He’s always in some sort of stable, but he doesn’t look the part in this one. I’ve seen others say that it has to do with the way he dresses when you see him on television, making it look like he’s an angry teenager hanging out with his older siblings and their friends. I don’t know if that’s what it is, but it’s something.
“All Ego” Ethan Page vs El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr: Any “hardcore” match under the WWE umbrella is going to be handicapped by the level of violence that they’re able to show. If they can’t bust each other open and really push the envelope with the blood and gore, it forces the wrestlers to focus more on stiffer strikes. That’s what we got here. Both men also had a cold feud working against them, but they did a respectable job nonetheless.
Paul Heyman: He had himself quite the busy night on Raw. The night began with him cutting a solid promo about why B&B Music Factory turned their backs on Seth Rollins, trying to weave logic into the turn and painting the picture of Rollins not being able to “shoulder” the task of taking the group into the future. Later in the night, he was perfectly slimy as he was face-to-face with Rollins’ angry wife, Becky Lynch, trying to convince her to move forward with the group. Even later in the night, Heyman found Paul Patrol, and helped them through their anger about not being involved in the Battle Royal for a World Heavyweight Title shot by explaining that part of the job of a WWE superstar is to maneuver through the backstage politics. Heyman was able to calm them by pointing out all of the men who listened to his advice and used it to reach unimaginable heights in the business. As one of wrestling’s all-time great “talkers,” it doesn’t surprise me to see Heyman do well in these types of things, but it’s still a blast to watch, even after all these years.
Leon Slater vs Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo: The TNA X-Division Champion defending his title on an episode of NXT television. Slater has such a bright future ahead of him, and it’s good to see him getting a chance to shine like this. Stacks was able to look good, too, and he’s finally starting to veer away from the over-the-top caricature that he was during the entire storyline with Tony D’Angelo, which is even better.
The Hardy Boyz vs DarkState: Matt and Jeff Hardy have a combined age of 99 years old, so they’re definitely not the same wrestlers that they were in their primes. They’re still insanely over with live crowds, and they’re still able to pull rabbits out of a hat every now and then to have entertaining matches like this. I don’t know how their bodies are doing it, but it’s cool to see.
Tatum Paxley: Congratulations to the brand new NXT Women’s Champion. She has been a fan favorite for a while now, even while working with the heel Culling stable, and she got the feel-good title win at Halloween Havoc.
Shinsuke Nakamura & Rey Fenix vs JC Mateo & Tama Tonga: WWE continues their storyline of having Rey Fenix team up with everyone on the Smackdown roster at least once before they inevitably find a way to put him with the man everyone wants to see him team up with… his brother, Penta.
Ricky Saints vs Trick Williams: I’m not saying this in a negative way like some people did with Adam Cole, but is Ricky Saints getting smaller? He was never looking like “Big Poppa Pump” era Scott Steiner, but it seems like he has lost body mass since coming to NXT. At first, I thought it was because he has been involved with larger wrestlers like Oba Femi and Trick Williams, but I’m not sure that’s it, as he was working with people like Powerhouse Hobbs and Big Bill in AEW. Maybe it’s just me, but he just seemed so small compared to Trick here.
Blake Monroe: Congratulations to the brand new NXT Women’s North American Champion. It’s a shame that Sol Ruca’s injury affected the storyline, but that isn’t Blake’s fault.
Becky Lynch vs Maxxine Dupri: Maxxine continues to improve in the ring, and Becky continues to get praise for the work she does with people. Simple. Effective.
Everything On The Menu With Braun Strowman: It’s not groundbreaking television, but I enjoyed the debut episodes of Braun’s new show on USA Network, where he travels the country (back when he was employed by WWE) to discover the food scenes of whatever city he’s in.
This Week’s Playlist: “Just How You Are” by Leon Thomas… “Asking For A Friend” by Foo Fighters… “Perderme” by Miguel… “Ice In My OJ” by Hayley Williams… “Love Me Different” by Hayley Williams… “vitamins n minerals” by Samara Cyn… “Dying To Love” by Bad Omens… “Burn It Down” by Lansdowne… “MOURNING STAR” by The Acacia Strain… “Failure” by Glass Tides… “Wither” by Ov Sulfur… “Disturbia” by Rihanna… “Gravedigger” by Livingston… “Thriller” by Michael Jackson… “Somebody’s Watching Me” by Rockwell… “How Deep Is Your Love” by Adeaze… “Mafia Lifestyle” by Boo-Yaa TRIBE & Layzie Bone… “Baller’s Prayer” by Boo-Yaa TRIBE… “Bang On” by Boo-Yaa TRIBE & Mack 10… “911” by Boo-Yaa TRIBE, Eminem & B-Real… “(I Know I Got) Skillz” by Shaquille O’Neal & Def Jef… “Choppa Style” by Choppa & Master P… “I Need A Hot Girl” by Hot Boys & Big Tymers… “Do You Remember?” by Phil Collins… “Another Day In Paradise” by Phil Collins
