It’s nearly Road to WrestleMania season again, which means we’re about to go into overdrive with rumors, speculation, spoilers, and actual good wrestling and storylines and being excited about stuff. It’s a holiday miracle!
One of the annual fun bits of speculation (for me, anyway; it’s fine if you’re not into the weird stuff I’m into) is speculating on who will make it into WWE’s Hall of Fame on WrestleMania weekend. There are still a whole lot of big names out there who are worthy of induction, and there are sometimes reports and rumors that don’t necessarily end up getting in in a given year.
Last year, for example, there were rumors that some of the names being considered for the 2017 class included William Regal, IRS, the Natural Disasters, and Christian. Ultimately, none of those Superstars were inducted. The WWE Hall of Fame class of 2017 ended up consisting of Kurt Angle, Diamond Dallas Page, Rick Rude, Beth Phoenix, Teddy Long, the Rock ‘N’ Roll Express, and Eric LeGrand, in addition to the Legacy inductees.
In the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, we were treated to some potential names for 2018 Hall of Fame inductees, which were originally broken by Brad Shepard.
The most persistent rumor going around is the inclusion of Bill Goldberg as a headliner, which would be a solid choice. Goldberg, of course, became WWE’s top champion in 2017 at the age of 50. That was the highlight of his most recent run with the company (awkward posing with son excluded), which was largely a make-good on how he was used the first time he debuted in WWE, back in 2003-2004.
The other names supposedly up for consideration for 2018’s Hall of Fame class are Bam Bam Bigelow, Ivory, Kid Rock (as the celebrity inductee) and the Dudley Boyz. The Observer reports that the only names they have heard for induction on their end were Goldberg and the Dudleys. They further noted that Batista was also under consideration, but if he’s really interested in a full-time comeback like he says he is, WWE would hold off on inducting him for a while longer.
The Dudleys — one of the most decorated tag teams in pro wrestling history — would be a fantastic choice, and now that Bully Ray appears to be winding down his in-ring career, this would be a good time for them to celebrate their legendary careers. I genuinely hope that both Bigelow and Ivory eventually make it in, as they are two of the best of all time in their respective roles, and are often overlooked in favor of some of their contemporaries.
We’ll have to wait and see where this goes, but penciling in Goldberg as the headliner for the Hall may not be a terrible idea.
(Have you checked out the McMahonsplaining podcast? Subscribe on iTunes or Google)
[protected-iframe id=”eba81c8dad6f6bf2e02e062369c8c42a-60970621-117515348″ info=”https://omny.fm/shows/mcmahonsplaining/episode-19-chelsea-green/embed” width=”650px” height=”180px” frameborder=”0″]
