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And on with the countdown!
7. I am not a fan of the Celebrity Hall Of Fame, especially for someone who really has only appeared once or twice on WWE TV. Some people deserve it a little more, like Donald Trump who has made several memorable appearances in the company. But someone like Mr. T, who appeared at WrestleMania 1 and 2 to me is not a deserving man. Especially when you consider both of his matches are far from classics.
6. Every year there is one person whose career is not really tied to the WWE. So it's unfair for me to really judge someone like Carlos Colon. He appeared in one Royal Rumble and has his own wrestling promotion named the World Wrestling Council. His family has more connections to the WWE though, thanks to sons Carlito and Primo and his nephew Epico have all won tag team gold within the WWE.
5. I know I am going to some serious slack for this. But I am prepared for it. To me, the Ultimate Warrior is the fifth most deserving member of this Hall Of Fame. My biggest concern was how limited he was in the ring, first. But more importantly, I don't consider a run of four years to be a Hall Of Fame worthy career. Ultimate Warrior was big in the WWE for 1987-1991. To me that is not long enough. Yes, he returned in 1996 and squashed a then unknown Hunter Hearst Helmsley at a WrestleMania. Plus who can forget his forgetful time in WCW. But compare that to guys like Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels or the Undertaker. Those are lengthy and more importantly worthy of being inducted.
4. Another questionable call for me is Razor Ramon. I am not against him going into the Hall Of Fame, however I think there are people more deserving of the honor right now. People close to Razor, as a matter of fact. Razor Ramon was cool. I was a fan of his. I think a major strike against him is that he never won the World Title. Granted that isn't the only thing that should be a factor of going into the Hall Of Fame. And to me another strike against him is that it's only Razor Ramon being inducted, not Scott Hall. Hall was partially responsible for one of the biggest storylines of all time. I am of course referring to the New World Order. But I can understand the WWE wanted to showcase their creation of Razor Ramon.
3. Now to the three members of this year's class that to me are most deserving. Like I said, it's not mandatory that someone wins the World Title to be worthy of the Hall Of Fame. Jake Roberts never won the big one. That doesn't matter to me though. His promos were Hall Of Fame caliber, no matter the match. No one understood ring psychology like Roberts did. His matches were always great, regardless of where on the card they fell. Plus Jake Roberts did a move that no one in the history of pro wrestling had done, but now everyone does it. I am of course referring to the DDT. For being a ground breaking performer, Jake Roberts deserves this recognition.
2. Last year I was excited when Trish Stratus was inducted into the Hall Of Fame. She is by far my favorite Diva of all time. The second best Diva as far as ring skills goes (and in some ways, she is even better) is going in this year. I am talking about Lita. Before Lita, you never saw a Diva climbing the top rope. Lita helped redefine the position of Diva with her move set that was so different then any other Diva we had seen before. She wasn't the Barbie Girl type with her red hair and tattoos either. I think that's what helped set her apart. Plus she was just such a fierce competitor.
1. And finally, the most deserving member of this year's Hall Of Fame is Paul Bearer. A world class manager that helped lead Undertaker, Kane, Mankind and a handful of other wrestlers. He was a former mortician, so he really lived the part. I met him many years ago. I shared the picture the week that he died, but I will share it again. Paul Bearer was just so spooky and was a perfect fit to manage the legendary Undertaker.
Check back on Wednesday for my predictions for this year's WrestleMania XXX previews!
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