Pieces of my childhood are dying edition

Just like Terry Funk, every time it looks like Inside The Wrestling Ring has retired it keeps coming back for more! 

So much has happened in the world of professional wrestling since my last blog but there are four things I want to focus on right now. More and more I'm losing bits of my childhood and quite frankly I don't want to stand for it anymore! We lost two of the greats of my youth and then were rocked by two more scandals. We will discuss this all starting right now.

First the death of Dusty Rhodes on June 11th rocked the wrestling world. I admit that I was not a big fan of Dusty the wrestler, but he was such a vital part of wrestling when I getting into it that it saddened me. Dusty had such a huge impact on wrestling backstage. There are few people in this world that had the mind that he had. What I most respected about Dusty was that he was never the most in shape guy. He had a lisp so his promos weren't always the best. It didn't matter. He overcame all of it to be one of the best of all time. I have nothing but respect for him, his family and his legacy in the business.

Then we lost the Hot Rod. That was a hard one for me. Growing up my all time favorite was Randy Savage. But Rowdy Roddy Piper was always in my top 5. Again, he was never the most in shape guy.  But I don't know you can find a better talker (especially at that time) than Piper. His promos were just amazing. So much so that they had to give him his own talk show, Piper's Pit. Piper's Pit had so many great memories over the years. From the coconut over Snuka's head to his encounter with shock talk show host Morton Downey Jr to countless others. Every time he picked a microphone, there was magic. We will never see another Piper.

Now it's time to take out that number 2 pencil. Turned it around and starts erasing! I do not agree with the WWE's system of "erasing" people from history. It can't be done. Sorry to be the one to bring that to people's attention. Whether we agree with what Hulk Hogan said on tape seven years ago or not, he can't be erased from history. We know what he did. We know about his epic battles with Andre The Giant, Randy Savage, Rowdy Roddy Piper, etc. We know to eat our vitamins and say our prayers. We know about the red and the yellow or the black and the white. Was what he said right? Nope. Not at all. I don't condone using that word one bit. But to delete him from the history books is not right either. 

However he's not the only person being erased from history. Hogan's tape was from 7 years ago, but we have to go much further back to erase Jimmy Superfly Snuka.  I had heard many times over the years he was a suspect in the death of his girlfriend at the time. Nancy Argentino died 32 years ago under a suspect situation. What I don't understand is what took the authorities 32 years to make this arrest? He was the only suspect in what looked like abuse. Regardless if you go to the WWE Network and type in Snuka, you will get a result. Tamina Snuka, his daughter. Clearly this is a much different situation than Hogan. But again, if this is something that has been 32 years in the making than maybe WWE should have been more prepared for this as a possibility.

Regardless it's a shame to watch pieces of my childhood get erased or know that I won't ever see them again on my screen. 

My Wrestling Hall Of Fame-First Class

I understand that I can't always agree with who the WWE adds to their Hall Of Fame. So, I will do the next best thing. I will create my own! After every major PPV of the year, I will induct four wrestlers into my Hall of Fame. In addition, my fiancee will also induct a wrestler on her own.

Together, we can induct anyone regardless if they are still active or not. They could have competed for WCW, ECW, WWF(E), NXT, TNA or any other promotion in the world. I am sure that some of our choices will not be the most popular choices, and I am okay with that.

My first inductee is Randy "Macho Man" Savage.In his career in WWF and WCW, Savage won the WCW title four times and the WWF Title two more times. He is also a former Intercontinental Champion. Every single time he stepped in the ring, he put on great matches. His match with Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat at Wrestlemania III is a must watch for any young wrestling fan. For whatever reason, he isn't in the WWE Hall of Fame. But as a life long fan of the Macho Man, I have to say OHHHHH YEAH! He's in mine. For his career highlights take a look at this video that the WWE released at the time of his death.

The next inductee to My Hall of Fame is Mr. Perfect, Curt Hennig. Originally he wasn't the one the WWF wanted to portray the role of Mr. Perfect, Terry "Red Rooster" Taylor was. But Hennig won them over with his style and charisma and became the perfect choice. From everything I have heard about him, he was a great guy. Just listen to Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Wade Boggs talk about the day that Hennig saved his life Curt Hennig was a two time Intercontinental Champion as well as a United States Champion and WCW Tag Team Champion. But for whatever reason he never won a World Championship, which to me is mind boggling. After he died, he was inducted to the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007.

Another person who never won a World Title which to me never made sense is Andre The Giant. I refuse to acknowledge when he had the title for a minute before he was stripped by Jack Tunney. There is a reason why Andre was referred to as the Eighth Wonder Of The World. There was never and will never be another Andre The Giant. Granted his move set was very limited due to his enormous size, Andre was still an accomplished wrestler. And he was one of the few wrestlers in his day that transcended wrestling. You could ask non wrestling fans in the 1980s who Andre The Giant was, they could tell you. Hulk Hogan would most likely be the only other wrestler from the era that would be as easily recognizable. Who could forget his memorable role in The Princess Bride? He won the Tag Team Titles with Haku. Andre The Giant was the first inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame, and he is in my first class as well!

The next inductee is manager Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. What is there to say about him? Whether he was managing his stable of wrestlers The Heenan Family or was at the broadcast booth he was always entertaining. He seemed to enjoy being heel more then most people I can remember, especially back in the day. The chemistry he had with all of his broadcast partners has gone unmatched with the exception of Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross. I always enjoyed Heenan, whether it was in WWF or WCW. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004. Right now that he has been fighting throat cancer.

The Final inductee of the first class of my Wrestling Hall Of Fame belongs to my Fiancee Lori. And she inducts The Big Show. I know that she has been a fan of his ever since she started watching wrestling. He is athletic for a big man. But I think what she likes most about him, and I completely agree, is how goofy he can be one second (Just watch Knucklehead) and how much of a force he can be when he wants to the next. If you look up accomplished wrestler in the dictionary, you will see a picture of the Big Show. He has won every title he could possibly have won. He has won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship twice, WCW World Tag Team Championship three times, ECW World Championship, World Heavyweight Championship twice, World Tag Team Championship 5 times, Intercontinental title, WWE Tag Team Championship three times, United States Championship WWE Championship twice plus a reign as the Hardcore Champion as well. If you don't think that he is one of the best big men of all time read this article from Bleacher Report.

So there you have it. The first class of Inside the Wrestling Ring's Hall of Fame. Check back around Summerslam for the next class!

Randy Savage....

As I stated in my first blog, I have been a fan of wrestling since around 1986-1987. There have been many debates in wrestling history about top superstars. Today it's Orton-Cena. Before it was Rock-Austin. And before that it was Savage-Hogan. It was easy to be on Team Hogan. He was the larger then life superstar. He was power, but Savage was speed and finese. When my brother and I wrestled, I was the speed guy. I was the guy jumping off the top rope, or in my case the back of the couch. So I admired Randy Savage for all that he could do in the ring. He had some of the best matches in WWE history, including the one with Steamboat at Wrestlemania III. Was any of Hogan's matches on that level? Not really. Yeah, his matches with Andre were good, but it wasnt on the same level. Not even close.

Earlier today while driving, Randy Savage suffered a heart attack in Tampa. He crossed the median and smacked into a tree. He died. His wife of a year was in the car with him and survived with only minor injuries.

Another wrestler from my youth has died. I know it sounds cheesy, but I hope when he arrived in the wrestling ring in the sky.... the first person there to greet him was his ex wife Elizabeth. How these two are not in the wrestling hall of fame is still mind boggling. She was the first woman of professional wrestling for a reason. I know his relationship with Vince McMahon wasn't always the best, but there is no reason why he shouldnt be elected into the Hall of Fame. Especially now. I would have loved to seen his acceptace speech, but now if he ever gets in it will have to be post humously.

As a fan, everytime I heard "Pomp and Circumstance" I didnt think of graduations and gowns. No. I thought of Randy Macho Man Savage. I heard it just this past week and commented on it to another wrestling fan. Our girlfriends thought we were crazy. Just last night I was watching one of his matches from 1988.

He was 57 years old when he died. It's weird to think he had not been wrestling on a major promotion since his last appearance in TNA wrestling back in 2004. He will be missed.

I am glad to see that this story has been picked up by alot of news media, not just those that talk about wrestling. Several articles are on IMDB about it. I saw it even on ESPN and AOL News too. It was trending on Twitter earlier. I even just saw Weird Al Tweet about Randy Savage. So did Elizabeth Banks... her Co-star in Spiderman!