The WWE Hall of Fame isn't quite what we thought it'd be this year, but is that such bad thing?
WWE has taken the opportunity to put fairly young crop of Hall of Famers in, as the majority of inductees were around throughout the 1990s and 2000s, with even the older inductees being around in some capacity throughout the famed "Attitude Era." Initially, names such as the Natural Disasters emerged -- but with John Tenta passing years ago and Fred Ottman in failing health, that ended up not happening. In all, WWE ended up with an incredibly fun 2017 class.
Headlined by Kurt Angle -- still a somewhat active wrestler, the field also features DDP, who competed at last year's WrestleMania. Beth Phoenix is still in her 30's, and The Rock N' Roll Express, while up there in years, still wrestle regularly. Among living inductees, even the 69-year old Long still does appearances here and there.
Rick Rude will be inducted this year, 18 years after his death. Sports Betting Dime had Rude listed as 11/9 odds -- pretty strong. Had he not passed, we'd be looking at another active wrestler from the Attitude Era, as he was training for a return to the ring at his time of death.
The "WWE Hall of Fame Quota" has been a talking point of late. A headliner, a tag team, a woman, a wrestler since passed, a celebrity, an African-American talent, but that's hardly the most unusual aspect. There's still no physical Hall of Fame. One is surely coming, and will probably be a major draw to future WWE Axxess events.
There's the question of "do they deserve it?" and "why is this person going in before this person?" Ultimately, it's not a race. They'll get in, they'll be displayed. WWE took a great step with this last year by introducing 7 "legacy inductees" that included Lou Thesz and Mildred Burke.
For all of the faults WWE's Hall of Fame has, it's important to remember that it's entertainment. Entertainment doesn't have to be without achievement, as this process shows. Some care, some don't. Alleged quotas, controversy, celebrities -- what's wrong with just having some fun?
