My problem with the WWE Hall of Fame concept

Another year, another Hall of Fame class has been inducted. While I truly like that WWE is doing this for the wrestlers who built the foundation of the company, I’ve always had a few problems with the Hall of Fame itself.

Obviously, I haven’t had time to watch the whole show this year, but I read a quick recap, and again, it looks like they didn’t fix the problems that the ceremony has had for years. Some people seem to be given as much time as they want for their speech, while others seem to be timed.

Nothing against Stephanie McMahon, but did her induction really need to be over an hour long, while everybody else outside of Styles seemed to have been given less than 30 minutes?

That’s one of the problems I have with this. Headliners seem to go on and on with their speeches, which tend to be hard to stay invested in after a while—especially when you’re watching at home.

My other problem—and this is the big one—is the many wings this Hall of Fame has, even though there isn’t a physical building for it.

At this point, if WWE really wants to separate wrestlers into different categories, they really need to build a physical Hall of Fame somewhere. Somebody talked about doing it as part of the Performance Center, and quite frankly, why not?

Having a physical Hall of Fame would not only be a great thing for the people being honored, but it would also be another great revenue stream for WWE. I’m sure any fan of WWE would want to travel to Orlando to visit the Hall of Fame and see all the memorabilia WWE could have in the building.

It would also justify having a celebrity wing, a legacy wing, and all the other subsections this fictional Hall of Fame has. Right now, all these separate sections truly mean nothing, and the legacy wing, in particular, feels like a real slap in the face to those who helped make WWE what it is today.

When I look at the legacy wing, names like Luna Vachon, Sid Justice, Bad News Brown, Lord Alfred Hayes, Kamala, and others deserved better than being a blurb within the ceremony. It feels like they were just put there so WWE could get those inductions out of the way instead of truly honoring them, which is a shame because all of them deserved better—especially since it currently means very little to be in the legacy wing.

In the end, I really feel like unless WWE decides to build an actual Hall of Fame, they need to stop this legacy wing concept. It makes it seem like they didn’t really want to induct these individuals, but found a way to do so without giving them their proper time in the spotlight—possibly because of how complicated or controversial their histories might be. Because of that, I wouldn’t be surprised to see names like Miss Elizabeth and Chyna receive the legacy treatment in the next few years.

I really hope things change—that WWE not only streamlines the ceremony itself, but also builds a real Hall of Fame so that those placed in these “fictional” wings are properly remembered for their contributions instead of becoming footnotes that nobody remembers after the ceremony.