Prestige, Glitz and Glamour gone? You tell me.

Hi all,

Welcome to my first of two articles on NoDQ.com this week. I have been pondering to write on this subject for a while now but I am not sure if I am the only one who feels this way. I will let you guys tell me in the comments section what you think, we do live in a democracy after all.

Since the announcement of The Undertaker’s upcoming induction into the WWE Hall of Fame and even prior, I have felt that maybe JUST maybe the WWE Hall of Fame has lost it’s prestige, glitz and glamour. Why do I think this? Read on.

When WWE started incorporating the Hall of Fame to be a part of WrestleMania weekend back in 2004, it always left me and I suppose many of you intrigued as new inductees were announced on their programming weekly in the lead up. It wasn’t just one, we would get two. One on RAW and another on SmackDown. The aura and mystique behind it all worked and the inaugural class since its reintroduction is definitely one of my all time favourite classes and one that doesn’t get mentioned too often. I mean you had Greg ‘The Hammer’ Valentine, Tito Santana, Sgt Slaughter, Big John Studd, Junkyard Dog, Harley Race, Pete Rose, ‘Superstar’ Billy Graham and of course Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenan who without question stole the show by making us laugh as well as making us cry.

When I think about that Class and the ones that followed, it makes me kind of sad but not sad because the whole event has lost that glitz, glamour and prestige but because the mystery seems to be over when it comes to inductees. WWE have this notion that sending out embargoed press releases to news outlets on their new inductees and it’s not. They have to go back to announcing them on WWE TV! They have countless hours of programming to do just that, a three to four minute clip of the inductee goes down better than just a press release and a picture of said inductee, in my honest opinion.

If there is one thing to learn about the WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies is that many speeches and I even include even the video packages prior to each inductee receiving their honour is enough to make you cry, no shame in admitting it folks. I cried heavily when Eddie Guerrero’s video package was played and cried a lot more after his family accepted the honour. I cried when Shawn Michaels (My all time favourite wrestler) came out in Memphis after he was named as the inaugural inductee for the Class of 2011. Many tearful moments and many funny ones too, Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenan’s in 2004 comes to mind as does the moment Mick Foley finally beat Chris Jericho in 2013! Fun times, no doubt. Razor Ramon’s in 2014, Jake ‘The Snake’ also in 2014 and more.

NEVER SAY NEVER is something they say a lot in the world of professional wrestling and the WWE Hall of Fame is testament to that, especially after we have seen many hatchets being buried for the sake of those who WWE wished to honour. Some inductees over the years have been questioned by us all but for me, it never eliminated the prestige that the event was all about.

So tell me. Am I in the minority or do many of you feel this way?

I’m hoping many of you agree with me but I won’t take it personally if you don’t either, I respect your opinions on the matter.