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I agree that not all periods are created equal. But once the voters let Tanahashi in, it's very hard to see them keeping Nakamura out.

I don't see Nakamura getting strong support from Japan as surprising at all. I think most would agree that he's been the second or third biggest star in the whole country for the past 5-6 years. When was Akiyama or Taue that?

No, Caras dropped off in 2001, yet is bound by the 15-year rule.

I believe Slaughter fell off the ballot in 1999 as well (yet hasn't been removed due to the 15-year rule) according to this Steve Yohe post on Wrestling Classics: http://wrestlingclassics.com/.ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=7;t=000499 Hennig, Lewin, Blue Panther, Sting and Akira Taue all fell off in 1998. I guess the first two years of voting mustn't count or something.

Historians are likely to be more hung up on the fact that Colon wasn't much of a star or draw outside of Puerto Rico and also the Brody murder. It's not really that surprising.

One difference was that Benoit was brought into WWE near the top of the card, whilst Bryan really didn't get to that level until the summer of 2013.

That is delicious. It's especially ironic given that he reported that Carlito had been lowballed on a contract offer by WWE a few weeks ago.

Shoemaker recently announced that he had signed an extension, so I'll guess he'll be sticking around as ESPN's token WWE reporter for now.

One of the stark contrasts on the recent Hall of Fame podcast was Dave burying JYD for his lack of longevity, while giving the big push to "Super Nice Adulterer" Edge. Yes, Edge who only really became a HoF level star in early 2006 and was forced to retire just over 5 years later. If you're looking at him more as a work candidate, then you can get a bit more juice out, but not as much as you'd think, between his lengthy layoffs due to injury and not really being all that great outside of stunt matches until the spring of 2002.

"I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, think it possible that you may be mistaken." - Oliver Cromwell on August 5, 1650, but still good advice 365 years later. I personally think that the poll is improved by a diversity of opinion, which is why I would like to see Parv (and Loss) still submit a ballot, just like anybody else who has put time and effort into the project and have seen a ton of wrestling like Bill Thompson, Case Lowe, Sammy D, Good Will from Texas, Alan4L, Dylan Hales and far too many more to mention by name. The results will be better for it.

I think they should count FOR him. That thing drew lots of money. It's a double edged sword. Teasing that Ric Flair had died to draw all-time record hotline business is not something I would like to honour. (I still voted for Okerlund, because the positives outweigh the negatives).

Maybe Jimmy Hart too. But clearly any non-wrestler who gets in is because Monsoon & Ventura were dropped off the ballot, freeing up space for voters of theirs to choose someone else, because no-one came close last year.

Dave has just tweeted out the following: It's probably not coincidental that this coincided with last year's 15 year rule ballot purge that removed a combination of serious contenders (Murdoch, The Andersons), those not close but still worth more consideration (Hamada, Morales, Snyder) and no-hopers (Moolah, Snuka, Sakaguchi, etc). So Lesnar, Bryan, Perro Jr. and Nakamura seem like certs from the high number of new HoFs. Eddie Quinn by fiat (as he was supposed to be added to the ballot but wasn't, which is likely a giveaway). Colon may have finally gotten over the hump. Others who have a shot are Caras, Han, Koloff, Lagarde, Assassins, Sharpes, Jerry Jarrett, Jim Crockett Sr., Big Daddy, Apter, LMDM, V3 and Sting.

I hope another situation like Brian Pillman dying the night before a pay-per-view never happens again, but I'm a lot more cynical about whether WWE would handle things much differently, even in today's corporate environment, other than having the good sense not to interview the spouse a day later on Monday Night Raw. The show must go on mentality still runs deep.

Right, but if we were keeping everybody on who garnered at least 5%, we'd have all of these additions plus the removal of almost no one. I could buy lowering the 50% threshold a little for saving 15 year guys, but 5% seems obscene to me to the point that almost no one would ever get the boot. I think 50% is too high, as candidates with a lot of support and could eventually get in are getting booted off. For example, The Andersons placed 6th overall, but still dropped off the ballot. I would probably set it at 35%, as if the candidate crosses that threshold, they are still one of the top 20-25 candidates on the ballot.

I understand the cluttered ballot argument, but it really hasn't worked out that way as Dave added almost as many new candidates as were removed by the rule this year, including people who have already fallen off in the past like Bob Ellis and Rocky Johnson, and weak candidates like the Big Show.

There are some issues with the 50% rule: - American wrestlers have an unfair advantage in the sense that they can get a second bite of the cherry by being considered as a historical candidate, while candidates in other regions don't have that opportunity as there is no historical categories in those regions. - The clock only starts running down when you are first put on the ballot. It seems odd that Ricki Starr, who few people talked off as a potential Hall of Famer before he died, has another 14 years on the ballot, while someone like V3 has no opportunity of having his case revisited. - The eligibility criterion becomes even more problematic, as people do add to their Hall of Fame cases past the age of 50.

Dave only lists the votes needed for induction. To get the total voters you would have to multiply those numbers by 5/3. So last year there were: 330 U.S. and Canada modern, 245 U.S. and Canada historical, 103 Japan, 98 Mexico, 136 Pacific Islands, Australia, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, and 108 Europe voters.

It's worth noting that The Andersons aren't on the ballot.

Akiyama isn't in mainly because NOAH tried to push him as the company ace and it was viewed as a failure. He dropped straight off the ballot when he was first put on.

He did appear in a key match at WrestleMania as well, but I would argue that this year's WM drew largely on its name value that it has built up over 30 years than any particularly hot feuds. The problem with Sting's case is that outside the Crow run from Uncensored '97 to Superbrawl VIII, he was either: (a) The headliner for a company that was losing money and struggling to draw at the gate or on pay-per-view; or ( Just another guy in the main event mix. His longevity on top is primarily a function of promoters overvaluing his worth to the company, signing him to sweet deals and then being forced to give him a main event push to justify his contract, which allowed him to resist WWE's overtures until the bitter end.

It's very hard to see how Sting's WWE run this year significantly impacted business in a positive fashion. Outside of Sting working really hard to have a good match at Night of Champions with Seth Rollins, it was quite a lukewarm affair. Not a disaster, but not a home run either. To me it hammered the nails in the coffin of his candidacy (with the current deep ballot) rather helped it, because WWE booked him like someone they didn't have much faith in.

Lagarde had a better title record history and more key matches at CMLL's big anniversary shows than Ramirez. He was a late cut of mine, but I'll probably vote for him next year.

Will suffers for the benefit of those of us who want to hear TNA being ripped on without having to live through the pain ourselves. I'd call it selfless public service myself.

I'm abstaining from the historical performers era category. I FOLLOWED THE MODERN PERFORMERS IN U.S/CANADA CANDIDATES: X Bryan Danielson/Daniel Bryan Ivan Koloff Junkyard Dog I FOLLOWED WRESTLING IN JAPAN CANDIDATES: X I FOLLOWED WRESTLING IN MEXICO CANDIDATES: X Cien Caras Karloff Lagarde El Signo & El Texano & Negro Navarro Villano III I FOLLOWED WRESTLING IN EUROPE CANDIDATES: X Big Daddy Jackie Pallo I FOLLOWED WRESTLING IN AUSTRALIA/PACIFIC ISLANDS/CARIBBEAN/AFRICA CANDIDATES: X Carlos Colon NON-WRESTLERS: X Dave Brown Gary Hart Jimmy Hart Jerry Jarrett Gene Okerlund Candidate I think should be put on the ballot: Yoshiaki Fujiwara.