Dylan Waco

I think there is a chance that Miz cashes in MITB early in the night and then comes out to be the seventh man only to turn heel on the WWE guys and be revealed as the ring leader of Nexus. I also think there is a chance Miz cashes in, comes out, helps team WWE and Cena walks out on the team causing them to lose.

Evolution Era Flair was the real low point. Aside from being a lap dog for HHH and looking like trash physically, he was also unbelievably bad in the ring, maybe the worst in the World. He hadn't really had any offense in years , but at that point he couldn't execute any of his bumps either, and every match he would blow multiple spots - about 80% of which he would be calling on camera. I actually think the Flair's stint as a "glorified stunt man"/garbage worker was pretty good as crazy old man grabbing Angle's nuts, beating up HHH in a cage, rolling around in barbed wire and tacks v. Foley and Show, taking crazy bumps off ladders, et was better than virtually anything he had done post-Hogan entry into WCW.

Funk didn't really do anything in the Dome this year other than throw a few punches. The embarrassing guy there was Abby. Also I thought he was pretty good in MLW

Geocities? Tripod?

Was the original Flair shoot even worth a shit?

The bar has already plummeted. The inclusion of Angle (and Ultimo) seemed to coincide with a massive reduction of IWC interest in the HoF. Part of that was the absence of a grand debate figure (Michaels being the most obvious example), but I think a bigger part was the fact that Angle was so obviously a weak candidate in the eyes of so many people that the HoF became an overnight joke. Think about it - how much effort would it really take to come up with fifty wrestlers/wrestling personalities more "worthy" of being in the HoF than Angle? Not very. Hardy (or the Hardyz take your pick) and Batista would both be on that list. On the Hardy Boys reunion, I think it easily could have had the same traction as DX. The MNM matches were good, they came across as big stars, they certainly sold a shit load of merch and got massive reactions. They were an act that probably never realized their full potential as draws.

Biggest plus for Batista is that at various points he's been presented as the top star of a particular brand. Since the end of the attitude era only four guys can really say that - HHH, Taker and Cena - and they are all in or definitely will be in. With the exception of Cena,Batista is the guy most people think of when they think of this era. Not saying he should get in,but perception plays a role. I actually think the argument for the Hardyz as a unit may be better than the argument for Batista. Sold lots of merch, were a huge part of the WWE boom period (maybe the biggest non-main eventers?), had a ton of good matches during their various comeback tours, et. Jeff on his own has those same plusses plus his 07-09 run which was positive in a variety of ways, but he's also got the huge negatives of the TNA runs. Another interesting guy is the Big Show. Could any WWE guy have drawn as well opposite Mayweather? I've seen that argued but I don't believe it. I wouldn't vote for him for HoF, but I think he's a better candidate than Jericho is.

Is Jeff Hardy a better candidate on his own or with Matt? I can't really see voting for either I'm just curious what the consensus on that would be. Orton and Batista will be interesting arguments when we get to that point. I doubt Dave will ever get in.

I think Steamboat v. Rude Iron Man is the best WCW match ever actually.

To be fair that's because of the utter bastardization of term.

I'm much more offended by the fact that a grown man and business owner would be engaging in public "curse fights" than the actual content of what was said. I live in coastal South Carolina. Some of the most bigoted people I know are also the most overtly PC. I know guys who drop the N word likes it's standard conversational fare who's best friends are black, live in black neighborhoods and almost exclusively shop at black owned businesses. I know DoCV lesbian couples, that are scoutmasters for Gullah kids, and complain about "lazy black." I gave a favorable speech on John Brown to the local SoCV that was attended by a half dozen NOI members and everyone got along fine. Using racial slurs is stupid and idiotic but it doesn't tell us much about how a person really feels/acts on the matter of race. The issue here is that a grown man/business owner would use a racial slur for the sole purpose of escalating a situation to the point where it would come to blows. Race is peripheral.

I'm guessing Hack Myers may be signed to the rival company in Fla so I doubt he's the talent in question.

Why did Colon need to make an impact outside of Puerto Rico? I'm not saying he's a guy that absolutely has to be in, but I'd vote for him for sure. Too many good gates.

Um. There are several posts above yours where multiple people pointed to arguments for Rey where in ring work was one piece of a much broader picture. Rey has been considered one of the top draws, if not the top draw, in what is easily the biggest wrestling company in the World. He's opened up Mexico to them and drastically expanded their international markets, while attracting a legion of Hispanic fans in the States - a demographic that is clearly expanding at a rapid rate. He sells shitloads of merch at a high price point which in this day and age is just as impressive as selling tickets to rednecks like myself was twenty-plus years ago. He's an established ratings and house show draw. He's been influential in a variety of ways. et, et, et I also think Rey has pretty easily been the best wrestler in the WWE the last two years, to the point where I can't even see an argument for anyone else. And that's to say nothing of his 06 run where the only person in the company who might have been better was Finlay and he's much less of a WON HoF favorite than Rey is (incidentally I think Meltzer is a much bigger homer for Jericho than Rey, even though I think Jericho isn't nearly as strong a candidate). I'd say Rey is pretty easily the best WWE wrestler of the 00's - at minimum. I'd also say he was the best in the World for that period but I could see an argument for Danielson, though I'm not sure anyone else has a case. I've not seen much of his AAA run so I won't comment much on that, but he was clearly one of the best two or three guys in ECW during his cup of coffee there and during his entire tenure in WCW he was no worse than the fourth or fifth best guy in the company - in 96 (where I think a lot of his work is overrated actually) I doubt there was anyone in WCW better than him and that was a roster with Benoit, Eddy, Psicosis, Juvy, Malenko, et.

The only argument against Cena getting in on first ballot would be the old "he's still active and I won't vote for guys still in their prime" arguments that I've seen Yohe and others use. In this era where the WWE is the "draw" and not any particular talent, the biggest way to gauge who is influencing the company and who is bringing in fans is to look at demographic trends and merch sales. Cena and Rey are probably 1 and 1a in terms of opening up new avenues of viewership and paving the way to a more "kid friendly" product. They are also probably 1 and 1a when it comes to merch sales. Both guys have had great runs in the ring, with Rey probably be the best in ring talent for the entire decade of the 00's and Cena having one of the more memorable "ace" runs in the last twenty years with his year plus long title reign a couple of years back. Both are hugely important from the perspective of acceptance with entertainment mainstream (Cena) and the recent strategy of relying heavily on the international market (Rey). Neither guy is Hogan, but neither guy is Dynamite Kid or Kurt Angle either. To me they are obvious - albeit not first tier - candidates. That Jericho v. Sting comparison is interesting though I think Sting's year of not appearing int he ring is sort of slighted there since he appeared on multiple Nitros and the whole focus of many of the top rated and drawing shows of the year was "when will Sting show up?" Also I think Sting was a better in ring performer both career v. career and peak v. peak than Jericho. Largely irrelevant though because Jericho will go in as Dave actively campaigns for him every year.

The Brody book is a great book btw. Probably could have been 75 pages shorter, but it's one of the best five wrestling books I've ever read

SAW is run by Reno Riggins with Jerry Jarrett money - or at least it was. They've had several good tv matches this year.

I've said this a few places but the moment I saw that first Nexus attack on Cena I thought we were seeing the seed planted for an eventual heel turn. I still think it is months off, but I suspect the "no one would help me and everyone expected me to do it alone" talking point is going to be the basis for his eventual heel run.

Well they both involve carbon based life forms occupying space and utilizing oxygen to sustain their existence. So I'd say "exactly the same' is fair.

Don't recall anyone saying bumps made one person better than another. Though I think when talking about who is a better "worker" bumps are more important than mic skills for obvious reasons.

TNA had multiple storylines going about two different HoF rings at once. I hate the Lethal/Flair stuff and think Lethal sounds like a mentally disabled person impersonating Bill Cosby but I'm in the minority.

I love Heenan. On a recent Segunda Caida radio show I defended Heenan as best working manager of all time. But for the time period in question I don't know that he was better than Sherri and I damn sure don't think he was the better bumper. Sherri's wild and reckless bumping during that period was pretty incredible and sticks out even years later as something that you would really remember about shows from that era. I really can't say the same for Heenan and Bobby is probably one of my ten favorite wrestling personalities ever. The broader question about whether or not she was the top worker in the company at the time is interesting. On the one hand I don't think I would buy it and would probably rate Savage and Bret higher for sure. I also agree with Beast that it is apples and oranges though I'm not sure I can entirely articulate why I feel that way. Perhaps it is because everything these days is all about how many good matches wrestlers have and the art of managing is pretty much dead. On the other hand Sherri was obviously a huge part of many matches, took more bumps than a lot of people on the roster and even got in more licks offensively than you would think . She had a broad range of tools that she would use in matches even though she wasn't an official participant. Every single aspect of in ring work we apply to wrestlers today could be applied to Sherri without any real stretch. Even if you don't consider Sherri a "worker," I think you have to consider her one of the hardest working people on the roster from that point. And calling her the hardest working person doesn't really seem like a stretch.

I like how he didn't even give a brief mention to the finish of that match which is one of the better finishes I've ever seen in wrestling

I wouldn't be surprised if Dave hadn't seen an Arn match since he retired.