Hall of Fame Deep Dive: Modern Performers

[Al]

For reference:

 

I FOLLOWED THE MODERN PERFORMERS IN U.S/CANADA CANDIDATES

Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson w/J.J. Dillon

Nikki Bella

Junkyard Dog

Bill Dundee

Edge

Charlotte Flair

Bill Goldberg

Matt & Jeff Hardy 

Kamala

Rick Martel

Jon Moxley/Dean Ambrose

Paul Orndorff

Randy Orton

C.M. Punk

Seth Rollins

Sgt. Slaughter

Trish Stratus

Rick & Scott Steiner

Ultimate Warrior 

 

My top ten

1. CM Punk

2. Sgt. Slaughter

3. Junkyard Dog

4. Edge

5. Randy Orton

6. Bill Goldberg

7. Matt & Jeff Hardy

8. Rick & Scott Steiner

9. Paul Orndorff

10. Rick Martel

 

The Hall by my count has about 40 performers who were born in the 1960s, eleven from the '70s, three from the '80s. I think at some point you need to revise standards of what a HOFer from this era is, so I tend to run higher on guys like Edge and Orton. Not Seth Rollins, let's not go crazy here. Actually him and Moxley are just too soon to tell. Same with Charlotte Flair. I would go higher on Trish Stratus, but I can't justify her over someone like Orndorff or Martel. 

 

FWIW I draw a thin line between the top three who I WOULD vote for and the rest who I MIGHT vote for.

[sek69]

I've always maintained it's not really fair to hold candidates that came up in the last 20 years to  the same standard as before since the business has changed too much. When the HOF started it was fairly easy to determine if someone was a clear draw, did they sell tickets/merch/PPVs or not. Numbers were what they were and it was probably the least subjective part of the process. Now  the largest company in wrestling survives on TV contract money and PPVs are just a lure for people to sign up to WWE Network/Peacock. The only direct number we really have to gauge wresters on is merch sales, and there's no correlation between that and drawing power. 

[ethantyler]

The weakest section on the ballot in my view, which is a reflection of WWE dominance over the past 20 years. I don't buy the "lower the standards for the modern group because business has changed" line. John Cena recently returned and was clearly a draw based on ticket sales. Business hasn't changed to the point where obvious HOF draws are not identifiable. The problem is simply that the modern group doesn't have many, if any, HOF level stars. Lower the standards to accommodate lower caliber candidates? Don't think so.  

1. Rick & Scott Steiner
2. Bill Goldberg
3. Sgt. Slaughter
4. Junkyard Dog
5. CM Punk
6. Charlotte Flair
7. Paul Orndorff
8. Rick Martel
9. Edge
10. Randy Orton

Top 5 are all good overall candidates, but with obvious weak points. Steiners, who I have voted this year, don't tick the drawing power or longevity on top boxes. Goldberg has longevity on top problems. Slaughter is tainted by his complete flop of a run in the AWA - it raises questions about how much of a draw he was in the early 80s vs the card as a whole. JYD has longevity & historical significance issues. Punk needs more time to see what impact he has in AEW.

The rest aren't close to my overall top 10 and I could move them around depending on my mood, the day, etc. I will say that Charlotte will, always, get a big tick in the historical significance box and that Martel is underrated as a whole. He's remembered as an entertaining mid-cafd heel but the dude was primarily responsible for the big numbers in Canada during his AWA title run, which was the last hurrah before the AWA went to downhill quickly (contrary to popular belief, it didn't happen the minute Hogan left). Not saying he's HOF level, just underrated. In general. 

[Al]

It's not about lowering standards, it's about revising the way we evaluate candidates. Ox Baker sold tickets and was famous enough to be a random contestant on the Price Is Right. June Byer was a mystery character on To Tell the Truth. The Big Show isn't considered a Hall of Fame draw but he got his own Netflix show. How do you adjust for that? The modern group of wrestlers despite falling ratings and ticket sales is better known nationally and casually than wrestlers of 50-75 years ago. I think there's a trap of overrating/underrating performers just because live entertainment, pay-per-view, network television, newspapers etc. was how everyone consumed things. 

[sek69]

John Cena is also the last guy WWE pushed as a top guy before the BRAND UBER ALLES era, so yes he is pretty much the last guy left who can noticeably move tickets for a reason. 

I suppose Roman has shown to be a TV ratings draw so there's still that, but even that only matters nowadays as a metric to gauge if the TV partners will be happy or not.

But yes, I'm not saying we lower the standards. Like Al said I think it's a fair statement to say that most people of the last 20 years in WWE aren't trying to hit the metrics the people before them were. It's not too bad now, but I could easily see it becoming an apples and oranges situation trying to compare someone who spent their career selling tickets to someone  working in a company solely focused on TV rights fees.