Rumored inductees for the 2013 WWE Hall of Fame

Although it’s still about 8 months away, there are already rumblings about who the next inductees into WWE‘s Hall of Fame will be for the class of 2013. Four names have already been rumored to be a part of the next class, and those are Mick Foley, Bob Backlund, The Ultimate Warrior and Kevin Nash.

First, let’s talk about Bob Backlund. Personally, this one should be a no-brainer. Backlund, despite being very bland and considerably small, even for his era, had an unbelievable career, holding the WWWF Championship for nearly 6 years, netting the second-longest reign in history (behind Bruno Sammartino’s historic near 8-year run with the gold). Backlund was offered a slot in 2004, but reportedly turned the company down because of their inclusion of Pete Rose in that year’s class. However, Backlund and WWE, as seen by recent Legends appearances, seem to be on much better terms now, and his inclusion in next year’s class seems more likely than ever.

Up next is The Ultimate Warrior. Despite his insane promos and complete lack of in-ring skills, it would be hard to argue against the man’s inclusion. Although he certainly had his share of shortcomings in his career, the fact remains that he was a major star during his time, is a former WWF Champion, the first man to simultaneously hold the WWF and IC titles, made a ton of money for himself and the company, and was a household name for the better part of 20 years. The only thing stopping this from happening is Warrior himself. He has been offered a slot in the HoF several times over the years, but has repeatedly turned WWE down due to personal issues with Vince McMahon. McMahon has stated he’s willing to forgive and forget on numerous occasions, but Warrior, being hard-headed and somewhat of a nutcase, refuses to concede. He has agreed to work with WWE on things such as video games and action figures (Warrior owns all of his own trademarks, thus WWE must go through him in order to sell anything featuring his likeness), but that’s about it. It’s certainly not impossible, but is a long shot nonetheless.

Mick Foley is the third rumored name, and the most likely of candidates. Foley’s career speaks for itself, and he’s one of the most respected people in the business today. Foley has already stated that he would absolutely be thrilled to be included in the HoF, with his only caveat being that he gets to pick his inductor, likely either his mentor Terry Funk or his number-one fan, Jim Ross. While Vince McMahon often chose the inductors in years gone by, the last few years have seen most of the inductees make the choices themselves. I don’t see this being an issue for “The Hardcore Legend”, and his spot is practically guaranteed.

Finally, we come to Kevin Nash, who has been on a tear with his controversial comments regarding Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit “killing” the business by reigning as dual champions in 2004, including raising the ire of several of Eddie’s closest friends, as well as his widow, Vickie Guerrero. His bizarre obsession with reforming the nWo with CM Punk as the leader (something Punk has not once agreed to) certainly isn’t helping matters either. While I could say we should let his career speak for itself, the problem is, Nash’s career isn’t exactly HoF-worthy. During his 1-year run as WWF Champion, he nearly bankrupt the company thanks to fans not caring about him at all and refusing to pay to see him, not to mention his entire run with WCW, including (but not limited to) the infamous “Finger Poke of Doom”. Nash has stated that he doesn’t want to go in until more deserving guys like Rick Rude and Randy Savage have been inducted. While I do agree they are far more deserving, it’s pretty obvious Nash would take it the second it was offered. Unfortunately, with one of his closest friends in the business Triple H more or less running WWE at this point, Nash’s inclusion is way more likely than it should be.