Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame 2024 - Tracking the Future

A poster at The Board at Wrestling Observer called 'AmericanNumbers' has put together an incredible resource that I am sure will stir a lot of discussion over the next year. This is a spread sheet with everything you need to know about the remaining candidates in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame.

Recently on the DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Podcast I wondered if the voting pool for the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame had decreased over the last few years due to a perceived drop in engament in places where discussion of the Hall of Fame is generally pretty heavy. However, historian Ethan Tyler who posts on the Wrestling Observer Message Board states that this is not true.

“Regarding the number of voters: Historical had approximately 405, which is a record high beating 317 (set last year). Mexico had approximately 189, which is a record high beating 178 (set in 2018). Modern had approximately 457, which is 1 short of the record high 458 (set in 2021). Japan had approximately 282, which is the 2nd highest all time (297 record set in 2021). The rest of the World had approximately 212, which is the 2nd highest all time (218 record set in 2015).

You're correct to point out that the level of interest on the board and other forums has dropped, but that hasn't filtered through to the voting. I would say those numbers are very healthy across all sections. Of course with new voters comes new insights into the candidates. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing depends on the candidate in question.” - Ethan Tyler via The Board

From the chart provided by ‘AmericanNumbers’ many interesting trends and observations can be made which I will discuss on upcoming episodes of the DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Podcast.

From just the first few entries, you can see that historically there are still four acts that have been at 50% but still shy of the 60% of the votes needed to enter the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame, they are: Sputnik Monroe who peaked at 58% but this year dropped to a mere 37%. Junkyard Dog who peaked this year with 54% and remains a strong contender to get in soon. The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid) who peaked at 52% but this year slipped to 48%, and June Byers who established a voter high at 50%.

In addition to the numerous topics and questions spawned by this great piece of research, I will also be discussing the two pioneers who I believe show be added following the publishing of my book DragonKingKarl’s Pioneer Era Pro Wrestling Omnibus: The Bible of the Pioneer Era of Pro Wrestling and they are Prof. Thiebaud Bauer and Prof. William Miller. Be sure to tune into upcoming episodes of the DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Podcast for more discussion on this fun and informative topic: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame!

View the spread sheet here - WONHallOfFameReference - Google Sheets

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