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Wrestling Observer Newsletter (WON) 2022 Hall of Fame Ballot and Votes

By: Karl Stern (Patreon)

I have recently reviewed the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame ballot for 2022 including many of the changes to this year’s ballot and rules and the nomination for several tag teams on the DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Audio Show Podcast. You can listen to those podcasts for free here- Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 (and we hope you will ultimate sign up to support us on Patreon).

So, now let’s take a look at the ballot and I will then reveal to you my votes. I have been a Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame voter (as a historian) since the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame began accepting ballots.

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame Ballot 2022

This is the actual email I get from Dave Meltzer every year. This year the instruction contains multiple rule and consideration changes.

Yes, it's that time of the year, time for the 2022 Hall of Fame elections.

This ballot is being sent out to major wrestling stars, past and present, major management figures in the industry, writers and historians.

If you are getting this, you are being asked your opinion on who should be inducted into this year's Hall of Fame class. The criteria for the Hall of Fame is a combination of drawing power, being a great in-ring performer or excelling in ones field in pro wrestling, as well as having historical significance in a positive manner. A candidate should either have something to offer in all three categories, or be someone so outstanding in one or two of those categories that they deserve inclusion.

The names listed below are those under consideration for this year. To be eligible, a performer must have reached their 35th birthday and completed ten years since their debut as a full-time performer, or be someone who has been a full-time pro wrestler for at least 15 years.

Longevity should be a prime consideration rather than a hot two or three year run, unless someone is so significant as a trend-setter or a historical figure in the business, or valuable to the industry, that they need to be included. However, just longevity without being either a long-term main eventer, a top draw and/or a top caliber in-ring performer should be seen asrelatively meaningless.

There are a number of changes in the rules this year. First, the ten person ballot which was taken from baseball make no sense here because there are far too many people on the ballot for a ten vote minimum. Going forward we will be doing a five vote maximum per category and 15 total, but for this year, because of the introduction of so many tag teams too the ballot, it will be eight vote maximum in the North Amercan historical category and five votes maximum in all other categories, and 18 votes total allowed for this year.

A change for this year has to do with tag teams. The original idea is that if someone is in, they are in, and the idea of two-time Hall of Famer made no sense. However, in certain situations, there were Hall of Fame tag teams where one person was already in so the second person would have to be in on their own, such as in this election, Miguel Perez, Jerry Brisco or Akira Taue, rather than as part of the team which would be their strongest argument. While we have always had tag teams, and there have been tag team wrestlers who we have put on the ballot who were already in from a different team, we hadn't done that with singles wrestlers. However, for teams like The Funk Brothers, Ray Stevens & Nick Bockwinkel, Stevens & Pat Patterson, Giant Baba & Jumbo Tsuruta, Stan Hansen & Bruiser Brody or Baba & Antonio Inoki, we are not putting them on the ballot because both members of the team are already in. But there are teams added who should be considered only as the team, not for their entire career such as singles runs.

The election is broken down into a number of categories. You should check each category for wrestlers that you feel you are familiar enough with based on geography that you've either traveled or are familiar with, and based on the time you have followed pro wrestling. You do not have to vote for a wrestler in every category you've checked.

The ballot is also broken down to wrestlers and those who are not pro wrestlers but have been valuable parts of the industry.

The maximum number of wrestlers that you can vote for all the categories in total is 18 this year. You can pick as few as zero if you don't believe anyone on this list deserves inclusion.

For wrestling executives, managers, announcers and other outside the ring performers, you can vote for them and they are not counted against the 18. You can vote for as many as five of them as well.

All responses are confidential. There is nothing to worry about politically about any involvement in this process. Your selections will not be revealed unless you choose to do so yourself.

Anyone who receives mention on 60% of the ballots from the geographical region and time frame (broken down as Continental United States & Canada; Mexico; Japan; and the rest of the world) will be added to the Hall of Fame in the class of 2022.

If you are unfamiliar with any of the candidates due to geography of having never seen them, that is fine. Ballots are sent to many people from all over the world and from different wrestling cultures so that everyone has as fair a shot at possible.

The breakdown for modern and historical performers is 30 years ago, or 1992. So if the last year the person was a headliner, or was a key figure in the industry, was prior to 1992, they would be in the historical class.

All performers who receive mention on 10% to 59.9% of the ballots from their geographical region or era will remain on the ballot for consideration next year. All those who receive less than 10% of the vote will be dropped from next year's ballot. They can return in two years based on if there is significant feedback from voters who say they will vote for them. This is mostly for wrestlers who are still active who may improve their career legacy, but can be for retired wrestlers if voters believe they should be put on or returned to the ballot.

In addition, in following the lead of the baseball Hall of Fame, which is the model here, we have a 15-year-rule. The following candidates have been on the ballot since 2007. In baseball, this would be their last year of eligibility. Here, if they don't get at least 50% of the votes in this year's election they will be removed from the ballot. If they are modern candidates, they can be brought back in the historical performers era in two years if it is more than 30 years since their career as a Hall Fame level performer is up:

The following candidates will be dropped from next year's ballot unless they are elected in or garner 50% of the vote:

Sgt. Slaughter
Enrique Torres
Rocky Johnson

Please return this ballot by November 15th. You can e-mail the ballot back to dave@wrestlingobserver.com or fax it to 408-244-3402 or mail (please do so by November 5th) to Wrestling Observer, P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228.

Please check by every category you are familiar with

I FOLLOWED THE HISTORICAL PERFORMERS ERA CANDIDATES

Adrian Adonis & Jesse Ventura
Ole Anderson
Bob Armstrong
Jack & Jerry Brisco
June Byers
Wild Bull Curry
British Bulldogs (Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith)
Cowboy Bob Ellis
Pampero Firpo
Black Gordman & Great Goliath
Archie "Mongolian Stomper" Gouldie
Hart Foundation (Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart)
Rocky Johnson
Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty
Sputnik Monroe
Blackjack Mulligan
Harley Race & Larry Hennig
Dusty Rhodes & Dick Murdoch
Argentina Rocca & Miguel Perez
Johnny Rougeau
Kinji Shibuya & Masa Saito
Tiger Jeet Singh
Ricky Steamboat & Jay Youngblood
Enrique Torres
Mad Dog & Butcher Vachon
Von Brauners & Saul Weingeroff
Mr. Wrestling I & II

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

Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson w/J.J. Dillon
Junkyard Dog
Jerry Lawler & Bill Dundee
Edge
Bill Goldberg
Matt & Jeff Hardy
Becky Lynch
Kevin Nash & Scott Hall
Paul Orndorff
Randy Orton
New Age Outlaws (Billy Gunn & Road Dogg)
C.M. Punk
Roman Reigns
Sgt. Slaughter
Trish Stratus
Rick & Scott Steiner
Kevin & Kerry & David Von Erich

I FOLLOWED WRESTLING IN JAPAN CANDIDATES

Riki Choshu & Animal Hamaguchi
Cima
Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan
Yoshiaki Fujiwara
Hayabusa
Kota Ibushi
Antonio Inoki & Seiji Sakaguchi
Tomohiro Ishii
Naomichi Marufuji
Tetsuya Naito
Meiko Satomura
Shingo Takagi
Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada
Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada

I FOLLOWED WRESTLING IN MEXICO CANDIDATES

Angel Blanco & Dr. Wagner
Sangre Chicana
Los Hermanos Dinamita (Cien Caras & Mascara Ano 2000 & Universo 2000)
Dorrell Dixon
Pirata Morgan
Mistico/Caristico
El Hijo del Santo & Octagon
La Parka AAA
Huracan Ramirez
Rito Romero
Los Villanos

I FOLLOWED WRESTLING IN EUROPE/AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND/PACIFIC ISLANDS/AFRICA

Sypros Arion
L'Ange Blanc (Francisco Pino)
Big Daddy
Dominic DeNucci
Billy Joyce
George Kidd
Killer Karl Kox
Kendo Nagasaki
Jackie Pallo
Rollerball Mark Rocco
The Royal Brothers (Bert Royal & Vic Faulkner)
Johnny Saint
Ricki Starr
Adrian Street
Jose Tarres
Otto Wanz

NON-WRESTLERS

Lord James Blears
Dave Brown
Bobby Bruns
Bob Caudle
Bobby Davis
Joe Higuchi
Jim Johnston
Larry Matysik
James Melby
Rossy Ogawa
Reggie Parks
Morris Sigel
Tony Schiavone
George Scott
Sanshiro Takagi
Mike Tenay
Ted Turner
Roy Welch
Stanley Weston
Grand Wizard

The Ballot as Cast by Wrestling Historian Karl Stern of When It Was Cool Wrestling

Here, publicly, is my ballot which I have mailed in to Dave Meltzer at the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

In the Historical Performers category I have voted for two tag teams:

• The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith & Dynamite Kid)

• Antonino Rocca & Miguel Perez

The British Bulldogs revolutionized tag team wrestling with standout matches in Canada, the United States, and Japan. During the era they spent in the WWF, many times, they were in the best match of the card. It’s too bad that Dynamite Kid’s body was already breaking down by the time the largest number of people got to see them as WWF exploded in popularity. In my mind, there is no question, the British Bulldogs deserve to be in as a tag team (Dynamite Kid is already inducted as a singles wrestler).

In my opinion, the strongest candidates on the entire 2022 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame ballot are Antonino Rocca & Miguel Perez. Attendance demonstratively increased anytime they were on the WWWF Madison Square Garden shows. While Antonino Rocca is a Hall of Fame wrestler in his own right (he is already inducted), Miguel Perez would never be considered as a singles wrestler. But considering Rocca and Perez together as a tag team act they check every single box as a Hall of Fame act. I have them at the top of my list.

In the Modern Era Performers category I have voted for 3 acts:

• Bill Goldberg

• Sgt. Slaughter

• Rick & Scott Steiner

Bill Goldberg, I personally felt, already had a strong case as a hall of fame draw prior to his multiple returns to WWE as a special attraction. Over the last several years, every time he returns for a stint in WWE attendance and ratings increase. The argument against Bill Goldberg is a valid one- his in ring ability, however, I feel that his drawing power and memorability of his act and the impact it had on business in WCW is enough to warrant his inclusion.

I have waffled back and forth on Sgt. Slaughter over the years. Not because I don’t think he is a solid hall of fame contender, because I do, but because of his instance (wrongfully) that he was a legit member of the U.S. Military in legit out of character newspaper and shoot interviews as highlighted in this When It Was Cool article which is cited by the U.S. Marine Corps Magazine. I have decided to vote for him again but I sincerely wish he would issue a statement as Bob Remus clearly indicating that he was not and never has been in the U.S. Military.

Rick & Scott Steiner were simply one of the best tag teams in the world in the early 1990s. In both the United States and Japan they were World champions and tag team innovators. The lack of the Steiner Brothers in the Hall of Fame is a bad oversight which needs corrected.

In the Non-Wrestler category I have voted for two acts:

• Bobby Davis

• Roy Welch

Bobby Davis was the prototype for what the popular pro wrestling manager should be. Paired with Buddy Rogers, he was an amazing act and an inspiration for future hall of fame managers like Bobby Heenan.

Roy Welch was a pioneering promoter who established pro wrestling, not just as a high drawing touring attraction in the deep south, but as part of the culture of the area as well. No question, if Don Owen is in then Roy Welch is an oversight that needs corrected now.

For further commentary and insight into the 2022 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame ballot check out our three free podcasts on the topic from When It Was Cool Wrestling by Karl “DragonKingKarl” Stern.

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