The Celebrity Wing

   Rumors of 2018's WWE Hall of Fame class started and while the names are quite good in my opinion, it takes an ugly turn at the end.  In 2004, WWE started a Celebrity Wing for their Hall of Fame.  To preface this, I will say that I generally dislike most celebrity involvement in wrestling, especially when it makes no sense.  Several celebrities have been inducted over the years, with one or two being understandable but most of them ridiculous.  The rumored celebrity inductee this year is Kid Rock.  Here's where I got a little ticked off!  I don't understand this one at all!  He contributed nothing to WWE, or at least not enough to garner a Hall of Fame induction.  Kid Rock is responsible for the worst WrestleMania concert in history.  It went on way too long, overshadowed the women in the battle royal, and he wasn't even relevant anymore.  With the exception of this God awful concert and using his song for the Undertaker's "American Bad Ass" persona, he contributed absolutely nothing!

   Personal feelings about him as a person, a musician, and political agenda aside, I cannot get behind Kid Rock as a member, even in the celebrity wing, of the WWE Hall of Fame.  I'm going to go through each celebrity inductee and give my opinion on whether they belong or not.  Vince McMahon gambled on WrestleMania's success and one of the reasons it worked out is due to the celebrities involved. However, since that day, he's gone to the well way too many times.  Not every celebrity equals success.  Thanks to people like Mr. T and Cindy Lauper, WrestleMania was off to a great start.  It's been hit or miss ever since.  Let's start this thing, shall we?

Pete Rose

   Let's be honest!  The only reason they inducted Pete Rose into the WWE Hall of Fame was to poke fun at the fact that Major League Baseball will never induct him into their Hall of Fame.  He was shunned for betting on baseball.  WWE probably thought it was funny to put him in so someone can say he was inducted into a Hall of Fame.  As far as deserving to be in the WWE Hall of Fame, I don't think so!  His only involvement was getting Choke Slammed by Kane three years in a row at WrestleMania.  That hardly means Hall of Fame worthy! While the segments were entertaining, I fail to see how that was enough to get him into the Hall of Fame.  That's a hard NO on Pete Rose.

William "The Refrigerator" Perry

   This is another one that baffles me!  The Fridge was a monster on the gridiron and he's definitely a Hall of Famer when it comes to football and the NFL.  He was a part of the legendary Chicao Bears and I have the utmost respect for him.  However, he only appeared once for WWE.  He participated in a Battle Royal at WrestleMania 2, consisting of wrestlers and other football players.  During that match, he had a slight scuffle with Big John Studd before getting eliminated.  How this got him into the WWE Hall of Fame is beyond me.  That's a no!

Bob Uecker

   Again, I have to question these inductees.  While I can respect what "Mr. Baseball" did for his sport, I can't for the life of me understand why he's in the WWE Hall of Fame.  In baseball, he was a good player and a great announcer.  I even enjoyed him on television on the show "Mr. Belvedere."  In wrestling, he was known for being an announcer for WrestleMania III and IV.  His segments were entertaining.  The take away from his WrestleMania appearances was telling Andre the Giant to get his "foot" off his shoulder, before promptly getting choked by the "Eighth Wonder of the World."  This does not equal Hall of Fame, so again it's a NO!

Drew Carey

   This has got to be the most idiotic and confusing induction of the celebrities.  Drew Carey has done a lot in television and he was entertaining in that respect.  I enjoyed the "Drew Carey Show" and "Whose Line Is It Anyway?"  When it comes to professional wrestling and what he brought to the table, this makes no sense at all!  His only appearance before this induction was during the 2001 Royal Rumble.  He came in as both Hardy Boys eliminated each other and he was all alone, until Kane showed up.  After trying to bribe Kane with money and nearly Choke Slammed, he graciously eliminated himself and was on his way.  One single entertaining moment does not equate an induction into the WWE Hall of Fame.  That's a strong HELL NO!

Mike Tyson

   I'm trying not to be too picky so I can make a few exceptions.  In 1998, boxing legend Mike Tyson was temporarily suspended from the sport due to the biting incident in his match against Evander Holyfield. Tyson was very relevant at the time and the news was all over the place when it came to Tyson's antics. WWE capitalized on this!  

   He was shown enjoying himself at the 1998 Royal Rumble in the skybox and made an infamous appearance on Raw, when he got into a shoving match with Stone Cold Steve Austin. Tyson was named the special referee/enforcer for Austin's WWE Title opportunity against Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XIV.  Tyson made a few more appearances on Raw, one of which where he joined Degeneration X and put the Austin/Michaels match in jeopardy.  When the regular referee was incapacitated, he made the count as Austin pinned Michaels to become the new WWE Champion.  When Michaels questioned Tyson after the match, Tyson revealed an Austin 3:16 shirt underneath and knocked the Heartbreak Kid out with a right hook.  This was during the Attitude Era, WWE's most profitable time ever.  Due to all of that, I am okay with Mike Tyson in the WWE Hall of Fame. That's a yes for me.

Donald Trump

   People can say what they want about our current President.  I'm not here to do that, though!  This is about whether or not he deserves to be part of the WWE Hall of Fame.  How I or anyone feels about him personally or his political agenda is not relevant here. Trump hosted WrestleMania IV and V in Atlantic City, NJ.  Another moment happened eighteen years later at WrestleMania XXIII.  He represented Bobby Lashley against Vince McMahon's pick Umaga in a Battle of the Billionaires, with a stipulation of "Hair vs. Hair."  Trump's man was victorious.  Together, Trump, Lashley, and guest referee Steve Austin proceeded to cut McMahon's hair.  Trump also briefly "bought" WWE during their guest General Manager phase.  Does that make him worthy to be in the WWE Hall of Fame?  He did bring a lot more to the table than others.  I was there live in Madison Square Garden to watch his induction get booed out of the building.  Mind you, this is way before entering the Presidential race.  It was quite amusing!  My answer is; I can somewhat tolerate it.  

Mr. T

   This is the first time where I was able to say an emphatic yes to a celebrity being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.  Mr. T is one of the reasons for the success of WrestleMania and WWE as a whole.  In 1985, he was one of the biggest stars in the world.  He made people hate him as "Clubber Lang" in Rocky III, he starred in the film DC Cab, and people loved him in television's "The A-Team."  Mr. T was one of the most well known celebrities at the time, with his signature Mohawk and gold chains.  When it came to wrestling, Mr. T was a big shot in the arm.  He befriended Hulk Hogan and participated in events leading up to the first WrestleMania.  

  

  Mr. T teamed with Hogan to defeat Rowdy Roddy Piper and "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff at WrestleMania.  Mr. T developed a huge feud with Piper, half of which was real.  Piper really resented a celebrity's involvement in a wrestling match and appearance in general, which is how I feel about most celebrities when it comes to wrestling. Back to the story, it led to a Boxing Match between Mr. T and Piper at WrestleMania 2 and he made appearances here and there in between the two events.  Mr. T is a big reason for WrestleMania and WWE's success and more than deserves to be in the WWE Hall of Fame.  Despite an exhaustively long induction speech talking about his mother, for me Mr. T gets a resounding YES!

Arnold Schwarzenegger

   Arnold is one of the most world renowned actors.  His movies always did extremely well and many of his roles were iconic.  I can talk all day about his movie career.  He also did something no one thought he would be able to do.  He had a term as the Governor of California.  When it comes to being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, I don't see the connection.  While he did make numerous appearances on WWE television, I don't think any were memorable enough to get into the Hall of Fame.  Sorry Arny, that's a no from me!

Snoop Dogg

   Snoop is one of the greatest rappers of all time.  I've enjoyed his music over the years and it's nice to see that he is a big wrestling fan.  I can appreciate that!  Beyond numerous appearances on WWE television and his general likability, I can't get behind his induction into the WWE Hall of Fame.  I thoroughly enjoyed his speech and it was a lovely gesture to see him walk his cousin Sasha Banks to the ring the next night at WrestleMania. However, I'm sorry to inform you, the answer is no when it comes to being part of the WWE Hall of Fame. 

   Please don't take this the wrong way.  I'm not on a high horse or a soap box.  It's just my opinion!  If their involvement was entertaining and influenced the marketing value of wrestling and brought substance to it, I'm all for it.  When it comes down to it, the only celebrity on this list that deserves to be part of the WWE Hall of Fame is Mr. T.  As far as celebrities that have yet to be inducted, there are only two that come to mind.  Although he didn't appear in WWE, Andy Kaufman contributed a lot to wrestling and his feud with Jerry "The King" Lawler is legendary.  The other is Cindy Lauper. Like Mr. T, Lauper was a key to WWE's success, as she was part of major storylines, appeared at WrestleMania, and had wrestlers appear in her music videos.  When it comes to celebrities involved with wrestling, I generally don't like it.  More importantly, them being WWE Hall of Famers is whole different ballgame.

If you have any further thoughts on this topic, let me know in comments.  Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST, brought to you by tagmeadate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans.  Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport.  For TagMeADate members, our Android and Apple apps are vastly approaching so stay tuned!
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