WCW Hall of Fame explained

The World Championship Wrestling (WCW) Hall of Fame was an American professional wrestling hall of fame maintained by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). It was established in 1993 to honor wrestlers who began their careers long before the 1990s, mostly alumni of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA)'s Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) territory, the predecessor of WCW. Inductees received commemorative plaques that had their names and portraits inscribed on them. Wrestlers were inducted by Gordon Solie, a senior commentator in professional wrestling, and received their plaque during the "Legends Reunion" segment at WCW's May pay-per-view event, Slamboree. The WCW Hall of Fame was the second major hall of fame established to honor professional wrestlers, after the creation of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF)'s Hall of Fame in February 1993.^[1] After the 1995 Hall of Fame ceremony, WCW stopped the production of the Hall of Fame ceremonies without a formal announcement. In 2001, the WWF acquired all of its assets;^[2] this led to the formal stoppage of the WCW Hall of Fame. The WWF, however, had stopped producing its Hall of Fame ceremonies after 1996. In 2004, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), the WWF's successor,^[3] reinstated the WWE Hall of Fame, which included inductees that were alumni of WWF/WWE, NWA, JCP, and WCW.^[4]

The first Hall of Fame ceremony was held on May 23, 1993, at Slamboree 1993 at The Omni in Atlanta, Georgia.^[5] The first wrestler inducted into the Hall of Fame was Lou Thesz, along with Verne Gagne and Mr. Wrestling II.^[5] Eddie Graham was also inducted that year; he was the first posthumous inductee into the Hall of Fame.^[5]

During the following Hall of Fame ceremony on May 22, 1994, at Slamboree 1994 at Civic Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Harley Race led the Class of 1994.^[6] Ole Anderson, The Crusher, posthumous inductee Dick the Bruiser, Ernie Ladd, and Masked Assassin were also inducted that year.^[6]

The final ceremony was held at Slamboree 1995 on May 25, 1995, in St. Petersburg, Florida at Bayfront Arena, in which Wahoo McDaniel led the Class of 1995.^[7] Also inducted that year were posthumous inductee Big John Studd, Terry Funk, Antonio Inoki, Angelo Poffo, Dusty Rhodes, and Gordon Solie.^[7] Following the 1995 ceremony, Solie, who both inducted the wrestlers and was an influential figure in the selections, resigned from WCW in protest of Poffo's initiation,^[8] feeling that management only inducted an unqualified person into the WCW Hall of Fame as a favor to Poffo's son, and one of the company's top draws, Randy Savage. 1995's ceremony had speeches from the inductions, where as the other two just had plaques being presented to them. The Crusher, Dick the Bruiser, Inoki, Rhodes, Gagne, Race, and Thesz were the only former World Heavyweight Champions to have been inducted. A posthumous inductee was inducted at every ceremony. Solie was the only non-wrestler to have been inducted into the Hall of Fame. Overall, there were 17 inductees. On February 26, 2024, Ole Anderson, the last remaining living member of the WCW Hall of Fame, died.

Inductees

	Year	Notes
	1993	Won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship (3 times), NWA International Heavyweight Championship (1 time), and NWA Southern Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[9]
	1993	Won the AWA World Heavyweight Championship (10 times) and Omaha World Heavyweight Championship (4 times)^[10]
	1993	Won the NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship (10 times), NWA Mid-America Southern Tag Team Championship (9 times), and NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship (2 times)^[11]
	1993	Posthumous inductee: Won the NWA Florida World Tag Team Championship (7 times) and NWA United States Tag Team Championship (4 times)^[12]
	1994	Won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship (8 times), First ever NWA (Mid-Atlantic) United States Champion (which later became the WCW, then WWE U.S. Title)^[13]
	1994	Won the NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship (3 times) and NWA Tri-State North American Heavyweight Championship (4 times)^[14]
	1994	Won the AWA World Heavyweight Championship (3 times) and AWA World Tag Team Championship (9 times)^[15]
	1994	Posthumous inductee: Won the WWA World Heavyweight Championship (11 times), WWA World Tag Team Championship (14 times), AWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time), and NWA Detroit United States Championship (4 times)^[16]
	1994	Won the AWA Midwest Heavyweight Championship (1 time), NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship (17 times), and the WCW World Tag Team Championship (8 times)^[17]
10	1994	Won the NWA Central States Heavyweight Championship (1 time), NWA Florida Southern Heavyweight Championship (1 time), and NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship (14 times)^[18]
11	1995	Won the NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship (1 time), NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship (5 times), NWA United States Championship (5 times), WCW World Tag Team Championship (4 times)^[19]
12	1995	Won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship (3 times), NWA (Mid-Atlantic) U.S. Championship (1 time), WCW World Tag Team Championship (2 times), and NWA World TV Championship (1 time)^[20]
13	1995	Won the WWF World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship (2 times) and the NWA International (4 times) and North American (2 times) Tag Team Championships^[21]
14	1995	Won the NWA Detroit United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time) and WWA World Tag Team Championship (3 times)^[22]
15	1995	Won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time), and NWA/WCW United States Championship (2 times)^[23]
16	1995	Posthumous inductee: Won the WWWF World Tag Team Championship (1 time) and NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship (4 times)^[24]
17	1995	The only non-wrestler inductee and play-by-play commentator for WCW^[25]

Notes

– From 1996 to 2001, WCW did not induct any person into the Hall of Fame.
– Entries without a birth name indicates that the inductee did not perform under a ring name.
– Before the 1990s, Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) consisted of numerous smaller territories acquired during its national expansion while also maintaining working relationships with the American Wrestling Association (AWA) and the World Wrestling Association (WWA), while the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) was a governing body that sanctioned numerous member promotions while additionally distributing many titles amongst its members including the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF, later WWF), Championship Wrestling From Florida, Eastern Championship Wrestling, among others.^[26] ^[27]
– This section mainly lists the major accomplishments of each inductee in the NWA, JCP, and WCW.

References

General references

WCW Slamboree 1993. Slamboree (1993). . In Demand pay-per-view. May 23, 1993.
WCW Slamboree 1994. Slamboree (1994). Slamboree. In Demand pay-per-view. May 22, 1994.
WCW Slamboree 1995. Slamboree (1995). Slamboree. In Demand pay-per-view. May 21, 1995.

External links

Notes and References

Web site: Andre The Giant's WWE Hall of Fame Profile. World Wrestling Entertainment. January 13, 2009.
Web site: WWE Entertainment, Inc. Acquires WCW from Turner Broadcasting. March 23, 2001. World Wrestling Entertainment Corporate. January 13, 2009. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140313012636/http://corporate.wwe.com/news/2001/2001_03_23.jsp. March 13, 2014.
Web site: World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Drops The "F" To Emphasize the "E" for Entertainment. May 6, 2002. World Wrestling Entertainment Corporate. January 13, 2009. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20090119180317/http://corporate.wwe.com/news/2002/2002_05_06.jsp. January 19, 2009.
Web site: WWE Hall of Fame Profile Listings and Official Website. World Wrestling Entertainment. January 13, 2009.
Web site: WCW SLAMBOREE: History 1993 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20000511095638/http://www.wcw.com/2000/05/07/ppv/history93.html . May 11, 2000 . . May 23, 1994 . February 24, 2023.
Web site: WCW SLAMBOREE: History 1994 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20000511105205/http://www.wcw.com/2000/05/07/ppv/history94.html . May 11, 2000 . . May 22, 1994 . February 24, 2023.
Web site: WCW SLAMBOREE: History 1995 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20000511115020/http://www.wcw.com/2000/05/07/ppv/history95.html . May 11, 2000 . . May 21, 1995 . February 24, 2023.
Web site: Latest On Randy Savage In WWE Hall of Fame, Former Diva On "Dog Whisperer" . https://archive.today/20130222012502/http://www.lordsofpain.net/news/wwe/Latest_On_Randy_Savage_In_The_WWE_Hall_of_Fame_Former_Diva_On_Dog_Whisperer.html . dead . February 22, 2013 . LordsofPain.net . January 12, 2012 . April 22, 2013 .
Web site: Lou Thesz. Professional Wrestling Online Museum. January 14, 2009. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20090221090503/http://www.wrestlingmuseum.com/pages/bios/halloffame/theszbio.html. February 21, 2009.
Web site: Verne Gagne. Professional Wrestling Online Museum. January 14, 2009. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20090221090458/http://www.wrestlingmuseum.com/pages/bios/halloffame/gagnebio.html. February 21, 2009.
Web site: Mr. Wrestling II. Professional Wrestling Online Museum. January 14, 2009. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20090212141934/http://www.wrestlingmuseum.com/pages/bios/mrwrestling2.html. February 12, 2009.
Web site: Eddie Graham. Professional Wrestling Online Museum. January 14, 2009.
Web site: Harley Race. World Wrestling Entertainment. January 14, 2009.
Web site: Ernie Ladd. World Wrestling Entertainment. January 14, 2009.
Web site: The Crusher. Professional Wrestling Online Museum. January 14, 2009. February 21, 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090221095827/http://www.wrestlingmuseum.com/pages/wrestlers/crusher2.html. dead.
Web site: Dick the Bruiser. Professional Wrestling Online Museum. January 14, 2009.
Book: Anderson, Ole. Scott Teal. Inside Out: How Corporate America Destroyed Professional Wrestling. Crowbar Press. 2003. 0-9745545-0-2.
Book: Hamilton, Joe. Scott Teal. Assassin: The Man Behind the Mask. Crowbar Press. 2006. 0-9745545-3-7.
Web site: Wahoo McDaniel's Biography. Professional Wrestling Online Museum. January 14, 2009. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20090204133746/http://wrestlingmuseum.com/pages/bios/halloffame/wahoobio.html. February 4, 2009.
Web site: Dusty Rhodes' Biography. Professional Wrestling Online Museum. June 11, 2009. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20090529220019/http://www.wrestlingmuseum.com/pages/bios/halloffame/dustybio.html. May 29, 2009.
Web site: Antonio Inoki. Professional Wrestling Online Museum. January 14, 2009. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20070911133937/http://www.wrestlingmuseum.com/pages/bios/halloffame/inokibio.html. September 11, 2007.
Web site: A wrestling dynasty. Scheiber. David. December 27, 2001. St. Petersburg Times. January 14, 2009.
Web site: Terry Funk. Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum. January 14, 2009. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20090201012657/http://www.pwhf.org/halloffamers/bios/funk_terry.asp. February 1, 2009.
Web site: Big John Studd. World Wrestling Entertainment. January 14, 2009.
Web site: Gordon Solie. World Wrestling Entertainment. January 14, 2009.
Web site: Classics On Demand: Video Library. World Wrestling Entertainment. January 14, 2009.
Web site: The NWA Roll Call of Champions. National Wrestling Alliance. January 14, 2009. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20081222141846/http://www.nwawrestling.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20&Itemid=74. December 22, 2008.