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The Wrestling Observer Newsletter (WON) Hall of Fame is a professional wrestling and mixed martial arts (MMA) hall of fame that recognizes people who make significant contributions to their professions. It was founded in 1996 by Dave Meltzer, editor of WON.
#YearRing Name (birth Name)Inducted For2552023Antonino Rocca & Miguel Pérez2542023Beauty Pair ( Jackie Sato & Maki Ueda)2532023Jack Brisco & Jerry Brisco2522023- Overview
- List of members of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame
- See also
- External links
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame ("WON HOF" for short) is a professional wrestling hall of fame that exists only on paper.
The WON began in 1996, when Wrestling Observer Newsletter editor Dave Meltzer chose a large class of initial "inductees". Unlike other forms of sports such as baseball and basketball, professional wrestling did not at that time have a Hall of Fame voted on by a panel of experts who are independent of any of the sport's governing organizations. The WON HOF was intended to fill this need.
1996 inductees
•Abdullah the Butcher (Larry Shreve) •Perro Aguayo •André the Giant (André Roussimoff) •Bert Assirati •Giant Baba (Shohei Baba) •Jim Barnett •"Wild" Red Berry •The Destroyer (Dick Beyer) •Fred Blassie •Blue Demon •Nick Bockwinkel •Paul Boesch •Bobo Brazil (Houston Harris) •Jack Brisco •Bruiser Brody (Frank Goodish) •Mildred Burke •Canek •Negro Casas •Riki Chōshū (Mitsuo Yoshida) •Jim Cornette •The Crusher (Reginald Lisowski) •Ted DiBiase •Dick the Bruiser (William Afflis) •Alfonso Dantés •The Dusek Family •Dynamite Kid (Tommy Billington) •The Fabulous Kangaroos (Al Costello and Roy Heffernan) •Jackie Fargo •Ric Flair (Richard Fliehr) •Tatsumi Fujinami •Dory Funk, Jr. •Dory Funk, Sr. •Terry Funk •Verne Gagne •Cavernario Galindo •Ed Don George •Gorgeous George (George Wagner) •Frank Gotch •Karl Istaz (Karl Gotch) •Superstar Billy Graham (Wayne Coleman) •Eddie Graham (Edward Gossett) •Rene Guajardo •Gory Guerrero (Salvador "Gori" Guerrero Quesada) •Georg Hackenschmidt •Stan Hansen (John Stanley Hansen) •Bret Hart •Stu Hart •Bobby Heenan (Raymond Louis Heenan) •Danny Hodge •Hulk Hogan (Terry Bollea) •Antonio Inoki •Rayo de Jalisco, Sr. •Tom Jenkins •Don Leo Jonathan •Gene Kiniski •Fred Kohler •Killer Kowalski (Wladek Kowalski) •Ernie Ladd •Dick Lane •Jerry Lawler •Ed "Strangler" Lewis (Robert Herman Julius Friedrich) •Jim Londos •Salvador Lutteroth •Akira Maeda •Devil Masami •Mil Máscaras (Aaron Rodríguez) •Dump Matsumoto •Earl McCready •Leroy McGuirk •Vince McMahon Sr. •Vince McMahon Jr. •Danny McShane •Ray Mendoza •Mitsuharu Misawa •Joe "Toots" Mondt •Sam Muchnick •Bronislau Nagurski •Pat O'Connor •Kintaro Oki •Atsushi Onita •Pat Patterson (Pierre Clemont) •Antonio Peña •John Pesek •Roddy Piper (Roderick Toombs) •Harley Race •Dusty Rhodes (Virgil Runnels Jr.) •Rikidozan (Kim Sin-Nak) •The Road Warriors Hawk (Michael Hegstrand) and Animal (Joseph Laurinaitis) •Yvon Robert •Billy Robinson •Antonino Rocca (Antonino Biasetton) •Buddy Rogers (Herman C. Rohde Jr) •Lance Russell •Bruno Sammartino •El Santo (Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta) •Jackie Sato •Randy Savage (Randall Poffo) •Billy Sandow •The Sheik (Ed Farhat) •Hisashi Shinma •Dara Singh •Gordon Solie (Francis Jonard Labiak) •El Solitario •Ricky Steamboat (Richard Blood) •Joe Stecher •Tony Stecher •Ray Steele •Ray Stevens (Carl Ray Stevens) •Nobuhiko Takada •Genichiro Tenryu (Genichiro Shimada) •Lou Thesz (Aloysius Thesz) •Tiger Mask (Saturo Sayama) •Jumbo Tsuruta (Tomomi Tsuruta) •Frank Tunney •Mad Dog Vachon (Maurice Vachon) •Vader (Leon White) •Johnny Valentine (John Wisniski) •Fritz Von Erich (Jack Adkisson) •Whipper Billy Watson •Bill Watts •Jaguar Yokota •Stanislaus Zbyszko
1997 inductees
•Édouard Carpentier •El Hijo del Santo •Toshiaki Kawada •Jimmy Lennon •William Muldoon •Chigusa Nagayo (Nagayo Chigusa)
1999 inductees
•Lioness Asuka •Jushin Liger (Keichi Yamada) •Keiji Mutoh •Jim Ross
•Dave Meltzer
•Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
•WCW Hall of Fame
•WWE Hall of Fame
•Online listing of the WON Hall of Fame
Oct 8, 2023 · See the official ballot for the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame 2023 and join the debate on who should be inducted. Users share their picks and opinions on historical and modern performers, wrestlers in Japan, Mexico, Europe and more.
Dec 9, 2022 · By Dave Meltzer. Published: 9 Dec 2022, 02:56. The 2022 class of the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame has eight new entrants. Voted by our panel into the Hall of Fame were All Japan tag team stars Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada, CMLL star Mistico, New Japan stars Kota Ibushi and Tetsuya Naito, Los Villanos from Mexico and Rollerball Mark Rocco, a ...
- Dave Meltzer
Oct 24, 2022 · Wrestling communities, journalists, historians are now voting for the annual Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame and the 2022 ballot is officially out!
The 2022 Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame has been revealed, with the panel using a different balloting system. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter (subscription required) confirmed the entries on December 9 2022, stating that the panel had voted the following into the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame:
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter (WON) is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the Wrestling Observer website merged with Bryan Alvarez's Figure Four Weekly website in 2008, becoming Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Issues are offered in print and digital.
