WWE: Mohammed Ali - WWE Hall of Fame?

[OmniSens]

With his recent passing (RIP Champ) is he a shoe in to become a Hall of Famer in the celebrity wing? I mean, you just can't ignore him. I believe I read somewhere that he'll never be in.

Sorry if this was discussed elsewhere, haven't been spending much time on here.

Thoughts?

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[Dr Pepper]

I really hope not, to be honest. It would just come across as pandering, even if he did step in an actual ring with Gorilla Monsoon.

Doesn't feel like the right fit, IMO.

 

[Emperoreddy]

They have never put someone who has passed into the celebrity wing, right?

I agree it would come off as pandering.

 

[Paris in Flames]

They have never put someone who has passed into the celebrity wing, right?

I agree it would come off as pandering.

Well...considering the two obvious choices for me are Ali or Lemmy...seems like that could change.

 

[Cor]

Sure why not.

 

[GarbageGoal]

Quite frankly, he did more in the WWF than Drew Carey, Snoop, or Pete Rose combined.

 

[OmniSens]

Quite frankly, he did more in the WWF than Drew Carey, Snoop, or Pete Rose combined.

This is why I'm asking. Aside from the category being somewhat of a joke, it could finally have a decent entrant with Ali entering it. This would be all about respect. He help put Wrestlemania on the map, for sure.

 

[nameless1]

I really hope not, to be honest. It would just come across as pandering, even if he did step in an actual ring with Gorilla Monsoon.

Doesn't feel like the right fit, IMO.

Ali actually fought Antonio Inoki...
A Hall-of-Fame Inductee...
In a match that is highly controversial...
And largely seen as a farce...
But it did arguably pioneer the current MMA concept...
So it is not that much of a stretch to induct him.

 

[AfroThunder396]

He deserves to be in there more than Drew Carey and Donald Trump.

With all the effort they put into honoring him on Raw last night I think it's a forgone conclusion. WWE loves nothing more than to leech onto the fame of others for promoting their own brand.

Ali and Cindy Lauper are the two celebrities that actually deserve to be in for helping launch Wrestlemania and the WWF during it's infancy, helping transform it into the brand it is today.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

He should've been inducted a long time ago. It makes no difference if people see it as pandering. Ali was actually an important celebrity to the WWE.

 

[Behn Wilson]

Quite frankly, he did more in the WWF than Drew Carey, Snoop, or Pete Rose combined.

Pete Rose being inducted into a HOF was kind of the whole idea behind the WWE celebrity HOF.

Hindsight is 20/20 but kind of sad they didn't put Lemmy in, he was sick for years and they knew he was on borrowed time. His lifestyle in his senior years made Keith Richards look like a Mormon. Obviously Lemmy was the type who could care less about it but it would have been fun for the fans.

Id induct Lemmy way before Ali.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Pete Rose being inducted into a HOF was kind of the whole idea behind the WWE celebrity HOF.

Hindsight is 20/20 but kind of sad they didn't put Lemmy in, he was sick for years and they knew he was on borrowed time. His lifestyle in his senior years made Keith Richards look like a Mormon. Obviously Lemmy was the type who could care less about it but it would have been fun for the fans.

Id induct Lemmy way before Ali.

I don't think there's a real argument based on merit to induct anyone over Ali in the celebrity wing.

 

[GarbageGoal]

I would argue that Mr T does belong in as well. He was a huge star for a very short period of time, but enough to get kids like me really invested in wrestling because I watched the A-Team and Rocky 3 and all that. He, as well as Ali, had a big impact on Wrestlemania being covered by the media as some kind of mainstream oddity where wrestling was always ignored. I even remember the Saturday Night Live the night before WM where he and Hogan were the hosts.

 

[GarbageGoal]

For some reason, I think people think Ali just showed up once in WWF or pro wrestling. Not the case.

 

[Dr Pepper]

^Then Vince/WWE clearly missed the boat.

Or who knows, maybe they asked him years ago to be an honorary inductee, and he quietly turned it down. But we probably would've heard about that by now, so who knows.

 

[Falco Lombardi]

Already should have been in.

 

[GarbageGoal]

^Then Vince/WWE clearly missed the boat.

Or who knows, maybe they asked him years ago to be an honorary inductee, and he quietly turned it down. But we probably would've heard about that by now, so who knows.

I think that with Ali's failing health, they felt it was like inducting someone who passed away if he wasn't able to make it for whatever reason. I've heard Meltzer address it several times.

 

[Shoalzie]

Already should have been in.

Exactly. It's their move to people in after they die.

 

[Le Tricolore]

Mr. T, Mohammed Ali, Andy Kaufman, Lemmy...

A decent amount of celebrities who have passed away who should be in the celebrity wing.

edit: I'm dumb.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

Mr. T, Mohammed Ali, Andy Kaufman, Lemmy...

A decent amount of celebrities who have passed away who should be in the celebrity wing.

Mr. T is neither dead nor NOT in the Hall of Fame. lol

 

[Le Tricolore]

Mr. T is neither dead nor NOT in the Hall of Fame. lol

lol, I'm an idiot. I Was going one way with my post, and then got lazy so I just ended it like that without re-reading it.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

lol, I'm an idiot. I Was going one way with my post, and then got lazy so I just ended it like that without re-reading it.

I think it's understandable though. I haven't heard from Mr. T in any respect since that ceremony. haha

 

[Le Tricolore]

He's too busy talking to his mother.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

He's too busy talking to his mother.

And his grandfather, Chris Jericho.

 

[DenisSamson3]

He deserves to be in there more than Drew Carey and Donald Trump.

With all the effort they put into honoring him on Raw last night I think it's a forgone conclusion. WWE loves nothing more than to leech onto the fame of others for promoting their own brand.

Ali and Cindy Lauper are the two celebrities that actually deserve to be in for helping launch Wrestlemania and the WWF during it's infancy, helping transform it into the brand it is today.

Arnold is another person who appeared only 2 times in the wwe. Also think Ali should be in since he was involved a few times and has appeared at big events. As for Trump he did have the highest rated raw since 2002 with the Trump bought raw storyline, also had the second highest ppv buyrate for a wwe event with the battle of the billionaires story line. I did not expect that when reading about previous celebrities on the wwe.

I read this from the wwe website,
"Donald Trump delivered excitement to fans both in Green Bay's Resch Center, and to the millions of viewers in the WWE Universe, in his first - and ultimately, only - night in charge of WWE's flagship program, Monday Night Raw.

The ratings are in, and Monday's commercial-free edition of Raw delivered an incredible 4.5 coverage household rating / 7 share in 4,475,000 TV households with 6,813,000 total viewers (persons 2+).

This household rating is up 25 percent versus the last two-hour episode of Raw on June 8, which posted a 3.6 coverage household rating / 6 share in 3,582,000 TV households with 5,460,000 total viewers.

Monday night's 6,813,000 total viewers made Raw the most watched episode in more than seven years (since March 25, 2002, which held WWE's first-ever Draft).

Additionally, Raw was watched by more people than any program on ABC, NBC, FOX or CW Monday night. And Raw was watched by 2,251,000 females, beating all programming on CW or Lifetime."