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It's that time of the year. The 2025 diaries and calendars are out, so are Christmas items on the retail shelves and as the 2024 calendars hit October, that means it's Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame season.
For those who are new to this. The Observer Hall of Fame was thought up in 1996 by it's editor, the now famous Dave Meltzer after his appearance on the Vince McMahon documentary on Netflix on a plane heading to Japan for a trip to the 1996 G1 Climax. If you get 60%+ of the vote share in the category (one of Modern US/Canada, Historical US/Canada, International, Mexico, Japan and Non-Wrestlers) you are featured in, you are inducted. If you get less than 10%, you are off the ballot. If you're on the ballot for 15 years, you need more than 50% to stay on it from the fifteenth year.
For the last two years I have looked at the ballot of the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame and previewed the names on the ballot with lots of very good feedback. Without wanting to pat myself on the back, to hear people that I respect quote bits from the pieces I have produced previewing the Observer HOF is really cool but as the years go on it becomes obvious when it comes to names on the ballot and especially those in the 10 to 40% range, I might as well copy and paste from last year's piece which is very much a no-no. So instead of the usual path I've taken doing this column on, in which I look at each section and the newcomers in detail, I am going to look at the broad strokes of debate in this year's HOF season and in a second part look at the similarities between the Observer Hall of Fame and the Baseball Hall of Fame, flaws and all so let's look at the 2024 Observer Hall of Fame ballot and the most interesting cases coming into it
Is this the Worst “First Year Ballot” class in Observer HOF history?
When Dave Meltzer gave his summary of last year's results, as per the norm, Dave unveiled the new entrants onto the ballot who are:
Asuka/Kana WWE, Zane Bresloff, Psycho Clown, El Dandy, George Gordienko, Gran Hamada, Samoa Joe, Kento Miyahara, Cody Rhodes, Yoshihiro Takayama, Kevin Owens, Zack Sabre Jr., Mascarita Sagrada, Tiger Jeet Singh, Usos, Volador Jr., Koichi Yoshizawa, Bray Wyatt, Sid, The Wild Samoans and Sami Zayn.
The fact that it’s 21 acts that are on the first time/returning list is one of the main reasons I’m not doing an in depth look at the list of first timers/returners. I am not doing 300 words on Zane Bresloff or Tiger Jeet Singh’s chances of getting into the HOF when one word will do.
2014 is the only year in this current century that have seen that years first time/returning batch not have one act get 40% or over of the vote share (In 2022 all the ballot first timers that got over 40% were tag teams in that year where Dave decided to put loads of tag teams into the ballot) and looking at the above, unless the Mexican Block do Mexican Block things, it could be a possibility that we don’t get an act from the above list to even get 40% of the share.
It could be that more than 50% of those 21 will get the less than 10% that means their time on the ballot is over. To compare, 2022 saw 8 of the 28 acts enter the draft in the tag team year get under the 10% line.
Asuka is less of a case than the Threedom trio of Kairi Hojo/Sane, Io Shirai and Mayu Iwatani that will surely enter the ballot when they are eligible. If Jon Moxley, a 2-time WOTY can’t get above 20% of the share like what happened last year, the likes of The Usos and Kevin Owens don’t stand a chance of getting above 10% in my eyes. Samoa Joe, as awesome as I think he is, would be a surprise story if he got above 20%
As much as I love Zack Sabre Jr, it still feels too early for him. The “death bounce” contingent of Sid and The Wild Samoans suffer from a case of that they weren’t seen as HOF ballot worthy while alive so shouldn’t be seen as Hall of Famers just they are sadly no longer with us and those that could have been added to the HOF ballot because of their deaths last year but weren’t because Dave probably thought adding to the eight already scheduled to enter the ballot last year would have been overkill, Bray Wyatt and Koichi Yoshizawa have differing cases. Bray’s frequent awarding of Worst Match in the Observer Awards, even a few months after his tragic passing in 2023, tells you how people will probably feel when it comes to ballot posting time. Koichi is an interesting name to consider with his influence on the way we consume wrestling as a journalist in Japan but would he be on the ballot if he wasn’t so close to Dave Meltzer during his life?
Speaking of people close to Dave, Zane Bresloff’s introduction to the ballot is a case of Dave being curious to how he would do in such a scenario like this. Hey, it's his HOF, he can do whatever he wants with it and it's not like he's never done it before. His inclusion of Nikki Bella on the ballot a few years ago raised eyebrows but it was a litmus test for how modern day talent are received for their contribution in wrestling like Nikki Bella and her time on Total Divas and the question of how it impacted WWE and their female viewership and while some people might think Nikki Bella’s inclusion on the ballot was gross, her and Bresloff’s inclusion should be the starting point for a debate and ask questions of the electorate which is the beauty of HOF season. The answer for Zane just like it ended up being for Nikki is an emphatic no for me and a vote share of less than 10% that sees him not on next year's ballot
The most interesting cases in the 21 names above are the cases of Cody Rhodes and Sami Zayn. Cody Rhodes was the highest drawing champion in ROH history, he was one half of the main event of what was at the time NJPW’s biggest American show and is now a Top 3 show in the US for New Japan six years after the fact. Cody’s NWA World Title challenge was the main focal point of the pioneering All In PPV and while the sell out of the Sears Centre Arena was before the announcement of the card for that night, the PPV buyrate of 50,000 is a number that was only topped three times by TNA in its history despite it’s run as the No.2 company in America and Cody was one of the faces of AEW in its first 3 years and of course there were the record numbers that Wrestlemania XL and Cody’s “story” being completed that made up part of the story of that event.
The counterpoint to the above positives to Cody’s body of work is that it rode the coattails of others. The ROH and NJPW numbers could easily be attributed to his Elite teammates. All In 1’s PPV numbers feel like they were bolstered by the movement that made The Elite as popular as they became and WrestleMania XL’s record business can be mainly attributed to The Rock as the softening of the drawing metrics in the last few months has seen with Cody as the man holding the Big Logo belt.
In a format that breeds curiosity, Cody’s case is one of the most curious of the 2024 ballot as is Sami Zayn’s. The story of the rejuvenation of WWE should have Sami Zayn as one of its main characters. The story of the Bloodline would not have become what it became without the inclusion of Sami Zayn. The Bloodline were floundering until Sami Zayn came into the equation.
The resulting face turn might have been ground zero for the idiotic “this is cinema” take that infused wrestling twitter afterwards but the Elimination chamber PPV and the business it did at the box office was blockbuster worthy. The tag team title win with Kevin Owens at Mania 39 was the highest point in WWE tag team wrestling in the years after they bought WCW even if the resulting title run was boring (do we need to talk about Triple H being a boring booker). When you look at the numbers WWE put up with the Cody vs Bloodline saga, Sami Zayn should get his flowers in WWE folklore for building the foundation of that feud. But for his case for the Observer HOF, you can look at his run on the indies as TAFKA El Generico.
Generico was in my opinion the best wrestler in North America in the time between the time Bryan Danielson joined WWE in late 2009 to his very own joining of WWE in January 2013. The Generico-Steen feud in that time was the best feud in wrestling in that period as well. But the lack of drawing power of that feud could be a justifiable black mark on Sami/Generico’s resume as is the period of time where Sami was a midcard guy from 2016-2022.
I don’t expect Cody and Sami to trouble the 60% threshold and I expect Cody to outperform his fellow roster member but when it comes to the curiosity factor of this ballot, the story of Cody and Sami is one of the most interesting
The Mexican Block being The Mexican Block
As mentioned above, I don’t expect much from the 20+ names that enter the ballot in 2024. I would say that I expect this year to accompany 2014 as a year that all the new members of the ballot have vote shares under 40% if it wasn’t for the Mexican Block doing Mexican Block things.
This is the third time that I’ve used this phrase in this article so far (it’s also a staple of previous editions of my HOF Ballot deep dives ) and there’s a reason for that.
Putting someone from the Mexican section of the ballot every year for the five, putting in a joint most number of 11 with Japan, the HOF inductees from Mexico come from a low vote share and inducted at their first attempt, anecdotally, the HOFer’s from south of the border come from votes from Mexican wrestling historians, wrestlers and personalities which definitely is not a bad thing when you consider the lack of historical footage from Mexico compared to other countries and lack of records as well.
So what of the newbies on the ballot from Mexico?
Those whose awareness of El Dandy came his time in WCW and his win in the Lou Ferrigno lookalike contest might snicker at his inclusion on the ballot but who are they to doubt El Dandy. Dandy was a legit contender to be the best wrestler in Mexico in the early 90s especially the year 1990. Dandy’s role in the El Hijo Del Santo/Negro Casas feud is massively underrated but the main case against Dandy was how big of case he built up in his career that is HOF worthy
There is a case to say that Gran Hamada shouldn't be in the ballot considering that he is someone who was taken off the ballot after spending 15 years on it. However, those years were spent in the Japan section and with a move to the Mexico section, the case for a restudy on Hamada is there but with a 15-year run that only saw a high of 49% in 2011 and also an elimination 3 years later plus a first re-entry into the ballot in 2007 which saw him post percentage numbers that didn't exceed 30% in the eight years he was on the ballot until Gran became victim to the 15/50 rule.
Psycho Clown and Volador Jr. are also a re-entries into the ballot but unlike Hamada there is really no good reason to put Psycho and Volador Jr. back in unless it's to pad out the Mexico section. But in a year where we have seen 21 acts enter the ballot, maybe 19 would have been suffice in the case of Psycho Clown and Volador Jr.
Mascarita Sagrada was a little person wrestler (yeah, I'm not using the term used back then) in the 90s. Of the criteria set Sagrada really doesn't hit any of them. Yes as a worker he was exciting to watch and the best working little person in wrestling history but to call him a pioneer of the genre is not entirely accurate when you consider that the little person wrestling genre was more or less dead in the years after.
Drawing wise, Sagrada’s case is washed by the fact that his sole main event in LA, a hotbed for AAA in the 90s drew 8,000 which under the usual number of 5 figures that the company drew on the west coast.
Of those already on the ballot, Los Hermanos Dinamita, with 56% last year, feels like a certainty but we said that last year when they sat on 57% heading into HOF season. Here is what I wrote on them last year
Dorrell Dixon (32%) Huracan Ramirez (31%) and Sangre Chicana (29%) are the next 3 guys in the Mexico section with the biggest percentage. Their CV’s haven’t changed from last year. So here’s what I wrote last year about them
The Young Bucks debate
One of the contentious results of the 2023 HOF was the Young Bucks and the 55% they received. Whether it was the old school block of the voters that have negative views on the Jacksons, the pro-WWE make up of the workers portion of the voters which has been proven by statistical evidence (which I will deep dive into next week) and the growing reluctance of voters to vote in active workers.
Another obstacle for The Bucks is that no act from the Modern US/Canada section has been voted into the HOF since AJ Styles in 2017 in which his third time on the ballot after twice being dropped from the ballot in their first year on said ballot in 2013 and 2015. The reason why third time lucky? Two years in WWE in all likelihood.
As the top tag team of the modern era, so many wins of Best Tag Team in the Observer Awards (seven) that they might name the award after them and with a drawing record in ROH that was so unparalleled that Tony Khan should book a tribute match to it at next year's Grand Slam Dynamite and being one of the founding fathers of All In and the revolution that led to AEW, The Young Bucks are shoo-ins for the Hall of Fame, they just need to clear hurdles unfairly put in front of them.
Is the International Region more interesting now?
With George Kidd being voted into the HOF last year and Big Daddy, Jackie Pollo and Kendo Nagasaki all falling victim to the 15 year/50% vote rule therefore ending the debate on Big Daddy especially (thoughts go out to @allancheapshot) what of the International section with the mass strike of UK workers.
Acts in the International Section over 30%
Jose Tarres 45%
Johnny Saint 44%
The Royal Brothers 34%
Adrian Street 33%
Of everyone on the ballot, Jose Tarres has the most momentum with a rise of 26% in the last two years.
While researching Jose is difficult (his Cagmatch is sparse, he has minimal YouTube footage and he hasn't got a Wikipedia page). Google Jose Tarres Hall of Fame and the second and third search are my writings on the Hall of Fame which I mention Tarres (that was a brag wasn't it) but when you put the time in and research Jose, you come away with the belief that Jose is Hall of Fame worthy.
With the exodus of British talent, it opens Adrian Street, The Royals, Johnny Saint and Billy Joyce to be looked at more forensically by a wider audience with the Big Daddy debate gone.
But it’s the addition of George Gordienko that makes International so interesting. On paper, he’s the strongest case to be inducted. With multiple 10,000+ draws all over the world in New Zealand, Greece (with fellow ballot member Spiros Arion) Iraq vs Sheik Adnan (yes, that Adnan) and India plus multiple 5 digit attendance figures in France and Spain, which included matches against Tarres and George was a Top 10 headliner in Britain for five years.
While footage of Gordienko is hard to come by, it’s anecdotal evidence such as the stories of Gordienko being Lou Thesz’s pick to succeed him as NWA Champion in 1956, Stu Hart's thought that he was one of the best ever, many consider him one of the most outstanding wrestlers of the 60’s.
Gordienko is also a re-entry into the ballot after a nine-year run from 2008-2016 before a voteshare of -10%
The question for Gordienko is that will he be a hit with voters after 8 years off the ballot or like his European rival Tarres, will George be a slow starter but a fast riser?
The other members of the 50%+ Club
Aside from Los Hermanos and The Young Bucks, Paul Orndorff (55%), Bobby Davis (53%) and Roman Reigns (52%) were the acts that were in the fifties in the voting last year.
More often than not, if you get into the fifties, you break the threshold of 60% with very few not getting into the HOF from that position with only Cien Caras, Dick Murdoch, Adam Copeland, Enrique Torres, Fabulous Moolah, The Minnesota Wrecking Crew, Jesse Ventura, Johnny Saint, Kiyoshi Tamura, Seiji Sakaguchi and Volk Han being those being so close but yet so far
So what of those in the 50% Club?
As I mentioned in the Mexican Block section, I think LHD get in. The Bucks should get in if the obstacles that are placed in front them get negotiated.
Paul Orndorff vote share increased in 2023 two years after his “death bounce” number of 2021 in 2021. Orndorff was Hulk Hogan’s best drawing rival that wasn't Andre in the Hulkamania era with the selling out of WrestleFest in Toronto a massive plus in his column. Of a list of the top draws in wrestling in the 70s, 80s and 90s of the 25 names on that list, only Orndorff isn't in the Observer HOF.
A draw in his time in the territories before his move to New York, Orndorff was seen as a low-key good pick for induction that has become a legit contender to get in.
There is a chance however that Orndorff is the next Sgt. Slaughter of the HOF discourse with Paul being stuck in 40-59 purgatory until his name gets moved to the Historical US/Canada section of the ballot from Modern US/Canada and maybe being in the jeopardy of the 15 year/50% club. Maybe his percentage this year will be a good way of finding out where the future lies for Orndorff on the ballot.
Bobby Davis should be in the Hall of Fame. Bobby Davis should have been in the Hall of Fame in the first class of inductees in 1996 that Dave handpicked himself that year. Yet almost 30 years after that plane ride to Japan where he dreamt up the HOF, Bobby is yet to be inducted only entering the ballot in 2021 after his death that year.
The archetype of professional wrestling manager is built with Bobby Davis as the template. Bobby Heenan was built with Bobby Davis in mind. Gary Hart used Bobby Davis mannerisms in his run in the 80s. Jimmy Hart’s famed motormouth style came from Davis. Paul Heyman’s style of endorsing his charges came from Bobby Davis. The HOF criteria tells us that influence on the industry can be used as a factor in voting for someone. Bobby Davis was the ultimate influence on pro wrestling as the first pro wrestling modern pro wrestling manager.
Roman Reigns saw his vote share rise to 52% from 32 in last year's vote. The truth was that Roman’s case in October 2023 was very different to his case in October 2022. WWE got hot in that 12 month period and with Roman as the standard bearer of the company as the temperature of the company rose, the rising in percentage made sense. But for the same reasons that Roman Reigns, who was the favourite for the 2023 Observer WOTY in July of that year didn't win that award, I think Roman probably won't get above the 60% line.
Inactivity ended up being the obstacle in Roman’s case (plus that Jey Uso Summerslam match) and since the last HOF season, Roman has wrestled 4 matches. Even CM Punk has wrestled more matches. While the reasons for that are in some part out of Roman’s control (leukaemia sucks, trust me on that) plus the booking trope of an fallen champion licking his wounds, an argument made by your random Roman Reigns SZN account on twitter that The Tribal Chief was part of the Wrestlemania main event that broke so many records can be countered by the sight of Roman being Robin to The Rock’s Batman during the “Road To WrestleMania”
While the WWE bias from the retired workers base of the voting cluster could drag Roman over the line, it would be a controversial moment in the history of the Observer HOF akin to Ultimo Guerrero's induction in 2019
CM Punk
Here we go again.
Since CM Punk (44%) came back from his 16-year sabbatical from pro wrestling in 2021, the debate about Punk and his candidacy for the HOF has been a tradition of the Hall of Fame season. After his vote share rose in 2021 on the back of The First Dance and All Out’s success on PPV it has stayed stagnant since after the Gripebomb at All Out 2022.
Luckily the Punk HOF discourse has stayed away from PunkAnon and it's all been civilised on that front but any chance that the debate would stop with Punk’s All In antics seemingly putting an end any continuation of his career ended when Punk came back from his 9-year sabbatical from sports entertainment. But instead of padding out his Hall of Fame CV his last 10 months back “home” has had the look of a man squatting at a place he used to hate instead of building a new life.
From the injury which took 6 months out of his year, the bad creative of the latter part of his feud with Drew McIntyre which saw the revelation that Punk has a bracelet buddy and just the feeling that Punk has lost that piece of the puzzle that made him the attraction he was in his highlight run in WWE in 2011 to 2013, Punk looks less of a Hall of Famer with every appearance he makes on WWE TV and while the amount of appearances he makes on WWE until a Punk volcanic eruption happens is unknown either way, the path to the 60% threshold is even more murkier than it was one year ago
The Wildcards
In the last two years we have seen two people go into the Hall of Fame from below a final number of 50% the year before (Tomohiro Ishii and Tetsuya Naito). In the ten years before 2023, 10 acts have come from below that 50% number to be inducted but 5 of them have come from either Japan and Mexico and also people like Jim Crockett Jr. being inducted from a death bounce.
So who is the one wildcard that can break into the Hall?
Johnny Rougeau’s (47%) case is vast and interesting but sometimes you need someone with more expertise than you to make that case and in Pat Laparde, an expert in all matters in the Quebec/Montreal territory, he’s the perfect person to talk about Rougeau.
Bobby Bruns (44%) is my third (or is it fourth) person that I feel should be in the Hall of Fame. Bruns is the man that started the wrestling revolution in Japan with his tours of the country that led to Rikidozan and the chain reaction which has led to Japan being an epicentre of professional wrestling. Add his stellar record of promoting in St. Louis and Bobby is a shoo-in for the HOF in my opinion
Ted Turner’s (43%) CV in regards to the Wrestling Observer HOF is the fact that he was the owner of tv stations that aired wrestling for 2 decades. My main question is, if Turner is on the ballot, why not Bonnie Hammer? I mean, if Zane Bresloff is on the ballot?
The main argument for Ted Turner was that he was the owner of the company that was the only wrestling company to overtake WWE as the No.1 in the world no matter how temporary it was. The main argument is that the only person who thinks Ted had any say in the running of WCW was Vince McMahon judging by the McMahon documentary on Netflix. Truth is, Ted had more say in what footage played on CNN in any potential case of the world ending than he did any decision in WCW bar the commissioning of Monday Nitro (tbf Ted would never have booked the Fingerpoke of Doom)
If you are selecting people on the effect they had on professional wrestling, Ted Turner is an interesting case as the world of professional wrestling without Ted Turner is very different but if you are selecting people out of the Non-wrestlers section based on hands-on influence, Ted Turner should be nowhere near the HOF. If no-one who was making decisions on the wrestling product of WCW in the second half of the 90's is in the Hall of Fame (and Eric Bischoff was kicked off the ballot under the less than 10% rule) then Ted should not be a HOFer.
The name Mike Tenay being in this section might come across as a weird editorial call but of those on this ballot only Roman Reigns, Shingo Takagi, Otto Wanz and Roy Welch had bigger jumps in their voteshare last year with Mike Tenay being on 41.9% from 31 the previous year. Mike having a larger percentage than Shingo Takagi (41.7) The Briscoes (37) and June Byers (32) looks really stupid. Heck, Mike having a 13% advantage over Tony Schiavone feels weird after the last 5 years of Schiavone’s career. But when you look at last years results you see that The Professor had a lot of support from Active Wrestlers
But with momentum and the top of the ballot percentages a little light, could Mike Tenay get into the Hall of Fame? Probably not. In recent history, people from the Non-wrestlers section usually don't get in from outside the 50% club and the majority of entrants from Non-wrestlers in the last decade coming in from the year 2018 when 5 of the 10 HOFer's from Non-wrestlers in the last decade came from that particular year.
The Von Erich trio of Kerry, David and Kevin (38%) could see an upswing in votes with the Iron Claw movie that came out in December. You could also say that if you need a movie to come out about a subject to get you to seriously consider a vote for that subject, you really shouldn't have a HOF vote.
The Von Erichs case is reminiscent of a case of a rock band that has an unbelievably great short period of time but it's best not to talk about the years after unless you like misery. The 1982-84 period when World Class was the no.1 territory in America if not the world deserves credit in something like a Hall of Fame but in a criteria that favours longevity, the Von Erichs just don't have that. Maybe it boils down to whether you think the Sex Pistols or Guns N’ Roses deserve a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Your answer to that question might actually determine your answer for the Von Erich brothers.
Japan
With 11 people going into the HOF in the last 7 years just like in Mexico, it means that the Japan section looks shallow in depth on first glance especially after Ibushi and Ishii’s induction last year and Naito's the year before
Shingo Takagi looks like the pick that will conjure most interest. A great Dragon Gate run was probably never going to do it for SHINGO but unlike CIMA (23%) whose last half a decade as a journeyman unlike Shingo who has had the stability of NJPW, Takagi’s last 5 years makes him a very strong candidate.
With the quality of work from 2019 onwards with the near two years of empty arena shows and clap crowds which saw Shingo as the best worker of that period for New Japan makes Shingo the class of the field when it comes to the Japan region.
CIMA, as mentioned a couple of paragraphs ago, has a case that contrasts from Shingo’s. The last 5 years especially with CIMA being a man who has fallen off the island of relevancy after the start of the pandemic but until CIMA’s departure from Dragon Gate in 2018, CIMA’s HOF entry seemed more likely than not. CIMA was the ace of the company that was seen as the No.2 in Japan for a period of time from 2010-2014 and 2017-18, an achievement that is HOF worthy. His in-ring work singles wise wasn’t close to the level of his trios work. His trios work was so good it helped change the landscape of how the trios match played out with the Dragon Gate trios match at SuperCard of Honor on 31/3//2006 seen as the template for the future of the 6-man tag.
There’s a case for saying that without CIMA and friends, the Elite Trios matches we all love don’t happen, the AEW Trios Titles and we don’t get The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn’s reign either
Ok, that’s a very big reason not to vote for CIMA.
Yoshiaki Fujiwara (29%) had an armbar.
Apart from the armbar that was named after its inventor, Fujiwara was the coolest guy in 80’s NJPW that wasn’t Riki Choshu and as a wrestler in the shoot-style technique, not many were better than Yoshiaki but most that were better than Fujiwara aren’t in the HOF and if Kiyoshi Tamura and Volk Han aren’t Observer Hall of Famers then Yoshiaki Fujiwara shouldn’t be. Other shootstyle masters such as Akira Maeda and Nobuhiko Takada were one of a kind, once in a generation and are obvious Hall of Famers and as much fun as Fujiwara was to watch and his training abilities underrated, Yoshikari Fujiwara is not a Hall of Famer like Maeda and Takada
Predictions
In the last 4,700 words, I have typed my beliefs on who should get in and what some of the trends of the last decade of the Observer HOF are. But who cares about my opinion on who should? The question comes down to, who will?
In my opinion, there will be 4 to 5 new inductees to the Observer Hall of Fame in 2024 (or January 2025 if we have a situation like the 2022 HOF when the results were published in January 2023 that year)
With 6 straight years of seeing an act from the Mexico section get inducted and with one from Mexico in the 50%+ club, Mexico gets an inductee into the HOF for the seventh straight year in Los Hermanos Dinamita
Every year in the last nine, multiple wrestlers outside Mexico have been inducted from the 50-59% range with 2 or 3 being inducted after being in that range the previous 8 out of those 9 years. 2018 saw six rise from being in the 50%+ club to smash the 60% barrier (and 5 of those came from the logjam that was the Non-Wrestlers section) so I expect 2 to 3 out of Young Bucks/Paul Orndorff/Bobby Davis and Roman Reigns to be inducted.
I think The Bucks and Bobby Davis get in with the overwhelming feeling that those 3 men should be in, the driving factor in their induction.
Orndorff and Reigns voteshare drops this years in my opinion with Paul Orndorff being the new Sgt. Slaughter with the amount of years he spends on the ballot and I wouldn’t be surprised if Reigns gets in once he retires from wrestling altogether in a “retirement bounce”.
Of the “five stars” of the modern era of NJPW that came out of the Japan ballot that have been inducted, two of them (Naito and Ishii) had their previous year’s vote share be in the 30’s with Okada being inducted in their first year and Omega was inducted after being in the 50%+ club the previous year and with Shingo Takagi at 42%, which was a rise from 21% (his first year on the ballot) with such momentum plus Shingo’s being so far ahead of the next best man in the Japan ballot Yoshiaki Fujiwara, I fancy Shingo to creep over the threshold
With a rise in two years from 19% in 2021 to 46% in 2023, Jose Tarres’ momentum is very obvious and with a reduced mass of people in the 40-59% area in the International section and Jose the seventh best percentage of those eligible on this years ballot in 2023, Jose Tarres is my wildcard prediction to be inducted and with George Gordienko so linked with Tarres from their matches in Europe, if Tarres gets inducted, Gordienko has a shot at being inducted as well on their re-entry in the ballot
But in a period of time where for the last 5 years, the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame has seen a wrestler in their first year on the ballot get inducted, the chances that we won’t get a guy in their first year on the ballot inducted is very high.
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