Posted in: Peacock, TV, WWE | Tagged: aew, impact wrestling, opinion, wwe, wwe hall of fame

Post-Vince McMahon Era Perfect Time for Physical WWE Hall of Fame

One of the biggest stigmas in professional wrestling, specifically the WWE since the company has largely been synonymous with the industry, is the physical lack of a hall of fame where fans can celebrate their heroes in a museum setting. It became a point of contention among the company's harshest critics, like Bruno Sammartino, Ultimate Warrior, and Scott Steiner, before they eventually accepted inductions themselves. The closest thing fans can see such relics are at fan events like WrestleMania at Fan Axxess. It wouldn't kill the company to offer tours at WWE Headquarters in Stamford, CT, but nope. So here's a suggestion for how the post-Vince McMahon regime can really make a statement: finally, build the Hall of Fame.

What would this mean building it now? For one, it's something permanent facility to give back to the fans the way other institutions are represented, with Canton (OH), Cooperstown (NY), and Springfield (MA) representing football, baseball, and basketball halls of fame. A permanent facility can not only house items from superstars' past, but like any museum, can have rotating exhibits from various eras and regions. Dedicating arena space also allows for special events like a filmed cinematic novelty match like the Boneyard Match between AJ Styles and Undertaker or an NXT PPV similar to the Hall of Fame pre-season game is an event itself for the NFL.

Allowing the arena to become a rental space for non-WWE wrestling events provides some unique opportunities allowing independent companies or smaller organizations like AEW or Impact Wrestling to create an open-door policy for wrestling fans to not only experience wrestling history but also proliferate the industry as a whole. Okay, even if we put personal rivalries aside, can we all agree the industry has hit the proverbial brick wall? Mentioning the competition isn't as taboo as it once was, as NXT is allowing the Tony Khan-owned Ring of Honor to be mentioned on air by color commentator Booker T referring to NXT Women's Champion Roxanne Perez. Chris Jericho was allowed to promote Khan's AEW on Steve Austin's Broken Skull Sessions during WrestleMania on Peacock.

Even if Jericho's appearance on Austin's show was approved by McMahon, not having them in the picture can allow Paul "HHH" Levesque and Stephanie McMahon to take the kind of risks Vince would never allow. Levesque already started recreating the ripple effects of re-hiring his previously laid-off talent since his father-in-law went above his head to fire them. The only clear mistake of the new regime is undervaluing Sasha Banks. If expanding wasn't incentive enough, let's keep in mind that most of the former WWE talent that go to AEW hold no ill for their former employer and vice versa.

An open-door policy would allow talent to have free access between both and not create awkward situations like the Shield 10-year anniversary, where they purposely did the bare minimum with Jon Moxley, who was Dean Ambrose during his run on WWE. They didn't even bother tagging him on social media or see if they could have a word for the feature. While one can say it's due to contractual reasons, keep in mind Impact Women's Champion Mickie James and an appearance in WWE's Women's Royal Rumble. WWE is allowing Karl Anderson to compete in an NJPW event and Shinsuke Nakamura at Pro-Wrestling NOAH, which was mentioned on WWE's SmackDown. The idea of sustaining the forbidden wall is silly at this point, and cross promotions should be encouraged. While WWE isn't the begin-all be-all of professional wrestling, they're pretty close to it in the United States as the most-recognized and profitable in a largely scattered industry. Even in 2022, it sounds like wishful thinking, but for the first time, it's possible because Vince McMahon isn't setting the terms.

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