Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson, the Rock & Roll Express, who have spent the last 32 years on-and-off as a tag team, from the major promotions to the smallest of indies, join Ray Fabiani, who promoted pro wrestling on-and-off for 48 years, as the newest inductees in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame.

Morton & Gibson, facing being off the ballot after 15 years, garnered 64 percent of the vote, putting them over the top after being the second closest to making it, but not getting in last year. The team joins its biggest career rivals The Midnight Express, who were elected in 2009.

The Rock & Roll Express didn’t have the actual main event credentials to compare with most on the ballot, but were a key part of two strong periods, the high point of Mid South Wrestling in 1984-85, and the most successful period of Jim Crockett Promotions in 1985-86. They also anchored Smoky Mountain Wrestling in the 90s. Morton, in particular, was considered one of the best babyfaces at selling during the modern era. But as a team, Morton & Gibson had the most longevity together of any major tag team in pro wrestling history.

Their success spawned a number of imitations, although they themselves in a sense were spawned by the success of The Fabulous Ones, Stan Lane & Steve Keirn, in Memphis. After The Fabulous Ones became huge draws in Tennessee and Kentucky through use of music videos in the early 80s, Jerry Lawler put Morton & Gibson together. Both had been members of strong tag teams, Morton with Ken Lucas in Texas and Eddie Gilbert in Oklahoma, and Gibson with his half-brother Ricky for a number of years in different places.

The key to the act was that they could sell and work at a faster clip than most, upping the tempo of matches from their era, but also that women loved them, particularly young women. That was a combination of looks, the way Morton sold, and the way they were marketed with the music videos.

After the music video treatment preceded them, in the famous Watts/Jarrett talent trade in early 1984, Morton & Gibson exploded on the scene in Mid South Wrestling, being one of the keys to the best year in the history of the promotion, which went from having very few women at their house shows, to overflowing with them. What’s notable is that the Rock & Roll Express’ best city was Houston, and Morton had worked Houston years earlier. While he did well, once headlining in the city against AWA champion Nick Bockwinkel, he was nowhere near the level of star he became with Gibson. Similarly, Morton had worked in Oklahoma three years earlier for Leroy McGuirk, as part of a tag team with Gilbert, before McGuirk folded and Bill Watts brought Mid South Wrestling in, and while they were a good babyface team, few in the territory even remember Morton before the Rock & Roll Express.

Morton was really the key to the act. Although he was already 26 when the team was formed in 1983, he could almost pass for a teenager. The minute the team looked 30, because of their gimmick, they were going to be dead as far as their original gimmick because of who the appeal was to.

But even though the last major promotion strong run of the team was in 1990 (they were in WWF in 1998 as part of an NWA angle that went nowhere), they became almost like a rock band from the 50s and 60s that could continue to successfully tour smaller buildings as a nostalgia act and play their familiar hit songs.

Still together today, even though they’ve had breaks, turns, feuds, and a period when they didn’t team, for the most part, they’ve been together since 1983, and are believed to have had the most longevity of any major tag team in pro wrestling history.

They got over so strong in the Carolinas in particular that they still wrestle as a team there to this day. They are remembered more fondly than any tag team ever in that part of the country, even the ones like the Road Warriors who headlined more shows in that area during the same time frame, the Midnight Express, the greatest tag team of that era (who were their career rivals) and Ricky Steamboat & Jay Youngblood, who headlined what is remembered as one of the two biggest shows in the history of Carolinas wrestling. What’s amazing is their longevity was while doing an act that seemingly required them to at least look like they could pass for their 20s to be effective, and now Morton is 58, and Gibson being 56 and balding.

Balloting this year was the deepest in history, making it one of the toughest ballots ever. There were no slam dunks who became eligible, and nobody else came close to making it.

Brock Lesnar, the current WWE champion, came 13 ballots shy and finished in second place. Carlos Colon, who has been close for years, was six votes shy in his region, and Cien Caras was also six votes shy.

A new rule was instituted this year which is a 15-year rule. After being on the ballot for 15 years, a performer needs to at least get 50 percent of the vote or they are off the ballot.

Because of that new rule, somewhat patterned after the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, dropped next year from the ballot are Gene & Ole Anderson, Gran Hamada, Owen Hart, Gorilla Monsoon, Fabulous Moolah, Pedro Morales, Dick Murdoch, Seiji Sakaguchi, Jimmy Snuka, Wilbur Snyder and Jesse Ventura.

In the case of Snyder and Gene Anderson, they are probably not going to be back on the ballot, unless a reason surfaces that would make it appear they would have a shot at getting in. In the case of Morales, because of the data in the research this year, which came out after most ballots had come in, he’ll probably be put back on in two years for a last shot. The fact is that even though his numbers of big show successful main events and his Madison Square Garden record in particular are Hall of Fame level, and he held both the WWA and WWWF world titles, most of that was known, and he had never fared well in the balloting. But my thought it was everyone who had Hall of Fame numbers of a headliner in this year’s research would get another ballot run. What has always hurt Morales was his post-1973 career was not that impressive, past his WWF return as the perennial babyface IC champion.

Ole Anderson (in 2020), Hamada (in 2032), Owen Hart (in 2029), Monsoon (in 2026 because Monsoon is on the ballot as a non-wrestler), Moolah (in 2017), Murdoch (in 2024), Sakaguchi (in 2020), Snuka (in 2022) and Ventura (in 2024 because he’s on the ballot as an announcer, not a wrestler) will eventually return for one last chance in the historical candidates category. Their returns to the ballot will be 30 years after their last year as a significant star and major player.

Anderson was already in that category as part of the Minnesota Wrecking Crew tag team, but in studying his career, really Ole Anderson individually is a stronger candidate than the Anderson Brothers team, as he was a successful singles star, and also formed championship tag teams with Ivan Koloff, Stan Hansen and Arn Anderson. But while the end of the original Minnesota Wrecking Crew was in 1982, meaning they were eligible for the historical candidates a few years ago, Ole Anderson’s final major run, as part of the Four Horseman and with Arn Anderson, ended in 1990, meaning he would be eligible reappear on the ballot as a single in 2020.

For someone to be voted into the Hall of Fame, he or she needs to be named on 60 percent of the ballots from his or her region. There is also a time frame for North America, split up for modern and historical candidates. The modern category is for those who were still headliners with major groups after 1985. The historical category encompasses the years from 1948, when pro wrestling was first introduced on television, through1984. For those before 1948, there are additions made sparingly since most of the major players from that era are already in.

The other regions besides North America are Japan, Mexico, Europe and the rest of the world, which includes places like Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Singapore, India and South Africa.

Balloting is done by a large panel of historians, former and current wrestlers and major wrestling personalities, as well as reporters. All balloting is anonymous, although there is no rule preventing any balloters for releasing their own individual ballot, but we will not release any ballots nor any names of anyone involved in the process.

Wrestlers and wrestling personalities who get between 10% and 59.9% of the voting from their region will remain on the ballot next year. Those who get less than 10% of the votes from their region are dropped from the ballot. They can be put back on in two years provided either their careers have continued to move forward, or if voters feel there is new evidence or a reason they would garner more interest.

Wrestlers and wrestling personalities, provided they get at least 10% of the vote, can remain on the ballot up to 15 years, or longer if they can remain above 50%. At that point, if they are in the historical category or a non-North American, they will be not be brought back. In North America, they can get one year in the historical category and need to garner at least 50% to stay alive.

The Rock & Roll Express fared strongly in every category, finishing fifth among historians, fifth among active wrestlers, eighth among former wrestlers and third among reporters.

Lesnar was top 30 in every category, finishing second among historians, 21st among active wrestlers, 25th among former wrestlers and first among reporters.

Colon finished eighth among historians, second among active wrestlers, didn’t place in the top 30 among former wrestlers (it is always notable that Colon’s peers in the ring have never voted for him, with the general explanation always being that those who worked with him felt he was not a Hall of Fame caliber performer, just someone who owned a territory and put themselves over and he never got over when in any other place he tried, but those younger who weren’t about see him in a different light as the wrestling legend in his island), and second among reporters.

The difference in balloting in each group is significant. Billy Joyce, who was the top British heavyweight for a generation and long-time champion, and some say the greatest shooter out of Wigan ever, was a virtual unanimous pick among British historians for a Hall of Fame spot. But he got no support by almost anyone else.

Among active wrestlers, it was most interesting because the top five were Yuji Nagata, Colon, Gene & Ole Anderson, Volk Han and the Rock & Roll Express.

I’ve had it expressed to me by a number of wrestlers, including Bryan Danielson who has said so publicly on more than one occasion, that Nagata is the single best guy they had ever been in the ring with. In that sense, he was similar to Kurt Angle, as far as peers being high on him. While Nagata was the top star in New Japan and has had a very successful career, he was never the guy who was quite a Hall of Fame level star. But as a worker, was he a Hall of Famer? I’ve always thought so, but it’s been very difficult for great workers to get in, unless they have gone all over the world and made it to the top of WWE like Chris Benoit, Eddy Guerrero, Kurt Angle or Rey Mysterio. It’s not necessarily fair, but a guy like Kiyoshi Tamura, who is as good in the ring as anyone, and did come close in the past, flounders as people have forgotten his name because his style went extinct.

However, Colon and the Andersons have been taught to current wrestlers as being legendary, because Colon was on top for so long, and the Andersons had the reputation as the best heel team ever in the Carolinas, and Carolinas history survives better with wrestlers because it was the territory that really became WCW, so its history lasted until early 2001, while the other territories really died out in the 80s. To a degree, the Rock & Roll Express fit into that category, but most modern wrestlers who voted have seen them enough and they are the team studied by newer wrestlers when it comes to working as babyfaces in a tag team match, and had a classic feud with the Midnight Express that included a strong nostalgia run that lasted until health issues no longer allowed Bobby Eaton to perform.

Among former wrestlers, the top two were rivals and very similar in style, Dick Murdoch and Killer Karl Kox. Murdoch has always done incredible numbers among his peers, because Murdoch was as talented as any 275-pound wrestler of his era. As far as an all-around worker on his best day, Murdoch was as good as anyone of his size. But Murdoch wasn’t always on his best day. Murdoch has never got enough support except from those who worked with him, and probably knew him best, even though he came very close to getting in for several years. He fell from the top of the pack as his supporters started getting older and dying off. In recent years he had no longer come close to getting in. Kox was the second biggest heel, behind Killer Kowalski, during the glory days of World Championship Wrestling in Australia and a solid territorial star in the 60s and 70s.

Lesnar, likely because of his historical importance and uniqueness of his abilities, finished first among reporters.

Volk Han went from a guy who has been on the ballot and gotten limited support to someone topping 50% this year, which could have been his last year on the ballot. Han is an interesting case. For his style, he is among the best of all-time. Having seen every one of his matches, and he didn’t have that many matches or a long career, as far as ability in the ring, he was absolutely a Hall of Famer. And he did headline some successful shows, and was pretty famous in his own way in Japan. The question becomes if someone with so few matches should be a Hall of Famer, and the answer isn’t as cut and dried. It is notable than Han does better each year, while Tamura, who was more complete because his submission game wasn’t quite as good but it was still amazing for pro wrestling, and his striking was far better, went from being a strong candidate when he was still active to being forgotten.

Wrestlers are eligible for the ballot once they turn 35 years old and have at least ten years of pro experience, or after they’ve had 15 years of experience if they are under 35 and started young.

The highest finishing newcomers to the ballot were Los Misioneros de la Muerte, the trio of El Signo & El Texano & Negro Navarro, who were the team that popularized trios wrestling in Mexico during the 80s and drew consistent huge houses around the country, particularly in the heyday of the UWA at El Toreo in Naucalpan. But even they got only 36%.

Next year’s ballot should be easier in a sense, although not deeper. A number of strong candidates are dropping off, and as the years go by, there will be far more dropping off than be added on.

Daniel Bryan, Shinsuke Nakamura, Samoa Joe and Randy Orton will be eligible next year. There are very few new candidates that are strong after that, because with fewer places and fewer headliners, it’s become a business where individual stars are less important than ever before. KENTA is eligible in 2016 and the original Mistico in 2017. Mistico’s case is very interesting because he’s got the drawing power past any point to get in, but was hurt greatly by his WWE run. KENTA didn’t have the drawing power, but was among the best in-ring performers of the past decade, but his own future is WWE and it’s not a good fit. Perro Aguayo Jr. has already been on and off and could be put back on at any time. But the number of additions going forward will be slim.

Joining them on next year’s ballot will be Cowboy Bob Ellis and Rocky Johnson, because of how they fared in research on headliners done this year, A.J. Styles, who had been one-and-done but because several had asked for him to be put back on based on his New Japan run, Montreal promoter Eddie Quinn and former NWA President and long-time Central States star and promoter Bob Geigel.

Dropping off the ballot next year for failure to get ten percent of the vote this year are Ciclon Negro, Giant Haystacks, Ken Patera, Emil “King Kong” Czaya, John DaSilva and Jan Wilkens.

It’s hard to say who will benefit from that. Lesnar is clearly a strong candidate, but also has a number of people who absolutely won’t vote for him. His success financially puts his long-term run in WWE in question, and he will likely never go back full-time to pro wrestling. While he is booked like a super attraction of the past, the change in the way the business is makes such a thing less important. Colon is a situation, in the sense the group that “should” support him the most doesn’t at all, which is actually a great example of reputation after the fact vs. reputation during the fact. Ivan Koloff made a big jump this year, but was still under 50%. He did reasonably well with every group, but was only 15th place among reporters and wasn’t top five in any group.

Two other strong candidates, who hovered around 50%, were Karloff Lagarde, who was half of one of Mexico’s most famous tag teams with Rene Guajardo in the 60s and also a major singles star, and The Assassins, Jody Hamilton & Tom Renesto, who were considered behind only Ray Stevens & Pat Patterson as the top working heel tag team of the 60s, and who also drew very well in a number of territories.

The Assassins’ strength was among their peers, placing fifth, as well as ninth among reporters, and they fared well with every group. Lagarde placed fifth among reporters, which was his strongest category.

Of newcomers to the ballot, only Los Misioneros topped 35 percent and nobody was a strong voting candidate. Jun Akiyama, who had fallen below ten percent in the past, did better than before, but was still far from a contender. Austrian promoter/wrestler Otto Wanz, New Japan’s Minoru Suzuki, Ultimate Warrior, C.M. Punk, George Scott, the tag team of Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima, Los Brazos, Larry Matysik, Junkyard Dog, Akira Taue and the tag team of Brute Bernard & Skull Murphy will all remain on the ballot.

Punk and Warrior make interesting candidates, because Punk peaked at being the second biggest star in the world, a level that would get in almost any time historically. Warrior was also a huge star, and one of the most well remembered figures of the last 25 years. But like Punk, his time on top was short, and he wasn’t very good in the ring unless carried, and wasn’t someone who was going to get Hall of Fame votes among his contemporaries.

Punk had the great matches going for him and a strong cult following, but his leaving hurt him and this era is harder for someone to be a strong candidate. With Punk being rejected, Dave Bautista falling off last year, and with John Cena and Hiroshi Tanahashi already in, there is nobody who is close to a sure thing going forward. Randy Orton has all the numbers going his way as far as headlining big shows for a number of years, but he was less successful as a top draw than Batista. Mistico has the numbers but also has the failed WWE run. Shinsuke Nakamura is interesting. He may be the best performer in the world in-ring in 2014, pretty much made a secondary title draw like the main title, and has longevity as a top guy. Daniel Bryan was a Hall of Fame worker without a doubt. So are a plethora of people on this ballot like Nagata, Hamada, Tamura, Edge, Saint and Bastien. And none of them even come lose this year. Bryan has great longevity as being one of the best in-ring performers, but so did a lot of people just mentioned. Bryan was also a long-time independent main eventer who headlined and carried a WrestleMania. That’s the biggest show of the year, but Nagata headlined Tokyo Domes and Ultimo Guerrero really drew the two largest houses in CMLL history and has been a top worker and main eventer, and even significant draw, on-and-off for well over a decade and still didn’t come close. L.A. Park has four Wrestler of the Year awards in Mexico, but fell greatly.

The change in the business makes it very difficult for current wrestlers to get in. Nobody has ever gotten in based on independents. Unless things change, I can see it being next to impossible for anyone to get in unless they were with WWE, New Japan, or guys from CMLL’s last big run, and even those guys that were the key building blocks (Guerrero and Dr. Wagner Jr.) didn’t fare all that well this year.

Most others stayed about where they were. Koloff had a solid increase but was still a hefty 39 votes shy. Nagata also had a strong increase over last year, but part of it was the Japan ballot should have been easier this year with the elimination of Kensuke Sasaki and Hiroshi Tanahashi.

But a number had double-digit drops in percentages, including Mark Lewin, Kox, Blue Panther, Jackie Pallo, Park, Dr. Wagner Jr., Tamura, Domenic DeNucci, Hector Garza, Kendo Nagasaki, and John Tolos. Lewin, Kox and DeNucci were all candidates strongest out of Australia, and Panther, Park, Wagner Jr. and Garza were all from Mexico. The Australian ballot didn’t change much, and even though Carlos Colon came close and drew a lot of voters that wouldn’t vote for the Australians, the same was the case last year. With the Mexican ballot, Cien Caras moved up and Los Misioneros did well, plus Los Brazos were added (although they didn’t do as well), so it was a tougher ballot. Villano III also dropped, but not by as much.

The Pallo and Nagasaki drops are due to more Americans voting for Big Daddy in the category, who actually fared poorly among those in the U.K., particularly from former wrestlers, but increased his number slightly due to votes from foreign countries. But that hurt others from that category.

Next year will also be interesting because of how well Koloff, Kinji Shibuya and Bob Ellis did in research on drawing on top in major market main events. Koloff did well this year and jumped, but Shibuya was a non-entity and Ellis was on the ballot in the past and got no support.

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WRESTLING OBSERVER HALL OF FAME BALLOTING RESULTS
PERFORMER VOTES PCT 2013
ROCK & ROLL EXPRESS 212 64% 55%
Brock Lesnar 185 56% 47%
Carlos Colon 76 56% 59%
Cien Caras 53 54% 45%
Volk Han 52 51% 42%
Gene & Ole Anderson 119 49% 52%
Ivan Koloff 159 48% 34%
Karloff Lagarde 47 48% 52%
The Assassins 117 48% 53%
Mike & Ben Sharpe 47 46% 39%
Dick Murdoch 147 45% 46%
Jerry Jarrett 145 44% 38%
Jim Crockett Sr. 107 44% 44%
Big Daddy 46 43% 38%
Jesse Ventura 139 42% 39%
Bill Apter 138 42% 43%
Mark Lewin 51 38% 48%
Yuji Nagata 38 37% 26%
Los Misioneros de la Muerte 35 36% ----
Edge 117 36% 37%
Jimmy Hart 117 36% 34%
Gene Okerlund 117 36% 35%
Fabulous Moolah 114 35% 32%
Seiji Sakaguchi 35 34% 34%
Red Bastien 83 34% 41%
Sting 110 33% 33%
Gorilla Monsoon 110 33% 27%
Pedro Morales 81 33% 22%
Gary Hart 108 33% 34%
Villano III 32 33% 41%
Rollerball Mark Rocco 35 32% 39%
Killer Karl Kox 44 32% 50%
Stanley Weston 75 31% 39%
Don Owen 99 30% 29%
Jun Akiyama 30 29% ----
Gran Hamada 30 29% 30%
Howard Finkel 95 29% 30%
Johnny Saint 31 29% 32%
Wilbur Snyder 69 28% 24%
Blue Panther 27 28% 41%
Billy Joyce 29 27% 22%
Jackie Pallo 29 27% 46%
Huracan Ramirez 26 27% 19%
Enrique Torres 62 25% 34%
George Gordienko 26 25% 25%
Otto Wanz 26 25% ----
Tim “Mr. Wrestling” Woods 58 24% 32%
Ultimo Guerrero 23 24% ----
L.A. Park 23 24% 46%
Dr. Wagner Jr. 23 24% 35%
Masahiko Kimura 24 23% 16%
Kiyoshi Tamura 24 23% 44%
Horst Hoffman 25 23% 21%
Curt Hennig 76 23% 30%
Jim Crockett Jr. 75 23% 26%
Minoru Suzuki 23 22% ----
Sgt. Slaughter 71 22% 24%
Domenic DeNucci 29 21% 37%
Johnny “Wrestling II” Walker 52 21% 29%
Owen Hart 69 21% 21%
Ultimate Warrior 65 20% ----
C.M. Punk 63 19% ----
George Scott 63 19% ----
Jimmy Snuka 61 19% 20%
Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan 17 17% ----
Los Brazos 16 16% ----
Larry Matysik 39 16% ---
Junkyard Dog 52 16% ----
Akira Taue 16 16% ----
Hector Garza 15 15% 32%
Kendo Nagasaki 16 15% 39%
Spyros Arion 20 15% 22%
June Byers 35 14% 20%
Kinji Shibuya 35 14% 15%
Jim Breaks 15 14% 16%
Dick Hutton 32 13% 11%
Dave Brown 43 13% 12%
John Tolos 31 13% 26%
Brute Bernard & Skull Murphy 16 12% ----
Vampiro 11 11% 16%
Mario Milano 15 11% 14%
Johnny Barend 14 10% 16%
Pepper Gomez 25 10% 16%
Von Brauners/Weingeroff 25 10% 19%
Votes needed for induction into the Hall of Fame: U.S. and Canada modern (198); U.S. and Canada historical (147); Japan (62); Mexico (59); Pacific Islands, Australia, New Zealand, Puerto Rico (82); Europe (65)
Less than 10% of the votes from the region and dropped from next year’s ballot: Ciclon Negro, Giant Haystacks, Ken Patera, Emil “King Kong” Czaya, John DaSilva, Jan Wilkens
Dropped from next year’s ballot due to 15 year/50% rule: Gene & Ole Anderson, Gran Hamada, Owen Hart, Gorilla Monsoon, Fabulous Moolah, Pedro Morales, Dick Murdoch, Seiji Sakaguchi, Jimmy Snuka, Wilbur Snyder, Jesse Ventura
Added to the ballot next year: Cima, Bryan Danielson, Cowboy Bob Ellis, Bob Geigel, Samoa Joe, Rocky Johnson, Shinsuke Nakamura, Randy Orton, Eddie Quinn, A.J. Styles
Will be dropped after next year if not inducted or 50%: Cien Caras, Carlos Colon, Villano III, Volk Han

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TOP TEN AMONG DIFFERENT VOTING GROUPS
HISTORIANS ACTIVE WRESTLERS FORMER WRESTLERS REPORTERS
1. Billy Joyce 1. Yuji Nagata 1. Dick Murdoch 1. Brock Lesnar
2. Brock Lesnar 2. Carlos Colon 2. Killer Karl Kox 2. Carlos Colon
3. Volk Han 3. Gene & Ole Anderson 3. Jerry Jarrett 3. Rock & Roll Express
4. Cien Caras 4. Volk Han 4. Seiji Sakaguchi 4. Cien Caras
5. Rock & Roll Express 5. Rock & Roll Express 5. The Assassins 5. Karloff Lagarde
6. George Gordienko 6. Los Misioneros de la Muerte 6. Fabulous Moolah 6. Big Daddy
7. Ivan Koloff 7. Jim Crockett Sr. 7. Rock & Roll Express 7. Ben & Mike Sharpe
8. Carlos Colon 8. Bill Apter 8. Masahiko Kimura 8. Jerry Jarrett
9. Mark Lewin 9. Ivan Koloff 9. Red Bastien 9. The Assassins
10. Dick Murdoch 10. Jesse Ventura 10. Jim Crockett Sr. 10. Gene Okerlund
11. Bill Apter 11. Ultimo Guerrero 11. Ivan Koloff 11. Rollerball Mark Rocco
12. Seiji Sakaguchi 12. Karloff Lagarde 12. Jesse Ventura 12. Gene & Ole Anderson
13. Killer Karl Kox 13. L.A. Park 13. Mark Lewin 13. Enrique Torres
14. Stanley Weston 14. The Assassins 14. Gene & Ole Anderson 14. Edge
15. Blue Panther 15. Gorilla Monsoon 15. Curt Hennig 15. Ivan Koloff
16. Jesse Ventura 16. Jun Akiyama 16. Gary Hart 16. Bill Apter
17. Johnny Saint 17. Big Daddy 17. Jackie Pallo 17. Jimmy Hart
18. Gene & Ole Anderson 18. Edge 18. Kiyoshi Tamura 18. Jim Crockett Sr.
19. Assassins 19. Los Brazos 19. Owen Hart 19. Stanley Weston
20. Gary Hart 20. Cien Caras 20. Jimmy Hart 20. Howard Finkel
21. Red Bastien 21. Brock Lesnar 21. Gorilla Monsoon 21. Sting
22. Pedro Morales 22. Jerry Jarrett 22. Don Owen 22. Jesse Ventura
23. Wilbur Snyder 23. Fabulous Moolah 23. Wilbur Snyder 23. Pedro Morales
24. Jim Crockett Sr. 24. Rollerball Mark Rocco 24. Brock Lesnar 24. Los Misioneros de la Muerte
25. Gorilla Monsoon 25. Johnny Saint 25. Horst Hoffman 25. Blue Panther
26. Jimmy Snuka 26. Mike & Ben Sharpe 26. George Gordienko 26. Villano III
27. Sting 27. Dick Murdoch 27. Rollerball Mark Rocco 27. Jun Akiyama
28. Karloff Lagarde 28. Sting 28. Otto Wanz 28. Yuji Nagata
29. Huracan Ramirez 29. Gene Okerlund 29. Bill Apter 29. Dick Murdoch
30. Jerry Jarrett 30. Jimmy Hart 30. Pedro Morales 30. Don Owen

The change in the business makes it very difficult for current wrestlers to get in. Nobody has ever gotten in based on independents. Unless things change, I can see it being next to impossible for anyone to get in unless they were with WWE, New Japan, or guys from CMLL’s last big run, and even those guys that were the key building blocks (Guerrero and Dr. Wagner Jr.) didn’t fare all that well this year.