10 Early Predictions For The 2019 WWE Hall Of Fame Class

3. Hardcore Holly

Hardcore Holly Billy Gunn
WWE.com

Hardcore Holly deserves induction for the sensational revelation unearthed on a recent edition of Something To Wrestle With Bruce Prichard alone. When faced with the Kliq's bully bullsh*t in the mid-'90s, Holly went right up to Kevin Nash and told him he was nobody to f*ck with. He drew an X with his finger on Nash's chin.

"That's where I'll knock you the f*ck out," he said.

Only slightly less facetiously, Holly was a fixture in WWE for years, surviving an hysterically sh*tty gimmick as Thurman (!) "Sparky" Plugg before finding a not inconsiderable level of fame as "Hardcore" Holly throughout the Attitude Era. Transgressive even by the lawless standards of the time, his brusquely hilarious putdowns of Gangrel ("ya fat b*stard!") and Michael Cole ("ya little sh*thead") endeared him to many as a no-nonsense badass. Colourful on the microphone, Holly also performed in several weapons-based bouts as funny as they were vicious. An underrated chest-lacerating chop practitioner, John Cena could only dream of striking a dropkick with Holly's guile - another underrated aspect of his in-ring game.

He's not a Triple H guy - Holly has taken to dismissing him with a curt "He can kiss my f*ckin' ass!" on the shoot interview circuit - but we don't yet live in Triple H's world, hence Asuka's repackage from sexy savage whirlwind warlord to distraction-prone goof.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!