10 Early WWE Hall Of Fame 2018 Predictions
9. Ivan Koloff
Having the unfortunate distinction of being dead limits the chances of inductees in an age in which the publicly traded WWE prefers not to acknowledge the torrid underbelly of the wrestling industry. However, though Ivan Koloff was one of countless wrestlers to have lived a life marred by struggles with drugs and alcohol, he died at the old age of 74 of liver cancer. He isn't an unseemly symbol of wrestling's lurid past.
There's no question that he is worthy of the so-called honour. Koloff was the man who ended Bruno Sammartino's record 2,803 day reign with the WWWF Title in mythical circumstances. When he pinned Sammartino, Madison Square Garden became deathly silent; so much so that Sammartino thought he'd perforated his eardrum. The hush gave way to a quiet chorus of crying women. Sammartino was so beloved that Koloff, at least at first, disappointed the people more so than he enraged them. The heat eventually grew so nuclear that the WWWF felt it was too dangerous to take advantage of.
Koloff is remembered for that moment above all else, but he was a bonafide star in the terrirory era for years.
That he died so recently might preclude a more or less immediate induction (he died as the Class of 2017 was finalised internally), but then again, WWE are hardly concerned with being perceived as ghouls.