Anybody who works for WWE for long enough eventually gets inducted into their Hall of Fame, provided they have enough name cache. Sometimes, this is for the best -- take Howard Finkel, for instance. Finkel may fill a niche role, but he does it better than anybody else ever. He's ingrained in the memories of millions of wrestling fans and is beloved for his talent. The Brooklyn Brawler is also well-known and well-liked. Unfortunately, he's a punchline, not a Hall of Fame level talent. Known for his less-than-stellar win-loss record (as JR would say, he spent more time on the canvas than Rembrandt), Brawler's had a couple of programs, but nothing too memorable. The man under the cap, Steve Lombardi, has been a valued contributor to WWE for decades, filling a variety of roles as needed -- from backstage worker to Doink. He still makes himself available to the company, slipping on the greasy garb when duty calls. He's a model employee. Still, though, fans want to have a bit of respect for the Hall of Fame. The Brawler's future induction puts that in jeopardy.
Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried.
*Best Crowd of the Year, 2013
