7 New Wrestling Observer Hall Of Fame Inductions Announced
New inductees were judged on four 'major criteria'...
The Wrestling Observer has announced that L.A. Park, Jerry Jarrett, Jimmy Hart, Bill Apter, Howard Finkel, Gary Hart and Yuji Nagata will make up the 2018 class of its Hall of Fame.
In order to be eligible for induction to the Hall, an entrant must receive at least 60% of the votes for their specific geographical region and have been active after 1988. Park was the sole representative for Mexico, Nagata the same for Japan, and Jarrett, Hart, Apter and (Gary) Hart all count for North America.
The four 'major criteria' inductees are judged on include "positive historical importance to the business, drawing power, in-ring ability and longevity"; the Observer does note that those who performed exceptionally well in one of those categories would still be considered. Apter, for example, has had a historical impact on the industry due to his decades of work as a journalist and ringside photographer.
Longtime Observer readers will be chuffed to see Howard Finkel get some recognition. For many, he was the voice of the WWF during the golden years of the 1980s-90s and is still their best-ever ring announcer.