Why WWE Must Avoid THIS Huge Mistake Ahead Of WrestleMania 39
3. The Prestige And Rewards
Regardless of the reasons for WWE opting to reintroduce its Hall of Fame in 2004, these ceremonies are genuinely important to so many of the HOF's inductees.
Sure, there are institutions such as the Cauliflower Alley Club, the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Hall of Fame, and the NWA Hall of Fame that are held in high regard, but the WWE Hall of Fame is viewed as an entirely different beast.
As of this writing, there have been a total of 234 inductees into the WWE Hall of Fame, with those ranging from individual talents, to tag teams or factions, to legacy gongs, to celebrities, and more recently to the Warrior Award winners.
For the most part, the WWE Hall of Fame is a who's who of the biggest names in the history of the wrestling business. If you think of the top stars of any era, the vast majority of those have been honoured in the WWE HOF - even more so with WWE nowadays more open to inducting those major names who made their mark competing for other promotions.
As alluded to elsewhere, there is also a financial incentive for those inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, for such an induction will usually come with a WWE Legends deal and a whole bunch of merchandise on WWE Shop for those stars of yesteryear to make royalties on. Not to mention, being featured in the Hall of Fame puts those veterans in a new spotlight when it comes to the demand for convention appearances and for signing events.
Most importantly, despite it being decided on the whim of Vince McMahon, being alongside your peers and bona fide legends is a sign of approval, a sign of respect, a sign of the influence and difference you've made to an industry that you've busted your behind to make an impact in.