Hall of Fame worthiness rating - **

The Iron Sheik’s main qualification is that he is a former WWF champion. But is that enough to get a guy into the Hall of Fame? His one-month transitional reign between the eras of Backlund and Hogan was a heck of a lot shorter than, say, Kevin Nash’s time as WWF champion and I don’t see many people calling for Nash to enter any Hall of Fame. But the WWE Hall of Fame is more about honouring legends than it is about accurately representing the history of the business and the Sheik is a legend. He’s someone that will always get a pop whenever he appears. He has managed to transform himself from hated Arab heel to beloved Arab comedy babyface at a time when Arabs are less than popular in America.

Hall of Fame worthiness rating - ***

Nikolai Volkoff was just one in a long line of huge, pale Russian heels during the Cold War era. He took the gimmick to the extreme with his painful rendition of the Soviet national anthem before every match but every company had the big Russian heels and Volkoff shouldn’t be in any Hall of Fame ahead of Ivan Koloff.

Hall of Fame worthiness rating - *

Jimmy Hart was one of the classic WWF managers of the 1980s. The WWF (and the WWWF before them) operated a system of three main heel managers who were used to give credibility to the conveyor belt of heels who were pushed as challengers to Bruno, Backlund and then Hogan. Albano, Grand Wizard and Blassie gave way in the 1980s to Heenan, Hart and someone else (it was meant to be Piper – he was signed to be a manager rather than a wrestler – and ended up being either Slick or Mr Fuji). While Bobby Heenan managed the world title contenders – Studd, Bundy, Andre, Rude, Hennig and so on, Hart is most famous for managing the Hart Foundation and the Honky Tonk Man to tag and IC titles respectively. Jimmy Hart had such a special talent for making people hate him. His irritating charisma was vital to the success of the Hart Foundation (two pretty uncharismatic guys) and Honky Tonk Man (who had been brought in to be the new number-two babyface but failed so spectacularly that they had no choice but to turn him heel). He isn’t as witty as Cornette or Heenan which is probably why he’s not as popular as them these days but as an old school manager he was one of the best.

Hall of Fame worthiness rating - ***

Paul Orndorff’s time at the top was shockingly short. He had a huge run with Hulk Hogan in 1986 (which surprised management by being Hogan’s most successful house show feud ever) and then faded away. He had serious neck problems which resulted in one arm that was so badly damaged that it is far less muscular than the other and was even rumoured to have died at one stage. Comebacks in WWF and WCW happened regularly in the late 80s and early 90s but the magic was never there. He made a lot of money during the Hogan feud but he never got the immortality of a Wrestlemania main event singles match. Wrestlemania II was just before the feud and Wrestlemania III was just after it. Indeed, Hogan did little BUT feud with Orndorff between those two historic events.

Hall of Fame worthiness rating - **

Roddy Piper was the Moriarty to Hogan’s Holmes, the Skeletor to his He-Man, the Master to his Doctor, the Honky Tonk Man to his Brutus Beefcake. Every hero needs an adversary and Roddy Piper was that adversary. Piper was so charismatic, so good at being bad that it didn’t matter to the viewing several that he was half Hogan’s size. His mouth was as big as Hogan’s ego and that made for a compelling program. Piper had balls too – he flat out refused to ever lose to Hogan which scuppered the feud from day one as it could never have a proper climax. The second incarnation of the war – in WCW in 1996 – saw the roles reversed but the money keep pouring in. Piper, with a plastic hip and even less intention of laying down, drew a ton of money and helped WCW establish that they could do more than just draw massive TV ratings with their old-guys product.

Hall of Fame worthiness rating - *****

Hulk Hogan is Hulk Hogan.

Hall of Fame worthiness rating - *****

There are three ways of looking at the WWE’s Hall of Fame. Firstly, you can judge those that are in in relation to those that aren’t. Only Hogan and possibly Piper deserve induction ahead of Bruno, Bret Hart, Bob Backlund and (from the wider world) Lou Thesz, Terry Funk and Jack Brisco.

Secondly, you can look at it as simply a way of paying tribute to great names from the past. Many fans grew up watching the WWF’s 1980s talent so to us names like Sheik and Volkoff DO mean a lot. They may not be the cream of the historical crop but no one can begrudge paying them a deserved tribute.

Thirdly, one can view it entirely from the political angle. No one is inducted (except posthumously) if they won’t attend the ceremony and do the associated publicity. Which means that no one who is on bad terms with the McMahon family will ever get in. This isn’t a Hall elected by peers or the public, this is entirely decided by Vince McMahon. So you’ll continue to see mid-carders who do what he tells them inducted while main event stars – such as Ultimate Warrior, Bruno, Backlund and Savage – who hate Vince will never get recognised.