Four inductees are part of this year’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame class, with the names revealed Friday.
The current issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter names Ted Turner, Dominic DeNucci, Jesse Ventura, and George Gordienko as Hall of Fame entrants, as voted on by current and former pro wrestlers, historians, and reporters.
The candidates require sixty percent of the votes in their given region for inclusion, with Turner leading the way with 70.2% followed by DeNucci with 69.7%, Ventura at 63%, and Gordienko at 60.5% (getting in by two votes).
The next wave of candidates just shy of inclusion were June Byers, Kevin & Kerry & David Von Erich, Jon Moxley, Hayabusa, The Briscoes, Morris Sigel, Gorilla Monsoon, and Salvador Lutteroth III.
Turner died this past May at the age of 87 and was already on the cusp of inclusion on last year’s ballot. He was a pioneer in cable television, using professional wrestling as a building block for WTCG (later WTBS), with Georgia Championship Wrestling becoming one of the top cable properties in the country once it went national through Turner’s satellite technology. In November 1988, he purchased Jim Crockett Promotions for $9 million and was an advocate for pro wrestling despite it being a money loser for the organization. In 1995, he greenlit a one-hour window on TNT for Monday Nitro, and it transformed the U.S. wrestling scene with the dawn of the Monday Night War and took both companies to new heights. The argument against Turner was that he was not the day-to-day operator of WCW (in the recent “Call Me Ted” documentary, wrestling was barely noted), but it was impossible to untangle Turner from the history of the business or say that his influence didn’t have a dramatic effect on where the business went.
DeNucci began wrestling in 1955 when he was nineteen years old in Montreal as the Masked Marvel and became a headliner in the city. He would lose the mask and go to greater fame under his actual name, but it was Australia where his Hall of Fame was made. Historian Ethan Tyler was a heavy advocate for DeNucci, and an article he published likely played a big factor, as DeNucci more than doubled his performance on the ballot this year. Tyler’s argument was that he was a top ten draw worldwide for three consecutive years between 1964 and 1966 for Jim Barnett and Johnny Doyle’s World Championship Wrestling. The promotion aired on Channel 9 in Australia on Saturday & Sunday. It led to strong success with shows at Melbourne’s Festival Hall, Sydney Stadium and big events at Perry Lake Stadium. DeNucci and Ray Stevens had a huge program in 1965 when the promotion was red hot, and DeNucci was its top star. He was a headliner in many spots including Toronto, Detroit, San Francisco, Montreal, and Buffalo. In the WWWF, he teamed with Victor Rivera (replaced by Pat Barrett) as tag champions in 1975 and had a second reign with Dino Bravo and made 72 appearances at Madison Square Garden.
Ventura finally made it into the Hall of Fame after years of struggle, including falling off the ballot. He came very close last year with 57.4% of the votes and crossed the threshold. He is in the non-wrestler category, and thus, it’s not his in-ring career being debated for inclusion. He popularized the heel commentator role, which became a staple for virtually every booth for years to come. It occurred during a major growth period for the WWF as Ventura called the first six WrestleMania shows before a dispute with the company caused his exit in 1990 and a landmark lawsuit over video royalties. The lawsuit became a strong point in his favor because it changed the way WWF had to handle pay for royalties and literally put money into the pockets of talent. I feel that argument is even stronger today when the scale of leverage toward promotions (WWE, UFC) is so heavy, and that talent standing up for itself is a rare occurrence. Ventura went to WCW in 1992 but didn’t have nearly the memorable role he held in the WWF and was eventually replaced by Bobby Heenan. He became a major figure in politics, first as mayor of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, and then his stunning upset in 1998 to become the Governor of Minnesota. He became outspoken in 1999 after the death of Owen Hart and the risk assumed by the company, resulting in a tragedy, but just weeks later agreed to work with the company as a special referee for that year’s SummerSlam in Minnesota. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004 and did a guest hosting spot in 2009 but had a sideways relationship with Vince McMahon for years. His recent role as a host for Saturday Night’s Main Event when the franchise returned to NBC appears to have ended quietly.
George Gordienko was a top ten headliner in the U.K. for several years, and had a significant feud with Spiros Arion in 1969 that drew multiple crowds in excess of 10,000. He was an international headliner and highly regarded as a worker. Famously, he was considered for the NWA championship but didn’t receive the nod. He was accused of handing out pamphlets promoting communism and was sent out of the U.S. and unable to return and forced him to wrestle primarily in Canada and Europe. In a 1998 article, he said, “I never believed in Communism. It was a brief fling after high school. I met some people I liked, and I joined the communist party.” Because of his inability to wrestle in the U.S., he was passed up for a run with the belt. He had a legendary reputation among the shooters of that era and is part of the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. He died in May 2002, just two weeks after Thesz passed away.
Other notes:
- Jon Moxley saw a big increase from 32.3% to 55% and was likely a beneficiary of three modern candidates (CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, Sabu) being inducted last year. He was really hurt by retired professionals, who didn’t vote for Moxley, but the AEW performer was fourth among reporters.
- Billy Joyce and Killer Karl Kox were in their fifteenth year and needed 50% to stay on the ballot. Neither received the votes and will be dropped. June Byers, Dave Brown, and Stanley Weston are on the chopping block next year if they don’t achieve the 50% mark.
- Those receiving less than 10% of the votes and dropped from the ballot next year are Seth Rollins, Kane, Kevin Sullivan, Sweet Daddy Siki, Colosso Colosetti, Tibor Szakacs, Tam Nakano, Kyoko Inoue, Gunther, and Archie Gouldie
- Hayabusa was right on the cusp of inclusion last year with 58.9% but fell to 54.6%. He was the top performer in the Japanese section, followed by Zack Sabre Jr., Koichi Yoshizawa, KENTA, and Great Sasuke.
- Mexico had no inductions, but the top performer was Salvador Lutteroth III, followed by Sangre Chicana, Mascarita Sagrada, and the team of Angel Blanco & Dr. Wagner.
- Junkyard Dog had a decent-sized decline from 58.6% to 48.8%. He is one of the most divisive candidates as voters are weighing his drawing power versus the length of time and falloff of his career throughout the late ‘80s and into the ‘90s. It’s probably going to take him making it to his fifteenth year or a super compelling argument to sway this downward trend. When it comes to historical figures, it becomes tougher each year to gain traction, with the exceptions being when someone passes away and there is a slew of research conducted, and/or you have a historian as your advocate, such as Pat Laprade with Johnny Rougeau and Ethan Tyler with Dominic DeNucci
- Mercedes Mone jumped from 10.9% to 41.3% and is now a real contender for inclusion in the coming year(s). Leaving WWE has enhanced her candidacy, whereas Becky Lynch has never approached her 2019 level, fell to 21.6% this year and is going to take a major turnaround to be considered. Moxley and Mone seem like very strong candidates in 2027, but it’s a tougher category.
- The top performer among reporters was DeNucci, historians led with Jose Tarres, active wrestlers voted for the British Bulldogs, and DeNucci was first among retired wrestlers.
- Next year, a bunch of names are being added to the ballot, but the biggest is Will Ospreay. Others added are Dragon Kid, Jun Kasai, Jose Azzari, Averno, Clayton Thompson, Ringo Mendoza, Irma Gonzalez, Johnny “Red Shoes” Dugan, Rene Lassertesse, Murcielago Velazquez, and Primo Carnera.
