WWE has announced that the Four Horsemen will be inducted into their Hall of Fame for 2012.
The lineup mentioned includes Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, and TNA Impact Wrestling’s Ric Flair.
This announcement brings forth many questions. Has WWE reached an agreement with Dixie Carter to allow Ric to be inducted? Is Ric’s contract up?
Maybe Ric can appear without permission, but it would be odd for WWE to promote a TNA star, though they did do this in the past with Mick Foley’s book, when he was in TNA.
You can check out video of the announcement below:
Let’s not forget that WWE has openly promoted Ric Flair on their programming since he’s been a part of iMPACT Wrestling. Most notably, he was featured on their website last year when Shawn Michaels was inducted:
http://www.tnastars.com/2011/04/02/photo-ric-flair-shawn-michaels-at-hall-of-fame/
http://www.tnastars.com/2011/04/03/photo-another-image-of-ric-flair-at-hall-of-fame/
And he was somewhat visible on their television broadcast:
http://www.tnastars.com/2011/04/09/photos-flair-on-usa-networks-hof-broadcast/
So I don’t think that it’ll be a big deal in iMPACT Wrestling for the Horsemen to be inducted including having Flair featured in the video vignettes. Now, whether or not he’s allowed on the stage will be something interesting, but I imagine that Vince McMahon just simply wouldn’t allow something like that to happen.
Vince’s past history has suggested he wouldn’t allow that. Maybe he has had a change of heart, or a realization more accurately, that the money he will make off of a Horseman DVD fully promoted with a HoF induction, will more than outweigh any business TNA may siphon from the appearance. whatever the outcome it is going to be interesting to see how this story develops.
My hope is that the WWE Hall of Fame will one day be a Hall of fame for all wrestlers, regardless of where they currently work or if they ever worked for Vince McMahaon. This could really make the whole thing feel more legitimate. Professional wrestling needs an all encompassing hall of fame.
And you know, you can’t induct the Four Horsemen without making serious reference to Ric Flair (and Arn Anderson).
Addendum: do they mention Barry Windham? ‘Cause it would also be odd to promote only 3 of the original 4.
Dylan – WWE put out a press release on the Four Horsemen:
http://www.tnastars.com/2012/01/11/press-release-on-flairs-2nd-wwe-hof-induction/
It seems they’re going with Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Barry Windham, and J.J. Dillon as the core four and their manager for the Hall of Fame.
Sorry Dylan, that was a big omission from my news piece, as Joe posted above Barry and JJ are definitely a part of this induction.
I read an interview with Tully, or JJ or someone(I can’t remember) one years ago that stated that Vince wanted to induct the Horsemen but they couldn’t get Ole to come around. Maybe they gave up on trying and decided to go with Barry (deservedly so, he was a great member).
Uhhh they have that already Dylan it is called the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame located in Schenectady, New York.
Do they? I never heard of it. I won’t say it’s out of the question that I simply live under a rock, but I’m a pretty big wrestling fan, have been all my life, and have never heard of it. I don’t think that’s a good thing for the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. WWE and TNA should be hosting their events, rather than creating their own.