TheWrestling Observer Newsletter (WON)Hall of Fame is aprofessional wrestling andmixed martial arts (MMA)hall of fame that recognizes people who make significant contributions to their professions. It was founded in 1996 byDave Meltzer, editor ofWON. Like many other wrestling halls of fame, such as theWWE,TNA,ROH andWCW halls of fame,WON's Hall of Fame is not contained in a building. There are no ceremonies for inductions other than a highly detailed biographical documentation of their career in the newsletter. Inductees include wrestlers/fighters,managers,promoters, trainers, andcommentators. On select occasions, groups, eithertag teams,trios, or quartets, have been inducted rather than the individual members of the group. This first occurred in 1996, whenThe Fabulous Kangaroos andThe Road Warriors entered the hall.The Fabulous Freebirds,The Midnight Express,The Rock 'n' Roll Express,The Assassins,The Holy Demon Army,The Sharpe Brothers,Los Misioneros de la Muerte, andLos Brazos among others all also entered as groups. Occasionally entirewrestling families have been inducted into the hall. This first occurred in 1996 whenThe Dusek Family entered the hall; in 2022, the five man familial team of Los Villanos was inducted.

Starting in 2022, it became possible for a wrestler to be placed in the Hall of Fame multiple times, much like inductees into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame. So far, five people have achieved this double honor:Toshiaki Kawada,Villano III,Antonino Rocca,Jack Brisco, andJackie Sato. Each are inducted as a singles performer and a team member (Kawada as part ofHoly Demon Army, Villano III as part of Los Villanos, Rocca as part of Rocca and Perez, Jack Brisco as part of the Brisco Brothers, and Jackie Sato as part of Beauty Pair).

Meltzer began the Hall of Fame by choosing a list of 122 inaugural inductees in 1996. Since then, wrestlers from past and present, others employed in the professional wrestling industry, wrestling journalists and historians have been selected by Meltzer to cast secret ballots to determine annual groups of inductees. Voting criteria include the length of time spent in wrestling, historical significance, ability to attract viewers, and wrestling ability.^[1] Inductees must have at least 15 years of experience or be over 35 years old and have 10 years of experience. To gain membership in the hall, potential inductees must receive 60% support on the ballots from their geographic region.^[2] Any person that gets less than 10% of the vote is eliminated from the ballot. If a person fails to get inducted 15 years after being put on the ballot, they must get 50% of the vote or be eliminated.^[3] There are over 200 inductees, including the multiple teams,trios, and stables. Since voting began in 1998, nineteen candidates have been inducted in their first year of eligibility; the most recent first-ballot inductees wereBeauty Pair in 2023.^[4]

In 2008, arecall vote was held asking if 2003 inducteeChris Benoit, whokilled his wife and son before committing suicide in June 2007, should remain in the hall. To have Benoit removed, Meltzer required that 60% of voters must agree with the proposal.^[5] Although the majority voted for Benoit's removal, they only represented 53.6% of the votes, falling short of the number required. Benoit remains on the list of inductees.^[6]

#	Year	Image	Ring name (Birth name)	Inducted for	Notes
1	1996		Abdullah the Butcher (Larry Shreve)[7]	Wrestling	Won theWWC Universal Heavyweight Championship (3 times),NWA United National Championship (1 time), andPWF World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[7]
2	1996	—	Perro Aguayo (Pedro Aguayo Damián)[8]	Wrestling	Won theMexican National Heavyweight Championship (1 time),Mexican National Middleweight Championship (1 time), andMexican National Tag Team Championship (2 times)[9][10][11]
3	1996		André the Giant (André Roussimoff)[12]	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee; won theWWF World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) andWWF Tag Team Championship (1 time)[13]
4	1996	—	Bert Assirati	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee; won theBritish Heavyweight Championship (1 time) andEuropean Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[14]
5	1996		Giant Baba (Shohei Baba)	Wrestling andpromoting	Won theNWA World Heavyweight Championship (3 times) andPWF World Heavyweight Championship (4 times); foundedAll Japan Pro Wrestling[15]
6	1996		Jim Barnett	Promoting	Founded Australia'sWorld Championship Wrestling; ownedGeorgia Championship Wrestling[16][17]
7	1996		Red Berry (Ralph Berry)[18]	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee; won theNWA World Light Heavyweight Championship (9 times) andNWA Texas Heavyweight Championship (2 times)[18][19]
8	1996		"The Destroyer" Dick Beyer[20]	Wrestling	Won theWWA World Heavyweight Championship (3 times) andAWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[20][21]
9	1996		Freddie Blassie	Wrestling andmanaging	Won theNWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (14 times) andNAWA/WWA World Heavyweight Championship (4 times); worked as manager after retiring as a competitor[22]
10	1996		Blue Demon (Alexander Muñoz Moreno)[23]	Wrestling	Won theMexican National Welterweight Championship (3 times) and appeared in severalluchador films[24][25][26]
11	1996		Nick Bockwinkel	Wrestling	Won theAWA World Heavyweight Championship (4 times),AWA World Tag Team Championship (3 times), andNWA World Tag Team Championship (2 times)[27]
12	1996	—	Paul Boesch	Commentating andpromoting	Posthumous inductee; promoted theHouston, Texas territory ofNational Wrestling Alliance[28]
13	1996		Bobo Brazil (Houston Harris)[29]	Wrestling	Won theDetroit version of NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (9 times) andMid-Atlantic version (1 time)[30][31]
14	1996		Jack Brisco (Fred Brisco)[32]	Wrestling	Won theNWA World Heavyweight Championship (2 times),NWA World Tag Team Championship (3 times), andNWA National Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[33][34]
15	1996		Bruiser Brody (Frank Goodish)[35]	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee; won theWCWA World Heavyweight Championship (3 times),NWA International Heavyweight Championship (3 times), andPWF World Tag Team Championship (1 time)[36]
16	1996		Mildred Burke (Mildred Bliss)[37]	Women's wrestling andpromoting	Posthumous inductee; won theWomen's World Championship (3 times) andNWA World Women's Championship (1 time); founded World Women's Wrestling Association.[37]
17	1996		El Canek (Felipe Estrada)	Wrestling	Won theUWA World Heavyweight Championship (15 times),CMLL World Tag Team Championship (1 time) andCMLL World Trios Championship (1 time)[38]
18	1996		Negro Casas (José Casas Ruiz)[39]	Wrestling	Won theCMLL World Tag Team Championship (6 times),CMLL World Middleweight Championship (2 times),UWA World Lightweight Championship (1 time) andUWA World Middleweight Championship (1 time)[40][41]
19	1996		Riki Choshu (Mitsuo Yoshida)[42]	Wrestling	Won thePWF World Heavyweight Championship (1 time),IWGP Heavyweight Championship (3 times), andIWGP Tag Team Championship (3 times)[42][43]
20	1996		Jim Cornette	Managing andpromoting	FoundedSmoky Mountain Wrestling and managed wrestlers inNational Wrestling Alliance,World Championship Wrestling, and theWorld Wrestling Federation[44][45]
21	1996		The Crusher (Reginald Lisowski)[46]	Wrestling	Won theAWA World Heavyweight Championship (3 times),AWA World Tag Team Championship (9 times), andWWA World Tag Team Championship (6 times)[47][48]
22	1996		Ted DiBiase	Wrestling andmanaging	Won theNWA/Mid-South North American Heavyweight Championship (5 times),PWF World Tag Team Championship (1 time),NWA National Heavyweight Championship (2 times), andWWF World Tag Team Championship (3 times); managed theMillion Dollar Corporation andNew World Order stables[49][50]
23	1996		Dick the Bruiser (William Afflis)[51]	Wrestling andpromoting	Posthumous inductee; won theIndianapolis version (13 times) and theLos Angeles version (1 time) of the WWA World Heavyweight Championship,AWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) andAWA World Tag Team Championship (5 times); owned and promoted theWorld Wrestling Association inIndianapolis,Indiana[52][53]
24	1996	—	Alfonso Dantés (Jose Luis Amezcua Diaz)[54]	Wrestling	Won theNWA World Light Heavyweight Championship (5 times),Mexican National Heavyweight Championship (2 times), andMexican National Light Heavyweight Championship (3 times)[54][55]
25	1996		The Dusek Family (Ernie, Emil, Joe, and Rudy) (The Hason Family)[56]	Wrestling andpromoting	Emil and Ernie Dusek won theCentral States version of NWA World Tag Team Championship (3 times) andSan Francisco version of NWA World Tag Team Championship (1 times); Joe Dusek promoted wrestling events inOmaha, Nebraska[56]
26	1996		Dynamite Kid (Tom Billington)[57]	Wrestling	Won theWWF Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time),NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time),All Asia Tag Team Championship (1 time),Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship (1 time), andWWF Tag Team Championship (1 time)[57][58]
27	1996	—	The Fabulous Kangaroos (Al Costello,Roy Heffernan, andDon Kent) (Giacoma Costa, Laurence Roy Heffernan, and Leo Smith Jr.)[59][60][61]	Tag team wrestling	Won the Northeast version of theNWA United States Tag Team Championship (3 times) and Mid-America version ofNWA World Tag Team Championship (3 times)[59][62]
28	1996		Jackie Fargo (Henry Faggart)[63]	Wrestling	Won the Mid-America version of theNWA World Tag Team Championship (10 times) and Mid-America version ofNWA Southern Tag Team Championship (22 times)[62][64]
29	1996		Ric Flair (Richard Fliehr)[65][n 1]	Wrestling	Won theWWF Championship (2 times),NWA World Heavyweight Championship (8 times), andWCW World Heavyweight Championship (6 times)[66]
30	1996		Tatsumi Fujinami	Wrestling	Won theIWGP Heavyweight Championship (6 times),NWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time), andWWF Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[34][67][68]
31	1996		Dory Funk	Wrestling andpromoting	Posthumous inductee; won theNWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time) andNWA North American Heavyweight Championship multiple times; promoted for the National Wrestling Alliance[69][70]
32	1996		Dory Funk Jr.	Wrestling	Won theNWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time),NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship (2 times), andNWA Florida Heavyweight Championship (3 times)[69][71]
33	1996		Terry Funk	Wrestling	Won theNWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time),ECW World Heavyweight Championship (2 times), andWWF Tag Team Championship (1 time)[72][73][74]
34	1996		Verne Gagne (LaVerne Gagne)	Wrestling andpromoting	Founded theAmerican Wrestling Association; won theAWA World Heavyweight Championship (10 times)[75]
35	1996	—	Cavernario Galindo (Rodolfo Galindo Ramírez)[76]	Wrestling	Won the Mexican Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time); appeared in severalluchador films[76][77]
36	1996		Ed Don George	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee; won theWorld Heavyweight Wrestling Championship (1 time) andBoston's AWA World Heavyweight Championship (2 times)[78]
37	1996		Gorgeous George (George Raymond Wagner)[79]	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee; won theNWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (1 time),NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship (1 time), andBoston's AWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[79]
38	1996		Frank Gotch	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee; won theWorld Heavyweight Wrestling Championship (1 time) andAmerican Heavyweight Championship (3 times)[80]
39	1996	—	Karl Gotch (Karl Istaz)[81]	Wrestling	Won theIWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time),WWWF World Tag Team Championship (1 time), and Ohio's AWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[81]
40	1996		"Superstar" Billy Graham (Wayne Coleman)[82]	Wrestling	Won theWWWF World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) andSan Francisco version of NWA World Tag Team Championship (2 times)[83][84]
41	1996	—	Eddie Graham (Edward Gossett)[85]	Wrestling andpromoting	Posthumous inductee; won theNWA World Tag Team Championship (7 times) andNWA United States Tag Team Championship (4 times); ownedChampionship Wrestling from Florida and served aspresident of National Wrestling Alliance[85]
42	1996	—	René Guajardo (Manuel Guajardo Mejorado)	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee; won theMexican National Middleweight Championship (2 times),Mexican National Tag Team Championship (1 time), and theUWA World Middleweight Championship (2 times)[86][87]
43	1996	—	Gory Guerrero (Salvador Guerrero Quesada)[88]	Wrestling andpromoting	Posthumous inductee; won theNWA World Welterweight Championship (1 time),NWA World Middleweight Championship (1 time), andMexican National Middleweight Championship (1 time)[88]
44	1996		George Hackenschmidt	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee; won theEuropean Greco-Roman Heavyweight Championship (1 time) andWorld Heavyweight Wrestling Championship (1 time)[89]
45	1996		Stan Hansen (John Hansen)[90]	Wrestling	Won theTriple Crown Heavyweight Championship (4 times) andAWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[90][91]
46	1996		Bret Hart	Wrestling	Won theWWF Championship (5 times),WWF Tag Team Championship (2 times), andWCW World Heavyweight Championship (2 times)[92][93][94]
47	1996	—	Stu Hart	Wrestling,promoting and training	Owned and promotedStampede Wrestling; trained many well-known wrestlers[95]
48	1996		Bobby Heenan (Raymond Heenan)[96]	Managing andcommentating	Managed wrestlers in theAmerican Wrestling Association,Georgia Championship Wrestling, andWorld Wrestling Federation; provided color commentary for the World Wrestling Federation andWorld Championship Wrestling[96]
49	1996		Danny Hodge	Wrestling	Won theNWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship (7 times)[97]
50	1996		Hulk Hogan (Terry Bollea)[98]	Wrestling	Won theWWE World Heavyweight Championship (6 times) andWCW World Heavyweight Championship (6 times)[92][94]
51	1996		Antonio Inoki (Kanji Inoki)[99]	Wrestling andpromoting	Won theAll Asia Tag Team Championship (3 times),NWA International Tag Team Championship (4 times), andIWGP Heavyweight Championship (1 time); foundedNew Japan Pro-Wrestling[100]
52	1996	—	Rayo de Jalisco (Maximino Linares Moreno)[101]	Wrestling	Won theMexican National Tag Team Championship (2 times) and appeared inluchador films[102][103][104]
53	1996		Tom Jenkins	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee; won theAmerican Heavyweight Championship (3 times)[105]
54	1996	—	Don Leo Jonathan (Don Heaton)[106]	Wrestling	Won theNWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (15 times) andOmaha'sWorld Heavyweight Championship (2 times)[106]
55	1996		Gene Kiniski	Wrestling	Won theAWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time),NWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time), andWWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[107]
56	1996		Fred Kohler (Fred Koch)[61]	Promoting	Posthumous inductee; promoted wrestling events inChicago,Illinois and helped popularizetag team wrestling in the United States[108]
57	1996		Killer Kowalski (Edward Spulnik)[109]	Wrestling and training	Won theIWA World Heavyweight Championship (6 times) andWWWF World Tag Team Championship (1 time); trained many well-known wrestlers[110]
58	1996		Ernie Ladd	Wrestling	Won theMid-South North American Heavyweight Championship (4 times),WWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time), andNWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[111]
59	1996		Dick Lane	Commentating	Posthumous inductee; worked as commentator for wrestling shows in Southern California[112]
60	1996		Jerry Lawler	Wrestling andpromoting	Won theAWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time),USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship (27 times), andMemphis Wrestling Southern Heavyweight Championship (40 times)[113]
61	1996		Ed Lewis (Robert Friedrich)	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee; won theWorld Heavyweight Wrestling Championship (4 times) andBoston version of the AWA World Heavyweight Championship (2 times)[114]
62	1996		Jim Londos (Chris Theophelos)[115]	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee; won theWorld Heavyweight Wrestling Championship (1 time) andNWA/NBA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[115]
63	1996	—	Salvador Lutteroth (Salvador Lutteroth Gonzalez)[116]	Promoting	Posthumous inductee; foundedEmpresa Mexicana de la Lucha Libre[117]
64	1996		Akira Maeda	Wrestling andpromoting	Won the UWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time),European Heavyweight Championship (1 time), andIWGP Tag Team Championship (2 times); foundedFighting Network Rings and the NewbornUniversal Wrestling Federation[118][119][120]
65	1996	—	Devil Masami (Masami Yoshida)[121]	Women's wrestling	Won theWWWA World Single Championship (1 time),AAAW Single Championship (1 time), andWCW Women's Championship (1 time); trained several well-known wrestlers[122][123]
66	1996		Mil Máscaras (Aaron Rodríguez)[124]	Wrestling	Won theWWA/NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship (4 times),Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship (2 times), andGeorgia's IWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[124]
67	1996		Dump Matsumoto (Kaoru Matsumoto)[125]	Women's wrestling	Won theAJW Championship (1 time) andWWWA World Tag Team Championship (2 times)[125][126]
68	1996		Earl McCready	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee; won theNWA British Empire Heavyweight Championship (2 times)[127]
69	1996		Leroy McGuirk	Wrestling andpromoting	Posthumous inductee; won theNWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time) andWorld Light Heavyweight Championship (2 times); promoted shows for National Wrestling Alliance in Oklahoma[70][128][129]
70	1996		Vince McMahon Sr.	Promoting	Posthumous inductee; founded theWorld Wide Wrestling Federation[130]
71	1996		Vince McMahon Jr.	Promoting andcommentating	Owned and provided commentary for theWorld Wrestling Federation[92][131][132]
72	1996		Danny McShain	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee; won theWorld Light Heavyweight Championship (11 times) andNWA Texas Heavyweight Championship (9 times)[19][133]
73	1996	—	Ray Mendoza (Jose Diaz)[134]	Wrestling	Won theNWA World Light Heavyweight Championship (6 times) andUWA World Light Heavyweight Championship (4 times)[134]
74	1996		Mitsuharu Misawa	Wrestling	Won theTriple Crown Heavyweight Championship (5 times),GHC Heavyweight Championship (3 times), andWorld Tag Team Championship (6 times); foundedPro Wrestling Noah[135][136]
75	1996	—	Toots Mondt (Joseph Mondt)	Promoting	Posthumous inductee; invented "Slam Bang Western Style Wrestling", founded theGold Dust Trio, and ran theWorld Wide Wrestling Federation[137]
76	1996	—	Sam Muchnick	Promoting	Founded the National Wrestling Alliance and served as its president from 1950 to 1960 and from 1963 to 1975; owned and promoted theSt. Louis Wrestling Club[138][139]
77	1996		Bronko Nagurski (Bronislau Nagurski)[140]	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee; won theNWA/NBA World Heavyweight Championship (2 times),World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship (1 time)[140]
78	1996		Pat O'Connor	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee; won theAWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) andNWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[141]
79	1996		Kintarō Ōki (Kim Tae-sik)	Wrestling	Won theWWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time),All Asia Heavyweight Championship (4 times) andNWA International Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[142]
80	1996		Atsushi Onita	Wrestling andpromoting	Won theNWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship (3 times),All Asia Tag Team Championship (1 time), andFMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Championship (7 times); foundedFrontier Martial-Arts Wrestling[143]
81	1996		Pat Patterson (Pierre Clermont)[84]	Wrestling	Won theSan Francisco version of NWA World Tag Team Championship (11 times),AWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time), andWWF Intercontinental Championship (1 time)[84]
82	1996	—	Antonio Peña (Antonio Peña Herrada)[142]	Promoting	FoundedAsistencia Asesoría y Administración[142]
83	1996	—	John Pesek	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee; won theNWA/NBA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[70]
84	1996		Roddy Piper (Roderick Toombs)[144]	Wrestling	Won theNWA/WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (3 times) andWWF Intercontinental Championship (1 time)[144]
85	1996		Harley Race	Wrestling	Won theNWA World Heavyweight Championship (8 times); founded World League Wrestling[70]
86	1996		Dusty Rhodes (Virgil Runnels Jr.)[145]	Wrestling	Won theNWA World Heavyweight Championship (3 times) andNWA Florida Heavyweight Championship (10 times)[146]
87	1996		Rikidōzan (Kim Sin-Nak)[147]	Wrestling andpromoting	Posthumous inductee; won theNWA International Heavyweight Championship (1 time),Japanese Heavyweight Championship (1 time),All Asia Heavyweight Championship (1 time),NWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time), andAll Asia Tag Team Championship (4 times); founded theJapanese Wrestling Association[147]
88	1996		The Road Warriors (Hawk andAnimal) (Michael Hegstrand and Joseph Laurinaitis)[148]	Tag team wrestling	Won theAWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time),NWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time), andWWF Tag Team Championship (2 times)[93][148]
89	1996		Yvon Robert	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee; won theNWA/NBA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) andBoston's AWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[149]
90	1996		Billy Robinson	Wrestling	Won thePWF World Heavyweight Championship (1 time),IWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time),European Heavyweight Championship (1 time),British Heavyweight Championship (1 time),AWA World Tag Team Championship (2 times), andAWA British Empire Heavyweight Championship (3 times)[7][150][151]
91	1996		Antonino Rocca (Antonino Biasetton)[152]	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee; won theOhio version of the AWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time),NWA North American Tag Team Championship (1 time) andWWWF International Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[153]
92	1996		Buddy Rogers (Herman Rohde)[154]	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee; won theNWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) andWWWF World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[34][92]
93	1996	—	Lance Russell (Lanier Russell)	Commentating	Worked as commentator and ring announcer for wrestling shows inMemphis, and to a lesser extent,World Championship Wrestling andSmoky Mountain Wrestling[155]
94	1996		Bruno Sammartino	Wrestling	Won theWWWF World Heavyweight Championship (2 times),WWWF United States Tag Team Championship (1 time), andWWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time)[156]
95	1996	—	Billy Sandow (Wilhelm Baumann)	Promoting andmanaging	Posthumous inductee; managedEd "Strangler" Lewis and was part of theGold Dust Trio[157]
96	1996		El Santo (Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta)[103]	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee; won theMexican National Welterweight Championship (2 times),Mexican National Middleweight Championship (4 times), andMexican National Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time); appeared in severalluchador films[10][24][103][158]
97	1996	—	Jackie Sato (Naoko Sato)[159]	Women's wrestling	Won theWWWA World Single Championship (2 times)[159]
98	1996		Randy Savage (Randy Poffo)[160]	Wrestling	Won theWWF Championship (2 times),WWF Intercontinental Championship (1 time), andWCW World Heavyweight Championship (4 times)[92][94][161]
99	1996		The Sheik (Ed Farhat)[162]	Wrestling andpromoting	Won theDetroit Version of NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (12 times) andNWA Americas Heavyweight Championship (2 times); owned and promotedBig Time Wrestling[162][163]
100	1996		Hisashi Shinma	Promoting	Chairman ofNew Japan Pro-Wrestling, founder of JapaneseUniversal Wrestling Federation and on-screenpresident of the World Wrestling Federation[100][164]
101	1996		Dara Singh (Dara Singh Randhawa)[165]	Wrestling	Won the World Wrestling Championship,NWA Canadian Open Tag Team Championship (1 time) and Commonwealth Championship.[43][166][167]
102	1996		Gordon Solie (Francis Labiak)[168]	Commentating	Worked as commentator for theNational Wrestling Alliance andWorld Championship Wrestling[169]
103	1996		El Solitario (Roberto González Cruz)[170]	Wrestling	Won theNWA World Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time) andNWA World Middleweight Championship (1 time)[170][171]
104	1996		Ricky Steamboat[172] (Richard Blood)	Wrestling	Won theNWA/WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (4 times),NWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time), andWWF Intercontinental Championship (1 time)[172][173]
105	1996		Joe Stecher	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee; won theWorld Heavyweight Wrestling Championship (3 times)[174]
106	1996		Tony Stecher (Anton Stecher)[174]	Wrestling andpromoting	Posthumous inductee; won several regional championships; co-founded theNational Wrestling Alliance[174]
107	1996	—	Ray Steele (Peter Sauer)[175]	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee; won theNWA/NBA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[70]
108	1996		Ray Stevens (Carl Stevens)	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee; won theNWA United States Heavyweight Championship (San Francisco version) (2 times), theAWA World Tag Team Championship (4 times) and theAWA United States Heavyweight Championship (7 times)[70]
109	1996		Nobuhiko Takada	Wrestling andpromoting	Won theIWGP Heavyweight Championship (1 time),Pro-Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship (1 time), andIWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time); founded theUnion of Wrestling Forces International[68][176]
110	1996		Genichiro Tenryu (Genichiro Shimada)[177]	Wrestling andpromoting	Won theIWGP Heavyweight Championship (1 time),Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship (3 times),World Tag Team Championship (5 times); foundedWrestle Association R[178][179][180]
111	1996		Lou Thesz (Aloysius Martiz Thesz)[181]	Wrestling	Won theNWA World Heavyweight Championship (6 times)[181]
112	1996		"Tiger Mask" Satoru Sayama[182]	Wrestling,MMA andpromoting	Won theWWF Junior Heavyweight Championship (2 times) andNWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship (2 times);[182] foundedShooto
113	1996		Jumbo Tsuruta (Tomomi Tsuruta)[183]	Wrestling	Won theTriple Crown Heavyweight Championship (3 times) andAWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[183]
114	1996	—	Frank Tunney	Promoting	Posthumous inductee; promoted wrestling events inToronto,Ontario and served as president of the National Wrestling Alliance[184]
115	1996		Mad Dog Vachon	Wrestling	Won theAWA World Heavyweight Championship (5 times),AWA World Tag Team Championship (2 times), andCentral States version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time)[185]
116	1996		Big Van Vader (Leon White)[186]	Wrestling	Won theIWGP Heavyweight Championship (3 times),Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship (2 times),WCW World Heavyweight Championship (3 times), andUWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[94][187]
117	1996		Johnny Valentine (Jonathan Wisniski)[188]	Wrestling	Won theNWF Heavyweight Championship (2 times) andNWA/WWWF United States Tag Team Championship (4 times)[189]
118	1996		Fritz Von Erich (Jack Adkisson)[190]	Wrestling andpromoting	Won theAWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) andNWA American Heavyweight Championship (13 times); served as president of the National Wrestling Alliance and foundedWorld Class Championship Wrestling[190][191]
119	1996		Whipper Billy Watson (William Potts)[192]	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee; won theNWA/NBA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time),NWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) andNWA British Empire Heavyweight Championship (12 times)[192]
120	1996		Bill Watts	Wrestling andpromoting	Won theMid-South North American Heavyweight Championship (8 times),AWA United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time) andWWWF United States Tag Team Championship (1 time); foundedMid-South Wrestling and served as president ofWorld Championship Wrestling[193][194][195]
121	1996		Jaguar Yokota (Rimi Yokota)[196]	Women's wrestling	Won theUWA World Women's Championship (1 time), andWWWA World Single Championship (2 times)[197]
122	1996		Stanislaus Zbyszko	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee; won theWorld Heavyweight Wrestling Championship (3 times)[198]
123	1997		Édouard Carpentier (Edouard Wiercowicz)[199]	Wrestling	Won the Boston's Atlantic Athletic Commission World Heavyweight Championship (1 time), Omaha'sWorld Heavyweight Championship (1 time), andNAWA/WWA World Heavyweight Championship (2 times)[199]
124	1997		El Hijo del Santo (Jorge Guzmán)[200]	Wrestling	Won theAAA World Tag Team Championship (1 time),Mexican National Middleweight Championship (1 time), andMexican National Welterweight Championship (1 time)[10][24][201]
125	1997		Toshiaki Kawada	Wrestling	Won theTriple Crown Heavyweight Championship (5 times)[178]
126	1997	—	Jimmy Lennon	Ring announcing	Posthumous inductee; worked as a ring announcer inLos Angeles[202]
127	1997		William Muldoon	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee; won American Greco-Roman Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[203]
128	1997		Chigusa Nagayo	Women's wrestling	FoundedGaea Japan; won theAAAW Single Championship (2 times)[204][205]
129	1998		Dos Caras (José Rodríguez)	Wrestling	Won theUWA World Heavyweight Championship (3 times),WWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time),Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time) andMexican National Trios Championship (1 time)[158][206]
130	1999		Lioness Asuka (Tomoko Kitamura)	Women's wrestling	Won theAJW Championship (2 times),WWWA World Single Championship (2 times), andAJW Junior Championship (1 time).
131	1999		Jushin Thunder Liger (Keiichi Yamada)[207]	Wrestling	Won theIWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship (11 times),GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time),CMLL World Middleweight Championship (1 time),J-Crown (1 time),WCW Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time), andNWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship (2 times).[208][209]
132	1999		Keiji Mutoh	Wrestling	Won theTriple Crown Heavyweight Championship (3 times) andIWGP Heavyweight Championship (4 times) andNWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[119][178]
133	1999		Jim Ross	Commentating	Worked as commentator forUniversal Wrestling Federation, WCW, and WWF/E[210]
134	2000		Stone Cold Steve Austin (Steven James Williams)[211][n 2]	Wrestling	Won theWWF Championship (6 times),WWF Intercontinental Championship (2 times), andWCW United States Heavyweight Championship (2 times)[92][161][173]
135	2000		Mick Foley	Wrestling	Won theWWF Championship (3 times) andTNA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[92]
136	2000		Shinya Hashimoto	Wrestling	Won theNWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time),IWGP Heavyweight Championship (3 times), andTriple Crown Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[178][213][214]
137	2000		Akira Hokuto (Hisako Uno Sasaki)	Women's wrestling	Won theWCW Women's Championship (1 time),All Pacific Championship (2 times), andCMLL World Women's Championship (1 time)[215]
138	2000	—	Bill Longson	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee; won theNWA/NBA World Heavyweight Championship (3 times) andNWA Central States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[216]
139	2000		Frank Sexton	Wrestling	Won theBoston-based AWA World Heavyweight Champion (2 times)[217]
140	2000		Sándor Szabó	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee; won theNWA/NBA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) and Boston-basedAWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[218]
141	2001	—	Black Shadow (Alejandro Cruz Ortíz)[61]	Wrestling	Won theMexican National Tag Team Championship (1 time) andMexican National Lightweight Championship (1 time)[102][219]
142	2001	—	Diablo Velasco (Cuahutémoc Velasco)[61]	Training	Posthumous inductee; trained many well-known wrestlers[70][220]
143	2001	—	Lizmark (Juan Baños)	Wrestling	Won theMexican National Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time),Mexican National Middleweight Championship (2 times), andMexican National Welterweight Championship (1 time)[10][24][158]
144	2001		Bull Nakano (Keiko Nakano)[221]	Women's wrestling	Won theWWWA World Single Championship (1 time),All Pacific Championship (1 time),WWF Women's Championship (1 time) andCMLL World Women's Championship (1 time)[125]
145	2001	—	El Satánico (Daniel López)[222]	Wrestling	Won theMexican National Middleweight Championship (3 times) andMexican National Trios Championship (3 times)[10][206]
146	2002		Martin Burns	Wrestling and training	Posthumous inductee; won theAmerican Heavyweight Championship (1 time); trained many well-known wrestlers[223][224]
147	2002		Jack Curley (Jacques Armand Schuel)[225]	Promoting	Posthumous inductee; promoted wrestling events and helped popularize professional wrestling in the United States[225]
148	2002		Kenta Kobashi	Wrestling	Won theTriple Crown Heavyweight Championship (3 times) andGHC Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[178][226]
149	2002		Wahoo McDaniel (Edward McDaniel)[227]	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee; won theNWA United States Championship (5 times),NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship (5 times), andNWA National Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[228]
150	2002		Manami Toyota	Women's wrestling	Won theWWWA World Single Championship (4 times),AAAW Single Championship (1 time) andAll Pacific Championship (2 times)[205]
151	2003		Chris Benoit	Wrestling	Won theWorld Heavyweight Championship (1 time),WCW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time),WWE Intercontinental Championship (4 times), andWWF/World Tag Team Championship (3 times)[229]
152	2003		Earl Caddock	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee; won theWorld Heavyweight Wrestling Championship (1 time)[230]
153	2003	—	Francisco Flores	Promoting	Promoted wrestling events in Mexico; founded theUniversal Wrestling Association[231]
154	2003		Shawn Michaels (Michael Shawn Hickenbottom)[232]	Wrestling	Won theWWF Championship (3 times),World Heavyweight Championship (1 time), andWWF/World Tag Team Championship (4 times)[92][93][233]
155	2004		The Undertaker (Mark Calaway)[234]	Wrestling	Won theWWF/E Championship (4 times),World Heavyweight Championship (3 times), andWWF Tag Team Championship (6 times)[92][93][233]
156	2004		Bob Backlund	Wrestling	Won theWWWF Heavyweight Championship/WWF Championship (2 times) andWWF Tag Team Championship (1 time)[92][93]
157	2004		Masahiro Chono	Wrestling	Won theIWGP Heavyweight Championship (1 time),NWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time), andIWGP Tag Team Championship (7 times)[213]
158	2004	—	Tarzán López (Carlos Lόpez Tovar)[61]	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee; won theMexican National Light Heavyweight Championship (3 times),Mexican National Middleweight Championship (1 time), andMexican National Welterweight Championship (1 time)[10][24][158]
159	2004		Kazushi Sakuraba	Wrestling andMMA	Competed in several professional wrestling organizations as well as inmixed martial arts fighting[235]
160	2004		Último Dragón (Yoshihiro Asai)[236]	Wrestling	Won theJ-Crown (1 time),IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship (2 times),AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Championship (2 times), andWCW Cruiserweight Championship (2 times)[208][209]
161	2004		Kurt Angle	Wrestling	Won theWWF/E Championship (4 times),WCW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time),World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) andTNA World Heavyweight Championship (6 times)[92][233]
162	2005		The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes,Terry Gordy, andBuddy Roberts) (Michael Seitz, Terry Gordy, and Dale Hey)[237][238]	Tag team wrestling	Won theWCWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship/Texas version of theNWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (6 times) andWCW World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (1 time)[239]
163	2005		Paul Heyman	Managing andpromoting	Owned and promotedExtreme Championship Wrestling; managed wrestlers inAmerican Wrestling Association,National Wrestling Alliance,World Championship Wrestling andWWE[240]
164	2005		Triple H (Paul Levesque)[241]	Wrestling	Won theWWF/E Championship (9 times),World Heavyweight Championship (5 times)[92][233]WWF/E Intercontinental Championship (5 times), andWWF European Championship (2 times)
165	2006	—	Paul Bowser	Promoting	Posthumous inductee; promoted Boston'sAmerican Wrestling Association[242]
166	2006		Eddy Guerrero	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee; won theWWE Championship (1 time),WWF/E Intercontinental Championship (2 times), andWCW/WWE United States Championship (2 times)[243]
167	2006		Hiroshi Hase	Wrestling	Won theIWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship (2 times) andIWGP Tag Team Championship (4 times) andWCW International World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[244][245]
168	2006		Masakatsu Funaki	Wrestling,MMA andpromoting	Won theKing of Pancrase Openweight Championship (2 times) andTriple Crown Heavyweight Championship (1 time); foundedPancrase Hybrid Wrestling[246][247][248]
169	2006		Aja Kong (Erika Shishido)	Women's wrestling	Won theAAAW Single Championship (3 times),WWWA World Single Championship (2 times), andWWWA World Tag Team Championship (4 times)[205][249]
170	2007		The Rock (Dwayne Johnson)[250]	Wrestling	Won theWWF/WWE Championship (8 times),WCW/World Championship (2 times),WWF/E Intercontinental Championship (2 times), andWWF World Tag Team Championship (5 times)[92][251]
171	2007		Evan Lewis	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee; won theAmerican Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[223]
172	2007	—	Tom Packs	Promoting	Posthumous inductee; promoted wrestling events inSt. Louis, Missouri and theMidwestern United States[252]
173	2008	—	Paco Alonso (Francisco Alonso)	Promoting	Promoted theConsejo Mundial de Lucha Libre[253]
174	2008		Martín Karadagian	Wrestling andpromoting	Posthumous inductee; competed inArgentina[254]
175	2009		Konnan (Charles Ashenoff)	Wrestling	Won theCMLL World Heavyweight Championship (1 time),AAA Americas Heavyweight Championship (1 time),NWA World Tag Team Championship (2 times),WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time),WCW World Tag Team Championship (2 times)[70]
176	2009	—	Everett Marshall	Wrestling	Won theMWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time),NWA/NBA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time),Texas Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[70]
177	2009		The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton,Stan Lane, andDennis Condrey)	Tag team wrestling	Won theNWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time),Mid-South Tag Team Championship (2 times),NWA American Tag Team Championship (1 time),NWA United States Tag Team Championship (3 times), andNWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time)[70]
178	2009	—	Bill Miller	Wrestling	Won theAWA United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time),AWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time),WWWF United States Tag Team Championship (1 time)
179	2009		Masa Saito (Masanori Saito)	Wrestling	Won theAWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time),NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship (1 time),WWF World Tag Team Championship (2 times)[70]
180	2009	—	Roy Shire (Roy Shropshire)	Wrestling andpromoting	Won theAmarillo version of NWA North American Heavyweight Championship (1 time) andNWA Southwest Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time); founded and promotedBig Time Wrestling in the Bay Area[70]
181	2010		Chris Jericho (Christopher Irvine)	Wrestling	Won theUndisputed WWF Championship (1 time),World Heavyweight Championship (3 times),AEW World Championship (1 time),WCW/World Championship (2 times), andWWF/E Intercontinental Championship (9 times),[70]
182	2010		Rey Mysterio Jr. (Oscar Gutierrez)	Wrestling	Won theWorld Heavyweight Championship (2 times),WWE Championship (1 time), andWCW/WWE Cruiserweight Championship (8 times)[70]
183	2010		Wladek Zbyszko (Władysław Cyganiewicz)	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee. Won theBoston version of AWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[70]
184	2011	—	Kent Walton	Commentating	Posthumous inductee.World of Sport commentator[255]
185	2011		"Dr. Death" Steve Williams	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee. Won theTriple Crown Heavyweight Championship (1 time),UWF World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[255]
186	2011	—	Curtis Iaukea	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee. Won theIWA World Heavyweight Championship (4 times),NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship (4 times), andWWWF World Tag Team Championship (1 time)[255]
187	2012	—	Mick McManus (William Matthews)	Wrestling	Won the European Middleweight Championship (4 times),British Welterweight Championship (2 times) andBritish Middleweight Championship (1 time)[256]
188	2012	—	Alfonso Morales (Gilberto Alberto Morales Villela)	Commentating	Commentator for bothAAA andCMLL onTelevisa[256]
189	2012		John Cena	Wrestling	Won theWWE Championship/WWE World Heavyweight Championship (14 times),World Heavyweight Championship (3 times), andWWE United States Championship (5 times)[256]
190	2012		Hans Schmidt (Guy Larose)	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee. Won the Montreal version of AWA International Heavyweight Championship (2 times), Chicago version ofNWA United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time), andLos Angeles version of NWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time)[256]
191	2012		Lou Albano	Wrestling andmanaging	Posthumous inductee. Won theWWWF United States Tag Team Championship. Manager of 15 differentWWF World Tag Team Champions[256]
192	2012		Gus Sonnenberg	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee,Original World Heavyweight Championship (1 time), andBoston version of AWA World Heavyweight Championship (2 times)[256]
193	2013	—	Takashi Matsunaga	Promoting	Posthumous inductee. Founder and promoter ofAll Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling[257]
194	2013		Henri Deglane	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee. WonOlympic gold medal in men'sGreco-Roman wrestling, won the Boston version of theAWA World Heavyweight Championship[257]
195	2013	—	Dr. Wagner (Manuel González)	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee. Won theMexican National Light Heavyweight Championship (3 times) andMexican National Tag Team Championship (1 time). Patriarch of the Wagner wrestling family[257]
196	2013		Atlantis	Wrestling	Won theCMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship (2 times),CMLL World Tag Team Championship (5 times),Mexican National Middleweight Championship (1 time),Mexican National Tag Team Championship (1 time),NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time) andNWA World Middleweight Championship (3 times)[257]
197	2013		Kensuke Sasaki	Wrestling	Won theTriple Crown Heavyweight Championship (3 times),IWGP Heavyweight Championship (5 times),GHC Heavyweight Championship (1 time),IWGP Tag Team Championship (7 times),GHC Tag Team Championship (1 time) andWCW United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[257]
198	2013		Hiroshi Tanahashi	Wrestling	Won theIWGP Heavyweight Championship (8 times),IWGP Tag Team Championship (2 times),IWGP Intercontinental Championship (2 times) and theIWGP United States Heavyweight Championship (3 times)[257]
199	2014		The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton andRobert Gibson) (Richard Morton and Ruben Cain)	Tag team wrestling	Won theNWA World Tag Team Championship (5 times),the Mid-Atlantic version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship (4 times),SMW Tag Team Championship (10 times), andUSWA World Tag Team Championship (2 times)[258]
200	2014	—	Ray Fabiani (Aurelio Fabiani)	Promoting	Posthumous inductee. Philadelphia promoter[258]
201	2015		Brock Lesnar	Wrestling andMMA	Won theWWE Championship/WWE World Heavyweight Championship (7 times),WWE Universal Championship (3 times),IWGP Heavyweight Championship (1 time), andUFC Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[3]
202	2015		Shinsuke Nakamura	Wrestling	Won theIWGP Heavyweight Championship (3 times),IWGP Intercontinental Championship (5 times),IWGP Tag Team Championship (1 time),NXT Championship (2 times),WWE United States Championship (2 times) andWWE Intercontinental Championship (1 time)[3]
203	2015	—	Perro Aguayo Jr. (Pedro Aguayo)	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee. Won theMexican National Light Heavyweight Championship (1),Mexican National Tag Team Championship (3 times),CMLL World Trios Championship (1 time), andWWA Tag Team Championship (3 times)[3]
204	2015		The Assassins (Jody Hamilton and Tom Renesto)	Tag team wrestling	Won theFlorida version of NWA United States Tag Team Championship (2 times),NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship (12 times),Vancouver version of NWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time), andMid-America version of NWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time)[3]
205	2015		Ivan Koloff (Oreal Perras)	Wrestling	Won theNWA Florida Tag Team Championship (5 times),NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship (7 times),NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship (4 times),NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship (1 time),Mid-Atlantic version of NWA Television Championship (5 times),NWA United States Tag Team Championship (2 times),Mid-Atlantic version of NWA World Tag Team Championship (5 times), andWWWF World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[3]
206	2015		Carlos Colón	Wrestling andpromoting	Won theWWC World/Universal Heavyweight Championship (26 times),WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship (9 times),WWC North American Heavyweight Championship (8 times),WWC North American Tag Team Championship (11 times),WWC World Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time),WWC World Tag Team Championship (3 times) andWWC World Television Championship (4 times)[3]
207	2015	—	Eddie Quinn (Edmund Quinn)	Promoting	Posthumous inductee; Montreal promoter[3]
208	2016		Bryan Danielson	Wrestling	Won theWorld Heavyweight Championship (WWE, 2002–2013) (1 time),WWE Championship/WWE World Heavyweight Championship (4 times),AEW World Championship (1 time), andROH World Championship (1 time).[259]
209	2016		Gene Okerlund (Eugene Okerlund)	Commentating	Worked as interviewer and announcer forAmerican Wrestling Association,World Wrestling Federation andWorld Championship Wrestling.[259]
210	2016		Sting (Steve Borden)	Wrestling	Won theNWA World Heavyweight Championship (2 times),WCW World Heavyweight Championship (6 times),WCW International World Heavyweight Championship (2 times),WWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) andTNA World Heavyweight Championship (4 times).[259]
211	2016		James McLaughlin	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee. Generally considered the first American professional wrestling champion.[259]
212	2017		Mark Lewin	Wrestling	Won theIWA World Heavyweight Championship (2 times) andWWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time).[260]
213	2017		AJ Styles (Allen Jones)	Wrestling	Won theIWGP Heavyweight Championship (2 times),NWA World Heavyweight Championship (3 times),TNA World Heavyweight Championship (2 times),WWE Championship (2 times),WWE United States Championship (3 times) andWWE Intercontinental Championship.[260]
214	2017	—	The Sharpe Brothers (Ben and Mike)	Tag team wrestling	Posthumous inductees. Introduced modern professional wrestling to Japan. Won theSan Francisco version (18 times) and theChicago version (1 time) of the NWA World Tag Team Championship.[260]
215	2017		Minoru Suzuki	Wrestling,MMA andpromoting	Co-founder ofPancrase. Won theKing of Pancrase Openweight Championship (1 time),Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship (2 times),GHC Heavyweight Championship (1 time),NEVER Openweight Championship (1 time), and theIWGP Intercontinental Championship (1 time).[260]
216	2017		Pedro Morales	Wrestling	Won theWWA World Heavyweight Championship (2 times),WWC North American Heavyweight Championship (2 times) andWWWF World Heavyweight Championship (1 time).[260]
217	2018		LA Park (Adolfo Tapia)	Wrestling	Won theIWC World Heavyweight Championship (1 time), theCMLL World Tag Team Championship (1 time) andMLW World Tag Team Championship (1 time)[261]
218	2018	—	Jerry Jarrett	Wrestling andpromoting	Wrestler and promoter ofContinental Wrestling Association,United States Wrestling Association andTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling[261]
219	2018		Jimmy Hart	Managing	Managed wrestlers inContinental Wrestling Association,World Wrestling Federation, andWorld Championship Wrestling[261]
220	2018		Bill Apter	Journalism	Staff member for several magazines during the 1970s, 80s and 90s, notablyPro Wrestling Illustrated.[261]
221	2018		Howard Finkel	Ring announcing	Announcer for theWWE since 1975, when it was known as the World Wide Wrestling Federation. He was the longest tenured employee of the organization.[261]
222	2018		Gary Hart (Gary Williams)	Wrestling andmanaging	Posthumous inductee. Booker forWorld Class Championship Wrestling and longtime manager for several promotions[261]
223	2018		Yuji Nagata	Wrestling	Won theIWGP Heavyweight Championship (2 times),GHC Heavyweight Championship (1 time),IWGP Tag Team Championship (2 times), andNEVER Openweight Championship (1 time)[261]
224	2019		Último Guerrero (José Gutiérrez)	Wrestling	Won theCMLL World Heavyweight Championship (2 times),CMLL World Tag Team Championship (6 times),CMLL World Trios Championship (5 times),CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time[262]
225	2019		Villano III (Arturo Díaz)	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee. Won theUWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time),UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time),UWA World Light Heavyweight Championship (2 times),UWA World Welterweight Championship (1 time),WWF Light Heavyweight Championship (7 times),CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time), and theMexican National Trios Championship (1 time)[262]
226	2019		Dr. Wagner Jr. (Juan Manuel González Barron)	Wrestling	Won theCMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship (2 times),CMLL World Tag Team Championship (4 times),CMLL World Trios Championship (4 times),AAA Mega Championship (3 times),UWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time),UWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship (2 times), and theWWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[262]
227	2019	—	Jim Crockett Sr.	Promoting	Posthumous inductee. Founder ofJim Crockett Promotions[262]
228	2019		Gedo (Keiji Takayama)	Wrestling	Booker forNew Japan Pro-Wrestling since 2010. Won theWAR International Junior Heavyweight Championship (2 times),IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (4 times), and theGHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (1 time)[262]
229	2019		Bearcat Wright (Edward Wright)	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee. First African American world wrestling champion. Won theWWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) and theIWA World Heavyweight Championship (2 times)[262]
230	2019		Paul Pons	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee. EarlyGreco-Roman wrestling pioneer. Won over 40 tournaments.[262]
231	2019	—	Los Misioneros de la Muerte (El Signo,El Texano, andNegro Navarro) (Antonio Sánchez, Juan Conrado Aguilar, and Miguel Calderón Navarro)	Tag team wrestling	Won theUWA World Trios Championship (6 times)[262]
232	2020		Kenny Omega (Tyson Smith)	Wrestling	Won theIWGP Heavyweight Championship (1 time),IWGP Intercontinental Championship (1 time),IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship (2 times)AAA Mega Championship (1 time),AEW World Championship (1 time),AEW Tag Team Championship (1 time) and theImpact World Championship (1 time)[263]
233	2020	—	Médico Asesino (Cesáreo Manríquez González)	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee. Also known as El Medico in Texas. Won theMexican National Heavyweight Championship (1 time), theNWA Texas Heavyweight Championship (3 times), and theNWA World Tag Team Championship (Texas version) (2 times). One of the first Luchadores to act in television and movies.[263]
234	2020	—	Karloff Lagarde (Carlos Lagarde)	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee. Won theMexican National Welterweight Championship (1 time), theNWA World Welterweight Championship (3 times), theMexican National Middleweight Championship (1 time), and theMexican National Tag Team Championship (1 time).[263]
235	2020		Jun Akiyama	Wrestling	Won theGHC Heavyweight Championship (3 times) and theTriple Crown Heavyweight Championship (2 times).[263]
236	2020	—	Dan Koloff (Doncho Danev)	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee. Won theEuropean Heavyweight Championship (2 times).[263]
237	2021		Kazuchika Okada	Wrestling	Won theIWGP World Heavyweight Championship (2 times),IWGP Heavyweight Championship (5 times),G1 Climax winner (3 times),New Japan Cup winner (2 times)[citation needed]
238	2021		Jim Crockett Jr.	Promoting	Posthumous inductee. Part owner ofJim Crockett Promotions 1973 to 1989. President of theNational Wrestling Alliance four occasions[citation needed]
239	2021	—	Los Brazos (Brazo de Oro,Brazo de Plata, andEl Brazo)	Tag team wrestling	Posthumous inductees. Part of theAlvarado wrestling family[citation needed]
240	2021	—	Don Owen	Promoting	Posthumous inductee. Owned and operatedPacific Northwest Wrestling for six decades.[citation needed]
241	2022	—	Holy Demon Army (Toshiaki Kawada andAkira Taue)	Tag team wrestling	Won theAJPW World Tag Team Championship (6 times) and theWorld's Strongest Tag Determination League (2 times)
242	2022		Místico (Luis Ignacio Urive Alvirde)	Wrestling	Won theCMLL World Tag Team Championship (5 times),CMLL World Welterweight Championship (1 time),IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time),Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time),NWA World Historic Middleweight Championship (1 time),NWA World Middleweight Championship (2 times)
243	2022		Kota Ibushi	Wrestling	Won theIWGP World Heavyweight Championship (1 time),IWGP Heavyweight Championship (1 time),IWGP Intercontinental Championship (2 times),IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship (3 times),IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (1 time),IWGP Tag Team Championship (1 time),NEVER Openweight Championship (1 time), and theG1 Climax (2 times)
244	2022		Tetsuya Naito	Wrestling	Won theIWGP Heavyweight Championship (3 times),IWGP Intercontinental Championship (6 times),IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (1 time),IWGP Tag Team Championship (2 times),NEVER Openweight Championship (1 time), and theG1 Climax (2 times)
245	2022	—	Los Villanos (Villano I,Villano II,Villano III,Villano IV, andVillano V) (José de Jesús Díaz Mendoza, José Alfredo Díaz Mendoza, Arturo Díaz Mendoza, Tomás Díaz Mendoza, Raymundo Díaz Mendoza Jr.)	Tag team wrestling	Villanos I, II, and III were posthumous inductees. Held numerous tag team,trios, andatómicos championships. Part of the Mendoza wrestling family.
246	2022		Mark Rocco (Mark Hussey)	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee. Won theWWF Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time).
247	2022	—	Lou Daro	Promoting	Posthumous inductee. Promoter inLos Angeles.
248	2022	—	Johnny Doyle	Promoting	Posthumous inductee. Promoter and booking agent.
249	2023		Tomohiro Ishii	Wrestling	Won theIWGP Tag Team Championship (1 time),NEVER Openweight Championship (6 times),NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship (3 times),British Heavyweight Championship (2 times), and theROH World Television Championship (1 time)
250	2023		Sgt. Slaughter (Robert Remus)	Wrestling	Won theWWF Championship (1 time), and theNWA United States Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
251	2023		Blue Panther (Genaro Nevarez)	Wrestling	Won theCMLL World Middleweight Championship (1 time),CMLL World Tag Team Championship (1 time),CMLL World Trios Championship (2 times),Mexican National Trios Championship (2 times), and theMexican National Middleweight Championship (2 times)
252	2023	—	George Kidd	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee. First entrant into the Hall of Fame for Scotland.
253	2023		Jack Brisco andJerry Brisco	Tag team wrestling	Jack Brisco is a posthumous inductee. Won theNWA Florida Tag Team Championship (8 times),NWA North American Tag Team Championship (Florida version) (2 times),NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Florida version) (5 times),NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version) (3 times), and theNWA Georgia Tag Team Championship (2 times)
254	2023	—	Beauty Pair (Jackie Sato andMaki Ueda)	Tag team wrestling	Jackie Sato is a posthumous inductee. Won theWWWA World Tag Team Championship (2 times)
255	2023	—	Antonino Rocca andMiguel Pérez	Tag team wrestling	Posthumous inductees. Won theNWA World Tag Team Championship (Northeast version) (1 time), and theWWC North American Tag Team Championship (1 time)
256	2024		Roman Reigns (Joe Anoa'i)	Wrestling	Won theWWE Championship/WWE Universal Championship (6 times), theWWE Intercontinental Championship (1 time) and theWWE United States Championship (1 time)
257	2024		Shingo Takagi	Wrestling	Won theOpen the Dream Gate Championship (4 times), theOpen the Twin Gate Championship (5 times), theOpen the Triangle Gate Championship (6 times), theIWGP World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) and theNEVER Openweight Championship (5 times)
258	2024		Paul Orndorff	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee. Won theMid-South North American Heavyweight Championship (5 times), theNWA National Heavyweight Championship (3 times) and theAWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
259	2024	—	Johnny Rougeau	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee. Wrestling promoter in Montreal. Won theIWA International Heavyweight Championship (6 times), theMAC World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) and the All-Star Wrestling Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
260	2024		Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson)	Tag team wrestling	Won theAEW World Tag Team Championship (3 times), theAEW World Trios Championship (2 times), theIWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (7 times), theNEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship (3 times), theROH World Tag Team Championship (3 times) and theROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (3 times). Co-founders and Executive Vice Presidents ofAll Elite Wrestling.
261	2024	—	Los Hermanos Dinamita (Cien Caras,Máscara Año 2000 andUniverso 2000)	Tag team wrestling	Won theMexican National Trios Championship (1 time)
262	2024		Cima	Wrestling	Won theOpen the Dream Gate Championship (3 times), theOpen the Brave Gate Championship (1 time), theOpen the Twin Gate Championship (5 times) and theOpen the Triangle Gate Championship (12 times)
263	2024		Johnny Saint	Wrestling	Won theBritish Lightweight Championship (1 time), the European Lightweight Championship (2 times), and the World Lightweight Championship (10 times)
264	2024	—	Bobby Davis	Managing	Posthumous inductee. Influential wrestling manager
265	2025		Spiros Arion	Wrestling	Won theIWA World Heavyweight Championship (6 times), theIWA World Tag Team Championship (2 times) and theWWWF United States Tag Team Championship (3 times)
266	2025	—	Gran Hamada	Wrestling,promoting and training	Posthumous inductee. Won theNWA World Middleweight Championship (1 time). FoundedUniversal Lucha Libre and trained numerouslucharesu wrestlers in Japan, includingÚltimo Dragón.
267	2025	—	Dory Dixon	Wrestling	Won theNWA World Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time) and theNWA Texas Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
268	2025		CM Punk (Phil Brooks)	Wrestling	Won theWWE Championship/WWE World Heavyweight Championship (4 times),World Heavyweight Championship (3 times),ECW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time),WWE Intercontinental Championship (1 time),AEW World Championship (2 times) andROH World Championship (1 time)
269	2025		Cody Rhodes (Cody Runnels)	Wrestling	Won theUndisputed WWE Championship (2 times), theWWE Universal Championship (1 time), theWWE Intercontinental Championship (2 times), theAEW TNT Championship (3 times), theNWA World's Heavyweight Championship (1 time), theIWGP United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time) and theROH World Championship (1 time). Co-foundedAll Elite Wrestling.
270	2025		Sabu (Terrance Brunk)	Wrestling	Posthumous inductee. Won theECW World Heavyweight Championship (2 times), theECW World Television Championship (1 time), theECW World Tag Team Championship (3 times), theNWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) and theIWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time).
271	2025	—	Bobby Bruns	Training	Posthumous inductee. Trained many well-known wrestlers from Japan, includingRikidozan.
272	2025		Raoul Paoli	Promoting	Posthumous inductee. Co-founded theFrench Federation of Professional Wrestling

General

• "Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame".Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Archived fromthe original on September 2, 2017. RetrievedMay 10, 2009.

Specific