In professional wrestling, the WWE Hall of Fame (formerly WWF Hall of Fame) is an institution that honors selected former employees of World Wrestling Entertainment (formerly the World Wrestling Federation) and other figures who have contributed to wrestling and sports-entertainment in general.
History
The Hall of Fame was created in 1993 with the induction of WWF alumnus André the Giant, who had died earlier that year. The Hall inducted additional members annually thereafter until 1996 with the 1994 and 1995 ceremonies held as part of the King of the Ring weekend, then went dormant until it was revived in 2004 to commemorate the company's twentieth WrestleMania event.
Since living inductees appear at a Hall of Fame acceptance event, induction is contingent upon the candidate being on good terms with WWE. The process by which inductees are selected is not transparent; the criteria for induction have never been disclosed. Although the Hall in theory honors those with important WWE careers, since the revival in 2004 some inductees, such as Harley Race, Verne Gagne and Nick Bockwinkel, achieved much of their success outside of WWE, though the companies where they did achieve their success are now largely part of the WWE.
As of 2010, Harley Race, "Big Cat" Ernie Ladd, Verne Gagne, Dusty Rhodes, Big John Studd, Terry Funk and Antonio Inoki are the only wrestlers to be inducted into both the WCW Hall of Fame and the WWE Hall of Fame, while Gordon Solie is the only commentator to be inducted into both.
Inductees
Ceremony dates and locations
- June 9, 1994, Omni Inner Harbor International Hotel, Baltimore, Maryland
- June 24, 1995, Marriott Hotel, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- November 16, 1996, Marriott Marquis, New York, New York
- March 13, 2004, The Hilton, New York City, New York
- April 2, 2005, Universal Amphitheatre, Los Angeles, California
- April 1, 2006, Rosemont Theatre, Rosemont, Illinois
- March 31, 2007, Fox Theatre, Detroit, Michigan
- March 28, 2008, Amway Arena, Orlando, Florida
- April 4, 2009, Toyota Center, Houston, Texas
- March 27, 2010, Dodge Theater, Phoenix, Arizona
- April 2, 2011, Philips Arena, Atlanta, Georgia
- March 31, 2012, American Airlines Arena, Miami, Florida
- April 6, 2013, Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York
- April 5, 2014, Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, Louisiana
- March 28, 2015, SAP Center at San Jose, San Jose, California
Trivia
- Set pieces from the Slammy Awards from 1986, 1987, 1996, and 1997 are used as a part of the Hall of Fame awards show set.
Images
File:Andre the Giant Full.png
File:Dusty Rhodes Full.png
File:Antonio Inoki Full.png 
File:Bobbacklund 1 full.png 
See also
- WWE Hall of Shame
- TNA Hall of Fame
- Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
- WCW Hall of Fame
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame
- NWA Hall of Fame
- CZW Hall of Fame
- George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame