On April 4, 2009, the WWE will induct several people into their Hall of Fame. For the next few weeks, every Monday night the WWE will announce another inductee into the
WWE Hall of Fame.
Photo of Steve Austin: Getty Images"Stone Cold" Steve Austin is one of the most famous wrestlers in history. The Texas Rattlesnake redefined the WWE and was the poster child of their Attitude Era. His feud with
Vince McMahon helped propel the WWE to victory in their feud against WCW. He is a six-time WWE Champion and ranks as the
eighth longest reigning champion in WWE history. Outside of the ring, he has appeared on many television shows and was the star of the WWE feature film,
The Condemned.
The Funk Brothers
Photo used courtesy of Dory Funk Jr., the owner of the Funking ConservatoryTerry Funk and Dory Funk Jr. are second generation stars and are the only brother combination to each hold the NWA World Championship. Dory won the world championship from Gene Kiniski in 1969 and held the title for over four years before losing it to Harley Race. Terry won the title in 1975 from Jack Brisco and lost it a little over a year later to Harley Race. In the mid-80's the two men entered the WWE and were involved in a feud with the Junkyard Dog. When Terry left the company, he was replaced by Jimmy Jack Funk. Jimmy was not really related to the Funks. In the '90s, Terry made hardcore wrestling fashionable due to his work in ECW. Dory runs
The Funking Conservatory, which is one of the
top wrestling schools in the country.
Ricky Steamboat is a former NWA Heavyweight Champion. He won and lost that title to
Ric Flair in 1989. Their trilogy of televised matches that year is viewed upon by many as the greatest trilogy of matches between two wrestlers to ever take place. His WWE tenure was highlighted by his Intercontinental Championship victory over
Randy Savage at
WrestleMania III. That match is widely considered to be the greatest match to take place in the WWE during the '80s.
Bill Watts
Bill Watts had a successful in-ring career but is most famous for his work behind the scenes. He was the owner of Mid-South Wrestling which was later renamed the Universal Wrestling Federation. The 1986 crash of the oil industry destroyed the local economy of the territory which led to the company being purchased by Jim Crockett Promotions. In the early '90s, Bill Watts was put in charge of WCW. His tenure there was very controversial and ended when an interview he had previously done was deemed racist by people in the Turner organization. Ironically, his tenure in WCW resulted in Ron Simmons being crowned the first African-American World Champion. In 2006, his autobiography,
The Cowboy and the Cross, was released.
Koko B. Ware
Koko B. Ware, wrestling under the name of Sweet Brown Sugar, won the Pro Wrestling Illustrated Rookie of the Year Award in 1979. Koko spent the next several years of his career working in various territories before joining the WWE in 1986. Koko didn't come to the WWE by himself though. The Birdman was joined by his pet parrot, Frankie. The highlight of Koko's tenure in the WWE was singing the title track of the second album released by the WWE, Piledriver. Sadly, Frankie won't be joining Koko for this ceremony. Frankie perished in a house fire in 2001.Fritz Von Erich, a former AWA Champion, was the patriarch of the Von Erich family. In the early '80s, his company, World Class Championship Wrestling, helped revolutionize pro wrestling due to a combination of upgraded production values and the popularity of his sons. However, tragedy struck the family as between 1984 and 1993, David, Michael, Chris, and Kerry all died before reaching 34 years of age. Only Kevin has survived. However, while it is easy to fixate on the tragedy of the family, they are being inducted into the Hall of Fame because of all the good times they brought wrestling fans. When Kerry won the NWA Championship, the Von Erich's became the first family to feature a father and son to win a World Championship.
Howard Finkel
"The Fink" is the long-time ring announcer for the WWE. He has been with the company since the mid-70's and when Vince McMahon Jr. took over the company from his father, he became the first employee of the WWE. Howard Finkel is generally credited with coming up with the name WrestleMania. Speaking of WrestleMania, he is the only person to have appeared on camera at all 24 prior WrestleMania events.
