Ray Stevens May Be Inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame

Ray Stevens may be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2015. A new report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter claims that due to Stevens well known run in the San Francisco area during the “Territory Days,” that he may posthumously inducted into the Hall on March 28.

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter writes,

Obviously Sting and Randy Savage are the most talked about names as far as the Hall of Fame is concerned, particularly with the WWE DVD and Lanny Poffo saying he’d be part of it. One name never mentioned is Ray Stevens.

WWE has in the past put in a local legend or legends from the home area of the show (The Sheik in Detroit, Eddie Graham and Gordon Solie when they were in Orlando for the first time in Florida, Bob Armstrong and Abdullah the Butcher in Atlanta; Verne Gagne and Gene Okerlund in Chicago). But they didn’t include Paul Boesch or anyone from Houston like Wahoo McDaniel, Jose Lothario or Johnny Valentine, although Shawn Michaels would no longer push for Lothario and Boesch and Vince McMahon didn’t end up on good terms.

For this area, Stevens is the slam dunk choice as the biggest star ever, with really only Hulk Hogan approaching him as a long-term draw. Leo Nomellini would be a second choice but they have no footage of him and there’s no tie to him, whereas Stevens they have plenty of footage of.

The other picks from the area would be Roy Shire (no chance, no footage, too much bitterness, none of their audience knows him), Pat Patterson (already in), Kinji Shibuya (different era, limited or no footage) and Pepper Gomez (similar to Shibuya). Plus, obviously, unless there is a marketing reason (such as having purchased a videotape collection), or a favor (Patterson pushed super hard for Mad Dog Vachon, for instance, not because Vachon was a super performer, which he was, but because Vachon helped him out at the start of his career and he was repaying a debt; however McMahon constantly ignored Jim Ross and Gerald Brisco pushing for Danny Hodge), or it has to do with a family member of someone on the roster, they aren’t putting anyone pre-1984 in, and they try and limit those deceased.

Stevens held multiple championships throughout his career. This includes Tag Team Championship runs with Pat Patterson and Nick Bockwinkel.

Editor’s Note:
Stevens is a legend. One of the most bad-a$$ professional wrestlers ever, and one of the toughest. He deserves to be inducted…by Patterson.