Every year at right around this time, we see pro wrestling’s brightest stars from yesterday come back to WWE for various reasons. Some need to work matches at WrestleMania. Others need to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. There are a couple of people that do both some years.
WrestleMania has become a celebration of everything wrestling, from the past (Hall of Fame) to the present (WrestleMania & TakeOver) to the future (indies). It’s a beautiful thing from where I sit.
Yet, some people insist on being cranky about it.
My two main loves in life are baseball and pro wrestling. There are very few things they have in common. For example: Pete Rose is in the WWE Hall of Fame and not in the Baseball Hall of Fame. I feel like the fact that Pete was in one of the early WWE HOF classes should have been an indication not to take the thing too seriously, but boy did everybody ignore that! Every single year since 2004 has featured bitter arguments over who should be in the WWE Hall of Fame and who shouldn’t be. Every single HOF announcement has had this debate, some more spirited than others. It’s like people think this is an actual Hall of Fame up for debate amongst voters or something.
Here are the main requirements to be a WWE Hall of Famer:
-Vince thinks you can draw a bit of interest on a slow news day.
-Vince likes you, or at least respects you for your contributions.
-You can fill the Main Eventer, Woman or Tag Team slot.
That’s it. That’s the list. There isn’t a magic number of title reigns. You don’t need a certain amount of wins. It isn’t about the amount of matches you had that Meltzer rated four stars or higher, or a consideration of how much merchandise you sold. OK, I take back that last part. Vince surely likes you better if you sold more merch.
I mean, I could sit here and wax poetic about Brie Bella’s Divas Championship reign in 2011 & how she was part of a major program at SummerSlam 2014 with Stephanie McMahon. We could talk about Nikki’s 301-day reign as Divas Champion, her immense in-ring improvement over the years and her desire to get better with each day. Heck, we could talk about how much fun the Twin Magic gimmick was as a callback to the days of the Fabulous Ones. I can definitely sit here and make the argument for the Bella Twins as WWE Hall of Famers from an in-ring & kayfabe perspective, because no matter how much some folks want to deny it, it’s there.
It doesn’t really matter, though.
That’s not why the Bella Twins are part of the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2020. It’s nice that they have a resume, but it’s not the main reason why they’re on this event with Batista & “The NWO”. (Hey, speaking of the NWO, why are the folks that get really mad about HOF inductions giving Hogan’s second induction a free pass here? Especially when his return to WWE’s good graces was met with plenty of criticism? Are we ok now since he hasn’t said anything racist in a little while? Just checking!)
For one thing, the Bellas fill two of those slots I mentioned earlier. They’re women, and they were a tag team! Two birds, one stone! That’s just smart booking right there. I don’t exactly understand most of WWE’s booking decisions these days, but this is one I can get behind.
For another thing, they’re both pregnant. That’s a pretty great gimmick. How often do twins get pregnant at the same time? You have to capitalize on that somehow, and getting them to make Hall of Fame speeches with buns in the oven is the best way to do it.
Finally, they both get featured in women’s magazines pretty often. As much as people like to moan & complain about Total Divas & Total Bellas, those shows have made Nikki & Brie crossover stars. My sister never understood the appeal of this wrestling stuff, but she watches those shows. She knows all about Nikki & Brie. If my sister knows about you and you’re a wrestler, you’re a crossover star. I know, God forbid we try to appeal to a female audience, but it’s part of the math here.
The real bottom line here
Y’all are getting worked up over two mainstream stars that will make a speech on a Hall of Fame Ceremony show that will take up…ten minutes at the most? I don’t get it. Sorry, I just don’t understand why some of you are so bonkers over this. Vince will surely honor your favorite lady wrestler at some point. Simmer down and let the people that like the Bellas enjoy this moment. God forbid anybody enjoy anything ever.
