WWE Hall of Fame adding Legacy Award?

Based on either a poster or a t-shirt available at WWE’s shop in Dallas, it looks as if they will be introducing a Legacy Award for the Hall of Fame this year.

Ed “Strangler” Lewis, Frank Gotch, George Hackenschmidt, Lou Thesz, Mildred Burke, Pat O’Connor, and “Sailor” Art Thomas are featured in this image shared with us from a fan at the event:

All are among the biggest names in wrestling history with Gotch and Hackenschmidt responsible for the first huge gate and spearheading wrestling getting national headlines, Lewis being the most famous wrestler of the 20s, Thesz being the dominant world champion of the 50s, Burke being the first women’s champion to get worldwide attention, and O’Connor being one of the smoothest workers of his day. Thomas was a frequent challenger to then-NWA champion Buddy Rogers, and was one of the early African-American wrestling stars.

Although WWE has inducted Gorgeous George, Buddy Rogers, and Argentina Rocca (contemporaries of Thesz and O’Connor), they had not honored anyone who was a major star before the advent of television. 

Note that they’re not listed as official inductees for the Hall of Fame as this appears to be something different.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *