December 4, 2017 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: AJ Styles, Minoru Suzuki and more enter the Hall of Fame
Mark Lewin, A.J. Styles, Ben & Mike Sharpe, Minoru Suzuki and Pedro Morales are the members of the 2018 class of the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame.
All broke the 60 percent barrier in votes from their respective geographical locations, with Lewin in the Australia/New Zealand/Pacific Islands region, Styles in current U.S. and Canada, The Sharpes and Suzuki in Japan and Morales in the U.S. and Canada historical (meaning his key career would have to have ended before 1987) category.
Wrestlers are supposed to be judged on four major criteria: positive historical importance to the business, drawing power, in-ring ability and longevity. A Hall of Famer should be strong in all of those categories, but if they were among the true dominant standout performers of their era in one or two of those categories, they should also be put in. Longevity, without being a major draw, top tier in-ring worker or a major historical figure, should be seen as meaningless. For non-wrestlers, they need to be among the elite of their era in their specific roles.
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Dave Meltzer is the founder and lead writer on the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the weekly constant when it comes to news and reviews in pro wrestling and mixed martial arts for more than 40 years. Dave also co-hosts Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and had had bylines for The National, Yahoo Sports, MMA Fighting and others.