WWE Hall of Fame: 10 Former World Champions Least Likely to Make the Cut

Being world champion obviously does not automatically qualify one for the WWE Hall of Fame. 

The wrestling Hall of Fame is far more subjective than traditional sports.  While in baseball one can point to how many hits or home runs or MVP awards a player has, in wrestling it's not as simple.

One has to measure the wrestler's impact on the sport, how often they were a big draw, etc.  Included on that list is also being in good standing with McMahon and WWE. 

Otherwise, Randy Savage would already be in. 

There are certainly some deserving wrestlers that are inexplicably not in the Hall of Fame, just as there are some curious entrants like Kobo B. Ware, so figuring out how WWE will choose its future Hall of Famers involves some guesswork. 

Considering these factors, here are the 10 WWE, WCW and World Heavyweight Champions who are least likely to get an invite.

10. Goldberg

Hall of Fame chances: not good

Goldberg received a big push right away.  He entered the WCW on an undefeated streak that lasted over a year. 

He main-evented several pay-per-views and held both the WCW and WWE world titles, but his short career diminishes his Hall of Fame chances.

His time in WCW lasted from 1997-2001 and his tenure with WWE lasted only from 2003-2004. 

In addition, he's spoken out against WWE.  He says it is WWE's lewdness that convinced him to call it quits.  Like Bruno Sammartino, that may be a reason he refuses to enter the Hall even if invited. 

9. Yokozuna

Hall of Fame chances: unlikely

As soon as Yokozuna joined WWE, he hit the ground running toward main-event status.

With matches against Bret Hart and Hulk Hogan at pay-per-views, he was in the spotlight, but briefly.  Really, '93 and '94 are the only years where he meant something to WWE. 

After that for the most part, he was a sideshow.  His girth was the main attraction when he wrestled. 

It'd be hard to compile a list of Yokozuna's 10 best matches.  It's hard to think of more than a handful of memorable moments that he was a part of.

I do think he was a talented guy, but WWE made his weight the focus, and he was obsessed with getting bigger and bigger.

Ultimately, it was the ballooning weight that took his life at such a young age. 

8. Brock Lesnar

Hall of Fame chances: highly unlikely

Lesnar's tenure with WWE lasted two years.  Even if he'd been the greatest wrestler ever, two years would not likely earn him a spot in the Hall of Fame. 

He certainly had the potential to be one of the greats, but he left in '04 to pursue an NFL career.

Making his induction even less likely is the legal battles he had with WWE over the no-compete clause in his contract and the rights to the name of his F-5 move. 

7. Ultimate Warrior

Hall of Fame chances: slim

He certainly affected the wrestling world when he burst onto the scene.  His match against Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania VI was a highly memorable moment. 

A few things, though, serve as a roadblock to his hall of fame hopes.

You don't necessarily have to be a great technical wrestler to be inducted, but it certainly doesn't help to be considered one of the worst. 

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter awarded him Most Overrated from 1989-1991, Worst Feud of the Year three times, Worst Worked Match in 1989 and 1998 and Worst Wrestler twice. 

Having legal and personal issues with Mr. McMahon also make it difficult to see him standing at that podium.  Warrior allegedly held up McMahon for more money right before the 1991 SummerSlam. 

6. Stan Stasiak

Hall of Fame chances: very slim

Stan "The Man" Stasiak was booked as WWWF World Heavyweight Champion in 1973 only because the bookers wanted Bruno Sammartino to win back the title. 

The champion before Stasiak, Pedro Morales. was a fan favorite as was Sammartino.  Back then, faces did not battle faces the way we see in the modern era.

The transitional champion was not a bad wrestler, but he didn't have a major impact over his career.  He did win some regional titles and is a member of the Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame, but he's no legend.

Though WWE sometimes overvalues men from the past when considering Hall of Fame induction, the further we get from Stasiak's career, the less likely he will be a WWE Hall of Famer.

5. Jeff Jarrett

Hall of Fame chances: extremely slim

Even before discussing his career, Jarrett has a number of things in the way of a potential WWE Hall of Fame bid.

What exactly happened regarding Double J's contract in 1999 before he left for WCW, only Jarrett and Vince McMahon know.  There are people who believe that Jarrett extorted McMahon for extra money. 

Regardless of what exactly happened, it doesn't put Jarrett in McMahon's favor.  Furthering the chasm between the two men was that Jarrett created a rival promotion in TNA.

McMahon will not forget any of this.

Even without all that, Jarrett wouldn't be all that likely to enter the Hall of Fame.  While successful in terms of championships, he was never on the level of the men and women who've entered the Hall before him. 

4. The Great Khali

Hall of Fame chances: astronomical

The Great Khali's career has been more successful than Giant Gonzalez's, I'll give him that.  But for the majority of his career, he was the least talented man on the roster.

His matches were abysmal.  His stiffness and limited move set highlighted how talented other big men truly are.

In a business obsessed with size and a wrestler's look, Khali received enough of a push to win the World Heavyweight Championship in 2007.  His reign was arguably one of the least deserved. 

Putting him in the Hall of Fame would diminish the honor for everyone else. 

3. David Arquette

Hall of Fame chances: astronomical

David Arquette, WCW World Heavyweight Champion.  That travesty is in the books and cannot be erased.

Arquette's title reign was a slap in the face to wrestling.  Often attributed to aiding to the demise of WCW, booking Arquette as champion was a joke that nobody laughed at. 

He "wrestled" in only a handful of matches and is an embarrassment to the industry.

The only reason I rate his chances as astronomical rather than none is that WWE may make the foolish mistake of inducting him as a celebrity. 

Why they choose to taint the Hall of Fame with guys like William Perry is beyond me. 

But if they're willing to continue to put in famous people outside of wrestling as a desperate attempt to drum up attention, then we may live to see the awful joke of someone inducting David Arquette.

2. Vince Russo

Hall of Fame chances: beyond astronomical

If it wasn't bad enough to have a famous non-wrestler win the WCW title, booker Vince Russo booked himself to win it.

All the issues of believability with Arquette are revisited, but you have to also add the fact that outside of hardcore Internet-frequenting fans, people didn’t know who Russo was. 

Though now infamous for helping run WCW into the ground and throwing his gimmick, match-heavy ideas around with TNA, he actually helped create some of WWE's best storylines.

He is credited with much of the Attitude Era’s angles like the rise of DX and the Stone Cold vs. McMahon feud. 

Does he get in based on that?  The WWE Hall of Fame is not exactly littered with behind-the-scenes people. 

Besides, his relationship with McMahon is tenuous at best.

1. Chris Benoit

Hall of Fame chances: none

Based solely on what he did in the ring, one could easily make an argument for Benoit's inclusion.  He was one of the better technical wrestlers ever and put on many an entertaining match. 

Of course, what will keep him from ever entering the WWE Hall of Fame is the murder-suicide that shook the world in 2007. 

The Hall of Fame induction ceremony would have to gloss over that great tragedy, and the backlash from the media after letting Benoit in would be vicious.

To call that possibility public relations self-destruction is an understatement.  WWE has tried to erase Benoit from our memories and if they could, they'd photoshop his image from every piece of film they have. 

They don't want him anywhere near the WWE Hall of Fame.