Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame ("WON HOF" for short) is a professional wrestling hall of fame that exists only on paper.

The WON began in 1996, when Wrestling Observer Newsletter editor Dave Meltzer chose a large class of initial "inductees". Unlike other forms of sports such as baseball and basketball, professional wrestling did not at that time have a Hall of Fame voted on by a panel of experts who are independent of any of the sport's governing organizations. The WON HOF was intended to fill this need.

Since 1996, the newsletter, regarded as the premier source of "inside" wrestling information, has inducted a new class of inductees yearly, based on a poll of insiders and pro wrestlers chosen by Meltzer. The mechanism of the voting is designed to ensure that wrestling personalities from the United States, Japan, Mexico, and elsewhere will all receive fair representation.

1996 inductees

 * Abdullah the Butcher (Larry Shreve)
 * Perro Aguayo
 * André the Giant (André Roussimoff)
 * Bert Assirati
 * Giant Baba (Shohei Baba)
 * Jim Barnett
 * "Wild" Red Berry
 * The Destroyer (Dick Beyer)
 * Fred Blassie
 * Blue Demon
 * Nick Bockwinkel
 * Paul Boesch
 * Bobo Brazil (Houston Harris)
 * Jack Brisco
 * Bruiser Brody (Frank Goodish)
 * Mildred Burke
 * Canek
 * Negro Casas
 * Riki Chōshū (Mitsuo Yoshida)
 * Jim Cornette
 * The Crusher (Reginald Lisowski)
 * Ted DiBiase
 * Dick the Bruiser (William Afflis)
 * Alfonso Dantés
 * The Dusek Family
 * Dynamite Kid (Tommy Billington)
 * The Fabulous Kangaroos (Al Costello and Roy Heffernan)
 * Jackie Fargo
 * Ric Flair (Richard Fliehr)
 * Tatsumi Fujinami
 * Dory Funk, Jr.
 * Dory Funk
 * Terry Funk
 * Verne Gagne
 * Cavernario Galindo
 * Ed Don George
 * Gorgeous George (George Wagner)
 * Frank Gotch
 * Karl Istaz (Karl Gotch)
 * "Superstar" Billy Graham (Wayne Coleman)
 * Eddie Graham (Edward Gossett)
 * Rene Guajardo
 * Gory Guerrero (Salvador "Gori" Guerrero Quesada)
 * Georg Hackenschmidt
 * Stan Hansen (John Stanley Hansen)
 * Bret Hart
 * Stu Hart
 * Bobby Heenan (Raymond Louis Heenan)
 * Danny Hodge
 * Hulk Hogan (Terry Bollea)
 * Antonio Inoki
 * Rayo de Jalisco, Sr.
 * Tom Jenkins
 * Don Leo Jonathan
 * Gene Kiniski
 * Fred Kohler
 * Killer Kowalski (Wladek Kowalski)
 * Ernie Ladd
 * Dick Lane
 * Jerry Lawler
 * Ed "Strangler" Lewis (Robert Herman Julius Friedrich)
 * Jim Londos
 * Salvador Lutteroth
 * Akira Maeda
 * Devil Masami
 * Mil Máscaras (Aaron Rodríguez)
 * Dump Matsumoto
 * Earl McCready
 * Leroy McGuirk
 * Vince McMahon Sr.
 * Vince McMahon Jr.
 * Danny McShane
 * Ray Mendoza
 * Mitsuharu Misawa
 * Joe "Toots" Mondt
 * Sam Muchnick
 * Bronislau Nagurski
 * Pat O'Connor
 * Kintaro Oki
 * Atsushi Onita
 * Pat Patterson (Pierre Clemont)
 * Antonio Peña
 * John Pesek
 * Roddy Piper (Roderick Toombs)
 * Harley Race
 * Dusty Rhodes (Virgil Runnels Jr.)
 * Rikidozan (Kim Sin-Nak)
 * The Road Warriors Hawk (Michael Hegstrand) and Animal (Joseph Laurinaitis)
 * Yvon Robert
 * Billy Robinson
 * Antonino Rocca (Antonino Biasetton)
 * Buddy Rogers (Herman C. Rohde Jr)
 * Lance Russell
 * Bruno Sammartino
 * El Santo (Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta)
 * Jackie Sato
 * Randy Savage (Randall Poffo)
 * Billy Sandow
 * The Sheik (Ed Farhat)
 * Hisashi Shinma
 * Dara Singh
 * Gordon Solie (Francis Jonard Labiak)
 * El Solitario
 * Ricky Steamboat (Richard Blood)
 * Joe Stecher
 * Tony Stecher
 * Ray Steele
 * Ray Stevens (Carl Ray Stevens)
 * Nobuhiko Takada
 * Genichiro Tenryu (Genichiro Shimada)
 * Lou Thesz (Aloysius Thesz)
 * Tiger Mask (Saturo Sayama)
 * Jumbo Tsuruta (Tomomi Tsuruta)
 * Frank Tunney
 * Mad Dog Vachon (Maurice Vachon)
 * Vader (Leon White)
 * Johnny Valentine (John Wisniski)
 * Fritz Von Erich (Jack Adkisson)
 * Whipper Billy Watson
 * Bill Watts
 * Jaguar Yokota
 * Stanislaus Zbyszko

1997 inductees

 * Édouard Carpentier
 * El Hijo del Santo
 * Toshiaki Kawada
 * Jimmy Lennon
 * William Muldoon
 * Chigusa Nagayo (Nagayo Chigusa)

1998 inductees

 * Dos Caras

1999 inductees

 * Lioness Asuka
 * Jushin Liger (Keichi Yamada)
 * Keiji Mutoh
 * Jim Ross

2000 inductees

 * Stone Cold Steve Austin (Steve Williams)
 * Mick Foley
 * Shinya Hashimoto
 * Akira Hokuto (Hisako Uno Sasaki)
 * Bill Longson
 * Frank Sexton
 * Sandor Szabo

2001 inductees

 * Black Shadow
 * Diablo Velasco
 * Lizmark
 * Bull Nakano
 * Satánico

2002 inductees

 * Martin Burns
 * Jack Curley
 * Kenta Kobashi
 * Wahoo McDaniel (Ed McDaniel)
 * Manami Toyota

2003 inductees

 * Chris Benoit
 * Earl Caddock
 * Francisco Flores
 * Shawn Michaels (Michael Shawn Hickenbottom)

2004 inductees

 * Kurt Angle
 * Bob Backlund
 * Masahiro Chono
 * Carlos "Tarzán" Lopez
 * Kazushi Sakuraba
 * Último Dragón (Yoshihiro Asai)
 * The Undertaker (Mark Calaway)

2005 inductees

 * The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes (Michael Seitz), Terry Gordy, and Buddy Roberts (Dale Hey))
 * Paul Heyman
 * Triple H (Paul Levesque)

2006 inductees

 * Eddie Guerrero
 * Hiroshi Hase
 * Masakatsu Funaki
 * Aja Kong (Erika Shishido)
 * Paul Bowser