Me and Deezy so rarely agree that I’m stunned that this is where we do. Chyna should not be involved in this conversation, and indeed, it seems most modern fans - the same one’s that used Snickers to motivate WWE to remove Moolah’s name from the women’s battle royal at Mania - are adamant that Chyna deserves the honour of a Hall of Fame induction for her contributions to wrestling; her choices after the fact were damaging only to herself (I’m speaking of the drug abuse here) and her own to make…
If number one didn’t exist, number two wouldn’t matter as much. Steph and Trip’s personal issues with Chyna were not helped by her porn career, especially in the movie she did were she had a threesome with actors portraying Vince and Steph, but if those personal issues didn’t exist it’s likely that particular movie wouldn’t either.
The Chyna situation is murky because of how her relationship with WWE ended and how her personal choices after that reflected how she felt about it, rather than the fact that she was Hunter’s ex and did porn, but her name should not be included in the same breath as a Benoit, a Moolah, or a Hogan.
Benoit was one of the most talented men to step in the ring, granted; but his chosen style directly led to how his life ended, and no amount of nice stories about the man before that weekend change the fact that he did what he did and that some people have come forward and stated he wasn’t just the quiet sweetheart people thought him to be before all that happened. It’s a far more complex issue than can be fully realised in a paragraph on a wrestling forum but Benoit should never be honoured by the WWE or any wrestling organistion for that matter. He needs to be remembered, certainly, but you don’t need to induct him into the Hall of Fame to remember him.
I’ve made my feelings on Moolah clear elsewhere on this forum and don’t feel the need to repeat it here, but suffice to say that without damning evidence against the multitude of allegations made against her, she’s better left off the honours list in the future.
Hogan may have been caught with his pants down, literally, but the fact that he said what he said is pretty damning evidence that the man thinks less of those born with darker skin than him; which is weird when you think about how much he likes to tan - and even if you can forgive privately stated racist comments he’s still a foul human being in general.
WWE aren’t gonna start removing people from the Hall of Fame, that’s just not going to happen without a real push from fans and the media which I don’t see as happening any time soon. Like Stone Cold and his domestic abuse issues, Flair has been grandfathered in because of how he is portrayed on our screens. I would suggest WWE not look to honour him again though. We live in an age where people can and will look into the finer details of a persons life in order to be sure that they deserve the honour they are receiving and I doubt Flair would get through that process unscathed in this day and age. He’s best off simply being Charlotte Flair’s dad from now on, I reckon. I could be wrong though, people may feel less harsh towards a man with his backstory, who has suffered though so many of his own issues and tragedies and is so very obviously proud of his children and their accomplishments.