Every wrestling fan is familiar with the WWE Hall of Fame, but for the most knowledgeable fans of the genre, the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame is the one that truly matters.
Unlike the WWE Hall of Fame, whose inductees are selected by WWE chairman and CEO Vince McMahon (which is why preliminary wrestler Johnny Rodz was inducted in 1996, while "The Living Legend," Bruno Sammartino, who had been on the outs with McMahon for decades, wasn't inducted until 2013), the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame has an actual voting process.
Dave Meltzer, the editor and publisher of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, who founded the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame in 1996, sends out ballots all over the world to major wrestling stars (past and present), major management figures in the industry, writers and historians.
