Predicting The WWE Hall Of Fame Class Of 2017

The WWE Hall of Fame is always one of the biggest nights of the year, and even though we don’t officially know who will be going into the class of 2017, it’s pretty safe to assume that next year’s Hall of Fame ceremony will, once again, be one of the highlights of WrestleMania weekend.

Over the last couple of years, WWE has chosen to induct well over ten people in one night, which has made for a long, and sometimes tedious ceremony, with a few highlights, of course. It doesn’t seem like WWE is going to trim down the number of inductees in 2017, but this list will provide you with the five biggest names who could very well be inducted next spring.

Typically, WWE’s Hall of Fame format looks like this: the headliner, one celebrity inductee, one tag team inductee, one posthumous inductee, and one women’s wrestling legend, and this list is going to honor that format.

• Headliner: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

As previously mentioned, the WWE Hall of Fame will be taking place in Orlando, Florida, and, as everybody knows, Florida is The Rock’s home state, so it would make sense to put him in there.

There’s been some who think that Daniel Bryan will headline next year’s Hall of Fame ceremony, and he may very well end up doing so. But, given the fact that he’s still struggling to come to grips with the fact that his pro wrestling career is over, it’s pretty safe to assume that he’ll decline a Hall of Fame bid.

As for who will induct The Rock, well, there are two choices: John Cena and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, with Austin being the better choice of the two.

• Celebrity: Shaquille O’Neal

Shaquille O’Neal played his first four seasons in the NBA for the Orlando Magic, and on top of that, he currently resides in Orlando. So, it only makes sense for Shaq to be a part of the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2017.

It’s been reported that Shaq will be wrestling Big Show at WrestleMania 33, which is the only match that has been officially announced for the card next spring. So it’s probably safe to assume that “The World’s Largest Athlete” will be the one to induct the NBA legend into the WWE Hall of Fame.

• Posthumous Inductee: Chyna

Chyna passed away earlier this year at the age of 46 without having been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. According to X-Pac, WWE was waiting for Chyna to clean up her life before they decided to induct her into their Hall of Fame; sadly, that never happened.

Both Triple H and Stephanie McMahon have said that Chyna will go into the WWE Hall of Fame at some point. Will it be next year? The timing is right.

Who will induct Chyna? Probably Triple H, although there’s a chance that the entire D-Generation X stable will end up inducting the “9th Wonder of the World.”

• Tag Team: New Age Outlaws [Road Dogg and Billy Gunn]

Billy Gunn was fired by WWE last year after they had received info that he had tested positive for performance enhancing drugs during a body-building competition that he had taken part in. But it’s been almost a year since his firing, and there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be brought back to the company.

The New Age Outlaws were one of the most popular tag teams of the “Attitude Era,” and they continued to be one of the company’s most popular tag teams when they reunited and won the Tag Team Championships back in 2014.

As for who would induct them, well, that’s a tough one. WWE could have a fellow “Attitude Era” tag team like the APA [JBL and Farooq] induct them, or they could have fellow D-Generation X member X-Pac induct them.

• Women’s Wrestler: Sable

Sable was one of the biggest female wrestling stars in the history of WWE. In fact, during her time in the company during the “Attitude Era”, she was one of the biggest stars in the company period, as she was a huge ratings draw for them.

Whether you think she was talented or not, Sable unquestionably deserves to be in the WWE Hall of Fame. But, the tricky part is, who will induct her? Sure, she’s married to Brock Lesnar, but he was in no way affiliated with her during her time in the company, and he probably doesn’t want to get up on stage and give a speech to several thousand people.

WWE could always have Sable’s ex-husband Marc Mero induct her, which would make the most sense. But, they probably won’t end up doing that.

So, who else is there? Well, they could do what they did with Sunny back in 2011 and have all of the women in WWE induct her, which is probably what they’ll end up doing if she ever goes in.

[Image via WWE]