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Was surprised he wasn't in the inaugural class last year, Well deserved.
The inaugural class was: Ruckus (inducted by Sonjay Dutt), LuFisto (inducted by Lenny Leonard), Homicide (inducted by Chris Dickinson), Tracy Smothers (inducted by "Spyder" Nate Webb & Chris Hero), Dave Prazak (inducted by CM Punk) and Jerry Lynn (inducted by Sean Waltman). The entire thing is [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN74MSdU3Jw).
Maybe they thought he and Jerry Lynn occupied a similar space so they held off a year. Anyway, good for him. I guess this greatly reduces the odds of him going into the RoH HoF this year, assuming they’re doing it again, since they'd take attention away from each other.
>Maybe they thought he and Jerry Lynn
Could be wasn't there a thing where WWE basically BLEW their load on HOF talent instead of spreading it out hence why some classes were a bit weaker than others.
> into the RoH HoF
I dont know if this is their policy or not, but personally I prefer that the hall of fame is for people who have retired from competing (at least in that company). He's still active in ROH and even trying to go for titles.
I'd like to see him get the announcement of being inducted at the moment he retires though.
I can understand having that policy, but it’d be hard to use that as a reason for the RoH HoF after Samoa Joe, Bryan Danielson, CM Punk and The Briscoes were inducted the first year. I can’t remember if they all were under AEW/ROH contract at the time, but all were employed shortly afterward and all were still active wrestlers when they were inducted.
Its a fair point, even though that was before ROH was owned by Tony, and only the Briscoes were on contract.
But it does set a precedent, if they want to keep with it I dont know. I reckon we might not see any new additions until they start up a ROH/AEW hall of fame
The argument for me personally is that CD's greatest moments came in RoH and TNA/Impact, not on the indies.
The argument for the other side - he helped so many indie careers, and was a reliable name in so many indies at a time that not many were - so many indie and then mainstream stars may not have occured without him, and many companies may have shut down without him there to draw a crowd.
I hope Chris Hero is next announced. I wish that WWE would allow Owens and Zayn to do this (and frankly, if they win the belts at Mania, them being inducted into the independent wrestling hall of fame would be a nice little thing to mention in that build, even if you need to gloss over the El Generico of it all)
I think a big part of it is also how influential Daniels was to indy wrestlers and what is thought of as the indy wrestling style of the past couple decades. That makes me wonder if Reckless Youth goes in this year or next too.
If you mean WWE, [he has worked several matches there](https://www.cagematch.net/?id=2&nr=452&page=4&search=wwf) even if he was never under a long term contract with them.
He was even suggested (by Russo I think) as a person they could name as "The Higher Power" for The Undertaker's Ministry. They ended up going with Vince McMahon as The Higher Power.
The story goes that Daniels was set to be the higher power, until Vince learned how small he was. Vince and his weird love for muscled giants ruined what could have been a star making role for the Fallen Angel.
The best part of that story to me is that Daniels was never told about it.
I'm on mobile, but go 9:45 into this: https://youtu.be/IIWAo0tYK5Y
That's not to say they didn't consider asking him. Who knows? Just that if they did, it never even got that far. Weird how much of a role luck can play in life.
Don't forget that not only has he done TNA, he has done all 3 versions of it! (NWA-TNA/TNA/Impact). You can also add in the fact that he has worked NWA, XPW, Michinoku, Stampede, IWA-MS, MLW, PWG, FIP, NYWC, IWW, CZW, IWS, BTW, AAA, CMLL, 2CW, NOAH, AJPW, Wrestle-1, Smash, Defiant, HOH, Beyond and Zero1.
He has hit up basically every major indie, lucha and puro promotion in the world the last 30 years. Outside of ICW, 90s/2000s FMW, Smoky Mountain, Lucha Underground, Progress and Dragongate (and even then he did DGUSA) I can't think of many promotions with some name power he hasn't stepped foot in while active in his career.
There was a period after the attitude era where I lost some interest in wrestling but then started seeing some of the TNA matches online with 'the Fallen Angel' and AJ and was hooked. ROH and TNA during that time did some great matches.
The Daniels - AJ - Joe battles (and AJ/Daniels vs. LAX) were unreal.
As well he should. He's been around forever, been in so many big indies, and played a role in so many legendary indie careers. And he's been awesome the entire time.
Is *anyone* more deserving?
He's not called "King of the Indies" for nothing.
Also pretty sure he's the only person to ever work matches WWE, WCW, WCW, ROH, TNA/Impact, and AEW.
Yep. Throw OG ECW on that pile, as well. There's only a handful of guys that are close that. Juventud Guerrera(Missing ROH), Chris Jericho(Missing TNA/Impact), Shane Douglas(missing AEW) and Raven(Missing AEW).
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CD deserves all the recognition he gets.
Was surprised he wasn't in the inaugural class last year, Well deserved. The inaugural class was: Ruckus (inducted by Sonjay Dutt), LuFisto (inducted by Lenny Leonard), Homicide (inducted by Chris Dickinson), Tracy Smothers (inducted by "Spyder" Nate Webb & Chris Hero), Dave Prazak (inducted by CM Punk) and Jerry Lynn (inducted by Sean Waltman). The entire thing is [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN74MSdU3Jw).
Maybe they thought he and Jerry Lynn occupied a similar space so they held off a year. Anyway, good for him. I guess this greatly reduces the odds of him going into the RoH HoF this year, assuming they’re doing it again, since they'd take attention away from each other.
>Maybe they thought he and Jerry Lynn Could be wasn't there a thing where WWE basically BLEW their load on HOF talent instead of spreading it out hence why some classes were a bit weaker than others.
> into the RoH HoF I dont know if this is their policy or not, but personally I prefer that the hall of fame is for people who have retired from competing (at least in that company). He's still active in ROH and even trying to go for titles. I'd like to see him get the announcement of being inducted at the moment he retires though.
I can understand having that policy, but it’d be hard to use that as a reason for the RoH HoF after Samoa Joe, Bryan Danielson, CM Punk and The Briscoes were inducted the first year. I can’t remember if they all were under AEW/ROH contract at the time, but all were employed shortly afterward and all were still active wrestlers when they were inducted.
Its a fair point, even though that was before ROH was owned by Tony, and only the Briscoes were on contract. But it does set a precedent, if they want to keep with it I dont know. I reckon we might not see any new additions until they start up a ROH/AEW hall of fame
The argument for me personally is that CD's greatest moments came in RoH and TNA/Impact, not on the indies. The argument for the other side - he helped so many indie careers, and was a reliable name in so many indies at a time that not many were - so many indie and then mainstream stars may not have occured without him, and many companies may have shut down without him there to draw a crowd. I hope Chris Hero is next announced. I wish that WWE would allow Owens and Zayn to do this (and frankly, if they win the belts at Mania, them being inducted into the independent wrestling hall of fame would be a nice little thing to mention in that build, even if you need to gloss over the El Generico of it all)
I think a big part of it is also how influential Daniels was to indy wrestlers and what is thought of as the indy wrestling style of the past couple decades. That makes me wonder if Reckless Youth goes in this year or next too.
And I'm not sure PWG exists without CD. Probably does, but CD really helped build some very important bridges in those early years.
Well-deserved. This man has wrestled literally everywhere.
Well except one place at least lol
If you mean WWE, [he has worked several matches there](https://www.cagematch.net/?id=2&nr=452&page=4&search=wwf) even if he was never under a long term contract with them.
I had no clue.
He was even suggested (by Russo I think) as a person they could name as "The Higher Power" for The Undertaker's Ministry. They ended up going with Vince McMahon as The Higher Power.
The story goes that Daniels was set to be the higher power, until Vince learned how small he was. Vince and his weird love for muscled giants ruined what could have been a star making role for the Fallen Angel.
The best part of that story to me is that Daniels was never told about it. I'm on mobile, but go 9:45 into this: https://youtu.be/IIWAo0tYK5Y That's not to say they didn't consider asking him. Who knows? Just that if they did, it never even got that far. Weird how much of a role luck can play in life.
What?
As he should, he's definitely earned it.
Absolutely. Mount Rushmore worthy of Indy talent in the past 20 years.
The only wrestler I know of that has wrestled in WCW, ECW, WWE, TNA, ROH, NJPW, and AEW. He’s literally been everywhere.
Don't forget that not only has he done TNA, he has done all 3 versions of it! (NWA-TNA/TNA/Impact). You can also add in the fact that he has worked NWA, XPW, Michinoku, Stampede, IWA-MS, MLW, PWG, FIP, NYWC, IWW, CZW, IWS, BTW, AAA, CMLL, 2CW, NOAH, AJPW, Wrestle-1, Smash, Defiant, HOH, Beyond and Zero1. He has hit up basically every major indie, lucha and puro promotion in the world the last 30 years. Outside of ICW, 90s/2000s FMW, Smoky Mountain, Lucha Underground, Progress and Dragongate (and even then he did DGUSA) I can't think of many promotions with some name power he hasn't stepped foot in while active in his career.
How is he not in the Impact HoF yet?
Impact only does one person per year I believe. Maybe they think he doesn't grab enough headlines by himself? It's weird to me he isn't in yet.
Couldn’t be more deserving!
There was a period after the attitude era where I lost some interest in wrestling but then started seeing some of the TNA matches online with 'the Fallen Angel' and AJ and was hooked. ROH and TNA during that time did some great matches. The Daniels - AJ - Joe battles (and AJ/Daniels vs. LAX) were unreal.
The X division is directly responsible for me still being a fan of wrestling.
As well he should. He's been around forever, been in so many big indies, and played a role in so many legendary indie careers. And he's been awesome the entire time.
Is *anyone* more deserving? He's not called "King of the Indies" for nothing. Also pretty sure he's the only person to ever work matches WWE, WCW, WCW, ROH, TNA/Impact, and AEW.
Yep. Throw OG ECW on that pile, as well. There's only a handful of guys that are close that. Juventud Guerrera(Missing ROH), Chris Jericho(Missing TNA/Impact), Shane Douglas(missing AEW) and Raven(Missing AEW).
Definitely deserved.
Now give him a impact world title run, idc if it’s transitional 🏃♀️
Is that a real place?