WWE Hall of Fame

The WWE Hall of Fame is a hall of fame which honors professional wrestlers and professional wrestling personalities maintained by WWE. Originally known as the "WWF Hall of Fame", it was created in 1993 when André the Giant was posthumously inducted with a video package as the sole inductee that year. The 1994 and 1995 ceremonies were held in conjunction with the annual King of the Ring pay-per-view events and the 1996 ceremony was held with the Survivor Series event. Since 2004, the promotion has held the ceremonies in conjunction with WrestleMania. Since 2005, portions of the induction ceremonies have aired on television and since 2014, the entire ceremony has aired on the WWE's livestreaming platforms.
As of 2025, there have been 254 inductees, with 134 wrestlers inducted individually, 49 Legacy inductees, 20 group inductions, 14 celebrities, 9 Warrior Award recipients, and 1 Immortal Moment recipient. Eight wrestlers have been inducted twice in two categories: Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, Booker T, Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, and Triple H; while two two-time inductees were inducted twice as a member of a group: Sean Waltman and Barry Windham ; while Bret "The Hitman" Hart is the only wrestler to be inducted three separate times in three separate categories. Sixty-eight members have been inducted posthumously.

History

The World Wrestling Federation established the WWF Hall of Fame in 1993. It was first announced on the March 22, 1993, episode of Monday Night Raw where André the Giant, who had died nearly two months prior, was announced as the sole inductee. In the proceeding two years, induction ceremonies were held in conjunction with the annual King of the Ring pay-per-view events. The 1996 ceremony was held with the Survivor Series event, for the first time in front of a paying audience as well as the wrestlers, after which, the Hall of Fame went on hiatus.
After an eight-year hiatus the promotion — renamed World Wrestling Entertainment in 2002 — scheduled the 2004 ceremony to coincide with WrestleMania, establishing the traditional date for all following ceremonies. Highlights of the 2004 ceremony were shown at WrestleMania XX, followed by the inductees appearing on the entrance stage in a condensed ceremony, which would become a Hall of Fame tradition from that point forward. The full version was released on DVD on June 1, 2004. Beginning with the 2005 ceremony, an edited version of the Hall of Fame was broadcast on Spike TV and on the USA Network ; these were aired on tape delay. Since 2005, the entire Hall of Fame ceremony has been packaged as part of the annual WrestleMania DVD release, and from 2014, has been broadcast live on the WWE Network streaming service. The 2021 ceremony was pretaped on March 30 and April 1 and aired on April 6. In addition to the WWE Network in international markets, the event also aired on Peacock in the United States after the American version of the WWE Network had merged under Peacock in March that year.
Although a building has never been built to represent the Hall of Fame, WWE has looked into constructing a facility. In 2008, Shane McMahon, then-Executive Vice President of Global Media of WWE, stated that WWE had been storing wrestling memorabilia in a warehouse for years, with all items categorized and dated in case a facility is created. Ric Flair stated in 2020 that WWE was in the process of creating a building for the Hall of Fame and that it would be in Florida in the Orlando area, but plans had been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The current WWE president has expressed interest about creating a hall of fame building in 2021.

Specialty inductees

Celebrity wing

The "celebrity wing" of the Hall of Fame is dedicated to celebrities who have made memorable appearances on WWE programming, and/or have had longtime associations with WWE, who have been very successful in other fields.

Warrior Award

In 2015, WWE introduced the Warrior Award for those who had "exhibited unwavering strength and perseverance, and who live life with the courage and compassion that embodies the indomitable spirit of the Ultimate Warrior".
While WWE promoted Warrior Award recipients as Hall of Fame inductees, they were not included in the Hall of Fame section at WWE.com and an image gallery which shows "every WWE Hall of Famer ever" does not contain any recipient.
The award was created following the Ultimate Warrior's death. During his April 2014 Hall of Fame speech shortly before his death, he proposed that there be a special category called the "Jimmy Miranda Award" for WWE's behind-the-scenes employees. Miranda, who died in 2002, was part of the WWE merchandise department for more than 20 years. Former WWE ring announcer Justin Roberts expressed disappointment at how WWE used portions of Warrior's Hall of Fame speech to promote the award but left out Warrior's intentions of honoring WWE's off-screen employees. WWE responded, "It is offensive to suggest that WWE and its executives had anything, but altruistic intentions in honoring Connor and his legacy with The Warrior Award", adding that "moving forward the award will be given annually to acknowledge other unsung heroes among WWE's employees and fans". From 2019 until its discontinuation in 2024, all recipients had been either current or former WWE employees.
Traditionally, Dana Warrior, the widow of the Ultimate Warrior, presented the award. Dana Warrior was released from the company in 2023, and the Warrior Award was discontinued.

Legacy inductees

In 2016, WWE introduced a new category for the Hall of Fame called the "Legacy" wing. Inductees in this category are from several eras of wrestling history, going back to the early 20th century. All but two inductees, Hisashi Shinma and MSG Network creator Joseph Cohen, have been inducted posthumously. Legacy inductees are recognized with a video package at the ceremonies.
The Legacy wing has received criticism, specifically regarding the abbreviated way of the inductions. Journalist Dave Meltzer said "this is the category they use to honor people who, for whatever reason, they don't feel are marketable names to the modern audience to put in their actual Hall of Fame". Promoter and manager Jim Cornette criticized the fact that recognizable names like Jim Londos or El Santo were part of a video package. Previously, Legacy inductees were not announced before the ceremonies and families of posthumous inductees were not notified of their inductions. This practice was criticized by family members of Legacy inductees Bruiser Brody and Ethel Johnson. The Legacy wing was discontinued in 2021, but was reinstated in 2025, now with inductees announced beforehand as well as having their families present and acknowledged at the ceremony.

Immortal Moment

During the March 28, 2025, episode of SmackDown, WWE unveiled a new "Immortal Moment" category for the Hall of Fame, honoring historic and influential matches. The first induction in this new category was Bret "The Hitman" Hart vs. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in a no disqualification submission match with Ken Shamrock as the special guest referee from WrestleMania 13. This induction made Hart the first-ever three-time inductee while also making Austin a two-time inductee.

Classes

1993

WWF Hall of Fame was the inaugural class of the WWE Hall of Fame. During the March 22, 1993, episode of Monday Night Raw a video package announcing André the Giant's induction was shown. No ceremony took place, and André was inducted posthumously. In March 2015 a condensed version of the 1994 ceremony was added to the WWE Network. Due to no original ceremony, the 1993 induction of André was discussed by Gene Okerlund and Renee Young as part of the 1994 commentary.

Image	Ring name	Inducted by	WWE recognized accolades
		-	One-time WWF World Heavyweight Champion One-time WWF World Tag Team Champion

1994

WWF Hall of Fame was the event that featured the introduction of the second class to the WWE Hall of Fame. The event was produced by the WWF on June 9, 1994, from the Omni Inner Harbor International Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland.
In March 2015 a condensed version of the ceremony was added to the WWE Network. Due to the original ceremony only being partially recorded and not originally intended to air, Gene Okerlund and Renee Young host the program with added commentary.

Image	Ring name	Inducted by	WWE recognized accolades
			One-time WWWF United States Tag Team Champion and long-time manager of Bruno Sammartino and Bob Backlund in WWF
			Seven-time WWWF United States Heavyweight Champion One-time NWA United States Heavyweight Champion
			Posthumous inductee: One-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion and first WWWF World Heavyweight Champion
			Four-time WWWF/WWF World Tag Team Champion
		Regis Philbin	Held over 30 NWA regional championships. Long-time manager in WWF
			Two-time WWWF United States Tag Team Champion Former WWF announcer and onscreen President
			First African American to run a major arena in the United States

1995

WWF Hall of Fame was the event that featured the introduction of the third class to the WWE Hall of Fame. The event was produced by the WWF on June 24, 1995, from the Marriott Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The event took place the same weekend as King of the Ring.
In March 2015 a condensed version of the ceremony was added to the WWE Network. Due to the original ceremony only being partially recorded and not originally intended to air, Gene Okerlund and Renee Young host the program with added commentary. It has been discovered that the full ceremony has been recorded and has been uploaded on YouTube
The 1995 class featured two posthumous inductees. Antonino Rocca was presented by his wife, and The Grand Wizard was represented by Bobby Harmon.

Image	Ring name	Inducted by	WWE recognized accolades
		Miguel Pérez	Posthumous inductee. One-time WWF International Heavyweight Champion Pioneer of the acrobatic wrestling style
		Bill Watts	Won several NWA regional titles, and was one of few professional wrestlers to have had a successful career in American football
		Pat Myers	One of professional wrestling's first monster heels
			One-time WWF Tag Team Champion
			A three-time WWF Women's Champion. Her first reign is recognized as lasting a record 28 years The first woman to be inducted. In 1999 she won the Women's Championship one more time.
		Sgt. Slaughter	Posthumous inductee. Long-time heel manager in WWF
		Gorilla Monsoon	Savio Vega accepted the induction One-time WWWF World Heavyweight Champion whose reign lasted nearly three years The first WWF Triple Crown Champion He was also the first Latino to win the world title