In professional wrestling, the WWE Hall of Fame (formerly WWF Hall of Fame) is an institution that honors selected former employees of World Wrestling Entertainment (formerly the World Wrestling Federation) and other figures who have contributed to wrestling and sports-entertainment in general.
The Hall of Fame was created in 1993 with the induction of WWF alumnus André the Giant, who had died earlier that year. The Hall inducted additional members annually thereafter until 1996 with the 1994 and 1995 ceremonies held as part of the King of the Ring weekend, then went dormant until it was revived in 2004 to commemorate the company's twentieth WrestleMania event.
Since living inductees appear at a Hall of Fame acceptance event, induction is contingent upon the candidate being on good terms with WWE. As a result several notable alumni have not been inducted, including Bruno Sammartino. The process by which inductees are selected is not transparent; the criteria for induction have never been disclosed. Although the Hall in theory honors those with important WWE careers, since the revival in 2004 some inductees, such as Harley Race, Verne Gagne and Nick Bockwinkel, achieved much of their success outside of WWE, though the companies where they did achieve their success are now largely part of the WWE.
As of 2007, Harley Race, "Big Cat" Ernie Ladd, Verne Gagne, Dusty Rhodes and Big John Studd are the only wrestlers to be inducted into both the WCW Hall of Fame and the WWE Hall of Fame.
June 3, 1993 June 9, 1994, Omni Inner Harbor International Hotel, Baltimore, Maryland June 24, 1995, Marriott Hotel, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania November 16, 1996, Marriott Marquis, New York, New York March 13, 2004, The Hilton, New York City, New York April 2, 2005, Universal Amphitheatre, Los Angeles, California April 1, 2006, Rosemont Theatre, Rosemont, Illinois March 31, 2007, Fox Theatre, Detroit, Michigan