Better late than never. The WWE Hall of Fame is a peculiar beast. Despite WWE becoming synonymous with pro wrestling in the way that Kleenex is associated with tissue, the company is far from the only game in town when it comes to predetermined grappling. Prior to WWE creating a virtual monopoly in the United States, pro wrestling was decentralized, existing across the country via several promotions. Once Vince McMahon conquered the world of wrestling, he started re-writing the history books to create a vision of the past that reflected his view of the business.
Consequently, several classic moments and performers from wrestling history have been quietly omitted by WWE, even though millions of fans consider them to be essential to the business's rich past. One such omission was Andy Kaufman's legendary career as a wrestling heel. Although WWE has a special celebrity wing for entertainers outside of the wrestling business that played a part in the pseudo-sport, Kaufman's name has been suspiciously absent for decades. To drive the point home even further, Drew Carrey, Snoop Dogg, and Donald Trump have all made it into the WWE Hall of Fame before Kaufman.
According to Variety, WWE is finally rectifying this awful oversight by inducting Kaufman into the 2023 class of the WWE Hall of Fame.
Andy Kaufman is set to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2023, Variety has learned.
Kaufman will be inducted alongside this year's fellow honorees that currently include Rey Mysterio and The Great Muta.
Kaufman is best known for his career on the stage and screen, most famously starring as Latka Gravas in the hit sitcom "Taxi" from 1978-1983. He made his mark on the world of professional wrestling, however, when he declared himself the Inter-Gender Wrestling Champion of the World, offering money to any woman who could pin him as part of his act. This famously led to a feud with fellow WWE Hall of Famer Jerry "The King" Lawler in the Continental Wrestling Association in Memphis, TN.
Despite Lawler and Kaufman being friends, they successfully convinced the audience they were bitter enemies. Kaufman claimed that Lawler broke his neck when Lawler performed a piledriver on him, with Kaufman appearing in a neck brace thereafter. The two made an appearance together on "Late Night with David Letterman" in 1982, during which they traded insults before Lawler slapped Kaufman, knocking Kaufman out of his chair.
