With another WrestleMania Weekend recently behind us, I thought I would take a moment and look at the idea of a place to acknowledge the best of the squared circle. A place where fans can learn about the past and celebrate those who have made pro wrestling into the institution it is today.
Until recently, I had no idea there was a Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum. Located in Amsterdam, New York and established in 2002, the PWHF, according to its mission statement, strives to “maintain organized volunteerism that preserves and promotes the dignified history of professional wrestling.”
Since 2002, the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum has had backing by a who’s who of prominent names in pro wrestling history. And every year since 2002, they have inducted some of the biggest legends in the business. Despite their hard work and love of professional wrestling, however, unless something drastically changes, the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum will never become the wrestling fan mecca it should be. Unfortunately, as things are now, there are five big reasons why the PWHF is doomed for an eventual failure.
Location – After a few years in Schenectady, the PWHF moved to Amsterdam, New York in 2005. Amsterdam, New York is a small town of 18,620 located 180 miles north of New York City according to Google Maps. Even if there was historically rational reason to housing the PWHF in Amsterdam, a la the Baseball Hall of Fame in similarly small Cooperstown, that is a terrible location. In order to raise public awareness, the PWHF should move to a city, preferably one with a rich wrestling history such New York, Atlanta, St. Louis (a city with its own wrestling hall of fame), Memphis, or perhaps even my city of Tampa.
Web Presence and Social Media– If the PWHF is insistent in staying in small-town upstate New York, it needs to revamp its social media and web presence. While the PWHF website isn’t terrible, there are a few things I would like to suggest.
First, I would like to see videos if possible in the bio section. Maybe even a PWHF Hall of Fame video highlight reel with a nice voice over. Second, the gallery hasn’t been updated since 2009. That’s not good at all. Third, if it is a museum, are there any exhibits? Any old belts, turnbuckles, programs, etc.? Pictures of these types of pieces with stories of the items would be a nice touch. Although pro wrestling is mostly about the people, it is also about the events, the rings, and the titles. Those are the glue that hold the history of the sport together.
Whereas the website isn’t that bad, the rest of the PWHF’s web presence needs a lot of work, especially if it wants to capture the interest of casual wrestling fans. Of course, this means the social media mainstays of Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
A Facebook search of “Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame” brings up a lot of different pages, none of which I can surely say represent the PWHF. There is an informational page which describes the museum, but there is no fan page that interacts with wrestling fans or promotes upcoming events at the museum. Once that is established, perhaps the PWHF’s page could post facts about inductees and exhibits, maybe even a fact, video, or trivia question of the day.
Only slightly better is the PWHF’s twitter presence. Although it appears they have an account, it doesn’t look like anyone has used it since November 2010, and that was after a nine month gap in tweeting. Like Facebook, twitter would be a great way for the PWHF to engage fans and raise awareness. When so many wrestling fans are active on twitter and Facebook, for the PWHF to not be active on either is sad.
Despite the fact that they have a youtube video embedded on their homepage, the PWHF’s youtube usage also needs a ton of work. Until recently, their front page featured a youtube video that wasn't even from the organization’s youtube page. It was from a youtube channel that also featured some “tea party” propaganda videos. I don’t think political party propaganda is the type of stuff the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum should be associated with.
(Note: they recently changed it, but to another page that only partially has anything to do with the Hall of Fame. There are wrestling videos, but few are about the PWHF.)
As for their actual PWHF youtube page, it has three videos off the museum, one from 2010, one from 2009, and a generic video. The page also has a 30 second spot of TNA visiting Amsterdam. Why the last video is there, I have no idea. And why the 2011 Hall of Fame video is not on the official PWHF page is also a mystery. There is no reason why the page isn’t a robust forum of interviews, exhibits, and other propaganda about the museum.
Volunteerism – From checking out their homepage and other assorted information about them throughout the internet, I get the impression that the PWHF is proud of their volunteer, non-profit status. That would be fine if they were located in a big city, but in small-town New York, I am guessing the pool of volunteers they can pull from is quite low. Perhaps if they were a for-profit company they could attract more employees, employees who could help market and promote the museum. Volunteerism is great if you are where free labor is bountiful, such as a major college town, but I think for the PWHF it is now a liability.
Non-Affiliation – According to its website, the PWHF takes pride in not being affiliated with any one professional wrestling organization. It is not in cahoots with the WWE, NWA, or any other international, national, or regional organization. Whereas in the tricky world of pro wrestling, this might have been a good idea initially, I think it is actually to the PWHF’s detriment. Affiliating with the NWA, for example, may allow the PWHF to freely use video and other items – possibly even exhibits – from the organization’s rich history. Being in the official hall of fame of other organizations as well would also mean access to their archives and property.
The WWE Hall of Fame – We all know it’s coming. Eventually the WWE will build a physical home for its Hall of Fame. It will attract wrestling fans from far and wide. It will squash any and all regional or small-town halls of fame and museums that attempt to tell the story about the rest of professional wrestling. And it will be the default “pro wrestling Hall of Fame” for casual fans and non-fans alike. If the WWE Hall of Fame doesn’t strike a death knell for the current Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame, it will greatly hurt its chances of succeeding as a tourist destination. Everything the WWE does, it does big, and there is no doubt a WWE Hall of Fame would follow suit.
The PWHF can circumvent being the “other” pro wrestling hall of fame if, after gaining the blessing and affiliation of NWA, TNA, and other regional wrestling organization, it reaches out to the WWE. If the PWHF takes in all WWE Hall of Famers and acknowledges the WWE Hall of Fame as part and parcel of the PWHF, it might also be able to utilize the WWE’s huge marketing juggernaut. This is a story of David convincing Goliath to work with him, but if the PWHF gets it other ducks in a row, then it might have a chance to convince the WWE to outsource the care and maintenance of a physical hall of fame to the PWHF.
I’d like to see the PWHF succeed. I really would. It would be great to see a hall of fame and museum dedicated to pro wrestling that tells the entire story of the sport, and includes everyone from every organization from every country in the world, not just from the biggest pro wrestling company. In a perfect world, a metropolitan-located PWHF would receive footage, rights, and exhibits from Vince McMahon, the powers that be at the NWA, and other groups from around the world, making the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame a mecca of pro wrestling history and celebration.
