My 2025 Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame Ballot

Here's who I am voting for with my ballot in the 2025 WON HOF.

This is my 2025 Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame Ballot.

I wanted to share it with you, The Pro Wrestling Time Tunnel Enthusiasts first of all here in our community. You show me your support by subscribing to my newsletters, my podcasts and by contributing your hard earned dollars to the historical work I do, and as one small way to show you I appreciate you, i wanted to reveal my entire ballot to you first, before I post it in any of my social media channels.

First of all, I do not vote for any active performers, and as of now, i do not vote in the Modern Category, mainly because I’m not qualified. I know my lane. It’s from the late 1920s through 1990, basically what we call “The Territory Era”. Now, as time marches on, soon historical performers are going to be wrestlers in the 1990s at some point, and to prepare for that, I’m brushing up and expanding my wrestling history knowledge and advancing it forward. At the same time, my expertise will always be the territory era and that will always be the Time Tunnel’s mission and focus.

I also am not voting in the Mexico category, because that’s another area I am trying to advance my knowledge on. As you guys know, I’ve written some Mexico-centric history articles this year, trying to advance my knowledge of wrestling in Mexico and I will be ready for next year’s ballot.

Now, without further verbiage, here’s my ballot for this year’s WON HOF:

Historical Category:

1. Cowboy Bob Ellis

2. June Byers

3. Junkyard Dog

4. Wild Bull Curry

5. Sputnik Monroe

6. Bob Armstrong

Japan Category:

1. Yoshiaki Fujiwara

2. Tiger Jeet Singh

3. Antonio Inoki & Seiji Sakaguchi

Europe/Australia/New Zealand/Pacific Islands/Africa:

1. Billy Joyce

2. Gilbert LeDuc

3. Spiros Arion

4. George Gordienko

Non-Wrestler Category:

1. Roy Welch

2. George Scott

3. Gorilla Monsoon

4. Morris Sigel

5. Ted Turner

6. Grand Wizard

7. Bobby Bruns

That’s my ballot for 2025. I am hopeful for at least the top 3 in my Non-Wrestler category to be inducted. I was torn between Bob Armstrong and Ole Anderson for my last slot in the Historical Category, but after studying Bob Armstrong so much this year, his run in Tennessee put him over for me. They both worked on top and drew money in the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida but Bob worked on top in those three plus Alabama and Tennessee and that made the difference in my final decision. Good luck to all the nominees!

Thank You for Reading

I’m Tony Richards, Pro Wrestling Historian, Author and Storyteller. I share pro wrestling historical items in each issue of the Time Tunnel Pro Wrestling History Newsletter. Thanks for reading! If you enjoy my information on select events, matches and insights, please share it with folks you think might like to be a subscriber!

Remember, paid subscribers get access to exclusive and special content such as some special issues including a multi-part deep dives on wrestling territories, wrestler bios and championship title histories, special audio and video interviews on territory pro wrestling and more available in the Pro Wrestling Time Tunnel for Premium Subscribers.