Former Skinner Says He Doesn't 'Give Any Weight' To The WWE Hall Of Fame

The WWE Hall of Fame is meant to honor the trailblazers and history makers of professional wrestling. However, to some people, it can be more of a popularity contest or a hollow honorific. 

Though legends like Andre the Giant, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, Mae Young, and countless others have received recognition, so have slightly less deserving candidates like certain celebrities or politicians. That's why WWE legend "Skinner" Steve Keirn doesn't take an induction very seriously.

While speaking to "Wrestling Epicenter," Keirn shared his candid, honest thoughts about the annual event that takes place during WrestleMania weekend. The former president of former WWE developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling said that it's all part of the show since inductees aren't always chosen for their in-ring prowess.

"I get asked all the time about the Hall of Fame," he said. "But I keep going back to [the fact that] this business is a work. This business isn't real. When people go into the Hall of Fame — don't get me wrong — they all deserve to be in the Hall of Fame, but they're not all there [for] being great workers though ... I don't put any merit in there. It is an honor and that's great that those guys [are] in it. If it makes them better and if they get a little boost in their life or their ego or their career or anything that helps out of it, God bless them."

Steve Keirn continued by running down a number of recent inductees including Andy Kaufman and The Great Muta, neither of whom have ever been in a WWE ring, relative rookies (in his terms) The Bella Twins, and Jeff Jarrett, who "stuck the business up their a** and refused to do a job for Chyna unless he got a payoff."

Although, despite being critical about all of those inductees, even going as far as to say that Kaufman "was no George Carlin," Keirn declared that he has and would continue to question why he is deserving of a spot in the Hall of Fame whenever it comes up. 

"If I was to be asked to be put in a Hall of Fame, the first thing that I would want to say is 'Why?' Why now?" he asked. "Maybe when I'm dead it'll be more useful to you because you could use it somehow or another, but why? I didn't do anything exceptional. I just spent my whole life doing this business, but that doesn't mean you qualify to be inducted into a Hall of Fame. I wish I could embellish it a little bit more, but it was a work."

While the path he took to express his feelings was a little prickly, the sentiment behind Keirn's words comes from a good place. Rather than himself, he praised people like Bobby Eaton, Mark Lewin, and Bob Roop as deserving candidates. "The people that should be in the Hall of Fame are the ones that made me look good, my opponents. All of them."