With our predictions for the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2024 already in the books, one man who is decidedly absence is Marty Jannetty. Known mostly for his run in the WWE alongside Shawn Michaels as The Rockers, he helped revolutionize tag team wrestling and became one of the best workers in the WWE.
However, once he and HBK split, things went south fast. Michaels ascended to the top of the wrestling world, and is considered an all-time great in the business. Meanwhile, Jannetty floundered before being fired, due to various drug and mental issues that linger to this day.
The immense gulf in success between the two have even led to a new phrase being coined. In wrestling, being “The Jannetty” of a team means that one of the wrestlers becomes a success, while the other fails to match it before fading away. Being called “The Jannetty” is a huge insult, and shows just how badly Marty Jannetty fumbled his WWE legacy.
Why Isn’t Marty Jannetty In The WWE Hall of Fame?
Marty Jannetty has not been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, despite his partner Shawn Michaels have two Hall of Fame inductions under his belt.
The tag-team specialist wrestled for numerous top companies in the United States, like WWE, WCW and AWA. Most of these were alongside Shawn Michaels, although he did have one famous run as the Intercontinental Champion in the WWE. Sadly, drug issues caused him to get fired from his role, derailing his career.
While Jannetty has not done enough in his singles career to earn an induction by himself, it was expected that he would be given his Hall of Fame ring as part of a duo, alongside Shawn Michaels as The Rockers. While the pair never won the WWE Tag Team Championships, they inspired a generation of wrestlers and helped create a new, faster-paced style of wrestling in the WWE.
The WWE have been inducting tag teams since 2006, when The Blackjacks (Black Mulligan and Blackjack Lanza) were inducted by a speech from Bobby Heenan. Since then, a number of teams have been given the nod, including The Road Warriors, The Wild Samoans and The Bushwackers. They also have honored factions, such as the Four Horseman, the New World Order and D-Generation X.
D-Generation X is how Shawn Michaels earned his second Hall of Fame ring. He first got the nod as a singles star in 2011, before going in again alongside Triple H, X-Pac, Billy Gunn, Road Dogg and Chyna in 2019. This made. He has the chance to be the first person to go in three times, but it seems unlikely that Marty Jannetty will go into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Marty Jannetty has had some controversies over the years. From his drunken ramblings on Facebook, claiming to kill a man and wanting to have sex with his daughter, and even a Dark Side of the Ring episode based on his life, controversy has not been far away from the former Rocker.
Marty Jannetty Was Part Of A Lawsuit In 2019
Marty Jannetty’s inclusion in the concussion lawsuit has ruined his chances of being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, even more than his strange behavior in his post-WWE run. He joined 50 other WWE wrestlers in a class-action lawsuit in the WWE, which was thrown out by the Supreme Court in 2021.
During a 2019 interview on WrestlingInc’s WINCly podcast, Marty Jannetty spoke about the reason why he has never been in the WWE Hall of Fame. He claimed “there can’t be a Hall of Fame” induction because of the concussion lawsuit he was embroiled in with the WWE (alongside many other former WWE Superstars).
The WWE do not take too kindly to litigation against them, so it makes sense that they would exclude Marty Jannetty from the WWE Hall of Fame while he was in the midst of suing them.
“Here’s what I can explain, and I’m hoping my attorneys won’t go ‘Damn, why’d you do that?’ But I’m in a lawsuit against WWE so there can’t be a Hall of Fame [induction]. Even though it’s working out real good where Shawn has been in twice. Bret has been in twice. Flair’s been in twice. Shawn would be the only three-timer as a Rocker and everyone’s telling me, ‘Next year, behave. Behave.’ If I was gonna behave the way people wanted me to behave, I would have been the world champion. I’m just being real on real.”
That suit has since been thrown out. With Shawn Michaels now a key part of the WWE backstage team (he is the head of creative for the NXT brand), it seems like now would be the most likely time for Marty Jannetty to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. This would most likely be as part of The Rockers, although he and Michaels have been said to have not been friends for a number of years, complicating matters.
WWE Told Him He Needed To Change Before Returning To WWE
As it turns out, Marty Jannetty has been in contact with the WWE over a potential Hall of Fame return, but the induction does not seem imminent. He last appearred in the WWE in 2009, wrestling in a short match where he was defeated by The Miz in just two minutes.
The former Intercontinental Champion took to Facebook – which is never a good thing for Jannetty – to talk about what he needs to do to be accepted back into the WWE – simply stating “I Gotta Change”.
According to Marty Jannetty, he was told by the WWE that he needed to change before being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame – although like his other social media posts, it is not clear whether this is the truth, or just more ramblings about nonsense.
“I GOTTA CHANGE. Evidently, according to a call I got last night from a ‘high up’ with some company based out of Stamford, CT I got to change.”
Marty Jannetty on a potential WWE Hall of Fame induction.
What “change” looks like for Jannetty is relative, and we do not know exactly what the WWE told him. It could be to get back in shape, ready to appear on TV. It could mean to delete all of his insane Facebook posts, stop talking about murdering people and having sex with your daughter, and just clean up his act in general.
Whatever it was, nothing has changed.
This is why Marty Jannetty will not be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, missing out on one last WWE appearance, and costing Shawn Michaels the chance to become the first ever three-time WWE Hall of Famer.