Look back at her career in the WWE. It got started in 2006. Some people might not even remember that. She debuted as part of the storyline between Mickie James and Trish Stratus, but got injured in her first official match on the main roster.
She returned one year later and quickly found herself in a title feud against Candice Michelle. It is not unusual for credible jobbers to find themselves getting a big push so soon after debuting or even returning from an injury. Candice Michelle got injured, and that hurt Beth's push. There were some weeks where she held the Women's Championship and they had nothing for her, a clear sign that you are a credible jobber. Candice Michelle returned and got injured again. Beth lost the title to Mickie James, then won it back when Candice looked like she was ready to go again. Mickie James wasn't the only woman getting pushes in 2007 and 2008 that were dependent on what was going on with Candice Michelle. 2008 was the year that Beth won a Slammy, which some people are bringing up like it validates her being in the Hall of Fame. This was not even a fan-voted award at the time. The WWE just gave it to her, and with the poor way they pushed her during the year, and in 2009, you have to wonder why. This was the year PWI honored Awesome Kong, so the WWE might have wanted to take the opportunity to put some hype on their diva-version of a dominant female wrestler.
Of course, as I just mentioned, 2009 ended up being pretty much a dead year for Beth Phoenix. If they really cared so much about her, that would not have been the case. She got overshadowed by Santino, then spent much of the year without any real direction.
Things picked up again in 2010. She was in the Royal Rumble, although not the first woman to do that. A few months later, she would win the Women's Championship from Michelle McCool. And she would suffer another injury just a few days into her reign, forcing her to drop the title and take more time off. She would come back later in the year, but soon once again find herself lost in the shuffle.
She would get a run with the Diva's Championship later on. Of course, she got injured again during that reign. You can blame Alicia Fox for that. The WWE kept the title on her this time, but she did miss some time in action. They took the title off her before she could become the longest-reigning Diva's Champion. Her reign was long more out of the WWE not having a woman they were willing to push as centerpiece, not their desire to push Beth as a star. There were really no epic feuds through much of the reign. Some wrestling fans can bring whatever matches they want during the reign, but I am talking feud development. If the WWE is building someone to be a star or featuring them as a star, it shows through feud development, not match quality. And after that, she never really did anything else major until retiring in October 2012.
Does this really sound like a career worthy of the Hall of Fame? It was filled with time spent away due to injury or just not doing anything important. Don't get me wrong, if Beth Phoenix overcame this to became very over, I would probably be on her side to go into the Hall of Fame. She would have done the kind of thing Mickie James did. But she didn't. She didn't become very over at all. Wrestling fans love her and her hometown fans love her, but she never became one of the most over female workers the diva era ever had. She would probably be better received in this era, but we will never know for sure.
Not only do I question the induction of Beth Phoenix, I question them doing it now. There are multiple women that I would induct before her. Let me bring up three.
Sable was also a star during the Attitude Era, the hottest time in the WWE's history. This era definitely preceded the era Beth Phoenix was a part of, but there are still a number of women from this era not in the Hall of Fame that should be. That does not seem right to me.
Victoria did not get that over in the WWE and she got the same type of career Beth Phoenix had, a credible jobber. But this is an era where they are doing some revisionist history and acting like these type of performers are more worthy to be in the Hall of Fame than they might have been under the old status quo. And you might say Victoria paved the way for Beth Phoenix. She relied on power moves, much like Beth Phoenix did. I would say Victoria was a better overall in-ring performer. Regardless of that, she preceded Beth Phoenix. With the women's revolution era here, she is obviously going in one day. But why is Beth Phoenix ahead of her?
Of course, the big reason Chyna has not been inducted in the past is her personal issues. The WWE would have to be worried about giving her a live mic. But she past away last year. And the WWE already acknowledged her after that. It would just have seemed fitting to induct her, either this year or in the near future. I think that it will happen one day. But until it does, it seems a little insulting to put Beth Phoenix in there first. Beth Phoenix didn't pave the way for Chyna. Beth Phoenix was really just the credible-jobber version of what Chyna was back in the day.
Let me bring up a name that is in the Hall of Fame. Look at Trish Stratus. She was the greatest diva the WWE ever produced in the previous era. The WWE pushed her very well and have protected her legacy. She was even the youngest Hall of Fame inductee at the time in 2013. She was 37. She had to wait 7 years to get inducted.
Compare that to Beth Phoenix. Beth is 36. She retired in 2012. That was 5 years ago. Beth Phoenix is getting inducted at a younger age than even Trish Stratus and even faster than Trish Stratus did.
Tell me, what has Beth Phoenix ever done to deserve this? What has she done to deserve being inducted at a younger age than even Trish Stratus? What has she done to get inducted faster than even Trish Stratus? What has she done to get inducted ahead of women that you can argue paved the way for her, and some of whom were doing their thing in the WWE before even Trish Stratus? Nothing. Beth Phoenix does not deserve to be inducted into the Hall of Fame this soon, and ahead of many women that are not in there yet. I didn't even list all of them. Some of them from eras before the diva era should still get in ahead of Beth Phoenix. Some fans want Miss Elizabeth in.
I would also question whether she deserves to be inducted at all. She never got that over. I looked at her career and pointed out how inconsistent it was due to injuries and depushes. She never had a big impact on the status quo. And she never accomplished anything big outside of the WWE, whether in wrestling or some other industry.
I would say Beth should come back for one more run, if she or her fans really want her to be worthy of the Hall of Fame. I know she has kids, but she is still young. She's younger than Mickie James, another woman that has a child. Mickie James still came back for another run. I don't think Mickie James even needed to come back to be worthy of the Hall of Fame. She was the most over female performer the WWE had for a number of years, won more major women's titles than any other woman, and had an impact on the status quo. All she had to do was wait a respectable time to get inducted. But Beth Phoenix still needs to do more, in my eyes. This is the perfect era for that. They value female wrestlers more.
Where are the respected veterans? In a lot of sports, you will see players that are respected and have lasted a long time. These are the respected veterans. But they are not really the elites of their field. They are not the big names. Some of them might get into the Hall of Fame, but no one would be shocked if they didn't. In basketball, everyone knows Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. These are the legends. But I sometimes hear the commentators talking about guys I never heard of. They stood out, had some good years in some regards here and there, but they were not the top stars.
Should Beth Phoenix be considered a respected veteran? I certainly do not consider her someone that should be getting inducted at a younger age and faster than Trish Stratus did. Trish Stratus is featured as a true legend. Inducting Beth Phoenix now is like saying she is in the same class as Trish Stratus. And she isn't. I would say she didn't even last long enough in the business to be considered a respected veteran. And let me repeat it again, to put her in there before women that helped to pave the path for her is just terrible.
I just want to make it clear, this is nothing personal against Beth Phoenix. When there were rumors Mickie James might get inducted 2 years ago, I said she should not. I am a Mickie James fan. She would have gone in at age 35, even younger than Beth Phoenix now. Even though I pointed out that she has a career worthy of the Hall of Fame, she should wait. She hadn't retired yet. I even would have viewed it as a little insulting if they did seriously want to induct her. Are they implying her career is over?
This is just a sign of the times. It is one of the bad aspects of the women's revolution era. They are trying too hard to honor female wrestlers, even ones from the era where most of them were mistreated. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure someone like Vickie Guerrero will be inducted one day, but there are still so many other women being left out right now that are more deserving than Beth Phoenix.
One last thought. I read someone on a message board say last week that the WWE should induct more than one woman every year to get in more women that deserve it. Terrible idea. After a couple years, you are going to have everyone in the Hall of Fame that actually deserves it. After that, they are pretty much scraping the bottom of the barrel for a while. Don't force these inductions just to meet some quota.
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