On October 31, the National Wrestling Hall of Fame announced its Class of 2025, which includes long-time pro wrestler “The Great Wojo” Greg Wojciechowski and UFC fighter Mark Coleman, who made a mark in the rings in Japan.
The National Wrestling Hall of Fame honors amateur wrestlers, making it different than the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum in Waterloo, Iowa, which contains the George Tragos / Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame — of which Wojciechowski is already a member.
The Class of 2025 includes modern era amateurs Matt Lindland and Terry Steiner, and the Veterans Committee selected Darryl Burley and Wojciechowski. There is also the Meritorious Official honoree Ken Mara, the Order of Merit Recipient Van Stokes, Outstanding American honoree Terry Davis, and Coleman, who is receiving the Medal of Courage.
The award to Coleman comes after a house fire at Coleman’s parents’ home in Toledo, Ohio, in March 2024. Coleman got his parents out, but his dog did not survive. Coleman spent time in hospital due to smoke inhalation. According to the press release, “The Medal of Courage recipient is a wrestler or former wrestler who has overcome what appear to be insurmountable challenges, providing inspiration to others.”
The 59-year-old Coleman was an early UFC champion, after coming out of the amateur freestyle wrestling ranks, winning the NCAA Division I title at 189 pounds while at Ohio State, then finishing second at the 1991 FILA Wrestling World Championships in Bulgaria, and then seventh at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Turning to mixed martial arts, he went to the top, and made a name for himself fighting top names like Don Frye and Dan Severn. He is a UFC Hall of Famer.
Coleman also competed in the Pride Fighting Championships in Japan, and made appearances with its associated pro wrestling promotions HUSTLE and Pro Wrestling Zero-One. There were also matches with New Japan Pro-Wrestling and All Japan Pro Wrestling during the 2000-2002 seasons.
Mark Coleman in the hospital after saving his parents in a house fire. X photo
Here is what the press release said about Coleman and his award:
Mark Coleman is an NCAA Division I wrestling champion for Ohio State University, an All-American for Miami (Ohio) University, and a World silver medalist and Olympian for the United States. Nicknamed “The Hammer”, he was the first UFC heavyweight champion and was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2008. While staying with his parents in his childhood home in March of 2024, Coleman was awakened at 3 a.m. by his beloved dog and training partner, Lil’ Hammer, an 11-month-old Rottweiler. Getting up to get a glass of water, Coleman saw what he thought were clouds in the kitchen. When he went to open the door to let in fresh air, he burned his hand on the door knob. Realizing it was smoke and not clouds, Coleman immediately thought of his parents, asleep in their bedroom. After yelling for them and not receiving a response, he began moving through the burning house. Fearing they were already dead, he finally heard his mother answer. Reaching their room, he had them interlock arms and began to lead them out. Gently tugging his 83-year-old father, Coleman reached the garage, relieved. As he turned around, he realized that it was only his father with him. After getting his father out of the house, Coleman went back in to save his mother, an 80-year-old lifelong asthmatic who hadn’t made it out of the bedroom. She had turned on a bedside lamp that Coleman followed through the smoke. While pulling her to safety, Coleman tumbled sideways, but years of wrestling took over and he regained his footing. His mother safely outside, Coleman returned to the house to find his beloved dog, who had helped him rebound from multiple hip surgeries. Coleman was unable to find his faithful companion and succumbed to smoke inhalation and passed out. He was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Ohio after inhaling harmful amounts of smoke, and placed into a medically induced coma as doctors worked to clear his lungs. After waking up, Coleman was told by his adult daughters, McKenzie and Morgan, that his parents were safe and recovering at his sister’s home, but that Lil’ Hammer had died of smoke inhalation. Three days out of the hospital, Coleman was exercising again, joined by King Martell, another Rottweiler he’d adopted to keep him company. He has continued his recovery while working to stay sober and get his body back in shape.
The career of Wojo is detailed in our feature from 2015: Career interrupted: The story of “The Great Wojo” Wojciechowski.
The Great Wojo Greg Wojciechowski and Kurt Angle at the 2015 Tragos/Thesz Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Waterloo, Iowa. Photo by Steven Johnson
National Wrestling Hall of Fame, in its press release, did not ignore Wojo’s pro wrestling:
Greg Wojciechowski was an NCAA Division I champion and three-time NCAA finalist, competing when freshmen were not eligible, at heavyweight for the University of Toledo. By the age of 21 he had won an NCAA title, a freestyle national title and a Greco-Roman national title. Standing 6-foot tall and weighing approximately 250 pounds, Wojciechowski regularly gave up height and weight to his opponents, including 1972 NCAA champion and Hall of Fame Distinguished Member Chris Taylor, who was 6-foot-5 and weighed over 400 pounds throughout much of his wrestling career. Wojciechowski had a career college record of 55-2 with his only losses coming in the NCAA finals to Taylor and Oregon State’s Jess Lewis in 1970. A three-time Mid-American Conference champion, he wrestled at Toledo for Hall of Fame Distinguished Member Dick Wilson and was also coached by Distinguished Member Joe Scalzo and Meritorious Official honoree Dick Torio. Wojciechowski was the first alternate for the United States Greco Roman team in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics and the first alternate for both Greco-Roman and freestyle in the 1972 Munich Olympics and the 1976 Montreal Olympics. In the final Olympic tryouts in 1976, he was beaten by Hall of Fame Distinguished Member Jimmy Jackson, who was 6-foot-6 and 350 pounds, in freestyle and by Pete Lee, who was 6-foot-2 and 330 pounds, in Greco-Roman. In the 1980 Olympic tryout tournament, he beat Jackson in freestyle and Lee in Greco-Roman to become the last American to win both styles. The 29-year-old defeated 20-year-old Bruce Baumgartner in the final Olympic tryouts. Baumgartner, a Distinguished Member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, would go on to win 13 Olympic and World medals during his career. Wojciechowski won the 1980 Olympic Trials in freestyle and Greco-Roman, the last American to win in both styles, but chose not to compete in wrestle-offs for Greco-Roman team. Wojciechowski was unable to compete in the 1980 Moscow Olympics because of the United States boycott. He was a 13-time AAU champion, winning eight freestyle titles and five Greco-Roman titles. Wojciechowski finished fourth in freestyle at the World Championships in 1970 and fifth in freestyle at the World Championships in 1978. He was a gold medalist in Greco-Roman and a silver medalist in freestyle at the Pre-Olympic Games in Montreal, Canada in 1975. Wojciechowski was a silver medalist in freestyle at the World Cup in 1974 and a bronze medalist at the World Cup in 1976. He was a two-time Ohio state champion for Whitmer High School in Toledo, Ohio. Wojciechowski was the first Junior World Team Trials freestyle champion in 1967. He coached high school wrestling for 15 years and coached youth wrestling in Toledo for many years. Wojciechowski competed in professional wrestling as “The Great Wojo” for over 10 years. He is a member of the , the Mid-American Conference Hall of Fame, and the University of Toledo Varsity T Hall of Fame. Wojciechowski received the Lifetime Service to Wrestling award from the Ohio Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2013. He has a master’s degree in guidance and counseling and worked almost 30 years as a high school teacher and counselor.
The ceremony will be on the weekend of June 6-7, 2025, in Stillwater, Oklahoma. It’s the 48th induction class, with the National Wrestling Hall of Fame opening in 1976.
RELATED LINK