Sputnik Monroe To Be Inducted Into Memphis Sports Hall of Fame

Pro wrestling legend Sputnik Monroe has been named as a 2025 inductee into the Memphis Sports Hall of Fame. As PWInsider reports, the late Monroe has been named to the 2025 class, making him the second pro wrestler to join the Memphis Sports Hall of Fame following Jerry Lawler’s 2022 induction.

The Memphis Sports Hall of Fame “celebrate[s] the area’s top athletes, coaches, and contributors while also motivating and teaching new athletes about Memphis’ rich sporting history.” The yearly honorees are chosen by an 18-member advisory board.

Monroe was a legendary heel who also became known as a civil rights activist. He would socialized with Black fans and insist on allowing them to sit in the same sections as white fans in the 1950s and 1960s, working to desegregate Memphis wrestling venues. He was frequently arrested and was known for hiring a Black attorney, appear in court and pay a fine, then go back to doing what he was doing.

A multi-time champion, Monroe was inducted into the NWA Hall of Fame in 2012 with the Hall’s Humanitarian Award and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2018.

The other inductees into the 2025 class are Tony Allen, Tommy Buford, Matt Cain, Fred Horton, Joye Lee-McNelis, Bubba Luckett, Curtis Person Sr., Lucy Wener, and Carrie Yerty.