Bad News Brown To Be Inducted Into The WWE Hall Of Fame

Bad News Brown is the latest inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame, joining AJ Styles, Stephanie McMahon, Demolition, Sid Vicious, and Dennis Rodman in the class of 2026.

Like Sycho Sid, Bad News Brown will be a legacy award inductee and a member of the class of 2026.

Triple H announced Bad News Brown's induction, tweeting: "From standing on the podium at the 1976 Summer Olympics to the center of the ring at #WrestleMania IV, Bad News Brown was a fierce competitor with an attitude to match. For his accomplishments in combat sports and contributions to @WWE, it is a pleasure to announce his induction into the 2026 Legacy Class of the #WWEHOF."

Real name Allen Coage, he won a bronze medal in judo at the 1976 Summer Olympics, becoming the first African American to win a solo Olympic Games medal in a sport other than boxing or track and field.

Following his retirement from judo, Coage transitioned to pro wrestling and was trained by Antonio Inoki at the New Japan Pro-Wrestling dojo. He made his pro wrestling debut in 1977 for NJPW and wrestled for the promotion, and later Stampede Wrestling, as Bad News Allen until 1988.

After a short stint with the World Wrestling Federation in 1979, Coage signed with WWF on a full-time basis in 1988 and was repackaged as Bad News Brown. He would compete at three WrestleManias, winning a Battle Royal at WrestleMania IV, and wrestling to a double DQ with Hacksaw Jim Duggan at WrestleMania V.

Fans are unable to watch Bad News Brown's WrestleMania VI match against Roddy Piper, however, as the match was removed from the WWE Network and Peacock in 2021 due to Piper painting himself half black for the match and pre-match backstage interview. While WWE's content library has since moved to Netflix, the match is still absent from WrestleMania VI on the streaming service.

Bad News Brown exited WWE after SummerSlam 1990 and he would continue wrestling on the independent wrestling scene until 1999. Allen Coage would sadly pass away from a heart attack in 2007 at 63 years old.