WWE Hall of Fame live coverage – Paul Heyman leads the class of 2024 in todays Wrestling news
Six acts will be inducted into WWE Hall of Fame this Friday.
Paul Heyman will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame tomorrow night, in the city where ECW was born.
Heyman is the star of the 2024 WWE Hall of Fame class. The class also includes Bull Nakano (Mike Rotunda and Barry Windham), Thunderbolt Patton, Muhammad Ali, Lia Maivia, and The U.S. Express. It will be streamed live on Peacock at 10 p.m. Eastern Time.
Heyman replied that he would “wing” his speech instead of having it heavily scripted. He wants to gauge the mood of the crowd to find out what he should talk about.
Heyman will be inducted by Roman Reigns, the undisputed WWE Universal Champion.
The Rock will also be inducting his grandmother Maivia tonight. Rock will be back in the ring on night one of WrestleMania to team up with Reigns and face Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins.
Paul “Triple H Levesque” has full authority to select the WWE Hall of Fame class. The ceremony will take place at the Wells Fargo Center, in Philadelphia, after tonight’s SmackDown.
Jackie Redmond and Corey Graves start the show in the ring at the podium.
Graves pointed out Triple H, seated in front of Stephanie McMahon who was wearing an old ECW hat dating back to The Alliance Days. I liked that. The other wrestlers in the audience, such as Jey uso and CM Punk, were also acknowledged. Hall of Famers Kurt Angle, Trish Stratus and others were also acknowledged. Rey Mysterio sat ringside as well.
Paul Heyman is the first inductee. Redmond couldn’t hear himself speak over the ECW chants resonating through the building.
Paul Heyman has been inducted into WWE Hall of Fame class of 2024
A video of Heyman’s career was aired. It featured clips from his early days as Paul E Dangerously in ECW and his entire tenure in WWE.
Reigns is introduced. The camera cut away to Nia Jax at one point pointing up her finger as an acknowledgement.
Reigns was booed initially, but not during the speech.
Reigns had said that he “loves” his wise man, so he couldn’t refuse the opportunity to induct him. Reigns was casual, and out of character. He spoke about Heyman’s motivational skills and how he knew what to say and when to say. Reigns kept it short and lighthearted.
Heyman enters to the old ECW theme and immediately embraces Rob Van Dam, Tommy Dreamer and Bubba Ray Dudley, before walking into the ring.
“You deserve it chants” ring out. Heyman replied that they were “damn f—ing wrong he deserved” which led to a EC-dub chant.
Heyman said that he did not prepare anything, because he wanted the feel of the room. He said this in interviews before this.
He said he was not comfortable speaking as himself. He pointed out that his kids were sitting right next to CM Punk at ringside. CM Punk chants ring through the air.
Heyman said that he was proud to work in the sports entertainment field, but then he cut himself off by calling it professional wrestling.
Heyman also spoke of being the first inductee into a Hall of Fame selected by Paul Levesque. This led to a Triple H-inspired chant. Heyman praised Levesque for his leadership and said, “Only one individual can drive the car from the chaos.”
He continued to praise Levesque and said that he would always be “a Paul Levesque Guy.” This led to a Paul Levesque rather than a Triple H chant.
Heyman then focused his attention on a nervous-looking Stephanie. He said if his daughter becomes half as strong as Stephanie, he will know he has raised a great woman. He pointed out her ECW cap and said that she married the wrong Paul.
Heyman told his children, “This is what you should do with your life.” He meant to be worthy of people’s admiration and to chase your dreams. Also, he said that if anyone bothers them, Haku sits two seats over.
“Pursue you dreams, pursue your happiness,” said he to them.
He said that his father must have been a much better orator than him, which was something. Heyman said that he wished his parents were both here to witness this. He was crying.
Heyman pointed to Cody Rhodes. He said that he wished Cody Rhodes’ father was also here to witness this. The crowd began chanting “Dusty”.
After the “mushy” stuff was out of the way, it was time to talk about ECW.
He opened a small box that contained a leather duster jacket similar to the one he wore during his ECW days. He also put on the headset and pulled out an old cordless telephone. Heyman said that he believes it is the same phone with which he struck Sting in the head during WCW. He finally put on an ECW cap and everyone cheered.
Heyman said that the wrestling industry was terrible in 1993. He said WCW would not listen to him, so he had to find a place where he could express his vision. Heyman said they couldn’t do that anywhere but Philadelphia.
He spoke about how WCW got its idea of cruiserweight from the ECW Arena and where Steve Austin drank his first beer.
Heyman disagreed with the notion that ECW has disappeared. It’s alive in the matches that you see today, the fans and the spirit of ECW. He said something which was bleeped, causing Bubba to give standing ovations while Molly Holly looked dissatisfied.
He said that every time he has been “cancelled”, he comes back stronger.
Heyman referred to Brock Lesnar, saying he was at his farm, killing things for food during the pandemic. This is when he paired up with Roman Reigns.
He said: “Only you can cancel you.” He has been canceled 101 times.
Heyman spoke of working with stars today and seeing things that he saw with legends he had worked with in the previous.
He ended it by calling it the “Paul of Fame”, and giving shout-outs for CM Punk, and Roman Reigns. He then said he had to pee and that he took too long. He finished by saying he is just getting started. He said that was not a prediction but a spoiler.
Bull Nakano inducted into WWE Hall of Fame class of 2024
A video was aired highlighting Nakano’s professional career. Kofi Kingston was interviewed, as were Jinder Mahal and Asuka.
Graves introduced Madusa to Nakano as Alundra Blayze.
Blayze congratulated Heyman, her CEO at the Dangerous Alliance. She spoke about how Nakano got started with All Japan and developed her iconic look.
Blayze said that she and Nakano created a new standard for women’s wrestling. She called Nakano a trailblazer and a friend.
Nakano entered the ring wearing her signature facepaint. She began by saying that she had been waiting for this award for a long time. Nakano said that she had a wonderful experience with WWE in the year 1994. She spoke about the difficult schedule of WWE and the difficulty in arranging transportation because she did not speak English. She said that her favorite moments in WWE was the matches, because wrestling is a language everyone can understand.
Nakano thanked Madusa. A “Thank You, Bull” chant was heard. She turned to thank Luna Vachon. Nakano said that if she was reborn she would like to be Bull Nakano and be back in WWE. She ended her speech by calling this award a treasure.
Muhammad Ali will be inducted into WWE Hall of Fame class of 2024
A video was aired that featured highlights of Ali’s wrestling career. The video featured Baron Corbin’s comments, as well as those of Cody Rhodes and CM Punk.
The Undertaker surprised everyone by being brought out to assist Ali in his induction.
Taker read some of Ali’s most famous quotes. He said that only Muhammad Ali can claim to be the greatest boxer in history. He said Ali was, and will always be, the legend among legends.
Taker called Lonnie Ali out to accept the award on behalf of her husband. She said Ali is a role-model and an inspiration for us all. He continues to inspire new fans. Lonnie said Ali loved all people and they loved him back.
Lonnie spoke about Ali punching Roddy in the main match of the first WrestleMania. She spoke about Ali’s humanitarian efforts and said that he deserves every honor he has ever received. She also knows Ali would love to be inducted into WWE Hall of Fame. Lonnie spoke about The Rock’s request to use the title “The People’s Champion”. She said it was an honor to present The Rock The People’s Championship.
The Rock was booed in Philly by the crowd. The Rock and Lonnie unveiled a beautiful championship belt that was cheered by the crowd.
The Rock then approached a podium, and the crowd booed louder. He thanked Lonnie and called Ali one of his heroes. Rock said that when he was young, his father was Ali’s sparring buddy. He spent time with Ali’s parents and spoke of the honor of being awarded the People’s Championship.
Mike Rotunda, Barry Windham and the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2024 are inducted.
Levesque is shown in a video calling Rotunda to tell her that she and Windham are being inducted into WWE Hall of Fame. Highlights from their careers were shown. The Miz, Bruce Prichard and Cody Rhodes made comments.
Taylor (Bo Dallas), and Mika Rotunda entered the ring. Taylor took a minute to recognize Windham Rotunda, aka Bray Wyatt. This was met with a loud “Thank you Bray” chant from the crowd as they waved their phones. He said that even though Wyatt wasn’t present on the stage, “we know he’s there.” Mika joked about how there would literally have been no Windham Rotunda if Windham & Rotundo had not existed.
Windham and Rotunda appeared. Windham hugged JBL, his old New Blackjacks teammates on his way into the ring.
Rotunda spoke about Windham’s childhood in the wrestling industry. He would not have become involved had he not wrestled at Syracuse University and met “The Destroyer”, Dick Beyer. He also spoke about meeting Windham’s sister and marrying six months later. Rotunda said that they deserved hazard payment for wrestling Iron Sheik so many times and Nikolai Volkoff.
He ended by saying that he wished Wyatt was there, and that he would have liked to watch his father get inducted. The fans chanted, “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands”, and everyone held their phones up as Wyatt played his music.
Thunderbolt Patton is inducted into WWE Hall of Fame class of 2024
Xavier Woods of The New Day and Kofi King came out. Woods said that it had been a while since the three of the them had been in the ring together. They talked about Patterson’s charisma and how important he was to Black athletes. They said that without Thunderbolt Patterson’s hard work, they would not have had the opportunity to achieve all of the things they have in their careers. Big E gave Patterson his “don’t be sour!” introduction.
Patterson hugged Jerry Brisco, JBL and JBL as he walked to the ring.
A video was aired highlighting Patterson’s career. Cody Rhodes and Booker T were among the commentators.
Unidentified speaker referred to Patterson as the Jackie Robinson of professional wrestlers while Patterson stood next to him at the podium. He said that baseball was better because Jackie Robinson played and professional wrestling was better because Thunderbolt Patterson was and is in it.
Patterson got up on the microphone and said that he wanted Jesus to be thanked and prayed. He said that he had been taught that what we do and say will come back to us. He asked for an Amen from the crowd and they responded with one. Patterson said that it has been spiritual warfare since the beginning of history. He said that everyone has seen the same things, lying, hatred and killing, and it’s now time to treat others the way you would like to be treated.
Patterson thanked Gerald Brisco and Brian Blair as well as Mike Mooneyham.
He told everyone to love each other and come together. He shook New Day’s hand and the show ended.
Lia Maivia inducted into WWE Hall of Fame class of 2024
The Rock was shown singing to his grandmother on a video. The video then cuts to highlights of Lia Maivia, narrated Ana Tuisila who plays her in Young Rock. The Rock is brought out to introduce Maivia.
The Rock appeared and received a better reception from the crowd compared to earlier in the evening.
Rock said he wanted to congratulate everyone in the class before he began his speech.
He spoke about his grandmother as a trailblazer for a male-dominated field. Rock said that she changed the game, and opened doors for many women wrestlers. He spoke about how, in the early 1980s, promotions would send some of their biggest stars to compete for her. One of those stars was Dusty Rhodes.
Rock then pulled out a WWE microphone, pushed the mic away from the podium and turned his attention towards Cody Rhodes. He said what happens at WrestleMania between them is not business but personal. The crowd chanted “Cody”.
Rock acknowledged Ata Maivia at ringside and called her Final Boss. He said his mother would like Cody’s candy a** to get a smackdown from her. Rock thanked everyone and thanked his grandmother. He also told everyone to prepare for WrestleMania.
WWE Hall of Fame live coverage – Paul Heyman leads the class of 2024 in todays Wrestling news, Chatalong Chatbox, Results will be Hidden inside a spoiler Button so you will not bet spoiled about direct results.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~