WWE Hall Of Fame Ceremony Live Report – Class Of ’09
I will be updating this report as each Hall of Famer finishes his acceptance speech.
I think I saw Bobby Heenan in attendance.
There are a lot of empty seats in the lower section.
Todd Grisham is presenting and let’s just say that he’s pretty bland. The sound is terrible in the building.
First out are The Funks.
It looks like the presenters have about three minutes and the inductees have five. I imagine that Austin will have a lot more.
The Funks
Dusty Rhodes said that Terry Funk was extreme before everyone else.
Dory said he wrestled over 300 matches year after year. He thanked the Guerrero family, the Hart family, and Gene Kiniski.
Terry thanked his wife, his daughters, their husbands, and grandchildren. He says that he wants to have a battle royal in heaven that lasts until eternity.
Koko B. Ware
Honky Tonk Man got a great reception from the crowd. Honky says no one had more desire than anyone. He says that he also had the drop kick from hell. He was a really great presenter.
Koko is out with a replacement Frankie. He says that he met Plowboy Frazier (Uncle Elmer) and he introduced him to Jerry Lawler. Then the Fink called him and he became The Birdman. He was short and sweet.
They figured out the sound system. It only took a half hour.
The Von Erichs
PS Hayes is doing the introduction with his cowboy hat on. He just did the moonwalk. Hayes gave the BS story about Kerry setting the world discuss record. He called The Freebirds vs. The Von Erichs the greatest tag team feud of all time.
He said that when his brothers died, he still had brothers in all the wrestlers. He didn’t mention anything about his brothers’ issues but did mention that his sons do things the right way and don’t take short cuts.
These speeches have been short so far.
Howard Finkel
Mean Gene is introducing The Fink. He said that The Fink came up with the name Wrestlemania.
Howard is trying to get his speech in quickly and he’s talking fast.
It was a very fun speech and seemed light hearted and heartfelt. He ended it with his signature booming voice.
Every time Cena is shown on camera, he’s booed heavily.
Cowboy Bill Watts
Jim Ross is inducting him. He said that Wahoo McDaniel told Watts to get into the business and was main eventing in three years.
He told a few stories about how tough Bill was and how tough he was in his job as booker and promoter. He said he is a better man because of Watts.
Watts looked a lot different from the last time you saw him on TV. Eric is there. He said that he thought Danny Hodge was the toughest wrestler he ever saw. He said that Wild Red Berry was his first partner. He said he and Bruno were bench pressing near 600 pounds before anyone knew what a steroid was.
He mentioned a lot of the guys who he loved that aren’t around anymore. He called it the highlight of his career. You could listen to this guy talk forever. By far, the best speech so far.
Todd just said that the show is going live.
Jerry Lawler is out to host the live part of the show.
Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat
It’s time for the Nature Boy. Jericho is keeping kayfabe alive and not standing up for Naitch.
He called Steamboat his greatest wrestling opponent.
He said that Steamboat was a bigger chick magnet than the Von Erichs. He said he hopes their sons continue the Flair/Steamboat rivalry.
Steamboat and Flair mocked a lock-up. A “Steamboat” chant erupted.
He said that Johnny Ace used to ask him to critique his match. He said that Triple H picked his brain as well. He just cut a promo on Jericho and said he, Snuka, and Piper are taking him to school tomorrow.
Mickey Rourke is in the audience and Steamboat told him this was his Oscar. Too bad Rourke didn’t win. He thanked Bonnie, his ex-wife and also his son who were both in the audience.
Steamboat was awesome.
Lawler brought out Okerlund to give a round of applause to the Class of 2009.
Steve Austin
Vince said that he helped Steve create “What!” because they both couldn’t hear. He called him the greatest WWE superstar of all-time.
Austin’s pop lasted about 5 minutes and the a “Thank you Austin,” chant started.
He said that his aptitude test in high school told him to become a Park Ranger.
He said the business is what you make it as is life.
He apologized to Atlanta for no showing that one night.
He got in his “Hell yeah” and “That’s the bottom line” catch phrases in and then had a cold beer.
They ended the show with all the Famers out on the stage together.
I liked Stone Cold, but I just don’t think that he was a very talented wrestler. Yes, he was always exciting but notice it was never when he was actually wrestling, a lot of the time. Mainly before fights etc, he would come out and cause a mayhem.
Still I think he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. I can’t wait to see people like Triple H, Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker etc in the Hall of Fame.
Austin’s style was a bit different, but he has always been an excellent wrestler. Check out his WCW stuff with Ricky Steamboat.