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WWE Hall of Fame (2024)

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WWE Hall of Fame
PromotionWWE
DateApril 5, 2024
CityPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
VenueWells Fargo Center
WWE Hall of Fame chronology
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The 2024 WWE Hall of Fame was a professional wrestling event produced by WWE that featured the induction of the 25th class into the WWE Hall of Fame. The ceremony took place on April 5, 2024, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the night preceding WrestleMania XL. It was livestreamed at 10 pm Eastern Time on Peacock in the United States and the WWE Network internationally, immediately after the airing of WWE's regular Friday night program, SmackDown. Paul Heyman, Bull Nakano, The U.S. Express (Barry Windham and Mike Rotunda), Lia Maivia, Muhammad Ali, and Thunderbolt Patterson were among the inductees.

During the ceremony, The Rock received a "People's Championship" from Lonnie Ali.[1]

Background

[edit]
The headliner, Paul Heyman, delivering his induction speech

The 2024 WWE Hall of Fame was scheduled to be held on April 5, 2024, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the night before WrestleMania XL Night 1. It was scheduled to be livestreamed at 10 p.m. Eastern Time on Peacock in the United States and the WWE Network in most international markets, airing immediately after WWE's regular Friday night program, SmackDown.[2]

On March 4, 2024, manager and former promoter Paul Heyman was announced as the first inductee.[3] WWE had proposed the induction to Heyman in the past, but he declined, arguing he was an active worker. However, he accepted in 2024 due to WrestleMania taking place in Philadelphia, the home of his previous company, Extreme Championship Wrestling, the assets of which WWE acquired in 2003.[4] The next day, WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H announced former WWF Women's Champion, Bull Nakano, as the second inductee.[5] On March 8, The U.S. Express (Barry Windham and Mike Rotunda) were announced as the next inductees.[6] On March 11, Muhammad Ali was announced as an inductee into the Celebrity Wing.[7] On March 13, Thunderbolt Patterson was announced as the fifth inductee.[8] On April 1, Lia Maivia was announced as the sixth inductee.[9]

Former WWE Champion and WWE Universal Champion Bray Wyatt (Windham Rotunda), who passed away in August 2023 at the age of 36, was a fan favourite to be inducted in this class. WWE instead decided to induct the U.S. Express, as they felt the Rotunda family were still mourning Windham's passing and such an induction would be premature under those circumstances.[10]

This is the third straight year the WWE Hall of Fame has not inducted any new inductees into the Legacy Wing. This is the first year since its introduction that there was no recipient of the Warrior Award.

Inductees

[edit]

Individual

[edit]
  • Class headliners appear in boldface
Image Ring name
(Birth name) 		Inducted by WWE recognized accolades
Paul Heyman[11] Roman Reigns Former manager and commentator for the American Wrestling Association and World Championship Wrestling
Owner and operator of the former Extreme Championship Wrestling promotion, which was founded in Philadelphia (host city of WrestleMania XL)
Former on-screen general manager of WWE's SmackDown brand
Former color commentator for Monday Night Raw
Manager of Brock Lesnar, Big Show, CM Punk, Rob Van Dam, Kurt Angle, Steve Austin, Rick Rude, Arn Anderson, Roman Reigns and The Bloodline stable, amongst others.
Bull Nakano
(Keiko Aoki)[12] 		Alundra Blayze One-time WWF Women's Champion
1994 Slammy Award winner for Most Devastating
Recognized as having won women's championships in Japan, Mexico, and the United States.
Thunderbolt Patterson
(Claude Patterson)[8] 		Scott Spears[13] and The New Day
(Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) 		A fixture in various National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) territories from the 1960s through the 1980s
Recognized as having won championships across North America.
Lia Maivia[9] The Rock[9] Posthumous inductee: Represented by her grandson Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson
One of wrestling's first female promoters. Ran Polynesian Pro Wrestling (PPW), a territory of the NWA in Hawaii in the mid-1980s. Her promotion ran a show called Polynesian Pacific Pro Wrestling on the Financial News Network.

Group

[edit]
Image Ring names
(Birth name) 		Inducted by WWE recognized accolades as a team
The U.S. Express[14] Bo Dallas and Mika Rotunda Two-time WWF Tag Team Champions
Barry Windham – Two-time inductee. Previously inducted in 2012 as a member of The Four Horsemen, NWA World Champion, 4-time NWA/ WCW World Tag Team Champion, United States Heavyweight Champion.
Mike Rotunda, also known as Irwin R. Schyster (Lawrence Rotunda) – Three-time NWA World Television Champion (Mid-Atlantic version), one-time NWA World Tag Team Champion (Mid-Atlantic version) (without Barry), and three-time WWF Tag Team Champion (without Barry).

Celebrity

[edit]
Image Recipient
(Birth name) 		Inducted by Notes
Muhammad Ali
(Cassius Clay Jr.)[15][16] 		The Undertaker Posthumous inductee: Represented by his widow Yolanda.
Three-time World Heavyweight Boxing Champion
Olympic Gold Medalist
Competed in "The War of the Worlds" against Antonio Inoki, a match dubbed by WWE as "MMA's first big fight"
Special guest referee in the WrestleMania I main event.
Guest of honor in the Collision in Korea event.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "The Rock receives the People's Championship from Lonnie Ali: 2024 WWE Hall of Fame highlights". WWE YouTube. April 5, 2024. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
  2. ^ Wells Fargo Center [@WellsFargoCtr] (November 8, 2023). "Three huge events have been added to @WWE WrestleMania Week in Philadelphia! Friday Night Smackdown & 2024 WWE Hall of Fame Friday, April 5 NXT Stand & Deliver Saturday, April 6 Monday Night RAW Monday, April 8 All three events right here at Wells Fargo Center! Combo Tickets for all three events on-sale next Friday, November 17" (Tweet). Retrieved November 12, 2023 – via Twitter.
  3. ^ Quiles Jr., Fernando (March 4, 2024). "Paul Heyman Earns WWE Hall of Fame Induction During WrestleMania 40 Weekend". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on March 9, 2024. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  4. ^ Rodríguez, David González (March 5, 2024). "Paul Heyman already received the opportunity to join the WWE Hall of Fame before". Solowrestling.com (in Spanish). Archived from the original on March 11, 2024. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  5. ^ Raimondi, Marc (March 6, 2024). "Bull Nakano to be inducted into WWE Hall of Fame". ESPN. Archived from the original on March 7, 2024. Retrieved March 7, 2024.
  6. ^ Bateman, Oliver Lee; Douglass, Ian (March 8, 2024). "Exclusive: The U.S. Express to Be Inducted Into the 2024 WWE Hall of Fame". The Ringer. Archived from the original on March 8, 2024. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
  7. ^ Otterson, Joe (March 11, 2024). "Muhammad Ali to Be Inducted Into WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2024 (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on March 11, 2024. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  8. ^ a b WWE.com Staff (March 13, 2024). "Thunderbolt Patterson to be inducted into WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2024". WWE. Archived from the original on March 20, 2024. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
  9. ^ a b c "Lia Maivia to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2024". WWE. Archived from the original on 2024-04-02. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
  10. ^ "Bray Wyatt's absence from WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2024 explained". Digital Spy. 2024-03-28. Archived from the original on 2024-04-09. Retrieved 2024-04-09.
  11. ^ WWE.com Staff (March 4, 2024). "Paul Heyman to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2024". WWE. Archived from the original on March 5, 2024. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
  12. ^ WWE.com Staff (March 6, 2024). "Bull Nakano to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2024". WWE. Archived from the original on March 6, 2024. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
  13. ^ Star, Marion (March 26, 2024). "Marion resident to present former pro wrestler for WWE Hall of Fame induction". MSN. Retrieved March 26, 2024.
  14. ^ WWE.com Staff (March 8, 2024). "The U.S. Express to be inducted into WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2024". WWE. Archived from the original on March 8, 2024. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
  15. ^ WWE.com Staff (March 11, 2024). "Muhammad Ali to be inducted into WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2024". WWE. Archived from the original on March 11, 2024. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  16. ^ Otterson, Joe (March 11, 2024). "Muhammad Ali to Be Inducted Into WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2024 (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on March 11, 2024. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
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