WWE Hall of Fame 2017

[Johnny Sorrow]

Show was a ton of fun. Dum dums trying to find things to complain about or take an opportunity to bash Cornette need to get a new hobby.

But who the fuck said " Steamboat had great matches with Rude, let's give him a hot mic!"? He stunk. I loved him trying to explain how Rude was a great worker but he's just not a good talker.

[El-P]

Thanks to this thread, I don't feel obligated to watch the HoF. Thanks, Pro-wrestling Only. See you after Takeover.

[SteveJRogers]

I guess the show blew by to me because I 100% checked out during the Beth speech. I turned up the volume here-and-there just to see if it was over and happened to come across some good bits. The crowd liked it and by all accounts online, she appears to have done a good job--I just have never had any interest in her. Rick Rude's son having a short and effective speech while getting the crowd to pop was a good thing.Here's the thing though...this isn't WWE's first HOF.

 

I can understand the mishaps if this was something new they were trying out, but WWE has been doing (in big arenas) since 2004, if not earlier. Why the hell is WWE showing Roman Reigns face during HOF? Why is John Cena inducting Kurt? Why are people talking for 30-40 minutes? Again, all of these problems can be simply solved:

 

- Jerry Lawler is not the William Shatner of WWE and should not host these shows. WWE wants to pretend to be in the big leagues-- ACT LIKE IT. Getting someone like Dave Chapelle or even an actual WWE fan like Gabriel Iglesias to host would be ideal.

 

- No intro should be more than 5 minutes

 

- Speeches should be kept to 10 minutes for the openers and mid-card. While the semi gets 15, co gets 20, and main event gets 30. The Oscars play people out with music, hire Tiny back to ring the bell on some of these people.

 

- No cutaways to heels or people who are tried like heels ( Cena/Reigns) as this takes away from the show (and the moment) at times.

 

I know WWE won't do anything too grand to really make these nights feel and look special, but I think the above recommendation (aside from the removal of Lawler) will all cost the WWE zero dollars and make for an overall better viewing experience.

You don't watch other Hall of Fame ceremonies do you?

 

Looks like they take the Pro Football HOF approach, where Chris Berman has been the master of ceremonies for years, and the presentation drags on for hours as the video, presentors of inductees (and recently the presentors have even started their testimonials in the video package) and the inductees get to have their time, with no hook.

[SteveJRogers]

 

 

WWE wants to pretend to be in the big leagues

That kinda went out the door when you saw everyone was sitting in a steel chair like it was a $15 Indy show.

Seriously? That's Amway Center's deal. I don't know what they do for concerts there, but I'd imagine those kinds of seats are standard in most NBA/NHL arenas for events like that last night.

[C.S.]

Man, tough crowd in here...

 

I thought this was one of the best HOFs ever. I think you should watch it, El-P.

 

Whoever suggested having someone like Dave Chappelle host the show...REALLY?! The last thing WWE needs is some disinterested celebrity pretending to give a shit. That would be a waste of everyone's time. At least Lawler cares, although I will admit he was more low key than I expected and I have to wonder if his heart was really into it this year. Still, he did an okay job.

 

Did anyone really expect Cornette to shoot? This was obviously a "tryout" of sorts for when the Midnight Express and maybe even Cornette himself are inducted - no way was he going to screw that up.

 

Speaking of "tryouts," I'm wondering if Beth Phoenix's induction will somehow set the stage for Chyna's - as odd as that sounds. Someone "acceptable" like Beth changing the focus of Chyna's legacy from drugs/porn back to how influential she was kind of plants some seeds for a future induction.

 

Ricky Steamboat was terrible. The words of his speech were fine, but his delivery was sleep-inducing.

 

Cena was an appropriate choice to induct Angle. If the shithead fans booed him, that's on them, not WWE or Cena. Ditto for anything with Reigns, even though showing him on camera so many times really did feel like deliberate trolling by WWE. Regardless, I personally think fans shouldn't be allowed to attend the HOF, because they add nothing to the proceedings and only slow down every speech with their chants (whether positive or negative).

 

Bischoff, DDP, Nattie, and Beth had the best speeches of the night. Angle was fine and fun, but like Sting last year, it was a very surface-level speech. I wonder if he purposely kept it shorter than usual because it was so late. Either way, no one can accuse Kurt of lacking confidence in himself.

[Matt D]

I'm going to watch this in bits and pieces over the next two weeks and probably be way happier than the rest of you because of it.

[flyonthewall2983]

Whoever suggested having someone like Dave Chappelle host the show...REALLY?! The last thing WWE needs is some disinterested celebrity pretending to give a shit. That would be a waste of everyone's time. At least Lawler cares, although I will admit he was more low key than I expected and I have to wonder if his heart was really into it this year. Still, he did an okay job.

 

Lawler's less of a host than he is, as someone else here suggested elsewhere, a master of ceremonies. He just introduced people, basically. The show is long enough, he or whoever hosts doesn't need monologues.

 

This night isn't about cutting promos, it's about people's careers. That gets lost on the audience unfortunately.

[victory]

I think this was the first HOF where every inductee and inductor was great IMO. No stinkers at all. Really enjoyed this despite it being almost 4 hours. It really went by fast.

[Herodes]

stro is being predictably awful, the show was fine and what you would want it to be aside from the obvious nonsense of Beth Phoenix being inducted and hilarious shout its to grizzled vets of the game who paved the way like Candice Michelle and Kelly Kelly.

[Mando]

I really enjoyed the show. Started it late last night and finished it today before work. On paper Beth Phoenix was the only inductee I wasn't thrilled about but she won me over (and nice to hear a Simon Dean name drop). Angle was hilarious. The "Sexy Kurt" song had me legit cracking up especially when he brought up Marty Jannetty and they cut to Michaels' reaction cutting up. I just saw Ricky Morton work a match in an old Ponderosa Steakhouse in near freezing temperatures a couple years ago -- it's amazing he's still at it. I actually liked Steamboat's stuff on Rude, it was less mythologizing and more from a worker's perspective, which felt rare and neat, the cage match story was gold. Didn't have much excitement leading up to this year's HoF and wasn't super eager to start a four-hour program but I really had a good time overall.

[Gutenberger]

I liked the show. Close to 4 hours is really, really long. The only time things were really dragging to me was during the Legrand speech, but that's mostly because I've no idea who he is and so I couldn't bring myself to get into it. Dana's speech comparing WWE to fairytales was really goo, though.

The clear highlight to me was Beth. She really shone up there and really seemed honored. Just true, heartfelt emotions.

And Kurt was amazing as well. Encouraging people to take chances and be silly is always a good thing, but then showing that STILL he isn't shy of doing just that great.

[stro]

stro is being predictably awful, the show was fine and what you would want it to be aside from the obvious nonsense of Beth Phoenix being inducted and hilarious shout its to grizzled vets of the game who paved the way like Candice Michelle and Kelly Kelly.

4 hours of dudes telling the same stories they've been telling for years and reading off old promos isn't the greatest thing in the world. So sue me.

[Fando]

I really enjoyed the show. Started it late last night and finished it today before work. On paper Beth Phoenix was the only inductee I wasn't thrilled about but she won me over (and nice to hear a Simon Dean name drop). Angle was hilarious. The "Sexy Kurt" song had me legit cracking up especially when he brought up Marty Jannetty and they cut to Michaels' reaction cutting up. I just saw Ricky Morton work a match in an old Ponderosa Steakhouse in near freezing temperatures a couple years ago -- it's amazing he's still at it. I actually liked Steamboat's stuff on Rude, it was less mythologizing and more from a worker's perspective, which felt rare and neat, the cage match story was gold. Didn't have much excitement leading up to this year's HoF and wasn't super eager to start a four-hour program but I really had a good time overall.

 

Meltzer's saying he heard Steamboat tell the same story about lifting a stack one-handed in the gym, but the first time it was about Lou Thesz

[WingedEagle]

I thought Bischoff, DDP, Nattie and Beth Phoenix were terrific, while RNR was great fun. All of them are worth going out of your way to see. Rude's son was a fun quick hit, and the only folks who wouldn't find Eric Legrand inspiring are those without a heart. Cornette was useless and his efforts to get himself over with nonstop jokes was completely out of place and fell flat at every turn. Cena/Angle was fine but nothing special.

[C.S.]

 

Whoever suggested having someone like Dave Chappelle host the show...REALLY?! The last thing WWE needs is some disinterested celebrity pretending to give a shit. That would be a waste of everyone's time. At least Lawler cares, although I will admit he was more low key than I expected and I have to wonder if his heart was really into it this year. Still, he did an okay job.

 

Lawler's less of a host than he is, as someone else here suggested elsewhere, a master of ceremonies. He just introduced people, basically. The show is long enough, he or whoever hosts doesn't need monologues.

 

This night isn't about cutting promos, it's about people's careers. That gets lost on the audience unfortunately.

 

 

Oh, I agree. I'm just saying, Lawler seemed less spirited this year. Maybe it's just me? Regardless, I would never want to replace him - someone who obviously cares - with a celebrity who would be faking it, or worse, unable to hide his/her lack of interest.

 

 

I really enjoyed the show. Started it late last night and finished it today before work. On paper Beth Phoenix was the only inductee I wasn't thrilled about but she won me over (and nice to hear a Simon Dean name drop). Angle was hilarious. The "Sexy Kurt" song had me legit cracking up especially when he brought up Marty Jannetty and they cut to Michaels' reaction cutting up. I just saw Ricky Morton work a match in an old Ponderosa Steakhouse in near freezing temperatures a couple years ago -- it's amazing he's still at it. I actually liked Steamboat's stuff on Rude, it was less mythologizing and more from a worker's perspective, which felt rare and neat, the cage match story was gold. Didn't have much excitement leading up to this year's HoF and wasn't super eager to start a four-hour program but I really had a good time overall.

 

Meltzer's saying he heard Steamboat tell the same story about lifting a stack one-handed in the gym, but the first time it was about Lou Thesz

 

 

Worker gonna work...

 

BTW, the names Mando and Fando would be perfect for a lucha team.

[Parties]

I have an abnormal love of the HOF for the same reasons I loved the early Slammys: it's fun to see everyone in their idea of Oscar-wear performing the tropes of an award show. In recent years the HOF has of course become something else wherein you have these rebel vagabonds from wrestling's shadier past being formally brought into the light of publicly traded corporate Orlando, and that too leads to a lot of cool, wacky moments. All that said, maybe it was just that I was doing other stuff while watching, but this one didn't seem as compelling as prior years, if only because the talents honored were less my cup of tea (save Rude, whose son really did do a fantastic job).

 

Also: I feel like I would probably enjoy Bischoff as a play-by-play commentator for some company or even WWE (he'd actually be kind of great in TNA right now if he'd be willing to just manage, call matches, or be an interviewer), but his induction of DDP seemed a bit flat, as if he was trying to be what he thought Vince would want and instead was just kinda boring.

[Jimmy Redman]

I have never actually sat down and watched a Hall of Fame until now. I've never even seen Trish's or Lita's inductions. But there was nothing on tonight so I gave it a go.

 

I even watched the red carpet. I'm probably the biggest sucker for a red carpet who actually has zero interest in fashion itself. I just like the interviews; in super scripted WWE red carpet interviews come off as incredibly real and genuine in comparison and it's nice to see these people as their real selves, well as real as we will ever get to see them. Alexa Bliss came off as such a sweetheart, between this and other non-kayfabe stuff she's put out it would almost be impossible to hate her if she wasn't such a good heel, and when she gets a run as a face she's going to be so fucking great, I can't wait.

 

I popped for Maryse putting Cena on blast for disrespecting her and the Divas Era girls by saying she'd accomplished nothing in her career even though she is a two-time champion. I forgot about that part when I was ranting and raving about Cena but fucking yeah, he does not get to step to the Divas like that. I know this is kind of the narrative they're pushing now with the Revolution but blame it on the company and institutional sexism, don't blame the girls. Not cool. I am so ready for this match.

 

I also popped for Renee, my sun and stars, moon of my life, interviewing Deano. He's walking around looking like Dean Ambrose and she's brushing crumbs or possibly dirt off him and trying to make him look nice for the camera and he's trying to work this ridiculous suave lady killer thing for no reason and she's just not having any of it and it's all the most adorable thing I've ever seen. I don't watch Total Divas so this may be an uninformed opinion but Renee and Dean seem like the cutest couple ever. If not me, then well done to you sir.

 

Speaking of which, Bayley looked stunning. How fucking lucky is that dweeb she's marrying.

 

I like that Byron and Corey had a moment there where, even though Corey still had to riff on him, they interacted in a way that shows you that they're cool in real life and it's all in good fun.

 

Eve and Maria Menounos having their little reunion made my heart soar. More on that later. Maria Menounos flies under the radar as a celebrity wrestler since she's not a huge celebrity I guess, but honest to God from the couple matches she's had she's probably the most well trained and most enthusiastic non-wrestler they've ever had work a match. She could fair dinkum join the roster tomorrow. And Kelly Kelly! Be still my beating heart. I'm so glad she knows all about her vs Beth Phoenix, I assume she means the Summerslam match but I always preferred NoC, will have to revisit. The Stacey and Elliott Divas Invasion Army is slowly coming together.

 

So, the show. I'm not sure what I expected would be the first thing I saw on this show, but I admit that Eric Bischoff walking out and giving a tearful, heartfelt tribute to Dream sure wasn't it. Bischoff with his tan and white hair looks simultaneously the oldest and yet healthiest he's ever been.

 

DDP was fantastic. I live for impressions so him just having a ball riffing on Dream and Hayes and Savage was awesome. Page seems like the coolest dude on the planet. He was so cool and funny and sincere and humble. By the time he was done I immediately got the appeal of this whole gig and it made me want to watch every single HOF ceremony ever. The guys must live for this.

 

It was cool and surreal to see Jim Cornette on WWE TV again, and the man sure can talk, but it also did feel like he went on for fucking ever. The Rock N Rolls, on the other hand, were AMAZING. Just incredible. Ricky and Robert are just immortal. They go from being Ricky and Robert doing their "we sold this sumbitch out" routine, to making heartfelt thanks to people, to being senile old men who lost their train of thought, then snapping back in and popping the crowd again...brilliant, loved it.

 

Steamboat, God love him, was pretty boring but I did like the bit where he talked about the cage match and Rude coming up with that awesome highspot on the fly, that was badass. Rude's son did pretty well.

 

AND SO. The moment I've all been waiting for, the main event of my evening. Womenfolk.

 

Nattie is so insane and I love it. She seems like the most annoying person on earth but in a way that you'd still totally be best friends with her. You'd just have to learn how to tune her voice out, and probably develop a habit of ignoring the 78 texts she sends you every day until a moment where you're mentally prepared to deal with her onslaught. I have friends like that. She did great here, I loved their little tag team but I had no idea how close they actually were.

 

Beth was magnificent. I lost it the moment she came out and seemed immediately overwhelmed by the reaction she got. What a sweetheart. I'm glad she told the story of Molly Holly paying her tuition because it's a darling story and Molly Holly is all that is light and good in this world. Molly losing it made me lose it again.

 

I was so not prepared for Beth beginning to list the girls she'd worked with and starting with Gail Kim - someone whom she had one 5 minute singles match with on Superstars, but fuck me if Beth vs Gail wasn't my number one most wished for dream match in wrestling for like three years to no avail until they finally had a 5 minute singles match on Superstars and I lost ALL OF MY SHIT in a way that I have rarely ever lost it. I've been thinking about my top 33 moments in wrestling ever since I listened to the latest Supershow episode, and honestly finally getting my dream match out of the blue is probably one of them. So thank you Beth for popping me like that.

 

Speaking of which, Glamarella. I haven't even thought about that stuff in YEARS but Holy Shit did I love Beth and Santino. I can still remember them getting together like it was yesterday, with the match and the waistlocks and the tension and the kiss and Santino biting her biceps and Beth picking him up and just everything, God damn I loved that angle. Finding out that it was actually Beth who came up with it is awesome. That story of Santino ribbing her in Italy was awesome.

 

I popped huge for her name dropping Cherry, even though I have no recollection of them wrestling on the main roster. Maybe it was in development. Vickie Guerrero got a huge reaction, I thought this day might never come but she could probably be a babyface now. Trish...man, Trish coming back on that Raw in Toronto to face Glamarella was probably the most I have ever popped at anything in my life. I'm still mad that I never got a Trish vs Beth singles match. I think the only girl she forgot to mention was Tiffany.

 

I love that she spent so much time in her speech not just talking about other girls and thanking them, but putting them over in their own right. I don't think Eve's own husband could have put her over as nicely and effusively as Beth did here. Eve losing it made me lose it all over again.

 

She's 100% right about Candice Michelle by the way, she worked super hard to get as good as she did, and Beth walked into their feud as a green, clumsy stiff who didn't know what to do with herself, and she walked out of it as a confident, dangerous monster heel who knew exactly what to do. Candice carried Beth in that feud and helped her figure out how to work.

 

LOST MY SHIT when Beth responded to a heckler with "Settle your tea kettle." SETTLE YOUR TEA KETTLE. IT'S MY FAVOURITE PHRASE AND I HAVE NO IDEA EVEN WHY BUT IT IS. Beth and Nattie are like my new favourite best friends, I absolutely loved their 2011 Divas of Doom tag team and now more than ever I wish they could have had a bigger run. I also remember them both looking stone cold fucking gorgeous every week during that run too, holy smokes.

 

HOOOOOOOOOOOLY SHIT SHE BROUGHT OUT TONY CHIMEL JUST TO ANNOUNCE "THE RATED R SooooooooOOOOOOOOOooooooPERSTAR EDGE!" ONE MORE TIME AND GIVE HIM A MOMENT MY GOD DAMN SHE IS THE BIGGEST MARK IN THE WORLD OMG EDGE HAS LOST IT SO HARD HE'S CRYING HYSTERICALLY WITH LAUGHTER HE CAN'T EVEN SHUT UP I'M NOT CRYING YOU'RE CRYING I DON'T EVEN LIKE EDGE WHY AM I CRYING I CAN'T STOP CRYING~~~

 

I howled all over again when she did the bit about the flaming table. That is exactly what a huge wrestling nerd WOULD think. She is totes a gigantic fucking mark and I love it. I love her. I knew I loved Beth in 2008, I knew I loved her in 2011, I knew I loved her when she left and I was sad, but I never truly knew how much I loved her until now. What a total sweetheart, I fucking dare anyone to not like her after that. She was sweet and humble and gracious and funny and charismatic, she had it all. What a great speech.

 

Beth Phoenix will now be the leader of Stacey and Elliott's Divas Invasion Army, sorry Kelly. A small nucleus of it was congregated here: Beth, Kelly, Eve, Candice. Maria Menounos. Onward we march.

 

I don't care if anyone has a problem with the Divas girls or their careers, if I can get moments like this in my life I want them ALL in the Hall of Fame. Put em all in one by one, and every year I can have this big circlejerk of love from the girls, by the girls, for the girls and cry tears of joy into my pillow while I rant and rave on the internet at 4am during Mania weekend like I'm doing right now. If I'm incoherent right now, it's because I'm so tired but I haven't slept and I can't feel my eyeballs. I love everything.

[DMJ]

* Wish they would've played up DDP saving lives more than just his in-ring career. I really liked his speech and enjoyed Bischoff's intro, but, to me, the HoF is the one time I don't mind the WWE really trying to pull at heart strings and having Jake or Scott say some words would've been cool. Maybe have Bischoff and Hall, for example.

 

* Beth's speech was probably my favorite, though. I liked her thanking her husband, but loved her name-checking Chyna. Her mention of Chyna felt like the most "controversial" thing to happen all night but hopefully it will also open the door for her to eventually get inducted. I'd love to hear an argument as to why her induction would be too big a blemish when everyone whose spoken of her agrees that she had a good heart, but a damaged, troubled life that led her down destructive paths. Her in-ring accomplishments are more than good enough to warrant a spot.

 

* No disrespect to Dana Warrior or the football player because their speeches were nice and all but...that award should be mailed to the winner each year and turned into just a video package.

 

* I mentioned above that Beth's mention of Chyna was the most controversial thing said all night. When it came to avoiding controversy, Angle should be given another gold medal. Not only did he list every major opponent of his career that wasn't Chris Benoit, he also made sure not to mention any from that "Florida territory" - even the ones that are in the WWE today (Sting, AJ, Joe). I get not thanking Dixie Carter or Jeff Jarrett, but like others said, Angle seemed more interested in just late 90s/early 00s nostalgia fun than actually looking back at the entirety of his career (did he even say a word about Brock or Triple H and Stephanie?). Just kinda weird.

 

Overall, fun background event while I worked on lesson plans for school.

[flyonthewall2983]

Unless I'm mistaken, DDP could be the first inductee, from looking at the video package they made for him, to be in solely on the strength of his WCW run. There's obviously the DDP Yoga angle to it as well, so that's two things outside of WWE he has done. They even had clips of the Rock & Roll Express during their brief WWF runs.

[SteveJRogers]

Unless I'm mistaken, DDP could be the first inductee, from looking at the video package they made for him, to be in solely on the strength of his WCW run. There's obviously the DDP Yoga angle to it as well, so that's two things outside of WWE he has done. They even had clips of the Rock & Roll Express during their brief WWF runs.

The Man Called Sting?

The Four Horsemen Stable?

[flyonthewall2983]

Sting had what would qualify as a memorable WWE run. So did everyone in the Horsemen, except JJ Dillon though he obviously had an important role backstage.

 

There wasn't one bit of footage of DDP's WWE run at all.

[Loss]

So unless I missed it, I still haven't heard anyone talk about the best part of the HOF every year. How were audience reactions from Big Show?

[Robert S]

All in all I would say it was a pretty enjoyable show. Random thoughts:

- Bischoff-DDP and Natalya-Phoenix were the highlights of the night.

- Cornette was okay, even though his speech went on too long in the end (and he just cannot talk about any subject without going on a "everything was better in the old days" tanget).

- Morton and Gibson started a bit rough with distributing all their notes on the desk and getting lost.

- I am always impressed when they have a non-performer on the stage who can deliver a hell of a speech like Rude's son did.

- I hope that APA introductions don't become a yearly thing now (as last year the introduced the Godfather) as the pre-scripted stuff they are doing (and I assume without hardly any input by them) is out-of-place for such an event.

- Cena's speech was completely impersonal and cold. Angle afterwards felt a bit like what people accused Sting last year of: doing it as part of the job without really caring and going through the motions. At least the second half of his speech was entertaining with him going back to some of the sillier things he did in his WWE career. And the milk thing in the end with his tux was funny as hell.

- All in all I wouldn't say that the show fell of the cliff in the second half though the first half was clearly better.

[flyonthewall2983]

I didn't see any, but during the "red carpet" pre-show, Mick Foley tried to photobomb him.

[Alucard]

I have never actually sat down and watched a Hall of Fame until now. I've never even seen Trish's or Lita's inductions. But there was nothing on tonight so I gave it a go.

 

Eve and Maria Menounos having their little reunion made my heart soar. More on that later. Maria Menounos flies under the radar as a celebrity wrestler since she's not a huge celebrity I guess, but honest to God from the couple matches she's had she's probably the most well trained and most enthusiastic non-wrestler they've ever had work a match. She could fair dinkum join the roster tomorrow. And Kelly Kelly! Be still my beating heart. I'm so glad she knows all about her vs Beth Phoenix, I assume she means the Summerslam match but I always preferred NoC, will have to revisit. The Stacey and Elliott Divas Invasion Army is slowly coming together.

 

I was so not prepared for Beth beginning to list the girls she'd worked with and starting with Gail Kim - someone whom she had one 5 minute singles match with on Superstars, but fuck me if Beth vs Gail wasn't my number one most wished for dream match in wrestling for like three years to no avail until they finally had a 5 minute singles match on Superstars and I lost ALL OF MY SHIT in a way that I have rarely ever lost it. I've been thinking about my top 33 moments in wrestling ever since I listened to the latest Supershow episode, and honestly finally getting my dream match out of the blue is probably one of them. So thank you Beth for popping me like that.

 

She's 100% right about Candice Michelle by the way, she worked super hard to get as good as she did, and Beth walked into their feud as a green, clumsy stiff who didn't know what to do with herself, and she walked out of it as a confident, dangerous monster heel who knew exactly what to do. Candice carried Beth in that feud and helped her figure out how to work.

 

I enjoy all the HOF shows so I'd recommend them all, but Lita's is one of my all time favorite speeches for sure, loved that one. Agreed on Maria Menounos and Candice, huge fan of both. The Candice/Beth matches were awesome at the time. And I love the Beth/Gail story there.