Jimmy Hart will be playing a role in this year’s WWE Hall of Fame ceremony.
WWE announced today that Hart will induct The Honky Tonk Man into the Hall of Fame. Hart was Honky Tonk Man’s manager in the WWF.
It was originally reported that Hart was going to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame again this year as part of the Hart Foundation, but only Bret Hart & Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart are being inducted as part of the group.
Jimmy would have become a two-time WWE Hall of Famer if he was included with the Hart Foundation. He was inducted individually in 2005.
The Hall of Fame ceremony is taking place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York tomorrow (Saturday) night. D-Generation X (Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Chyna, X-Pac, Road Dogg & Billy Gunn), Honky Tonk Man, Torrie Wilson, Harlem Heat (Booker T & Stevie Ray), the Hart Foundation, and Brutus Beefcake are the other members of this year’s class. Sue Aitchison will also receive this year’s Warrior Award.
As was announced yesterday, Hulk Hogan will be inducting Beefcake into the Hall of Fame.
This year’s WWE Hall of Fame class has officially been finalized.
WWE confirmed via Sports Illustrated today that Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake will be inducted into their Hall of Fame this weekend. The ceremony is taking place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on Saturday and will air live on the WWE Network.
“This is the culmination of a lifetime’s worth of work,” Beefcake (real name Ed Leslie) told Sports Illustrated. “I’m grateful to the WWE, and I cannot wait for the tremendous honor.”
“Terry and I were just a couple kids from Tampa living our dream,” Beefcake said about his friendship with Hulk Hogan. “We had sat on the beach for endless days talking about wrestling, and then there we were, living it, working territories in Florida and Alabama with guys like Ox Baker, Bob Armstrong, and Professor Toru Tanaka. They took us under their wing and helped make us into what we became.”
D-Generation X (Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Chyna, X-Pac, Road Dogg & Billy Gunn), Honky Tonk Man, Torrie Wilson, Harlem Heat (Booker T & Stevie Ray), The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart & Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart), and Beefcake are the members of this year’s Hall of Fame class. Longtime WWE employee Sue Aitchison will receive this year’s Warrior Award.
The Hall of Fame ceremony will begin on the WWE Network at 7 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday. There will also be a one-hour red carpet special starting at 6 p.m. Eastern.
A longtime WWE employee will be receiving the Warrior Award at this year’s Hall of Fame ceremony.
WWE announced today that Sue Aitchison is the winner of this year’s Warrior Award. The award “is presented to an individual who has exhibited unwavering strength and perseverance and who lives life with the courage and compassion that embodies the indomitable spirit of The Ultimate Warrior.”
Aitchison has worked for WWE for more than 30 years and is the company’s director of community relations. WWE notes that Aitchison is credited with spearheading their community outreach programs, including WWE’s relationship with the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Aitchison was honored with Make-A-Wish’s Chris Greicius Celebrity Award in 2006.
“I’m so humbled — just thinking about this honor is emotional,” Aitchison told the Stamford Advocate. “Giving back is part of WWE’s philosophy. This is something we do and always want to do well.”
“Sue has dedicated her entire career to helping Wish kids fulfill their dreams and putting smiles on countless families’ faces. Her heart and character epitomize the essence of the Warrior Award,” Stephanie McMahon said. “She is an unsung hero who deserves to be recognized and immortalized in the WWE Hall of Fame.”
Dana Warrior will present the award to Aitchison at the Hall of Fame ceremony, which is taking place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on Saturday, April 6. D-Generation X (Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Chyna, X-Pac, Road Dogg & Billy Gunn), Honky Tonk Man, Torrie Wilson, and Harlem Heat (Booker T & Stevie Ray) have been announced for this year’s Hall of Fame class.
Connor “The Crusher” Michalek posthumously received the inaugural Warrior Award in 2015. Joan Lunden, Eric LeGrand, and Jarrius “JJ” Robertson have been Warrior Award recipients over the past three years.
A third name is set to join the list of two-time WWE Hall of Famers.
WWE announced via USA Today that Harlem Heat (Booker T & Stevie Ray) will be inducted into their Hall of Fame over WrestleMania 35 weekend. With him being inducted alongside his brother, Booker T will become a two-time WWE Hall of Famer.
Booker T was first inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame individually in 2013. Stevie Ray was the person who inducted him.
Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels (who is being inducted as part of D-Generation X this year) are the only other two-time WWE Hall of Famers.
“I was speechless for a couple of seconds. The last thing I was thinking about was the Hall of Fame,” Stevie Ray told USA Today. “I’m going to be honest with you, I hadn’t really thought about it. You know, I get the fans hitting me all the time with different things about Harlem Heat needs to be in the Hall of Fame, so on and so forth. But you never know, so I never gave it very much thought.”
“It was surprising, actually, I guess because one reason, my brother and I, we never actually wrestled in the WWE,” Booker T said. “My brother took a step aside at that point in time because he had a daughter, and he wanted to see her grow up and see her go to college. He got a chance to do that. But our career in WCW was awesome.
“My brother and I were together for eight and a half years in WCW and together another two years prior in the Global Wrestling Federation. So we had a career as a tag team, and to be recognized as one of the great tag teams of all time…. [there were] a lot of great tag teams that we competed against back in the day, like the Steiners, the Nasty Boys and the Road Warriors, Sting and Lex Luger, Public Enemy — so many guys we got a chance to grapple with back then, and to be recognized, it’s pretty awesome.”
Harlem Heat held the WCW Tag Team titles 10 times during their career.
D-Generation X (Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Chyna, X-Pac, Road Dogg & Billy Gunn), Honky Tonk Man, Torrie Wilson, and Harlem Heat have now been announced for this year’s Hall of Fame class. The induction ceremony is taking place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on Saturday, April 6.
Torrie Wilson is being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of this year’s class.
WWE announced the news via espnW today. D-Generation X (Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Chyna, X-Pac, Road Dogg & Billy Gunn) and the Honky Tonk Man are the other acts that have been confirmed for the 2019 class thus far.
“This feels like a sweet closure,” Wilson told espnW. “Since I retired, so many people have asked me, ‘Do you feel bad you’ve never won a title?’ And I have always said no, because I felt like I got the value — even though it would have been nice [to win a title]. But being inducted into the Hall of Fame feels like a championship belt to me, because it really makes me feel appreciated.”
Wilson, who started her career with WCW and joined the WWF after WCW closed its doors, had two matches for WWE last year. She took part in the company’s first women’s Royal Rumble and was a participant in the battle royal at Evolution. Wilson also made an appearance at Raw’s 25th anniversary episode.
With Chyna being inducted as part of D-X and Wilson going into the Hall of Fame, there will be at least two women inducted this year.
This year’s Hall of Fame ceremony is taking place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on Saturday, April 6.
This year’s WWE Hall of Fame class has its second confirmed act.
WWE announced via CBS Sports today that the Honky Tonk Man will be inducted into their Hall of Fame over WrestleMania 35 weekend. The ceremony is taking place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on Saturday, April 6.
“WWE is the place to be. For me, it’s the only place I have ever wanted to be,” Honky Tonk Man (Wayne Farris) told CBS Sports on their State of Combat podcast. “It’s the place that if I’m ready to finish up, that’s where I want to be. It’s home for me because I have so many fond memories of everything that has been accomplished by WWE and from what I’ve accomplished myself. It wasn’t me alone, it was a huge team effort.
“That is what’s amazing and what is so great about being part of the WWE. The door is open to you and it’s up to you if you want to walk through it. I look back on everything and for some unknown reason, everything has a meaning. The timing, everything about this year in the 2019 Hall of Fame, everything was lining up perfectly. I never dreamed it was going to happen and would tell people that it’s something I don’t think about every day of my life. But to be able to be part of this, it’s hard to explain.”
Honky Tonk Man’s 454 days as champion is the longest Intercontinental title reign in WWE history. He won the title from Ricky Steamboat on June 2, 1987 and dropped it to the Ultimate Warrior on August 29, 1988.
D-Generation X (Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Chyna, X-Pac, Road Dogg, and Billy Gunn) were the first act to be announced for the 2019 WWE Hall of Fame class.
While WWE has yet to make any official announcements for this year’s Hall of Fame class, it appears that the first act for it has been confirmed.
PWInsider reported this afternoon that the original Hart Foundation (Bret Hart, Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart, and Jimmy Hart) will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of this year’s class. The Hall of Fame ceremony is taking place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on Saturday, April 6.
Bret and Jimmy Hart have already been inducted into the Hall of Fame individually. Bret headlined the 2006 class, while Jimmy was part of the 2005 class.
Neidhart passed away in August 2018. He was 63 years old.
Bret & Neidhart were two-time Tag Team Champions together in the WWF.
This year’s Hall of Fame ceremony was originally scheduled to take place on the Friday of WrestleMania weekend before being moved to Saturday.
