WWE Hall Of Fame Report (4/6) – Warrior, Roberts, Razor, Lita!

Event: WWE Hall Of Fame
Airdate: Saturday, April 5th, 2014 (WWE Network)
Location: The Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, LA
Results by Matt Boone

Alright everybody, here we go! The WWE Hall Of Fame “red carpet” pre-show special has concluded and the intro for the live special itself is beginning now. Stay tuned!

Introduction: Jerry “The King” Lawler

After the usual elaborate video package introduction, the host of tonight’s ceremony, WWE Hall Of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler is brought out. Lawler makes his way to the podium and begins by thanking everyone for coming out. He says tonight is a celebration. He says it is his honor to share the same stage as this year’s WWE Hall Of Fame inductees. Lawler introduces a video package that is narrated by the Kid Rock song “Celebration,” which is one of the official WrestleMania XXX theme songs.

WWE Hall Of Fame 2014 Induction: Lita

After the video package, Jerry Lawler introduces Lita’s video package. After the video package wraps up, Lawler introduces WWE Hall Of Famer Trish Stratus. Trish makes her way to the podium to begin her induction speech for her friend and former opponent, Amy “Lita” Dumas.

Trish talks about it being an honor to induct Lita. She says Lita is the godmother to her child. She says her first and last matches in WWE was against Lita. She says they both retired at about the same time. She talks about the chemistry that the two had throughout their careers. She talks about the biggest moment being when they got to main event WWE RAW.

She talks about how Lita was different. She dressed different, she wrestled different, but she was relatable. She talks about Lita’s days as a member of “Team Extreme” with Matt and Jeff Hardy. Trish runs down some of Lita’s accomplishments and then brings out to the stage, the first inductee to the 2014 class of the WWE Hall Of Fame — Amy Dumas, better known as Lita.

Lita’s music hits and out walks Lita in a long red dress. Lita says she’s going to take a minute to soak this in. The fans all chant “Lita.” As she continues to talk, the fans erupt in a giant “thank you Lita” chant. Lita tells a story about a travel agent. She talks about calling a travel agent to make a trip to Mexico to learn how to be a professional wrestler. She talks about having money stashed on her during her trip, and then pulls out a $20 bill from her bra to reveal that she still has that mindset to this day.

She talks about going to Arena Mexico, which she refers to as the Madison Square Garden of Mexico. She runs down a bunch of details on her first time being in attendance at a wrestling show in Mexico. She relates the excitement she felt that night to the excitement everyone is going to feel on Sunday night at WrestleMania XXX.

Lita pulls out a mask that she stole from someone who was at the show that night in Mexico. She mentions that it was also the first time she saw Rey Mysterio. Mysterio is shown smiling in the audience. The fans boo something, but I can’t figure out what. They chant “put the screen back” (I believe that’s what they were saying). Again, not sure what’s going on with the boo’s or that chant, just recapping what I’m hearing and seeing.

She says she didn’t see Mysterio that night in Mexico, but did run into Arn Anderson. She says she told Double A that she wanted to be a pro wrestler and that she was trying to find Mysterio. She says Anderson said he’d help her find him. She talks about being near the elevators in the hotel and seeing Mysterio coming out of one of them. Double A is shown smiling in the crowd. She mentions that she owes Arn a Miller Lite for something. Some ladies come out with a tray of Miller Lite’s. She says she owes Anderson and Mysterio one, so the beers are presented to them each. Trish joins Lita at the podium for a shot of wheet grass. Anderson and Mysterio get their beers and everyone cheers. Anderson walks over to where Mysterio is sitting and they both drink their beers in honor of Lita. Everyone cheers again.

Lita continues telling her story about how she became a pro wrestler. She talks about being at ECW Heatwave 1999 and everyone breaks out into an “ECW” chant. She says she was teamed up with Roadkill and Danny Doring. She says Doring got down on one knee to propose to her, but instead of a ring, he proposed to her with a condom. She says that’s not to be out-done by her proposal from “The Rated R Superstar” Edge. Then she talks about being proposed to by Kane. These are all storyline proposals, obviously.

She talks about being chosen by director James Cameron for the season finale of a television show. She talks about getting her neck broken during an accident while shooting a stunt scene. She talks about watching RAW in the hospital. She says she was told that if she coughed or sneezed she could be paralyzed. She says while sitting there, she decided she wanted to talk to “Stone Cold.” With that said, Steve Austin is shown sitting in the crowd. The fans explode with cheers when seeing him. She talks about Stone Cold taking her to Dr. Youngblood, who fixed her up and because of that, she enjoyed six more years in WWE.

She thanks a bunch of people. During her thank-you’s, we get our first glimpse of Jim Ross in the audience, as he’s seated next to Steve Austin as Lita thanks him for bringing her matches to life with his commentary. She runs down a bunch of other thank you’s, too many to list in this space. She wraps up finally, after a solid 30-40 minutes of talking.

WWE Hall Of Fame 2014 Induction: Jake “The Snake” Roberts

After Lita’s lengthy speech, Jerry Lawler comes back out and introduces a Jake “The Snake” Roberts video package. After the video package, Lawler introduces Roberts’ inductors, the leader of DDP Yoga, Diamond Dallas Page.

DDP makes his way out to the podium to a pretty good reaction. As soon as he begins to speak, the fans break out in “DDP” chants. He mentions that tonight is his 58th birthday. The fans break out into a loud “happy birthday” chant. He says he’s so happy that not only is one of his boys, but two of his boys rising up to get their recognition. He thanks Dusty Rhodes for helping him get into the bvusiness. He says not only did Dusty help him, but so did a guy called Jake Roberts. He credits Jake for helping teach him the art of professional wrestling. DDP tells some stories about living with Jake, how Jake was crazy with his snake in his house, etc. He talks about how Jake lost the snake in his house and how he was afraid of DDP’s wife at the time, Kimberly, finding out.

DDP gets emotional and choked up when talking about how he has been trying for years to pay Jake back for all that he gave and taught him over the years. DDP finally wraps up his introduction by telling the story of helping Jake get clean and sober, and then brings out the newest inductee into the 2014 class of the WWE Hall Of Fame, Jake “The Snake” Roberts.

Jake comes out to a huge pop, looks emotional, and then soaks in the immediate “thank you Jake” chants from an all-standing crowd in New Orleans. He begins by mentioning that “all of a sudden he forgot what he was going to say.” He remembers. He says that he’s always loved professional wrestling. He says he’s always hated ties. He talks about his complicated relationship with his father, who was also a wrestler (Grizzly Smith).

He continues by talking about how he fell in love with wrestling. He cuts himself off when going to say something controversial. He ends up saying it anyways, but it is bleeped out. Whatever it was, was “‘blank’ people’s emotions.” He says he’s 58 years old and jokes about DDP’s age. He talks about missing being able to wrestle. He says he can still do a little something. He says he can get a few cheers, DDT someone, etc. He points out Ricky Steamboat in the crowd. The fans interupt Jake with a loud “you still got it” chant. He says, “no, you’re wrong.” He says his heart and his mind “still want it.” The fans applaud. He says it reaches a point where you can’t do it justice.

He talks about being a rotten son of a bitch. He talks about cheating on every women he’s ever met, except the women he calls the ring (the wrestling ring). He talks about the alcohol and the drugs. He says you get tired of lying to your children. He gets emotional and the fans rally behind him with applause.

He talks about being jealous of his friends who died. He says he’d get angry at god for not taking him. He says for some reason, one person stuck a hand out, and that person was Diamond Dallas Page. He says he was doing drugs and alcohol everyday and didn’t want to live. He says DDP, however, is the most positive son of a bitch on this planet. He says DDP won’t shut up. He says DDP saved his life. He talks about needing shoulder surgery and not having insurance. He talks about the fans helping to chip in to help pay for his shoulder surgery. He thanks the fans for sending in $30,000 to pay for the surgery and it woke him up and made him realize somebody does care about him.

He talks about god giving him a great deal of talent and apologizes for wasting a lot of it. He says tonight, however, he’s so happy. He talks about having family here tonight. He talks about having a hero who is 18 months old. A little baby is shown in the crowd. Jake asks for the baby to be brought on stage. The baby is handed to Jake. He says this young man has a sister out there, but before he can continue, the kid grabs the mic. The fans laugh. He talks about how the kid has had a ton of surgeries, as has his sister, and tells Vince McMahon that at WrestleMania 50 this kid will be in the main event. He asks for his family to stand up. We see Jake’s family standing up in the audience. He thanks them for giving him a second chance. He thanks WWE for giving him a second chance as well. Jake’s music hits again.

WWE Hall Of Fame 2014 Induction: Mr. T

After Jake’s speech, a video package airs for WrestleMania XXX. After that, Lawler is back at the podium. Before he can say anything, Hornswoggle runs around on stage. El Torito comes out. They have a staredown. Torito ends up goring Lawler in the nuts. He runs off. What was the point of that? Don’t ask me. He introduces the video package of the next inductee. A Mr. T video package airs. Out comes “Mean” Gene Okerlund to induct him. Okerlund talks about WrestleMania I, etc. He then quickly introduces Mr. T.

Mr. T comes out, the fans cheer, and he immediately gets choked up. He talks about being honored to be among the best “wrasslers” in the world. He thanks the almighty God for making all of this possible. He then reads a pre-written prayer.

After the prayer, he asks everyone to be patient and allow him to honor his dear mother, whom he loves very much. Every word Mr. T is saying clearly sounds like he’s reading off a piece of paper, which he is, but it sounds very, very obvious. He talks for a few minutes about his mother and how great she is. Mr. T literally goes on for about 10 minutes about the different reasons he loves his momma. He went on so long that it stopped being boring, and actually elicited a passionate “this is awesome” chant from the fans in New Orleans. One of the early highlights of tonight’s ceremony, in a sarcastic “it’s so bad, it’s good” Iron Shiek, Bob Backlund type of way. He kept going on even more about his momma, to which the fans broke out into an eventual “thank you momma” chant. I pity the fool who had to sit through Mr. T’s half-an-hour speech about his momma.

Mr. T literally goes on for another 10-20 minutes about the different ways he loves his momma. Eventually, out of the absolute blue, Kane’s music hits. Kane walks out, and Mr. T seems legitimately stunned. Kane walks up to Mr. T, and T is overheard saying “did I go over?” and “is my time up?” He extends his hand to Kane. Kane shakes it, doesn’t make a single facial expression or say a single word. He turns and walks away. Mr. T says apparently his time is up. The fans cheer and we cut immediately away to a Legends House video package. That was awesome, and for all the wrong reasons.

WWE Hall Of Fame 2014 Induction: Paul Bearer

Lawler comes back to the podium and starts by saying “after hearing Mr. T’s speech, I love his momma too.” He then introduces Kane. Kane makes his way out to the podium. Kane comes to the podium, but before he can say a word, Paul Bearer’s video package starts airing.

After the video package, Kane says he hated to run Mr. T off, but all of the talk of his momma cut into the time he gets to talk about his “daddy,” Paul Bearer. Kane runs down Bearer’s journey as a young William Moody, a kid with a dream of getting into the professional wrestling business. He runs down Bearer’s journey of getting into the business and evolving into what eventually became his greatest accomplishment, becoming Paul Bearer in the WWE.

After Kane’s speech, he introduces Bearer’s sons, Michael and Daniel Moody. The two quickly talk about their father, in a speech that lasted all of a minute or two. They finish by mimmicking his famous “ooooh yeessss” phrase. After that, Undertaker’s gong hits. Smoke fills the stage and his music plays. I didn’t clearly see Undertaker ever come out, but regardless, the tribute was paid.

WWE Hall Of Fame 2014 Induction: Razor Ramon

After The Undertaker music cut off, a quick WrestleMania XXX video package, focusing on the John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt match, with Eminem’s “Legacy” playing, airs. After that, Jerry Lawler comes back out and introduces a Razor Ramon video package.

After the Razor Ramon video package airs, Lawler introduces Kevin Nash. Nash comes out to the nWo music. He mocks Mr. T briefly for talking about god, and then says Razor told him to speed up his introduction speech because everyone has been running long.

Nash mocks himself a bit, mentioning his Vinny Vegas gimmick when telling the story of how he left WCW to come to WWE. He talks about competing against Razor Ramon early in his career for the WWE Intercontinental Championship. He says he didn’t think anything would be more emotional than inducting Shawn Michaels into the WWE Hall Of Fame, but this is. He welcomes Razor Ramon.

Razor makes his way out to the stage to a huge pop from the fans in New Orleans, as his cool-ass theme music from his old WWE days plays. He starts, as you can guess, by saying, “Hey Yo!”

He talks about falling in love with pro wrestling. He says back in the day his standard answer to the question, “how are you doing?” was “better than you, chico!” He talks about the relationship his character had with the wrestling audience. He says he’s always treasured that, and gets a bit choked up saying it.

After Hall finishes, his music hits and every member of The Kliq makes their way out on stage. They all pose together and hug, etc.

Bad News Barrett

Before anyone can continue, Wade Barrett comes out to the podium for a “Bad News Barrett.” The fans in New Orleans in attendance absolutely exploded when his theme music hit. He talked for a bit and then said he has some bad news. The bad news is that everyone sitting in the building, this is the closest they’ll ever get to being in the WWE Hall Of Fame. He walks off to another huge pop.

WWE Hall Of Fame 2014 Induction: Carlos Colon

Jerry Lawler introduces a Carlos Colon video package. After the video, out comes Carlito, Diego and Fernando to induct their father. The fans erupt into a big “Carlito” chant. Carlito says that the Hall Of Fame needs something to calm the crowd down before The Ultimate Warrior, so they send out the Colon’s. He says their time was cut as well, noting that it’s like he never left. Everyone laughs.

Diego and Fernando put over Carlos a bit and then they eventually bring out the Puerto Rican legend to the stage for his WWE Hall Of Fame induction speech.

Carlos Colon’s speech was pretty basic. He asked for a minute to soak the moment in. He spoke about the heritage he has in the business, the tradition his family has kept going, such as his son Carlito, his nephews, etc. He thanks several of the wrestling legends who helped make him a household name in Puerto Rico. He closes by saying something in his native language, and since I only speak English, I can’t tell you what that was. I’m sure, based on how his speech has been going thus far, that it was pretty basic stuff.

WWE Hall Of Fame 2014 Induction: Ultimate Warrior

Jerry Lawler comes back out to the stage after Carlos Colon’s speech. He says it’s been a memorable night, but it’s not over yet. With that said, he introduces the video package for the next inductee. The crowd, knowing that Ultimate Warrior is the only person left, absolutely goes insane with easily the loudest pop of the evening.

After the video package, Lawler introduces Linda McMahon. McMahon comes out to a different theme than usual. She says this has been a fantastic evening. She said when Warrior called and asked her to induct him tonight, she was flattered and honored. She says the Hall Of Fame is her favorite time of the year. She mentions that Warrior is a motivational speaker, and he will likely inspire many of us tonight in his own fashion. She calls him a truly unique individual.

Mrs. McMahon goes on to talk about how Warrior legally changed his name to Warrior. She says he did so because he believed in living the Warrior lifestyle. She says in his day, he was an aggressive an intimidating character. She talks about his memorable ring entrance during his WWE days. She goes into detail describing how a Warrior entrance went down, basically giving a play-by-play of all that his entrance entailed.

Linda calls Warrior a truly inspirational character. She says that he was a loner. She said he was a perfectionist. She says in all honesty, he wasn’t the easiest guy to be around. She says he was sometimes hard to convince that his way wasn’t always the right way. She says in his last run with WWE, he asked that she be his personal contact. She jokes about how during the times that she was his personal contact, he would passionately flip out about certain issues. She tells a story about how one time Warrior called her his mom. She says she told him that if she were really his mom, she’d have to turn him over her knee. She said that made him laugh. She calls him a true legend and icon in WWE history and then introduces him to the stage.

Out comes Ultimate Warrior to the podium with his two young daughters. Warrior has a big smile on his face and the fans give him a great reaction coming out as his iconic, memorable music blasts throughout the arena in New Orleans.

Warrior starts by making a goofy, Warrior-style noise into the mic. He says his speech is the most anticipated in Hall Of Fame history. He takes a moment to thank his wife for staying by his side. He follows that up by thanking his mom, who is seated next to his wife, for being here tonight. He then talks to his two daughters, who left the stage to sit with his wife and mother in the front row.

Warrior talks about DDP Yoga and makes a couple of jokes. The fans give a nice reaction to that little bit. After joking a bit, he gives DDP credit for helping guys fix their self-destructive ways. He makes a joke about saying those two words together, clearly referencing “The Self Destruction of The Ultimate Warrior” DVD, the first one that WWE used to basically bury him several years ago. He talks about how Triple H mentioned that after spending only five minutes with him, he could tell that he was an asshole. He says for five minutes, he sure learned a lot from “this asshole.”

Before he can continue speaking, Warrior is cut off by a loud “one more match” chant from the fans in New Orleans. He thanks them but says the one more match thing isn’t going to happen. He talks about how he hasn’t interacted with anyone in the business without learning something, even if it was learning what not to do.

He talks about learning in his early days from Red Basstein from Steve Borden, aka Sting. The fans erupt in applause when hearing the Sting reference. He goes on to thank a number of other wrestlers and other personalities that helped him early in his career. Despite talking trash about him in a lot of interviews lately, Warrior makes a point to seek Ted DiBiase out in the crowd and give him his version of props for learning his clothesline (somewhat) off of him.

Warrior tells another story and accidentally says WWF. He makes a joke about how he wishes they could put the “F” back in. The fans chant “F.” Warrior jokes about how Jerry McDevitt got his ass kicked by “those Wildlife” people. McDevitt is WWE’s lawyers, and “those Wildlife” people are the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), which is the group that ended up suing WWE and forcing them to stop calling themselves WWF. The fans really dug that reference and reacted big to it.

He talks about how the first DVD on his career that WWE put out not only pissed him off, but it actually broke his heart. He goes on to joke about how The British Bulldogs would crap in people’s bags. He says he thinks he’s a good guy and when those things were said about him, it hurt. He said he wants to thank some of the people behind-the-scenes we never see in WWE. He says they are the true Superstars that make all of this happen. He talks about the guys who set up and take down the rings.

Warrior talks about how it’s awesome how the 30th edition of WrestleMania is coming up tomorrow night. He says it would be appropriate to have a category in the Hall Of Fame for these type of people (the ring crew he mentioned a few seconds ago). He says it should be called the Jimmy Miranda award. He goes on to explain who Jimmy Miranda is. He says he hopes next year that we see the Jimmy Miranda award.

He goes on to thank the Ultimate Warrior fans. He calls them legendary. He says without them he wouldn’t be who he is. He says he knows many people says that, but he really means it. He says “they” tried to re-program the Warrior fans’ minds, and they all fought back and because of that, he’s here tonight. The fans break out in a huge “thank you Warrior” chant. He yells “no, no” as he was planning to thank them I think. Before he can, just because he was shouting “no” over and over again, the fans break out into a big “Yes! Yes!” chant. Warrior jokes about how he’s been out of the business for a long time, because he didn’t see that coming. He then goes on to talk about how when fans say thank you to him at signings, he turns it around and thanks them instead.

He says he remembers how great it was to know that all he put into the business was worth something. He calls it an incredible thing. He says you can determine your success based on how hard you’re willing to work to put into it. He says when he was told these kind of things, he says he would always remember that. He says in the back of his mind, one person gave him the opportunity to use his imagination and his creativity, and that was Vince McMahon.

He tells a story about how guys would complain back in the day about pay, and how they would always claim when they saw Vince, they would give him a piece of their mind. He says when they met with Vince, however, they would always come out of the meeting with a “bobbley head.” Basically saying it didn’t turn out the way they planned. He says Bad News Brown, a true bad guy in the business (as he stated) claimed the same thing, but when he came out of the meeting with Vince, he too had the “bobbley head.”

Warrior goes on to talk about how working in this business is magic. He says he misses it. He says it was awesome to be able to experience that. To be a make-believe tough guy. He says it was incredible to get to go out in front of a crowd and become a character that people believe in. He says it’s awesome to be a hero to people, like kids. He says the first time it hit him was when he did a Make-A-Wish Foundation thing. He gives props to John Cena for all of the Make-A-Wish Foundation stuff he does. He goes on to tell a story about the first time he experienced the Make-A-Wish thing.

He says if you can succeed in WWE, then there’s no excuses not to succeed in life. He goes on and on about getting to portray a tough guy on television. He says people think he doesn’t appreciate or respect the business. He says there’s not a day that goes by where he doesn’t think about the business. He says the business helped him throughout his entire real life. He makes a joke about blowing up (getting tired) but no one seemed to get it. You could hear crickets chirping after he made that joke. He went on to try and explain it and still no one seemed to react. He says the thing he misses the most about the business is pushing his body past the limits like he would when he was in the ring.

He goes on about how people were worried about what he would say. He says he was always respectful to people. He says “the DVD was just wrong, that’s all.” He says he’s proud to be here this evening and to be inducted with the other people that were honored here tonight. He says he’s also honored to be an ambarassador for WWE for many years to come. He says his run in WWE was an incredible time in his left. He says in 1991 Vince McMahon wrote him a letter. He pulls something out of his pocket. He jokes about a check Vince wrote him and asked if it was going to bounce. He says Vince wrote him a letter chastizing him saying Warrior thinks he’s a legend in his own mind. He says he didn’t think he was a legend in his own mind, but he says Vince was a good fortune teller, because he is a legend today. He thanks everyone for the honor of the Hall Of Fame again.

He closes by giving some advice to the wrestlers of today, saying use this opportunity to prepare yourselves for life. He thanks everyone again, tells them to enjoy WrestleMania tomorrow night, and to have a good night. He says thank you one more time and his music hits. That’ll do it, folks! Very good speech from Warrior.

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