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After a video for The Bushwhackers, Jerry Lawler said no one will ever call the next guy charismatic but since he gave him a 100 dollars, here is John Laurinaitis. John pointed to a flag, saying that we all had a start and that is due to people he met along the way. Some a hole was heckling and should have been tossed out. He said the flag helped him meet two incredible men. He then said Dusty Rhodes had him work with the Sheepherders, and they were his mentors. They told him what to do, and how and why. Johnny gave a history lesson about how they got started. They were his mentor and also his roommates, They spend time together on the road until they landed in the WWE, as the Bushwhackers. For you younger fans, that was a 180 for them. They went from ultra hardcore to kid friendly. He they were his friends and his mates. And then he had everyone rise to bring them out.
They did their walk. Butch has a crutch now. They went back and forth talk talking about Killer Kowalski, Andre The Giant and Peter Maivia. Butch told a great story about working against Peter on the 10 year anniversary of Samoa's independence. He said that the fans all started coming for him after he threw Peter out of the ring. He was lucky to get out with his life. Luke then told a fun story about going to work for Stu Hart in Stampede. They put the boots to four young wrestlers (as they are heels). They get to the back and Stu is waiting and he said what are you doing? Those are my kids! That set up them going into a crazy territory with crazy heat. Then Butch said we always had heat. We were doing hardcore before people even knew what hardcore was. And folks, that is the truth. Then they told the story about Pat Patterson calling and saying they wanted them to come to WWF and have them be good guys. They didn't believe they could do it. But they did. They talked about coming up with the walk, and the lick (which was Luke's idea). What can we say? Butch said thank You! Luke told the story of him getting thrown out of the ring by Earthquake as he came in, and Butch was pissed because he worked 25 minutes and they got the same check! They ended by calling out Roddy Piper. Piper Bushwhacked to the stage and shook hands. Then they called out Ted DiBisiae and he did it too. They said since Stu Hart isn't here, could Bret to it, and he did. They called out Hacksaw Jim Duggan. They asked for a WHOA. Butch said they had a night where were plenty of Whoas and plenty of HOS! Butch then paud homage to his wife Helen. Luke said God bless you for living with this guy. Butch said he loved her. He then thanked his daughters back in New Zealand for understanding when he couldn't be home. He said they were beautiful. The last person Butch thanked was Luke, who feigned licking him. The fans wanted to see it. Luke said he didn't want to get sick! Butch said you could never have a better partner than he has had for 34 years. Except for the night he didn't have to wrestle at the Rumble and Butch got 25 minutes. Luke then thanked the WWE Universe for giving them the stage they have tonight for the WWE Hall Of Fame. They ended with Butch licking Luke and then doing their walk off of the stage. That was awesome.
There is no way this ends by 8 o'clock and I am fine with that. This is f'n awesome.
I apologize if the blog isn't overly detailed. Dinner came on as Fujinami was being inducted. I can tell you this, Ric Flair was awesome and sounded great in his words about Fujinami. As a New Japan fan from the time when Fujinami was the champ, he was the Japanese version of Flair, the best there was. Flair made that clear in his speech how great Fujinami was, and he was great in doing it. Fujinami did a nice acceptance speech in English.
I asked my buddy Mike Epsenhart to help out since I was eating. Here is what he sent:
The next inductee is Tatsumi Fujinami. Lawler introduces Flair by referring to his legendary partying status. Flair gets wrapped up pretty quickly, since they are running very long, but he tells a story about the work ethic in Japan, and what the boys go through in the dojos. He recognizes Vader and talks about what a big deal it was to win both the IWGP and NWA world titles. He introduces Fujinami who gives his speech in English talking about his mission to fight, how much he loves his wife and thanks everybody for the honor and the adventures to come. Not much to the speech but it was nice for him to be recognized.
Eps still writing: Randy Savage is next. Lawler quickly throws it to the great Randy Savage highlight video. I really hope they don’t cut Hogan and Lanny Poffo short to make up time. Honestly, if they’re going to wrap another speech quickly, with all due respect I hope it is Hunter and Arnold.
Jerry Lawler introduces the Hulkster who is out to induct Randy Savage. Hulk starts with an “Ohhh yeeeaaah!†and Macho impression. Hulk explains what an honor it is to induct Macho and the crowd erupts into “Randy Savage†chant. Hulk talks about Randy Savage’s famous intensity and how it led to getting calls from Macho at 3am to talk business. Hulk reveals the yellow tights came from Angelo Poffo and that Hulk always noticed how Angelo stood out by wearing the bright yellow tights so he switched over. Hulk playfully goes back to Mania 30 by calling the Silverdome the Superdome and then correcting himself. Hulk says Macho stole the show at Mania III. Talks about the Mega Powers and again refers back to Macho’s intensity. Tells how how Macho pulled a better performance out of him during the Mega Powers breakup by poking a finger in his face because Hulk wasn’t giving the intensity he wanted from the angle. Macho made everybody better. “There wouldn’t be Hulkamania without Macho Madness. If it hadn’t been for Randy I wouldn’t have stepped my game up to where it needed to go.†Hulk was very effusive about praising Randy, in no way did he make it about himself like a lot of people feared.
Lanny Poffo is out to accept the HOF induction. He begins with a poem, of course. Great line from the poem “Life’s too short to hold a grudge, its time for us to heal.†Lanny quiets down crowd chants saying “We have a curfew!†Lanny pays a tribute to his mom who was unable to travel to the event and his widow. “Thank you for making him happy until the day he died.†Lanny is rightfully very emotional. He wants to express what was in Randy’s heart since Macho didn’t have a chance to do it himself. Lanny expresses how much Macho loved working with the Special Olympics kids. Awesome line about Randy loving Special Olympics children as much as Mr. T loves his mom. Another poem about the Special Olympics children. Really great story about Macho Man interacting with the Special Olympians. Lanny really painting a great picture about how caring his brother was. Another poem that caps off Randy’s induction to the Hall. It felt like Lanny was cut for time here, it might be me being selfish as a huge Randy Savage fan growing up but I really wish Lanny had the extended time the opening acts had to talk about stories from Randy’s career. I don’t want to call any of these speeches disappointing but after all this wait for Randy to go into the HOF I wanted to hear so much more about the man’s life and times from his brother.
They throw right to the Arnold video and Lawler refuses to predict who will win the Triple H vs Sting match because he likes his job before introducing Hunter.
Dave here: Lanny was awesome, totally awesome. Hulk Hogan was too. It was the realist Hulk has ever felt to me.
Triple H was great in talking about Arnold. He even made a joke that his nose is only as big as it is because of Arnold's punch on Smackdown. He said that a lot of people only went to the gym because of Arnold (guilty as charged). He said what if Arnold's hero wasn't legendary bodybuilder Reg Park, but rather Bruno Sammartino. He could have been an awesome wrestler. All true. H said Arnold slaughtered millions of people in his movies, yet no one was hurt. What a worker (H's words). He talked about his catch phrases for when he lost, "I'll be back". And he had plenty for when he won too. H said that Arnold could have rested on laurels but he keeps working on causes. He brought out AH-NOLD.
Arnold came out and put over HHH. He said that he idolizes him. He is great wrestler and athlete but he loves when athletes show they are businessmen too. And that is Triple H. He asked for a round of applause for H. Arnold said he heard people saying that they wanted to be inducted into the Hall Of Fame. He never thought he would be, he just wanted to come to America and be a success and serve the public (some people booed, again time and place). Arnold then talked about his love of wrestling and while H said he idolized Reg Park, he actually idolized Otto Wanz (if you don't know, look him up). He talked about winning Mr. Universe the third time and the head judge was Bruno! Bruno said pose and he did, and Bruno said you are getting my votes. We have been friends ever since. Arnold put over Bruno's athletic ability, talking about how there is a difference between lifting weights and people (and that is so true). Arnold said his love of the business is why it is an honor to be here today. With the fans we would be nothing. It is you that have created us. So thank you very much for all you have done for me. I also want to take this honor and thank America as an immigrant. He is appreciative that he was accepted with open arms. That is why he wants to give back. We must keep it the number one country in the world. He thanked America three times, then said, "I'll be back". Awesome speech by Arnold.
Eps sent his take on Arnold: They throw right to the Arnold video and Lawler refuses to predict who will win the Triple H vs Sting match because he likes his job before introducing Hunter. Hunter talks about this is why he loves this minute because one minute you’re crying and then the next minute you’re laughing. He puts over Arnold’s resume and has a great line about Arnold slaughtering hundreds of people in his movies and nobody ever really getting hurt saying “Now that’s a worker!†Great self deprication by Hunter about the size of his nose saying it really isn’t that big it has just been swollen since Arnold hit him in the face. Crowd boos like morons when Hunter mentions Arnold was the 2X Gov of California. Just stow it for a night idiots.
Arnold comes out and throws out two of his great catch phrases “Get to the choppah!†“It’s not a tumor!†Arnold talks about his idols in weightlifting but talks about how long his love for wrestling goes back mentioned Otto Wanz as one of his heroes. He talks about working out with the wrestlers at a gym he managed in Austria and how great working out with them was. He talks about meeting Bruno. I can listen to Arnold talk for days, he is really super charismatic. Arnold with great reverence about the feats of strength he watched Bruno Sammartino pull off in the ring and his appreciation of wrestling. It is super clear Arnold loves the business and he’s doing great here. Arnold might be my favorite celebrity induction of all time, right there with Mr. Baseball at the very least. He ends with some pro-America patriotism…he’s coming for Rusev! (just kidding.) and finally of course “I’ll be back!â€
The final inductee is Kevin "Diesel" Nash.
Shawn Michaels comes out and made a joke about the show going long. He then ripped up his notes to say, This is going longer. He said that this is one wrestler inducting to another, so one of us will get in trouble when they go to the back. Shawn said he saw Vinnie Vegas on WCW and he went to Rick Steiner and said we are looking for a bodyguard. Rick went and called him and he said he has a contract. Nash said this hasn't been working so he went to Ole Anderson and said this isn't working, so he wants to go back to bouncing at Strip Clubs. Ole says yeah and gives him a release. Nash went right to the fax and sent it to JJ Dillon in WWE. Another reason that Ole hates WWE. Shawn said he told Nash that he needs a bodyguard on TV and maybe one in real life since no one likes him. Nash says no problem. Vince McMahon said he is getting white hot and Shawn is like WTF???? He is here for me. Shawn is like dumb me. Nash then beats Bob Backlund for the.....Shawn calls if the WWE title because he doesn't want to get in even more trouble by saying WWE. He said after the match Nash pulls him in the shower, which you always have to be worried about when a big guy does it. Nash instead of sodomizing him, thanked him for bringing him up and being his buddy, making him the champs. They have been buddies every since. He said that you know about the Kliq and we won't disappoint later. Yes! A reunion is coming. Shawn then put over the actions of Kevin Nash. We all have guaranteed contracts because of Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. While most guys wanted to be wrestlers, Nash wanted to make money and treated it that way. It was Hall and Nash going to WCW and getting guaranteed money, which changed everything. He said without him there is no nWo, and that means there would be no DX, and that means no merchandise checks keeping him afloat for the rest of his life. And with that, he brought out Nash. They hugged and then he tool the mic.
Nash thanked Shawn for giving him that to follow. He said he always considered Shawn the Michael Jordan of wrestling so since he just put him over so he must not suck. He said without his call, he would be at a strip club, except he would be working. He said that people wondered how he would be going in, as himself or Diesel. He said it doesn't matter. Without Diesel, there is no nWo. He put over that he may not be the best worker but with good people he can do his part. He thanked those that did that. He reiterated that he did this for the money, and he said that since the night went long his food trucks are outside ready to feed you, for a price. He talked about his first match on Clash of Champions, great story. It got worse. Dusty pitched him the Oz character. He did an impression of Dusty selling him on Oz. Nash asked for a picture of the gimmick. Wow, terrible. He talked about the box Oz had and said wouldn't it have been fitting if when he opened the Oz box it should say you are fired. He talked about DDP saying don't quit, you will make it. Then Vinnie Vegas caught Shawn's eye and his first night in WWE Shawn was wrestling Marty Janetty for the IC Title. He did one thing and it led to Shawn winning the Title. In one day he did more than he had in three and a half years in Turner. Diesel was great for me he said. He talked about drinking on the road with Rikishi when an agent said he had a meeting at Vince's house. He thought he was going to be in fired. Instead he found out he would become the champion. After that, Scott and him made the jump. He said that they paved the way with money it was because his first WWF contract only guaranteed $1,500. But he was told it also gave him an opportunity. Some peopel took it, some didn't. He then thanked the people that kept the lights on, the fans. He said that his generation made some moves, but the new guys have taken it to the next level. He said he lives near Cape Canaveral and every time he comes back to the company, he sees the jumps that this company does. He half expects to see WWE run Mania on the moon.
He said he won't thank everyone because he doesn't want to miss anyone. He said he wants to thank his wife. His first mentor was Ric Rude. Rude told him if you want to keep your wife, keep her away from the business. It has worked for 27 years. Without her, he would implode. He got very emotional. He said he was talking to Ric Flair tonight. There are two things that are real in this business. When you win your first championship and when you get inducted into the Hall Of Fame. He thanked us. And then we had the Kliq reunion as Michaels, H, Scott Hall and C Pac came out to end the show. MSG all over again.
It was an awesome end to an amazing Hall Of Fame. Eps and I have some stuff to talk about on the post game show!
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