{"id":123481,"date":"2024-03-22T08:00:42","date_gmt":"2024-03-22T12:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=123481"},"modified":"2024-03-21T23:51:46","modified_gmt":"2024-03-22T03:51:46","slug":"wwe-hall-of-fame-2024-who-should-induct-each-entrant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2024\/03\/22\/wwe-hall-of-fame-2024-who-should-induct-each-entrant\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE Hall of Fame 2024: Who Should Induct Each Entrant?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Since 2004, the <strong>WWE<\/strong> Hall of Fame ceremony has been hosted in conjunction with <strong><em>WrestleMania<\/em><\/strong> weekend. Widely regarded as the unofficial beginning of <em>WrestleMania<\/em>, the ceremony has had many notable entries over its two decades of existence.<\/p>\n<p>As entrants for this year&#8217;s class have begun to be announced, there&#8217;s no better time to start investigating who may induct each of them into the illustrious Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n<h3>Muhammad Ali<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_--4_zeUBQY?si=Rw5phl4vpU9gjHc0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We\u2019ll begin in the celebrity wing, as <strong>Muhammad Ali<\/strong> has been announced as one of the latest entrants into the WWE Hall of Fame. Ali\u2019s history with professional wrestling goes back to 1976 when the three-time World Champion took on <strong>Antonio Inoki<\/strong> in an exhibition match in the Tokyo Dome.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ali\u2019s most notable involvement with the sport will likely be his role as the special guest referee in the main event of the inaugural <em>WrestleMania<\/em>. He delivered a signature right hand to <strong>Roddy Piper<\/strong>, restoring order to the match after a chaotic spell. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the victors from that evening (<strong>Hulk Hogan<\/strong> and <strong>Mr. T<\/strong>) may be a suitable selection for inducting Ali. However, it\u2019s more likely that his widow, Lonnie Ali, will bear the responsibility.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The pair were married for thirty years until his unfortunate passing in 2016. During their time together, they were inseparable and worked hard to ensure each other had the best quality of life. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lonnie acted as Muhammad\u2019s primary caregiver for many years, and Ali financially aided his wife in finishing her MBA education.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Between them, they also adopted a son, who would be a fine contender to induct his father into the Hall of Fame. Either way, it seems set that Lonnie, perhaps alongside her son, will induct \u2018The Greatest\u2019 into the WWE Hall of Fame.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>The US Express<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Barry Windham<\/strong> and <strong>Mike Rotunda<\/strong> were one of the most exciting tag teams in professional wrestling when they debuted as The US Express in 1983. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Windham came from a historic wrestling family. His father, <strong>Blackjack Mulligan<\/strong>, has also been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as a member of <strong>The Blackjacks<\/strong>, and Windham himself has previously entered the Hall of Fame as a member of the <strong>Four Horsemen<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With the concept of family playing such an important part in the group\u2019s existence, it seems logical to go down that route when thinking about who will induct them.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">From the very first <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WrestleMania?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#WrestleMania<\/a>\u2026 to the WWE Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n<p>Mike Rotunda and Barry Windham are a legendary tag team with deep family ties to our business. Their influence will be felt for generations to come.<\/p>\n<p>It was an honor to tell the US Express that they&#8217;re <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WWEHOF?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#WWEHOF<\/a> bound. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/PT4m7rQVIt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/PT4m7rQVIt<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Triple H (@TripleH) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TripleH\/status\/1766122224740651049?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 8, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rotunda\u2019s sons, Windham and Taylor (known as <strong>Bray Wyatt<\/strong> and <strong>Bo Dallas<\/strong>, respectively), have both had successful careers in WWE and having Rotunda\u2019s youngest son induct the duo into the Hall of Fame would make sense here.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In what would be an undoubtedly emotional affair, having Dallas induct his father\u2019s team would be a poignant moment for the family. <strong>Taylor Rotunda<\/strong> would be the perfect candidate to take on this responsibility.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Thunderbolt Patterson<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the 1960s, <strong>Thunderbolt Patterson<\/strong> broke onto the professional wrestling scene in Kansas City and went on to work for a number of promotions across the United States. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He had an impressive career over his years, winning championship gold in various promotions, including the <strong>NWA<\/strong> National Tag Team Championship. However, Patterson is more notably recognized for his work as a pioneer of racial equality in wrestling.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He was one of few to speak out about the poor working conditions for wrestlers at the time, and this \u201crebellious\u201d behavior saw him blacklisted from wrestling as a whole in the mid-1970s. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">His complaints about racist behavior from promoters saw him struggle to be booked for work for a long time during a dark period in professional wrestling history.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Patterson\u2019s blacklisting was lifted by the <strong>\u2018American Dream\u2019 Dusty Rhodes<\/strong>, which leads me into the man that I believe should induct him into the Hall of Fame.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although \u2018American Nightmare\u2019 Cody Rhodes is scheduled for a busy weekend at <em>WrestleMania<\/em>, he would be an excellent candidate to induct Patterson into the WWE Hall of Fame. <\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">BREAKING: As first reported by <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/andscape?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@andscape<\/a>, Thunderbolt Patterson will be inducted into the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WWEHOF?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#WWEHOF<\/a> Class of 2024!<\/p>\n<p>FULL DETAILS \ud83d\udc49 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/0auS3qvmfW\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/0auS3qvmfW<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ybNCRuY0nn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/ybNCRuY0nn<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 WWE (@WWE) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WWE\/status\/1767919990529831175?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 13, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rhodes has discussed his work in previous interviews, explaining that Patterson was one of his father\u2019s biggest inspirations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Allowing Rhodes to utilize his exceptional public speaking skills would be a smart choice, elevating the importance of this induction even further. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although the 2024 <strong><em>Royal Rumble<\/em><\/strong> winner has big plans for both nights of <em>WrestleMania<\/em>, having him feature in a prominent role at the Hall of Fame ceremony would be an intelligent choice.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Bull Nakano<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Jexq1O08oTI?si=vLZF75iaITU4eHZA\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a former WWF Women\u2019s Champion, you\u2019d be forgiven for thinking <strong>Bull Nakano<\/strong> spent more time in WWE than she truly did. Her stint with the company was, in fact, only around nine months. However, during that time, it could be argued that she found her greatest rival in Western wrestling.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Her match with <strong>Alundra Blayze<\/strong> at <strong><em>SummerSlam 1994<\/em><\/strong> for the title was the beginning of a feud between the two, which saw both women earn victories over the other throughout. Nakano was released shortly after losing the title back to Blayze, but their rivalry was long from over.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After she departed from WWF, Nakano found her way to <strong>WCW<\/strong>, where she worked her way through the women\u2019s roster before meeting Madusa (formerly Blayze in WWF) and picking up where they left off.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Madusa won the feud over Nakano, destroying her motorcycle and solidifying herself as the victor. She later credited Nakano as \u201can incredible talent\u201d and is widely respected as one of her best-ever opponents.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For this reason alone, Alundra Blayze should be the one to induct Bull Nakano into the Hall of Fame in 2024. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a member of the WWE Hall of Fame herself, I believe it would give the induction some added weight and present an opportunity to celebrate Nakano\u2019s career from the perspective of her greatest opponent.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Paul Heyman<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JdxJneNFAbM?si=zPPWURbPbm5lcXNK\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The first <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wwe.com\/shows\/wwe-hall-of-fame\/article\/paul-heyman-to-be-inducted-into-the-wwe-hall-of-fame-class-of-2024\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">name to be announced for the Hall of Fame Class of 2024<\/a>, <strong>Paul Heyman<\/strong>, had been rumored to be entered for a long time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With <strong><em>WrestleMania XL<\/em><\/strong> being hosted in Philadelphia, the spiritual home of <strong>ECW<\/strong>, the announcement that Heyman would be entering the Hall of Fame came as no surprise to anyone. Interestingly, Heyman has declined entry on multiple occasions but finally appears to have become open to the idea.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As one of the most celebrated and successful advocates in wrestling history, it seems challenging to pick just one person to induct Heyman.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some of his prestigious ECW alums would be the best choice. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Tommy Dreamer<\/strong>, <strong>The Dudley Boys<\/strong>, and <strong>Rob Van Dam<\/strong> immediately spring to mind. Each of them owes a great deal of their success to Heyman. However, RVD\u2019s current affiliation with <strong>All Elite Wrestling<\/strong> may make this a difficult concept to implement.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Instead, one of Heyman\u2019s former clients should be the one to induct him. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He has worked alongside multiple WWE Champions, including <strong>Steve Austin<\/strong>, Brock Lesnar, and <strong>Roman Reigns<\/strong>, all of whom notably worked with the \u2018Wise Man\u2019 to further their careers. However, one man who seems to be without a set plan for <em>WrestleMania<\/em> is <strong>CM Punk<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Punk worked with Heyman throughout his record-breaking run as WWE Champion in 2012\/2013, with the pair bringing out the best in one another. Of course, this may need to be clarified in kayfabe. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, WWE has steered away from the kayfabe aspect of the Hall of Fame ceremony in recent years, and Punk\u2019s involvement would be sure to boost the excitement of the live crowd.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As the original \u201cPaul Heyman Guy,\u201d CM Punk would be able to pay a fitting tribute to his former advocate\u2019s career and would be the perfect selection to induct him into the WWE Hall of Fame.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Entrants Yet to Be Announced<\/h3>\n<p>As there are still a couple of weeks before <em>WrestleMania XL<\/em>, one or two additions could still be made to the Hall of Fame class.<\/p>\n<p>If reports are to be believed, <strong>Lia Maivia<\/strong> (<strong>The Rock<\/strong>&#8216;s grandmother) will be announced at a later date. Only when reports are confirmed, however, would it be smart to suggest anything further.<\/p>\n<p>Let us know if you agree or disagree with any of the above decisions! Here&#8217;s looking forward to April 5th, when we will find out for sure whether these were right or wrong.<\/p>\n<h3>More From LWOS Pro Wrestling<\/h3>\n<p><em>Header photo \u2013 WWE \u2013\u00a0<span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Stay tuned to the\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can check out an almost unlimited array of WWE content on the\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/watch.wwe.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">WWE Network<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.peacocktv.com\/watch\/home\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Peacock<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Since 2004, the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony has been hosted in conjunction with WrestleMania weekend. Widely regarded as the unofficial beginning of WrestleMania, the ceremony has had many notable entries over its two decades of existence. As entrants for this year&#8217;s class have begun to be announced, there&#8217;s no better time to start investigating [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5065,"featured_media":123497,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,2192,4,3],"tags":[1670,256,8822,8417,8790,573],"class_list":["post-123481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-north-america","category-wrestling","category-wwe","category-wwe-universe","tag-bull-nakano","tag-paul-heyman","tag-the-us-express","tag-wrestlemania-40","tag-wrestlemania-xl","tag-wwe-hall-of-fame"],"modified_by":"Michael Joseph Sugue, Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5065"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}