WWE Hall of Fame In-Person, Live Report
By Shawn Valentino, PWTorch specialist

Note: Valentino's report was written prior to Ultimate Warrior's death.

Greetings from New Orleans! I stayed at the wrestlers's hotel all week and it was an unbelievably surreal experience. This was my 12th WrestleMania experience and it seems to get bigger and better every year. I will have a behind the scenes report of my hotel experience soon. Saturday, I attended the Hall of Fame live, and it was one of the greatest shows I have ever seen.

Here are some notes and insight from a live perspective.

- One of the highlights of the Hall of Fame show is always when the wrestlers enter in their suits and evening gowns. They added a classy touch this year with the red carpet.

- I was never a fan of Lita's act, but she was a deserving entrant into the Hall. Trish Stratus was classy and well-spoken as always in her intro, although she looked much better as a blonde. Lita looked the best she has in her career and she delivered a very good speech. Unfortunately, I thought she went on too long, and she lost me numerous times.

- There was a huge distraction during the ceremony, as WWE did not show the speeches on the big screen. If you heard booing on television, it was because the crowd was upset that the screen was going on and off. A "get the screen back" chant started at one point. This was a horrible production glitch by WWE, which is highly unusual because they are normally always top-notch.

- Diamond Dallas Page gave a phenomenal introduction to Jake Roberts. I loved how he talked about how Jake was the one who helped him get his start, which made Roberts's speech all the more poignant. This was epic storytelling on numerous levels, life imitating art imitating life. DDP should be in the Hall of Fame based on this alone. I had chills, especially knowing what was about to come.

Of course, nothing could have prepared us for Jake's heart-wrenching acceptance. This was one of the greatest things I have ever seen on any pop culture stage. It was the most emotional public speech I have seen since I was in the Staples Center seeing Paris Jackson talk about her father Michael passing away. Unfortunately, there were some annoying catcalls from the audience.

It literally felt like Jake took us all into a deep dark journey into his own demons, and it was an overwhelming experience to see him so openly sharing his story of redemption. His speech also showed what made him such a great wrestling character because his chilling vocal delivery and his psychological skills are unparalleled. This was an impossible act to follow.

- Whoever decided it was a good idea to put Hornswoggle and El Torito on-stage should reconsider their line of work.

- "Mean" Gene Okerlund gave an excellent induction speech. Can somebody explain why he does not have that announcer's role on television for life? It again emphasized how bland the cookie-cutter commentators of today are. Nobody does it better.

Then came what I thought was the absolute embarrassment of the night - Mr. T's speech. The crowd took over and made it a good trainwreck, but this speech made me want to never call my mother again. The crowd had some great moments like the "This is awesome" and "Call your mother" chants.

I thought it was completely inexcusable that WWE did not cut him off in five minutes. Now I can see why Roddy Piper and others hated him so much. The sad thing is that I met Mr. T a couple days ago at the hotel and he was really cool, but this speech made me want to throw the A-Team lunchbox I have had my whole life in the garbage.

- I thought Kane coming out and cutting T off was one of the highlights of the night. I can see why he is into politics because he is an excellent orator. He gave a great speech mixing humor and historical perspective on Paul Bearer's career. One of the highlights of the night was the surprise appearance of The Undertaker, and even in the Hall of Fame setting, his entrance inspired awe.

- Bad News Barrett's segment was another highlight of the night. Say what you will about the character, but Wade Barrett at least plays it to the hilt, and it was one of the show-stealing moments of the night. The audience all laughed out loud, especially the wrestlers in the front row.

- Scott Hall, who I had met the night before looked amazing in his white suit with a Diva on each arm. Ramon was one of my favorite characters as a youth, and I must say that he is still the absolute epitome of cool. This is something wrestling is really missing today is someone you can look at that actually makes it feel cool to be a wrestling fan. His music is still amazing.

I am not sure if his speech was cut short or if he intentionally shortened it, but I would have loved to see him talk longer about his storied career. How Lita and Mr. T talked for over a half-hour apiece and Hall only got a few minutes is mind-boggling.

- The crowd went crazy seeing the Clique reunion onstage for the first time in years.
Ramon had the best line of the night. "Hard work pays off, and dreams come true. Bad times don't last but bad guys do." Again, you cannot teach that type of cool.

- Then came the unexpected highlight of Carlito having some funny insider lines of getting his time cut short just like in his matches. The crowd gave him a huge ovation, and you could tell he was having a great time.

Carlos Colon being entered into the Hall is a disgrace, but it seemed like most of the crowd was not aware of the Bruiser Brody murder cover-up. There was one fan that screamed "You killed Brody" to gasps but it did not catch on.

I have no idea why WWE felt the need to induct Colon, and I was bored throughout his speech.
Then came what I thought was the second worst speech of the night, and that was Linda McMahon introducing the Ultimate Warrior. Keep in mind, I have met her numerous times in person and she is an incredibly nice lady, but so is my mom, and I do not want to see her on a wrestling show, either.

It was a dull introduction to one of the most colorful characters in wrestling history. The surprise of the night was Ultimate Warrior's speech, which I thought was excellent on all types of levels. I was not a big Warrior fan as a child, but I believe he has been bashed so much that he is actually under-rated in many ways.

Warrior was not a great ring technician in a traditional sense, but there are many aspects of being a great worker, and every wrestler can take notes on his character presentation, entrance, look, and screen presence. He was a cartoon superhero come to life, and he made more of an impact in a few seconds than guys like Dolph Ziggler and Kofi Kingston can in years.

Warrior was up there for 45 minutes, and he had most of the crowd in the palm of his hand. It was obvious why he was such a popular character amongst fans because he truly has a magnetic presence. His charisma shown even without his face paint. I loved how he walked the line on controversial topics, but I thought he was also respectful to the business and to the ceremony.

Warrior said things I have been writing in my articles for years, and it is that one of the magical things about wrestling is the creation of a larger than life character, and that is something rarely seen in the past decade. I loved how he talked about how he was able to express his creativity through being the Warrior and how he had a vision that he expressed to Vince McMahon even before his first television appearance.

This acceptance speech could have been titled "The Self-Defense of the Ultimate Warrior," but he stood his ground and managed to be entertaining and informative. Even if other wrestlers did not like him, he still has a bond with the audience. He made a great point. In such a flaky unstable business, if he was so disrespectful and unappreciative of wrestling, then why did he last so many years?

- Overall, this was one of the greatest live events I have ever seen, and it was amazing to see so many of the iconic figures I watched growing up be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Additionally, I really hope that all of today's talent takes lessons on how to portray a memorable, bigger than life character that has a lasting connection with the audience.




Please send questions, comments and feedback to valentino.torch@gmail.com and check out my book, "The Showstopper Lifestyle," on Amazon. Feel free to add Shawn Valentino on Facebook.

[Torch photo credit Wade Keller (c) PWTorch.com]

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