WWE Hall of Fame 2022 Induction Live Coverage - April 1st, 2021
10pm starts the Hall of Fame Kickoff.
Michael Cole and Pat McAfee host us for this 15 min countdown to the event.
Kayla Braxton & Corey Graves are hanging out on the back with Maria & Byron. We do a quick video package for our HoF inductees. Cole and Pat wax on the influential career of the Undertaker. Back to Byron & Maria who are there with Montez Ford & Bianca Belair. They are both pretty excited for their title opportunities this weekend….but they just want to RELISH in this event. Relish. Relishhhhh.
Pat McAfee is over the moon at how many legends are in the back tonight. We get a video package of past hall of fame ceremonies. In the background of all this, they are setting up the legends in chairs on the entrance ramp as usual, we’re doing the speech from in-ring ceremony again this time.
Byron & Maria are in the back with Mayor Kane, taking about how Undertaker transcends the status of Hall of Famer and has truly joined the Immortals. In the background, I can hear chanting for RVD. I imagine he just took his seat XD. We have less than a minute to the ceremony.
After our intro video of Hall of Fame level highlights, we are ready to induct Vader, Queen Sharmell, Shad Gaspard, The Steiners & The Undertaker into this year’s class. Lights up on the arena, lots of “Thank You Taker” signs about the crowd.
Corey Graves and Kayla Braxton are our hosts.
Inductee 1: The Steiner Brothers
A quick background on the Steiner brothers wrestling backgrounds and how they transitioned into the world of sports entertainment. Kevin Nash, Goldberg, AJ Style, Michael PS Hayes all offer memories of their rise as a one of the most recognizable and decorated tag teams in the world. They bring up the next generation in Bron Breakker as part of their enduring legacies. Speaking of which, Bron is here to induct them!
The crowd woofs for him. He talks briefly about wild times growing up in the Steiner household and how there would be no Bron Breakker without the Steiners. He refers to turning the mic over to Uncle Scott as the greatest risk of his career. Lol. Bring out the Steiners! Scott admits that giving him a love mic can sometimes go off the rail. Rick tries to save him. Scott thanks all the tag teams they’ve wrestled. He talks about being friends Macho Man, Owen Hart & Lex Luger. They were super competitive and Scott talks about a time that Macho Man challenges him to calling cows in upstate Iowa faster. Scott couldn’t get the cows to come because they don’t speech English. Macho Man got them to come immediately because he must have known Those cows in particular. He encourages everyone in the locker room to have fun because it’s over in a blink. Hard work pays off, and they were decorated for that…but his greatest time? Meeting and marrying his wife…who is always right…or at least more right than he is. His greatest legacy? His two sons. Rick thanks Scott for leaving him a whole minute to speak. “We have 4 minutes, you took three!” He never thought they’d make it here. He thanks everyone, family, his job…but most importantly, he thanks his brother for keeping him in check and setting the standard high. Big standing ovation from the crowd.
Inductee 2: Queen Sharmell
A flashback to Queen Sharmell’s introduction at the side of King Booker. Allllll haiiiiilllll Kiiiiiiing Booooooker! Sharmell, winning the Ms Black America pageant, became a Nitro girl and met Booker T in WCW. Bianca Belair talks about how it was good to see representation, having someone that looked like her in a position of royalty. Zelina Vega talks about her being the person who set the Bar for being a Queen in WWE. Ado we see a flashback to that time the Boogeyman terrorized her. Bring out Booker T!
He kisses his kids at ringside. He’s excited that he gets to do a Hall of Fame speech again, after his own induction in 2013. “When I’m good I’m good, when I’m bad I’m better”. He says the King Booker run was all about her, she’s always been his Queen. “My Queen, my love, my wife. All hail Queen Sharmell!” Booker keeps up the All Hail Queen Sharmell as she enters.
Sharmell looks touched as the crowd chants “You deserve it”. “This is the stuff fairy tales are made of” - She thanks the Nitro Girls, Medusa, Molly Holly, Victoria, & Jazz. Her first angle was with Kurt Angle. She thanks Rey Mysterio for all the moments being across the ring. She even thanks Boogeyman. She thanks everyone for letting her earn their respect. We get one more “All Hail King Booker”. She thanks Johnny Ace and Bruce Pritchard. She talks about the wrestling school she runs with Booker. She thanks family, friends, brother and mother. She thanks the kids. She thanks Booker. “Thank you for letting me walk this earthly plane with you”. This is wholesome as hell and we’re smiles for miles as Sharmell wishes us a good night.
Warrior Award: Shad Gaspard
We look at the life and career of Shad, highlighting his Cryme tymes in WWE…and then he found his wife and son. Montages of him being a dad and training with his son on the beach and gym. He made sure the lifeguards saved his son when the riptide took them both, losing his life in the process. Sound bites of “I love you son, I love you daddy” as we transition back to the arena. I’m not crying you’re crying.
Standing ovation for Shad and we bring out Dana Warrior to present the award. She credits Shad’s tough guy exterior and soft side as a father. “Shad’s ultimate goodness would have extended to any of us in need.” We bring out Shad’s wife & son, accompanied by JTG. His wife knows they are here because of Shad’s final act but that was just how he was. “Shad’s a Hero” chants the crowd. “He wasn’t a hero just on the last day of his life” He stopped an armed robbery in 2016 and bodyslam med the robber. He found his wife’s dog after a two month search for his captor’s and a highway chase. Shad always told his son to be a sheepdog, not a wolf. She speaks to her son “the best of daddy lives in you and you come from a great man”. “You had a badass dad”. He holds the warrior award up high as we go to commercial.
Induction 3: Vader
It’s time! Ron Simmons, Big E, Booker T, & Mick Foley all talk about Vader’s larger than life mystique and power. “His stuff always looked like it hurt…because it DID” His stranglehold on the WCW title. His arrival on the scene of WWE. His appearance on Boy Meets World. His return to smash Heath Slater.
Vader's wife and son Jesse are here to accept the induction on behalf of the late Leon White. They do an awkward bit saying their watches are broken to get the crowd to shout “it’s Vader Time”. They thank everyone for supporting Vader and for helping out food on the table.
Jesse mentions a lot of Vader legends: The Super Bowl, the eye pop in Japan, the 13 time world champion, the White Castle of fear. He acknowledges that Vader wasn’t around as much as he wanted to be but his friends full time fathers never accomplished nearly as much.
They ask everyone to put their best V’s in the air. What time is it? It’s VADER TIME!
Induction 4: The Undertaker
We have a career highlights video of the Undertaker, set to Metallica’s “Sad But True”. We don’t need the same background on Taker, we know the history. This is a victory lap of memorable Deadman moments, highlighting his ability to morph his character through the years. The song gets a little Kid Rock for a moment during the American Badass segment….thankfully that stops after we get to ManiaXX. They show a montage of Taker’s appearances in media and pop culture. “His legacy is that there will never be another” says Triple H in the final cut.
Vince McMahon himself is here to induct Undertaker into the Hall of Fame. This is Vince’s favorite night of the year. There is no one more deserving of this honor than Undertaker. He’s flanked by Undertakers costumes throughout the years. He has a list of opponents that he needs to read but he’ll do it quick so he doesn’t get whatted to death. This was a good nod and Vince plays with the crowd as he tries to burn through the list. Vince talks about challenges Undertaker faced in the name of the business: Shotgun Saturday Night, laying in a grave in the freezing rain, standing on a parade floats for hours, climbing into a sewer just for a good camera shot. Vince praises his integrity and loyalty during the Monday Night Wars. Taker commands respect and leads by example. The crowd starts to what him and Vince threatens to have the Undertaker come kick their ass. He calls Taker “the most revered superstar in WWE history”. Taker’s best quality? His love for the business through his 30 year career. It’s time to bring out the man himself!
Huuuuuge pop for the funeral bell as the smoke rises on the entryway. Mark Callaway makes the walk to the podium in a near perfect Taker entrance. “I love you” he says as he embraces Vince. Taker is so very tal so he has a mic strapped to his head. Good move. The crowd chanting for him hard. You can tell he’s overcome with emotion here as the crowd shows their love as loud as they can. Pan around shots, everyone is standing and chanting “you deserve it”. He wants to talk but the crowd keeps firing up over and over and he has to wipe his eyes and just take it all in. Remember that night after Mania when we all kept swearing at Roman Reigns for a reallllllllllly long time? This is like the polar opposite of that but no less intense in fervor and emotion.
“For the last 30 years, my identity has been Undertaker.”
Tonight, he’s taking us behind the curtain and letting us meet the man behind the hat, Mark Callaway. He thanks the fans, for being loyal and passionate and keeping him going. He talks about his brother giving him advice at a crucial time when he was looking at opportunities in pro basketball. His heart was in wrestling. He worried about his team, his parents. His brother says he can’t live his life for anyone other than himself. It wasn’t glamorous but he was able to find out who his true identity was. He talks about his mental signature moves and the lessons he learned. He was working a squash (oops an enhancement match)…and the worker messed up his moves and Taker roughed the kid up.
Vince told him “Perception is Reality” and the perception in the moment is Taker is an a**hole. He regrets that night but he constantly reminded himself that his action MATTER. He takes a moment to roast Steph as “the little sister I never wanted”. He talks about Shane wearing him out with his questions and desire to take ridiculous bumps. He talks about Godfather being a huge influence on his life…maybe not the BEST influence. They’ve drank and fought but the reality was always that they’d have each other’s back. He calls out the BSK and promises he’ll take those stories to the grave. He talks about playing dominos with Yokozuna. Getting ribbed by Crush into learning to break bricks with their bare hands. It was the last time he got to spend time before his death. He talks of Paul Bearer’s friendship and desire to stick cucumbers in Taker’s drinks. What?
He talks straight to Kane…well Mr Mayor as the most genuine human being he knows. His second signature mental move. “The toes you step on your way to the top are the same asses you kiss on the way down” you have to treat everyone with respect. It might change their life…or save it. “Respect and Loyaty go a long way”. He gives thanks to the generation before him for part Inc the way. He thanks everyone who got him to this spot, from people backstage, his travel assistant, his costume designer, his doctors.
His third and final move? He talks about his Mania match with Shawn Michaels, how they raised hell to get more time and a better spot on that card. “Never be content” fail forward, dream big and strive to be better. He calls out Triple H, who has a tear in his eye. He calls their chemistry effortless and undeniable…and thanks him for reminding Taker of who he is. That moment at Mania 28 was truly an end of an era. He thanks family, going through his children & parents (and how Sid Vicious baited his mom into almost jumping the barricade one time).
He calls his wife Michelle the rock, the foundation the family is built on. She may have been scared of Taker at first but she married him. He talks about Michelle helping him reestablish his relationship with religion. He praises her as a mother, a worker and being able to see past his long hair and tattoos. He thanks Vince McMahon for giving him a chance to prove WCW’s lack of faith in him wrong. He jokes that Vince has been trying to get rid of him for years with his weird match bookings…but he’s been a close friend forever. To close, he dares the WWE universe to follow his mental moves and become their true unapologetic selves. He thanks everyone for taking this journey with him for three decades and the Undertaker will truly Rest In Peace.
Huge pop and a standing ovation as Taker’s music rings through the arena one last time. He grabs the coat and hat off of one of the mannequins and walks off with three final words: “NEVER. SAY. NEVER.” He jokes with Michelle McCool who kisses him on the way out “You’re killing my gimmick” XD. We get one last look back from the stage. Never say never, indeed.
Thank You Taker. Fade to Black.
