The Katz Files – Arnie Katz
HoF Recap: Not a Dry Eye in the House
The Kingfish Arnie Katz recaps WWE’s 2008 Hall of Fame induction ceremony and offers some memories of the men and woman who received the honor this year.
After a video that reminded fans of some of the Hall of Fame’s leading members, Tod Grisham welcomed everyone to the ceremony and introduced The Rock.
The Rock quipped that something was missing and went into, “Finally. The Rock has come back to… Orlando!” to the great jubilation of the crowd.
The Rock picked out a few well-known wrestlers in the audience, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Mick Foley. He joked about the Rock & Sock Connection and the place broke up when Foley pulled out Mr. Socko with a tuxedo drawn on it!
The third-generation wrestler mentioned Jonathan Coachman, his long-time foil in WWE and added “Nobody cares about you!” and went on to tease Chris Jericho about his haircut.
Then The Rock revealed that WWE is involved in torture. He said that they take insurgents, tie them down “and make them watch The Marine!” John Cena took the hit with good grace and was seen laughing in the audience.
He ended a terrific keynote speech with “Can you smell what the Rock is cooking?” What a shame he would rather be the 500th best actor instead of the best wrestler. This is one guy who could definitely still fill arenas.
The Rock said that inducting his father and grandfather into the Hall of Fame brought his WWE career “full circle.”
Clips extolled the merits of Rocky Johnson, including the night of November 15, 1973, when he and Tony Atlas became WWF Tag Team Champions.
Rocky Johnson took the podium. He said it was “beyond my wildest dreams: to be going into the Hall of Fame. He recalled his boyhood in Canada and stated that he hoped to be remembered for paving the way for wrestlers of all races and ethnicities.
The Rock returned to introduce the Peter Maivia. Tribute video and then ushered his mom, Ata Johnson, to the mic to talk about her late father, the High Chief. She called him “a soft-spoken giant of a Samoan man.” She also praised all the current and former wrestlers at the ceremony for their passion and commitment.
“I hope I made you proud, because I’m so proud of you,” said The Rock, as he tried unsuccessfully to hold back the tears.
John Cena brought the audience back to the present by talking about the excitement that surrounds WrestleMania. He referred to it as “the greatest entertainment spectacle on this earth!’
Cena said that it was the Hall of Famers who made them all fans. Ignoring the inevitable few catcalls, John Cena had the entire room stand as a sign of respect for the inductees. A brief video saluted those inducted, but whose part in the ceremony didn’t make the cut for the televised version: Jack & Jerry Brisco, Mae Young, Gordon Solie and Eddie Graham.
Triple H opened his turn at the mic by thanking everyone for coming out to honor the great stars of the past. In discussing the final inductee, HHH declared, “This man shouldn’t just be in the Hall of Fame, he should have his own wing!”
A long, detailed video did an excellent job of presenting the essence of Ric Flair as we have known him for nearly four decades. They praised both his in-ring performance and his mastery of the microphone.
Triple H called Ric Flair “The greatest wrestler who ever lived.” He talked about Flair’s passion and his heart. “Flair eats, breathes and sleeps this business.”
“Ric Flair was, is and always will be The Man,” said Triple H and then made way for The Nature Boy.
Ric recalled a conversation in which Ray Stevens told him that if you didn’t “feel goose bumps” coming through the curtain, you shouldn’t go out there. He said that he felt goose bumps now.
Flair seemed a little thrown by the fact that the inductees were not arrayed behind him on the stage as he had expected. His speech referred to them a couple of times; he was too “in the moment” to make such corrections, highly understandable in view of the situation.
He told the audience that he was especially grateful to receive the honor while still active. He had a lot of trouble to keep his voice from cracking with emotion.
Ric Flair reminisced about his career in “the territory era,” lauded Gordon Solie and then went on to thank the many people who had helped and supported him. He said that Triple H reminded him of himself in his prime and called Shawn Michaels one of the greatest superstars. In the spirit of the evening, he even said many nice things about his two ex-wives.
“I hope fans realize that I gave them the best I could give them/” Flair said.
Ric Flair’s familiar theme music filled the room as confetti showered down upon the guests. It was a fitting climax to a well-paced evening dedicated to pro wrestling’s past.
That’s it for today. I’ll be back tomorrow with another installment of the Internet’s fastest-rising daily wrestling column.
– Arnie Katz
Crossfire4@cox.net
(3/30/08)
This is column number 14 in a row.
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