According to this morning's Houston Chronicle, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin is expected to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by his bitter enemy…. Vincent Kennedy McMahon. Earlier in the evening, “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair will induct his longtime rival Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat; The American Dream Dusty Rhodes will induct extreme wrestling pioneer Terry Funk and his brother Dory Funk Jr.; Jim Ross will introduce Texas wrestling promoter Cowboy Bill Watts; And Michael P.S. Hayes of the Fabulous Freebirds will call out The Von Erich Family. The event takes place at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, the night before Wrestlemania 25, April 4, 2009.
The list of inductors is in keeping with a number of growing WWE Hall of Fame traditions and practices. The inductors, who generally give emotionally charged ten minute speeches declaring the reasons why the Hall of Famer meant so much to them, are usually either a star's greatest rival, their lifelong friend or someone who grew up idolizing them. The WWE seems to enjoy partially breaking keyfabe here in order to impress on viewers the unique seriousness of the occasion. Vince McMahon is sure to jokingly make reference to how much trouble Austin has given him over the years but he'll also commemorate what a genuinely great guy he was to work with, something the character of Mr. McMahon would never do. With Flair and Steamboat the bond is sure to be even more intimate since their mutual admiration is already well established. When he was inducted into the Hall of Fame himself last year Flair stated once and for all that Steamboat was his greatest opponent.
The even has also frequently become a vehicle for allowing front office people a chance to speak and the WWE competitors the chance to rest and focus on their matches at Wrestlemania. Vince McMahon is, of course, the CEO of the WWE. But Dusty Rhodes is a producer of ECW on Sci-Fi and Michael Hayes is a member of the Smackdown creative team.
-Henry Jenkins, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(photo credit to Wenn Photos)