The Hall Of Fame reveals came as a surprise to both Barry Windham and Mike Rotunda, but both couldn’t be happier about doing so together.

It was revealed on Friday that the U.S. Express would be the third Hall Of Fame induction announcement for 2024.

Speaking with Peter Rosenberg on “Cheap Heat,” Mike Rotunda comments how he didn’t see it coming.

“It was kind of out of the blue. I wasn’t expecting it. It means a lot. You’re getting rewarded for a lifetime of work. So a nice honor to have and have the respect of the officials that elect to put you in there and all the guys that I worked with to make me look good.”

Going in with Rotunda will be Windham’s second induction into the Hall as he went in as a member of the Four Horsemen originally. Despite that, Windham notes how much this particular induction means to him.

“It was a really big surprise and this one is special because I get to go in with my best friend and that makes it all that much bigger.”

Rotunda then went on to detail how he and Windham came to meet and talked about wrestling Jesse Ventura for only a minute and a half. Then him and Barry ended up bonding in Toronto.

They didn’t see one another for about a year-and-a-half, but then Dusty Rhodes called and got Rotunda down in Florida. Dusty ultimately put them together as a tag team. Rotunda would note that he and Windham would go thirty minutes while Dusty would work a main event that was seven minutes.

As of now, Windham and Rotunda join Bull Nakano and Paul Heyman as the current class for 2024.

Please credit Peter Rosenberg and h/t to SEScoops for the transcription.

The US Express will take their place as WWE Hall of Famers next month as part of this year’s class of inductees.

The legendary team consisted of Mike Rotunda and Barry Windham and wowed fans with their dynamic offense during the 1980s. One of several highlights of the team’s run saw them defend the WWF World Tag Team Championships at WrestleMania 1. Unfortunately for the pair, they’d lose the gold to The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff, marking the first title change in the show’s history. 

Despite the patriotic nature of the team, the pair were introduced to each other in a Toronto dressing room in 1982. The pair would work for various NWA territories before coming to the WWF. 

Family Ties

The pair’s bond extended beyond the ring though. Rotunda would marry Windham’s sister Stephanie. The pair would welcome two children, Taylor (Bo Dallas) and the late Windham (Bray Wyatt) Rotunda. 

Seeing Double

This induction will be the second for Windham. He was inducted in 2012 as part of the legendary Four Horsemen stable. Ironically, Windham’s first induction marked the first-ever two-time induction, as Ric Flair had become a WWE Hall of Famer four years prior. 

WWE Hall of Fame 2024

The US Express is the first tag team announced for this year’s class of indcutees and the third announcement overall. Earlier this month, Paul Heyman was announced as an inductee after turning down the honor in the past. More recently, Bull Nakano was announced as a WWE Hall of Fame inductee. The Japanese star is a former WWE Women’s Champion and is currently the commissioner for the all-women’s Sukeban promotion. 

The 2024 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony will stream live on Peacock directly after WWE SmackDown on April 5.

Bray Wyatt may be a mysterious, enigmatic figure on WWE TV, but the former Universal Champion recently broke character to speak about his uncle.

Earlier this month, Barry Windham suffered a heart attack when traveling through the Atlanta airport and was later transported to an intensive care unit.

This week, it was reported by Mika Rotunda, Windham’s niece and sister of Bray, that the wrestling legend has been stabilized and out of the ICU.

Wyatt’s Message

Taking to Instagram, Wyatt spoke about his uncle, who is the namesake for his real name Windham Rotunda.

In the video, Wyatt thanked a “random citizen” who delivered CPR to Windham before EMTs were able to get to him.

“I want to thank one specific man, Michael Todd Lalic, who was there, a random citizen, and he gave him CPR in there throughout that entire time before everyone else and the EMTs can get to him, and he stayed with him, and he’s the reason that we have Barry still, he’s alive, he’s with us. “

Bray Wyatt.

Wyatt added that his uncle has given his life to professional wrestling, and spoke about his sister’s GoFundMe page to help cover medical bills.

“My sister set up a GoFundMe in his name and not obligated to share, no one is obligated to share anything. But if you could, that would be incredibly helpful. “

Bray Wyatt.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Windham Rotunda (@thewindhamrotunda)

Be Good

Concluding his video, Wyatt spoke about the importance of being good to others, as you don’t know when it’ll be the last time you see them.

“Be good to the ones you love. Always remind them about that how much they mean to you because nothing is forever.”

Bray Wyatt.

The GoFundMe has raised over $38,000 of its $200,000 goal, and can be found here.

WWE Hall of Famer Barry Windham is doing better after suffering a life-threatening heart attack earlier this month.

The Windham family has set up the GoFundMe Campaign to help financially support his medical expenses and bills during this difficult time. According to Mika Rotunda, sister of WWE Superstar Bray Wyatt, their uncle “experienced a number of taxing injuries and ended up undergoing multiple surgeries. That led to other health complications.”

Since retiring, Windham “has been limited with work due to his medical history” and “left without health insurance.”

On Friday, December 9, Mika Rotunda provided an encouraging update on Windham’s health. She wrote on Twitter that he’s stabilized & out of intensive care. He’s also talking and able to stand, which is great news to hear after such a scare.

Career Highlights

Barry Windham began his professional wrestling career in 1979, training with his father Blackjack Mulligan, and wrestling legend Harley Race. From there, he went on to achieve great success in NWA territories, including Jim Crockett Promotions and Championship Wrestling from Florida. Notably, he claimed NWA World Heavyweight Championship and NWA World Tag Team Championship each once, amongst many other title wins.

Barry eventually joined World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and one of professional wrestling’s greatest stables: The Four Horsemen. In 2012, The Four Horseman group entered the WWE Hall Of Fame in 2012, including Barry Windham, Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, and J.J. Dillon.

SEScoops sends our best wishes to Barry Windham and the Windham family at this time.

Former NWA World Heavyweight Champion and WWE Hall of Famer Barry Windham was recently interviewed by Bill Apter. During the discussion, Windham was asked about his nephew Bray Wyatt and gave some surprising answers.

“I hope he makes the cut in WWE, we’ll just have to see,” Windham said when asked about Bray Wyatt.

Apter then noted that Wyatt has been an amazing performer. Windham would continue to say that he does not feel his nephew has been used properly in WWE, however.

“He has been (a great performer), he just hasn’t been used properly there,” Windham continued. When asked, however, Windham said he’s only seen some of the vignettes they’ve done with the Fiend.

“You know I haven’t really seen any of his matches, I’ve just seen a few of the little vignettes that he’s done.”

“He was always ready to be a wrestler growing up,” Windham continued to say about his nephew.

Back in 2018, Windham spoke to Hannibal TV about Bray Wyatt and Bo Dallas.

“Bray is really doing well. He’s so good on the mic and Taylor (Bo) just needs a chance,” Windham said. “He’s really talented but to have him do that Bo-lieve thing for so long, it was just brutal.”

You can see the full discussion between Bill Apter and Barry Windham in the video below:

– There was a Four Horsemen reunion at Saturday’s Maryland Championship Wrestling (MCW) show in Joppa, Maryland with WWE Hall of Famers Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Barry Windham and J.J. Dillon.

Sold Out!! Looking As Only We Can Look! WOOOOO! pic.twitter.com/feqrggZLlG

— Ric Flair® (@RicFlairNatrBoy) February 18, 2018

After signing autographs, the Horsemen spoke before a packed crowd at the MCW Arena. They shared fond memories of being back together, the good times they enjoyed in Baltimore and asked the crowd to enjoy the show.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BfUmm_Rn7Ld/

Former WWE star Rosa Mendes, who was making her first appearance at an independent wrestling show, introduced the Horsemen. Before the show, she also met with fans.

Yours Truly with former @WWE Superstar @LaRosaMendes at @MCWWrestling & she’s as lovely as ever. pic.twitter.com/EiKqIbogHZ

— Alex Fuentes ????? (@AlexFuentes91) February 17, 2018

• Lex Luger responds to rumors of his death

A licensing inquiry by THQ led one songwriter to file a federal lawsuit against WWE, WWE-owned company Stephanie Music Publishing, Inc., WWE employee Michael Seitz (a/k/a Michael “P.S.” Hayes) and WWE employee James Alan Johnston (a/k/a Jim Johnston). According to a lawsuit filed by songwriter James D. Papa, the sports entertainment organization redirected royalty payments to several wrestling related songs he either wrote or co-wrote by securing the rights to music unlawfully.

The songs in question are featured in the 1992 WCW compilation album Slam Jam 1 and were used as entrance themes by wrestlers. The songs include “Badstreet USA” (The Fabulous Freebirds), “Don’t Step To Ron” (Ron Simmons), “Man Called Sting” (Sting), “Mr. Bang Bang” (Cactus Jack), “Master of the DDT” (Jake “The Snake” Roberts), “Freebird Forever” (The Fabulous Freebirds), “Simply Ravishing” (“Ravishing” Rick Rude), “Johnny B. Badd,” “The Natural” (“The Natural” Dustin Rhodes) “The Dragon” (Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat), “He’s Smokin” (Barry Windham) and “Steinerized” (The Steiner Brothers).

Papa says he was contacted by video-game company THQ for permission to license “Badstreet USA” for its Legends of WrestleMania title that was released in March 2009. The lawsuit alleges, “THQ’s records showed the song to be owned by World Wrestling Entertainment.” The suit continues:

“As a result of the confusion, Papa contacted BMI to ensure that ‘Badstreet USA’ was properly registered to him and his companies. Upon his investigation, Papa learned that ‘Badstreet USA’ had been improperly and erroneously reregistered by Defendants and been given a new registration number, resulting in the royalties being redirected to Defendants. Eventually, through working with BMI, Papa was able to correct the registration to properly reflect his ownership in the work. However, by the time the registration was corrected, THQ had decided not to use the song.”

The suit says, “His investigation revealed a systematic pattern of errors and omissions by WWE personnel that effectively misappropriated Papa’s musical works and deprived the Plaintiffs of royalty payments that would have been paid but for these errors and omissions.” According to BMI.com, “Mr. Bang Bang” has two separate registration numbers: one for Papa, another that credits James Alan Johnston as songwriter and Stephanie Music Publishing as publisher. Johnston is WWE’s longtime music composer while Stephanie Music Publishing is a company owned by Vince McMahon that was named after his daughter, Stephanie.

Papa says his songs have appeared on myriad places including numerous video releases, broadcasts of cable television shows and on-demand programming, without his permission and without receiving financial compensation. He is seeking royalties paid (plus pre- and post- judgment interest) on the sale of videos, computer games, the sale or licensing of ring tones, and the broadcasts of cable television shows and on-demand programming; a preliminary and permanent injunction to halt the use of the copyrighted materials; an order directing the named defendants to file a report detailing how they have complied with the injunction; reimbursement for legal fees; and a trial by jury where the court will determine damages. He also wants the court to certify that he owns the rights to the music.

The entire complaint is available here.

– Kharma, who has not appeared for WWE since the Royal Rumble, is ready to return to the ring and waiting to be reintroduced on television. Many of her Diva peers are frustrated with her absence from television.

– Yoshi Tatsu is not as bad at English as portrayed on WWE programming. According to a friend of the SmackDown Superstar, he began taking English lessons as soon as he signed a contract with WWE in 2007 and is very smart.

“He’s always trying to get better, and is always reading some English shit on his phone,” said Tatsu’s friend.

Tatsu is capable of carrying on perfectly understandable English conversations according to his friend. He also considers him a super hard worker who would do anything WWE asked of him.

– In July 4th birthdays, both Barry Windham and Sid Vicious turn 52 years old.

(source: F4WOnline.com)

WWE Hall of Famer Tully Blanchard appeared on Busted Open, which airs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday on Sirius 92 and XM 208 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. Highlights from the interview are as follows:

Why Barry Windham was chosen over other members for the WWE Hall of Fame: “The most dynamic group that we had was with Barry. You had more guys that could perform with more opponents. Big, small, all sizes and that was the most powerful group we had. Lex Luger was an addition. He was just coming in to work for Crockett as Ole was on his way out. So it was a place to put Luger to try to get him instantly to a star status since he had such a great look and it worked and it worked for quite a while. But when we switched him to babyface and Barry came back as a heel you had four guys that who could perform with Andre the Giant or the Rock and Roll Express or The Road Warriors. We could go out with all shapes and sizes and go out and tear the house down, and that is where your dynamics and your benefit for your promotion came.

Triple H possibly inducting The Four Horsemen: “He just shared with me in brief that he watched and appreciated everything we did, not just we, but he was talking about me specifically. Before he got into wrestling or at the start of his career, as he went in, if that is what he watched and that is what he molded himself after, then he would have a great amount of input on how the images of the Four Horsemen blended together and affected him.”

Thoughts on JJ Dillon: “JJ is definitely one of the finest managers in my opinion, if not the best manager that the wrestling business has ever had, and I have known some good ones. But a lot of the very good ones were fighting for center stage with talent many times, and JJ never did that. He complemented everything that was done and not taking away from what the guy was doing in the ring or what the guys were doing in the ring. That made it very, very simple to go out and perform, just like you’re out there by yourself or in a tag team match and JJ could put the gas to the fire when you needed it.”

What he expects the night of the Hall of Fame: “Right now the biggest honor is to be in the WWE Hall of Fame, in the wrestling business. There will be twenty thousand people at the American Airlines Center that Saturday night watching it. If I am still on this earth, I’ll be there, and I’m planning on having my four children there with me. They were born after my wrestling career and they have not really grabbed hold of the fact of what I used to do. With the magnitude of this setting and with Wrestlemania and Saturday night and Fan Axxess. My children have never seen me in that big of a setting. They have been in a couple of autograph settings with me, but this is going to be a little eye opening for them.”

— The official website of the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia is advertising The Rock for the March 26, 2012 Raw SuperShow.

This will be the final Raw before WrestleMania XXVIII.

— It was rumored at last night’s Raw SuperShow in Anaheim, California that Shawn Michaels and Triple H would together induct The Four Horsemen—Arn Anderson, Barry Windham, JJ Dillon, Ric Flair and Tully Blanchard—into the WWE Hall of Fame. WWE’s Executive Vice President of Talent lobbied for the Horsemen to be inducted into the Hall.

Meanwhile, Alberto Del Rio is internally expected to induct his uncle, Mil Mascaras.

— Ken Shamrock and Sid Vicious have been announced for Wrestlereunion, which takes place January 27-29, 2012 at the Westin Los Angeles Airport 5400 West Century Blvd. Los Angeles, California.

source: PWInsider.com

Edge® and the Four Horsemen to Enter WWE Hall of Fame

STAMFORD, Conn.– WWE® announced today that Edge and the Four Horsemen will be among the 2012 class of inductees into the WWE Hall of Fame. The ceremony will take place Saturday, March 31 at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, the evening before WrestleMania® XXVIII.

Throughout his storied career, Edge, known as the “Rated-R Superstar™,” held every major title in WWE. He is a former WWE Champion, World Heavyweight Champion, Tag Team Champion and King of the Ring®. His final match took place at last year’s WrestleMania in Atlanta, where he defeated Alberto Del Rio™ to retain the World Heavyweight Championship in front of a sold-out crowd of more than 71,000 fans. One week later, in an emotional speech on Monday Night Raw®, Edge was forced to retire due to a neck injury. Outside the ring, Edge is a New York Times bestselling author.

The Four Horsemen, consisting of Ric Flair, Arn Anderson™, Tully Blanchard™, Barry Windham™ and manager J.J. Dillon, were the most dominant group of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) in the 1980s, transcending the world of sports entertainment into all avenues of pop culture. This grouping was the first of its kind, paving the way for the likes of the NWO®, Evolution® and DX®. While the Four Horsemen would undergo many transformations over the years, none would ever be as paramount as Flair, Anderson, Blanchard, Windham and Dillon.

Additional inductees will be announced on WWE programming over the coming weeks.

Tickets for the 2012 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony go on sale this Saturday, January 14 at 10 AM ET and will be available through the AmericanAirlines Arena box office, www.ticketmaster.com, Ticketmaster outlets or by calling Ticketmaster Charge By Phone at 1-800-745-3000.

– Last weeks’s 10/28 edition of WWE SmackDown on SyFy drew a 1.96 rating and averaged approximately 2.8 million viewers for the 2-hour broadcast.

This is down from the previous week’s 2.18 rating (with over 3 million viewers) and the lowest rating the show has done in several weeks. SmackDown was up against Game 7 of the World Series, so we’ll see this week if the show rebounds without that competition.

– WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has provided an update on the health status of Barry Windham. Ross tweeted on Monday:

“Talked to Mike Rotunda today here in Atlanta, and he said Barry Windham was improving from heart attack and liver issues. Still hospitalized.”

This is the first we’ve heard about liver issues from Windham. Windham suffered a heart attack last week. His brother-in-law and former tag team partner Mike Rotunda found him and got him the life-saving medical assistance he needed.

Former NWA World Heavyweight Champion Barry Windham remains in an intensive care unit in Florida after suffering what is believed to be a massive heart attack earlier this week.

Windham was reportedly found at his ranch, collapsed, by brother-in-law Mike Rotunda.

Robert Windham (a/k/a Blackjack Mulligan), his father, initially described the condition of the 50-year-old as “near death,” and asked for people to pray for him. However, he stated Thursday that there was “much improvement” in his son but had a “long recovery” ahead.

Windham has been moved to a facility in Orlando and had an MRI done on his neck.

WWE superstar Goldust tweeted the following about Windham on Thursday:

“Just visited my friend barry windham in hospital….hes in good spirits.z #prayforbarry”

Former WWE star Barry Windham is currently hospitalized in an intensive care unit in Florida.

Windham, 51, reportedly suffered either a stroke or heart attack within the last 24 hours. There is a claim that he was discovered fallen and awake but suffering.

WWE Hall of Famer Blackjack Mulligan, his father, posted a notice on Facebook asking fans to keep Windham in their prayers.