The famed trunks worn by Mr. T during his match at WrestleMania 2 have gone on auction and already received significant interest.
The actor, best known for his role as The A-Team’s BA Baracus and as Clubber Lang in Rocky III, competed at the the 1986 event which was hosted at three separate locations.
Mr. T fought ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper at the event. The match headlined the New York portion of the show and saw T win over Piper after the WWF wrestler got himself disqualified.
Mr. T wore red and black trunks for the fight, featuring a yellow WWF logo. Now, these trunks have gone up for auction in association with Heritage Auctions.
This one-of-a-kind piece of memorabilia has already received some huge bids with the current highest bid standing at $4,100. The trunks come with a certificate of authenticity from Heritage Auctions.
Mr. T in Wrestling
A year before his boxing showdown with Piper, Mr. T teamed with Hulk Hogan to defeat Piper and Paul Orndorff at the first WrestleMania in 1985. He returned to the WWF in 1987 when he’d serve as a special enforcer and confront The Honky Tonk Man.
In 2001, Mr. T appeared in the front row of Raw and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2014. His infamous acceptance speech saw several references to his mother and ran long before being interrupted by Kane.
Mr. T would also dabble in World Championahip Wrestling. After appearing for WCCW in 1989, the actor was in Hulk Hogan’s corner for his World Championship match against Ric Flair at Bash at the Beach 1994. At that year’s Starrcade, he defeated Kevin Sullivan.
On paper, last night’s card seemed like nothing to write home about. After all, Daniel Bryan was defending his title against a superstar who peaked a decade ago, Bray Wyatt and John Cena were meeting in a rematch from WrestleMania, and other than Evolution vs. the Shield, the rest of the matches seemed like they could turn out to be throwaway contests. The event was basically the furthest thing from a throwaway, however, as it was a well-executed pay-per-view that was filled with worthwhile matches.
The Hounds of Justice stole the show during the match of the night.
Evolution vs. the Shield was the clear highlight of the night, as expected. Each superstar involved in the match put on an excellent show, but the star of the match was without a doubt Seth Rollins. While Triple H, Randy Orton, and Dean Ambrose were battling in the crowd, Rollins dove from the top of the entranceway to take out his Evolution foes, allowing for Roman Reigns to handle Batista in the ring and secure a Shield victory. The match was perfectly executed and is an immediate match of the year contender.
The main event between Daniel Bryan and Kane greatly exceeded expectations. This one seemed like it could be forgettable, as the outcome was never really in doubt and Kane is not exactly a main event superstar anymore. However, both superstars performed well together and the backstage spots were something that resembled contests from the Attitude Era.
In the end, the match even involved a flaming table, although the crew botched this spot a bit by running in with the extinguishers before Kane was even on fire, but hey, what can you do? Overall, it was a great culmination to the night and certainly much better than I was anticipating.
WWE Hall of Famer Mr. T is speaking out about his Hall of Fame ceremony being cut short on Saturday night. In reaction to Kane coming out and interrupting his rambling speech, Mr. T tweeted:
Mr. T took to Twitter and wrote the following about his 2014 WWE Hall of Fame speech being cut short:
“To my fans: Thank you very much for all your support! I am very disappointed and saddened that you couldn’t hear the rest of my speech… I was told my speech went too long? Really? Seriously? Matthew 10:32-33?
“All the inductees were told that you, “the fans, wanted to hear our stories”, to take our time and enjoy the moment but something…”
“I was deeply moved by the outpouring of support you showed me after my HOF speech was cut short.”
“Soon I will post the remainder of my speech for you to read. Thank you for your support.”
“My mother taught me to stand up for what I believed in. I put a lot of care and love into my speech… I wanted it to inspire and motivate people when they are hurting. Since my mother taught me to always try and take the high road, I will. If my speech helped just 1 mother & 1 son out there, thank you GOD!”
WWE added the following “sneak peek” videos from Saturday’s WWE Hall Of Fame ceremony in New Orleans to their official YouTube channel. You can check them out below.
– Speaking of Mr.T, he has been tweeting a lot throughout the week about his upcoming WWE Hall Of Fame induction. He sent out the following tweets on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively:
My speech is ready! Hand written from my heart to capture the essence of my Mother. NO speech writer here FOOL!
For those wondering who will be inducting this year’s inductees for the 2014 class of the WWE Hall Of Fame, here is a breakdown of what we know thus far.
– The Ultimate Warrior will be inducted by Linda McMahon.
– Jake “The Snake” Roberts will be inducted by Diamond Dallas Page (DDP).
– Paul Bearer will be inducted by his sons Michael and Daniel Moody.
– Mr. T will be inducted by Hulk Hogan.
– Lita will be inducted by Trish Stratus.
– Carlos Colon will be inducted by his sons Carlito and Eddie (Diego), and his nephew Orlando (Fernando).
– As far as Scott Hall (as Razor Ramon) is concerned, no one is confirmed as the guy who will be inducting him, however Kevin Nash and Shawn Michaels are the leading candidates at this point.
– According to the WWE Network programming schedule, this year’s Hall of Fame ceremony will run for 2 1/2 hours from 9pm until 11:30pm. The show will be archived on the Network and there was also be replays on the 24/7 live stream.
– Mr. T was live-tweeting during last night’s RAW, talking about how excited he is and almost being done writing his speech. Hulk Hogan is rumored to induct his WrestleMania 1 tag team partner.
– Jake Roberts noted in a a recent interview that he will not have a written speech for the WWE Hall of Fame and plans to “speak from the heart” when he’s on stage.
– One WWE Hall of Famer who will not be in attendance at the Hall of Fame ceremony is legendary ring announcer Howard Finkel. The Fink is booked for a WWE AXXESS signing from 8-10pm.
The following are clips of Hulk Hogan’s recent appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show:
Hulk Hogan on John Cena: ‘Somebody Needs To Drag Him Around The Ring For 30 Minutes’
Hulk Hogan has some surprising things to say about WWE star John Cena, but it’s why he says it that might shock you the most.
http://youtu.be/Zy99k9i_BHE
How Mr. T Changed Wrestling Forever
As Hulk Hogan preps for Wrestlemania 30, he looks back on the first Wrestlemania ever. He tells Arsenio that it was Mr. T who changed professional wrestling forever.
http://youtu.be/phAfcG6MmBA
Hulk Hogan Owns Up To Problems With Vince McMahon
Hulk Hogan is taking the high road when he looks back on his days with Vince McMahon. See what problems he takes credits for.
http://youtu.be/S6a2NPUXpsI
Hulk Hogan Opens Up About The Toll Reality TV Took On His Family
Hulk Hogan speaks very candidly about the issues his family faced following their reality show.
The following are highlights of a new Chad Dukes interview with “Rowdy” Roddy Piper:
On sending one of the “zombies” in his film to the hospital: “This poor kid he came in to the kitchen part of the jail, he had a bandage around his head like he was a zombie and I thought, “Okay,” and I saw a kitchen pot, and I threw him onto the table and I was hitting him in the head. But I mean it was going CLANG, but I thought I was hitting the steel of the sink part, but I wasn’t, I was hitting his head! Poor kid, and that gauze, white gauze, blood started coming out and I go, “that’s really good, these guys are good. Somehow they got that blood there.” “Cut! Can somebody call an ambulance!” I’ll just go back to my trailer now.”
“He was a really sweet kid, I wouldn’t of hurt nobody like that I thought I was hitting the sink.”
On wanting to be at WrestleMania XXX: “I wrote a quick note to the WWE saying if you don’t give the fans, what they deserve, the two guys that started it, just let them walk out, you know as more to thank them. I’m not there to have people cheer for me, I’ve had my share of that and I’m very grateful. But to have Hogan in the ring and not hit the bagpipes, the fans would never forget it. Not to give them that, to give them that to remember for the rest of their lives as would we, being Hogan and myself, who I’ve not talked to, I think would be a mistake. This is 30 years, we started with a thing called War to Settle The Score. The promoter put his house and everything up on a tag team match called WrestleMania, no number. I was definitely the dark horse in the race. 30 years later I think that we should say hello, but I don’t think the WWE’s with me, I don’t know what they wanna do. But it’ll tell me, if I don’t come out it’ll probably be the last time.”
On Drew McIntyre: “I think that the organization thinks that I will breed rebel into these kids, and that’s not true. It’s just what I had to do to survive for my family. That’s the only reason, I can’t figure out another one. The kid Drew himself went to them, I went to them, they ended up taking the kilt off of him and making him some kind of a, I’m not sure what he is. He’s a great kid though.”
On Mr. T and WrestleMania I: “I was raised by the last of the Gorgeous George era. You don’t let somebody come from some other business, walk in your business, make a fool of ya and go back into his business and laugh at ya. So if you watch Wrestlemania the very first one , I was the general and here was the rule: don’t let Mr. T throw a punch, keep it strictly amateur with him. You watch that match from beginning to end, I crossfaced him and held him till he ran out of breath and let him tag Hogan. He doesn’t throw one punch and we had complete control over him. That’s why it worked.”
The following are highlights of a new Baltimore Sun interview with Roddy Piper:
On if he’ll be involved with WrestleMania weekend: “I’m going to be there. You know, that’s a good question. I have a lot of thoughts about it. I don’t know any other entertainment sport where 30 years later you could give the fans the opportunity to see the two guys who started it at the War to Settle The Score. Personally, I think that if you don’t hit the bagpipes, there’s 30 years and I don’t know how many millions of fans that you’re cheating of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It’s not about money, it’s not about hearing your name get chanted either. It’s about saying thank you I think. You want to give the fans what they deserve and you want to do it with class. So am I going to be part of it? I don’t know. I don’t know. I wouldn’t mind inducting T into the Hall of Fame, I guarantee you would never forget that induction. I doubt they’ll do that one but they may. I don’t know what they’re going to do. Tell me when I get there.”
On Mr. T’s WWE Hall Of Fame induction: “I’m glad he’s being inducted into the Celebrity wing. At the time, at the first Wrestlemania, Mr. T was probably the most famous television celebrity in the world. So I think the guy deserves to be inducted into the Celebrity Hall of Fame. Personally, what I’ve got with him or against him I think it’s time to grow up. Just don’t mention my name. Leave me out of your speech, T.”
On the CM Punk situation: “I don’t know the reasons. I’m glad you asked that question because I have no bias. I don’t know why, and I don’t know what was going on, but I know this. CM Punk is a very talented man, and I’m a big fan of his. He’s got a lot of great talent to share with the fans all over the world for a number of years. When you have one regime and something is going wrong, you have no other choice but to fall back and catch your breath and see where am I standing and where are they standing and where are we going. Back in the day, when you’re going 330 days a year, it’s hard to have that much sense. I think that for one, CM Punk has a whole lot more great stuff to come out and I believe that the WWE will want that. They’ve put a lot of money into him, and they need to get over whatever their problem is. Sometimes going It seems like between WWE Network and Wrestlemania, you really want to get back out there with them, but is there some pushback from them? What’s going on there?”
Michael Cole’s latest guest for his weekly sit-down interview series at WWE.com this week was WWE Hall Of Famer and the host of WrestleMania XXX, Hulk Hogan.
Hogan spoke to Cole about a number of topics, including the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal, Mr. T being inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame, his history at WrestleMania and more.
WrestleMania 1 main event celebrity Mr. T is joining the WWE Hall of Fame’s Class of 2014. TMZ.com broke the story on Monday, with WWE Chairman Vince McMahon commenting:
“His WWE appearances were instrumental in helping to establish WrestleMania as the pop-culture phenomenon it is today.”
Mr. T claims he turned down an offer from WWE to join the Hall of Fame back in 2009, but now the two sides are on better terms.
Mr. T teamed with Hulk Hogan in the main event of the original WrestleMania, defeating Rowdy Roddy Piper and Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorf. He would return the following year, boxing Piper at WrestleMania 2.
The 2014 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony airs live on the WWE Network on Saturday night, April 5th.
In response to the news of Mr. T’s induction, Roddy Piper tweeted:
When Roddy Piper heard Mr.T is going into the WWE's Hall of Fame last night, THE EARTH STARTED SHAKING!
WWE issued the following press release today regarding Mr. T’s induction into the WWE Hall Of Fame.
MR. T TO ENTER WWE® HALL OF FAME LIVE ON WWE NETWORK
STAMFORD, Conn., March 17, 2014 – WWE (NYSE:WWE) announced today that pop-culture icon Mr. T will be this year’s celebrity inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame at a ceremony on Saturday, April 5 in New Orleans that will be broadcast live, for the first time ever, exclusively on WWE Network at 9:00 PM ET.
Mr. T is one of the most iconic personas in entertainment history, starring in the hit television show “The A-Team” and the blockbuster film “Rocky III.” In addition to his Hollywood career, Mr. T also made many memorable WWE appearances in the mid-1980s. In 1985, he was part of the main event of the inaugural WrestleMania® at Madison Square Garden, successfully teaming with Hulk Hogan to defeat “Rowdy” Roddy Piper™ and “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff™. In 1986, he defeated “Rowdy” Roddy Piper by disqualification in a special boxing match at WrestleMania® 2 and also appeared on NBC’s Saturday Night’s Main Event® program.
“WWE is honored to have Mr. T join the WWE Hall of Fame,” said Vince McMahon, WWE Chairman and CEO. “His WWE appearances were instrumental in helping to establish WrestleMania as the pop-culture phenomenon it is today.”
Mr. T is the latest celebrity inductee to enter the WWE Hall of Fame, joining Donald J. Trump, Drew Carey, Pete Rose, Bob Uecker, Mike Tyson and William “Refrigerator” Perry. Other members of the 2014 WWE Hall of Fame Class include Ultimate Warrior™, Jake “The Snake” Roberts™, Lita™, Paul Bearer™ and Carlos Colon™.
The 2014 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony takes place live on Saturday, April 5 from the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, LA. Tickets are currently on sale through www.ticketmaster.com or by calling 1-800-745-3000.
WrestleMania 30 takes place at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Sunday, April 6 live on WWE Network. For more information on how to get WWE Network click here. WrestleMania 30 will also be available on pay-per-view. Fans should check with their cable, satellite or telco provider for availability.
At one point, Carlos Colon’s induction into the 2014 class of the WWE Hall Of Fame was to be announced at this past Monday’s edition of WWE RAW. For whatever reason, likely a timing issue, they decided to hold off.
Colon had reportedly been on the short list of legends that WWE intended to induct this year, which at the time included Paul Bearer, Lita, Ultimate Warrior, Jake Roberts, Scott Hall and Mr. T.
According to one source, Colon likely received word about his WWE Hall Of Fame induction in the last week or two.
Colon’s induction announcement will air on this week’s edition of WWE SmackDown.
As seen on Monday’s RAW, Paul Bearer joins The Ultimate Warrior, Jake “The Snake” Roberts and Amy “Lita” Dumas as the inductees in the 2014 class of the WWE Hall Of Fame. The two names that are being bandied about that have yet to be announced are Scott Hall and Mr. T.
In the case of Mr. T, there is a chance that he won’t be inducted simply as another addition to the celebrity wing of the Hall Of Fame, but instead a joint-induction that would include all of the WrestleMania I main event participants, which include Hulk Hogan, “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff and “Cowboy” Bob Orton.
According to one source, the plan as recent as Sunday was for WWE to announce another induction into the 2014 class of their Hall Of Fame at tonight’s RAW.
Whether it’s Paul Bearer, who is generally considered a lock, or Mr. T, who is from Chicago, the site of tonight’s RAW, remains to be seen.
It should be noted that the original intention last week was for the Paul Bearer induction to be announced, however they ended up not making the announcement during the show.
According to one source, Mr. T has verbally agreed to be inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame later this year. Mr. T had declined a Hall Of Fame induction from WWE several times in the past.
There is no real update on whether or not the company still intends to induct the entire WrestleMania I main event match itself, one that featured Mr. T and Hulk Hogan (along with “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka) taking on “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff (with “Cowboy” Bob Orton).
Another source has confirmed that Cyndi Lauper is another celebrity that WWE is talking about inducting into their Hall Of Fame.