2014 WWE Hall Of Fame Ceremony
Photo courtesy of SESCOOPS.COM, live in New Orleans …
Alright everybody, here we go! The WWE Hall Of Fame “red carpet” pre-show special has concluded and the intro for the live special itself is beginning now. Stay tuned!
Introduction: Jerry “The King” Lawler
After the usual elaborate video package introduction, the host of tonight’s ceremony, WWE Hall Of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler is brought out. Lawler makes his way to the podium and begins by thanking everyone for coming out. He says tonight is a celebration. He says it is his honor to share the same stage as this year’s WWE Hall Of Fame inductees. Lawler introduces a video package that is narrated by the Kid Rock song “Celebration,” which is one of the official WrestleMania XXX theme songs.
WWE Hall Of Fame 2014 Induction: Lita
After the video package, Jerry Lawler introduces Lita’s video package. After the video package wraps up, Lawler introduces WWE Hall Of Famer Trish Stratus. Trish makes her way to the podium to begin her induction speech for her friend and former opponent, Amy “Lita” Dumas.
Trish talks about it being an honor to induct Lita. She says Lita is the godmother to her child. She says her first and last matches in WWE was against Lita. She says they both retired at about the same time. She talks about the chemistry that the two had throughout their careers. She talks about the biggest moment being when they got to main event WWE RAW.
She talks about how Lita was different. She dressed different, she wrestled different, but she was relatable. She talks about Lita’s days as a member of “Team Extreme” with Matt and Jeff Hardy. Trish runs down some of Lita’s accomplishments and then brings out to the stage, the first inductee to the 2014 class of the WWE Hall Of Fame — Amy Dumas, better known as Lita.
Lita’s music hits and out walks Lita in a long red dress. Lita says she’s going to take a minute to soak this in. The fans all chant “Lita.” As she continues to talk, the fans erupt in a giant “thank you Lita” chant. Lita tells a story about a travel agent. She talks about calling a travel agent to make a trip to Mexico to learn how to be a professional wrestler. She talks about having money stashed on her during her trip, and then pulls out a $20 bill from her bra to reveal that she still has that mindset to this day.
She talks about going to Arena Mexico, which she refers to as the Madison Square Garden of Mexico. She runs down a bunch of details on her first time being in attendance at a wrestling show in Mexico. She relates the excitement she felt that night to the excitement everyone is going to feel on Sunday night at WrestleMania XXX.
Lita pulls out a mask that she stole from someone who was at the show that night in Mexico. She mentions that it was also the first time she saw Rey Mysterio. Mysterio is shown smiling in the audience. The fans boo something, but I can’t figure out what. They chant “put the screen back” (I believe that’s what they were saying). Again, not sure what’s going on with the boo’s or that chant, just recapping what I’m hearing and seeing.
She says she didn’t see Mysterio that night in Mexico, but did run into Arn Anderson. She says she told Double A that she wanted to be a pro wrestler and that she was trying to find Mysterio. She says Anderson said he’d help her find him. She talks about being near the elevators in the hotel and seeing Mysterio coming out of one of them. Double A is shown smiling in the crowd. She mentions that she owes Arn a Miller Lite for something. Some ladies come out with a tray of Miller Lite’s. She says she owes Anderson and Mysterio one, so the beers are presented to them each. Trish joins Lita at the podium for a shot of wheet grass. Anderson and Mysterio get their beers and everyone cheers. Anderson walks over to where Mysterio is sitting and they both drink their beers in honor of Lita. Everyone cheers again.
Lita continues telling her story about how she became a pro wrestler. She talks about being at ECW Heatwave 1999 and everyone breaks out into an “ECW” chant. She says she was teamed up with Roadkill and Danny Doring. She says Doring got down on one knee to propose to her, but instead of a ring, he proposed to her with a condom. She says that’s not to be out-done by her proposal from “The Rated R Superstar” Edge. Then she talks about being proposed to by Kane. These are all storyline proposals, obviously.
She talks about being chosen by director James Cameron for the season finale of a television show. She talks about getting her neck broken during an accident while shooting a stunt scene. She talks about watching RAW in the hospital. She says she was told that if she coughed or sneezed she could be paralyzed. She says while sitting there, she decided she wanted to talk to “Stone Cold.” With that said, Steve Austin is shown sitting in the crowd. The fans explode with cheers when seeing him. She talks about Stone Cold taking her to Dr. Youngblood, who fixed her up and because of that, she enjoyed six more years in WWE.
She thanks a bunch of people. During her thank-you’s, we get our first glimpse of Jim Ross in the audience, as he’s seated next to Steve Austin as Lita thanks him for bringing her matches to life with his commentary. She runs down a bunch of other thank you’s, too many to list in this space. She wraps up finally, after a solid 30-40 minutes of talking.
WWE Hall Of Fame 2014 Induction: Jake “The Snake” Roberts
After Lita’s lengthy speech, Jerry Lawler comes back out and introduces a Jake “The Snake” Roberts video package. After the video package, Lawler introduces Roberts’ inductors, the leader of DDP Yoga, Diamond Dallas Page.
DDP makes his way out to the podium to a pretty good reaction. As soon as he begins to speak, the fans break out in “DDP” chants. He mentions that tonight is his 58th birthday. The fans break out into a loud “happy birthday” chant. He says he’s so happy that not only is one of his boys, but two of his boys rising up to get their recognition. He thanks Dusty Rhodes for helping him get into the bvusiness. He says not only did Dusty help him, but so did a guy called Jake Roberts. He credits Jake for helping teach him the art of professional wrestling. DDP tells some stories about living with Jake, how Jake was crazy with his snake in his house, etc. He talks about how Jake lost the snake in his house and how he was afraid of DDP’s wife at the time, Kimberly, finding out.
DDP gets emotional and choked up when talking about how he has been trying for years to pay Jake back for all that he gave and taught him over the years. DDP finally wraps up his introduction by telling the story of helping Jake get clean and sober, and then brings out the newest inductee into the 2014 class of the WWE Hall Of Fame, Jake “The Snake” Roberts.
Jake comes out to a huge pop, looks emotional, and then soaks in the immediate “thank you Jake” chants from an all-standing crowd in New Orleans. He begins by mentioning that “all of a sudden he forgot what he was going to say.” He remembers. He says that he’s always loved professional wrestling. He says he’s always hated ties. He talks about his complicated relationship with his father, who was also a wrestler (Grizzly Smith).
He continues by talking about how he fell in love with wrestling. He cuts himself off when going to say something controversial. He ends up saying it anyways, but it is bleeped out. Whatever it was, was “‘blank’ people’s emotions.” He says he’s 58 years old and jokes about DDP’s age. He talks about missing being able to wrestle. He says he can still do a little something. He says he can get a few cheers, DDT someone, etc. He points out Ricky Steamboat in the crowd. The fans interupt Jake with a loud “you still got it” chant. He says, “no, you’re wrong.” He says his heart and his mind “still want it.” The fans applaud. He says it reaches a point where you can’t do it justice.
He talks about being a rotten son of a bitch. He talks about cheating on every women he’s ever met, except the women he calls the ring (the wrestling ring). He talks about the alcohol and the drugs. He says you get tired of lying to your children. He gets emotional and the fans rally behind him with applause.
He talks about being jealous of his friends who died. He says he’d get angry at god for not taking him. He says for some reason, one person stuck a hand out, and that person was Diamond Dallas Page. He says he was doing drugs and alcohol everyday and didn’t want to live. He says DDP, however, is the most positive son of a bitch on this planet. He says DDP won’t shut up. He says DDP saved his life. He talks about needing shoulder surgery and not having insurance. He talks about the fans helping to chip in to help pay for his shoulder surgery. He thanks the fans for sending in $30,000 to pay for the surgery and it woke him up and made him realize somebody does care about him.
He talks about god giving him a great deal of talent and apologizes for wasting a lot of it. He says tonight, however, he’s so happy. He talks about having family here tonight. He talks about having a hero who is 18 months old. A little baby is shown in the crowd. Jake asks for the baby to be brought on stage. The baby is handed to Jake. He says this young man has a sister out there, but before he can continue, the kid grabs the mic. The fans laugh. He talks about how the kid has had a ton of surgeries, as has his sister, and tells Vince McMahon that at WrestleMania 50 this kid will be in the main event. He asks for his family to stand up. We see Jake’s family standing up in the audience. He thanks them for giving him a second chance. He thanks WWE for giving him a second chance as well. Jake’s music hits again.