| WWE Hall of Fame (2013) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Promotion | WWE | ||
| Date | April 6, 2013 | ||
| City | New York City, New York | ||
| Venue | Madison Square Garden | ||
| WWE Hall of Fame chronology | |||
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WWE Hall of Fame (2013) was the event which featured the introduction of the 14th class to the WWE Hall of Fame. The event was produced by WWE on April 6, 2013, from Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. [1] The event took place the same weekend as WrestleMania 29. [2] The event was hosted by Jerry Lawler. A condensed one-hour version of the ceremony aired on the USA Network the following Tuesday. [3] In March 2015 the ceremony was added to the WWE Network. [4]
After leaving the WWF (now WWE), Sammartino became an outspoken critic of the path on which Vince McMahon has taken professional wrestling. He particularly criticised the use of steroids and "vulgar" storylines. [5] [6] [7] In 2013, Sammartino accepted an invitation for induction into the Hall of Fame, after having declined several times in prior years. He finally accepted the offer to join because he was satisfied with the way the company had addressed his concerns about the direction of the business. [8] In April 2018, Sean Waltman announced on his podcast, that should Sammartino not have accepted the invitation to be inducted, D-Generation X would have been inducted. [9]
Mick Foley was inducted by his long time friend Terry Funk. The two discussed all their times on the road together which included time at WWE, World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling. Foley also said that he had regrets from his career. The main one was that he never beat Chris Jericho. Jericho then ran up on the stage, laid down, and told Foley to pin him. Foley originally acted like he couldn't and was walking away when he ran back and dropped an elbow on Jericho. He then pinned Jericho and CM Punk counted the one-two-three, jokingly giving Foley his first victory over Jericho.
Bob Backlund was inducted by Maria Menounos.
Trish Stratus was inducted by Stephanie McMahon. During Stratus' speech she announced that she was expecting her first child, a son, later in 2013. [10]
Vince McMahon inducted businessman and future U.S. president Donald Trump. Vince spoke of Trump and their working relationship during WrestleMania IV and WrestleMania V, as well as the "Battle of the Billionaires" at WrestleMania 23.
Booker T was inducted by his brother Stevie Ray, whom he had teamed together with for many years as Harlem Heat. Booker T later admitted during an interview with John Layfield, on his show Legends with JBL on the WWE Network, that prior to him asking Stevie Ray to induct him, that the brothers had not spoken in nearly 5 years. [11]
The final inductee of the evening was Bruno Sammartino who was inducted by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Although Sammartino saw great success in New York City during his career, [12] this event marked Sammartino's return to the WWE after 25 years. [13] It was just the second time in Hall of Fame history that Vince McMahon would be seen on camera, after 2009 when he inducted Stone Cold Steve Austin.
Sammartino appeared on the October 7, 2013, episode of Raw and received a birthday greeting in his hometown of Pittsburgh. [14] On March 28, 2015, Sammartino inducted Larry Zbyszko into the Hall of Fame class of 2015. [15]
| Image | Recipient (Birth name) | Occupation | Inducted by | Appearances |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Donald Trump [24] | Businessman Reality TV host/Producer 45th and 47th President of the United States Of America | Vince McMahon | Hosted WrestleMania IV and WrestleMania V at Trump Plaza. Won the "Battle of the Billionaires" at WrestleMania 23 On screen owner of Raw in 2009 [25] |
Amy Christine Dumas is an American retired professional wrestler and singer. She is best known for her tenure in WWE under the ring name Lita. An inductee of the 2014 WWE Hall of Fame, Dumas is regarded as one of the greatest female performers in WWE history.
Stephanie Marie McMahon Levesque is an American businesswoman and retired professional wrestler. She is known for her various roles within WWE between 1998 and 2023.
John Charles Layfield, better known by the ring name John "Bradshaw" Layfield, is an American retired professional wrestler and football player. He is currently signed to WWE, where he is an ambassador and commentator for the company.
Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino was an Italian-American professional wrestler. He is best known for his time with the World Wide Wrestling Federation. Sammartino's 2,803-day reign as WWF World Heavyweight Champion is the longest in the championship's history as well as the longest world title reign in WWE history.
Steve Austin, better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American media personality, actor, producer and retired professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, as an ambassador. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he was integral to the development and success of the World Wrestling Federation during the Attitude Era, an industry boom period in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
WrestleMania XX was the 20th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It featured professional wrestlers from both of the promotion's two brand divisions – Raw and SmackDown!. The event took place on March 14, 2004, at Madison Square Garden in New York City. It was the third WrestleMania at Madison Square Garden and the fourth of six WrestleManias in the New York metropolitan area. To this date it is the last WrestleMania to have been held at the Garden. Its calendar date of March 14 also stands as the earliest that WrestleMania has ever been held in any year.
Throughout its history, women have served in various onscreen roles in the American professional wrestling promotion WWE. In the 1990s, WWE introduced the term Diva to refer to its female performers, including wrestlers, managers or valets, backstage interviewers, or ring announcers.
Johnnie Mae Young was an American professional wrestler, trainer and promoter. She wrestled throughout the United States and Canada and won multiple titles in the National Wrestling Alliance. Young is considered one of the pioneers in women's wrestling as she helped to increase the popularity of the sport throughout the 1940s and during World War II. In 1954, she and Mildred Burke were among the first female competitors to tour post-war Japan.
WrestleMania X-Seven was the 17th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on April 1, 2001, at the Reliant Astrodome in Houston, Texas. It was the first WrestleMania held in the state of Texas. Twelve matches were contested at the event, including one broadcast exclusively on the Sunday Night Heat pre-show.
The WWE Hall of Fame is a hall of fame which honors professional wrestlers and professional wrestling personalities maintained by WWE. Originally known as the "WWF Hall of Fame", it was created in 1993 when André the Giant was posthumously inducted with a video package as the sole inductee that year. The 1994 and 1995 ceremonies were held in conjunction with the annual King of the Ring pay-per-view events and the 1996 ceremony was held with the Survivor Series event. Since 2004, the promotion has held the ceremonies in conjunction with WrestleMania ever since. Since 2005, portions of the induction ceremonies have aired on television and since 2014, the entire ceremonies have aired on the WWE Network, which was extended to Peacock in 2021 after the American version of the WWE Network merged under Peacock that year.
Howard Finkel was an American professional wrestling ring announcer, backstage worker, and occasional professional wrestler, best known for his appearances in WWE. He began working for Vincent J. McMahon's World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) in 1975, and was a Madison Square Garden ring announcer since 1977. Finkel was WWE's longest-serving employee and was widely regarded as the greatest ring announcer of all time. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009.
WrestleMania 22 was the 22nd annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown! brand divisions. The event took place on April 2, 2006, at the Allstate Arena in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois.
Arnold Skaaland was an American professional wrestler and professional wrestling manager.
The 2001 Royal Rumble was the 14th annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. It took place on January 21, 2001, at the New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana. Six matches were contested, including one match for the Sunday Night Heat pre-show.
Patricia Anne Stratigeas, better known by the ring name Trish Stratus, is a Canadian fitness expert, actress and retired professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE. An inductee of the 2013 WWE Hall of Fame, Stratus is often regarded as one of the greatest female wrestlers in history. Stratus's 448-day reign as WWE Women's Champion stands as the longest reign of any women's world champion in the 21st century.
The Attitude Era was an era of professional wrestling within the World Wrestling Federation. The term "WWF Attitude" was used to describe its programming from November 9, 1997, to May 6, 2002. It began during the Monday Night War, a period in which WWF's Monday Night Raw went head-to-head with World Championship Wrestling's (WCW) Monday Nitro in a battle for Nielsen ratings each week from September 4, 1995, to March 26, 2001. The era officially started on March 23, 1997 at WrestleMania 13. This was months before the main event of Survivor Series on November 9, 1997 featuring Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels, which retrospectively would be known as the Montreal Screwjob due to the match's controversial finish. WWF's programming in this era featured adult-oriented content, which included increased depicted violence, profanity, and sexual content. This era was part of a wider surge in the popularity of professional wrestling in the United States and Canada as television ratings and pay-per-view buy rates for the WWF and its rival promotions saw record highs.
The 2000 Backlash was the second Backlash professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. It took place on April 30, 2000, at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C., and presented by Castrol GTX. Nine professional wrestling matches were scheduled on the event's card. The concept of the pay-per-view was based around the backlash from WrestleMania 2000.
WrestleMania 32 was the 32nd annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on Sunday, April 3, 2016, at the AT&T Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. This was the last WrestleMania to be held before the reintroduction of the brand extension in July, which introduced another world championship, the WWE Universal Championship, thus it was also the last WrestleMania to feature one world championship. It was also the third WrestleMania to be held in the state of Texas.
WWE Hall of Fame (2014) was the event which featured the introduction of the 15th class to the WWE Hall of Fame. The event was produced by WWE on April 5, 2014, from the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. The event took place the same weekend as WrestleMania XXX. The event aired live on the WWE Network, and was hosted by Jerry Lawler. A condensed one-hour version of the ceremony aired the following Monday after Raw, on the USA Network.
The 2019 WWE Hall of Fame was a professional wrestling event produced by WWE that featured the introduction of the twentieth class into the WWE Hall of Fame. It took place on April 6, 2019, from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, as part of WrestleMania 35 weekend. The event aired live on the WWE Network.
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