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WWE
Hall of Fame
Wrestling
News Media: Shawn Michaels' Speech At WWE Hall Of
Fame Induction 2011: 'Thank You' - 2nd April 2011
Thank
you. ["HBK!" chant. "Thank you Shawn!"
chant. Whoa! Some other chant.] The damnedest thing
on my way to my Hall of Fame speech, a damn roast
broke out. Thanks. I knew there was no way you was
gonna say anything nice about me. For the 15 years
we've known each other he never has, and he never
will. He's like the Fonz trying to say he's sorry.
[Muttering.]
I
know how tough it was for you to say . That was a
huge deal for him to even recognize that I worked
in this line of work for 36 years. You're not aware
of this, but we shared a big moment there. There's
some psychiatrists going, "They're starting to
heal."
I'm
nervous, so don't give me cat calls. [Cat calls.]
I've been going over what I'm gonna say. ["One
more match!" chant.] You're killing me with the
one more match thing. Seriously, I know it's good
TV, he'll have a nervous breakdown. We sold out the
building! He had a heart attack!
["We
love you Shawn!"] I'm serious. For the love of
God, help me out here. I don't even know where to
start. You know there are things that go between ...
I can't say, I'm not supposed to say. That's one of
the reasons I was OK to retire. Coincidentally, this
is the first year where we're not doing it live. They'll
chop it up in post to make sure it's ok to air.
When
I was 19 years old, I didn't want to be a sports entertainer.
I didn't know at the time. I told my mom and dad,
I want to do what those guys do it on TV. Making it
was going to be going out in San Antonio and wresting
in front of 25 people. Fast forward, and I'm a 45-year-old
man, and I get to stand here and say thank you.
Along
the way, I wasn't really aware of it. I was raised
by a loving family, sitting right down here, who loved
me every step of the way and supported me. But for
whatever reason when I started doing this line of
work at 19 I spent the next 26 years searching for
validation. I don't even know why. But what my peers
thought of me and what you thought of me was the most
important thing in my life. And I worked myself into
the ground. It was so important to me that you thought
I did a good job. I know that sounds patronizing,
but I want to thank you so much for giving me that.
I'm
very thankful to all the other inductees and especially
Triple H for making this fun and amusing. Because
as much as I've tried to not make it a deep and heavy
cry fest, I can't do it. There are no words to express
how much I lived and breathed to do this every night
for so many years. And it begs the question, how am
I gonna be OK away from this?
Last
Monday the Undertaker had mentioned Shawn Michaels
will walk into the Hall of Fame with a ton of regrets.
If this had happened in 1998, that might've been true.
At that time, I was good at my job, but there's no
way I could've stood here with no regrets. And although
my family would've been proud of me, I know there
would've been a little disappointment for them and
a certain guy backstage whose name I'm not allowed
to mention. [Crowd WOOs. Guy next to me says "RIC
FLAIR!" I believe him!]
I
came back in 2002 after being told I'd never wrestle
again, for one more match. That was nine years ago.
I'm thankful I can stand before you with absolutely
no regrets. [Missed a part about God and his family.
Sorry.] Since they came into my life, I've had not
a regret. Not a second goes by that I'm not thankful.
The most precious gift of all is my little family.
I love you all so much, and I want to thank you for
being so selfless and letting daddy finish what he
started.
It
was very important to me to come back and go away
on my own terms. I love my two children more than
anything in the world. Thank you so much for letting
daddy go wrestle. [I have a daughter. Totally about
to tear up.]
There
are countless WWE superstars that I've had to create
with. I'd love to mention everybody, but I don't want
to make this too long. I don't wanna be that guy.
[Crowd WOOs.] You guys are implying that. I'm not
saying that. Every year there's somebody, and we're
like, dude there's WrestleMania tomorrow. I'm gonna
assume you know who you are.
Because
I did my best to make sure before I left to tell you
how awesome it was for me, and how much I appreciate
you guys [makes crazy hand gestures] putting up with
me when I wanna do something you don't do all that
much. I appreciate your time and patience. I appreciate
you being a part of my life. A lot of times all we've
got is each other. We're like guys in a fox hole together.
But when we're with each other, we're all we got.
We can stab each other in the back, but can't nobody
else do it.
I
wanna thank you for allowing me to be a part of that
fraternity. We're always gonna look at everybody else
and say you're not gonna understand it. And that's
OK. It's something we're gonna take to our graves.
And
lastly there's all of you. The WWE universe, the fans.
I love every one of you, even when you bother me at
5 in the morning, even when I cuss you, you still
come back and forgive me. You have been a part of
my life and family for so many years, it begs the
question, why would a 19-year-old kid from a wonderful
upbringing seek validation from strangers?
One
thing people used to always say that separated me
is that I could make a connection with you. I don't
know if I did a good job, but for the last 26 years
whether you were connected to me I have no idea, but
I was connected to you. I have never won Most Popular,
I wasn't the prom king, I wasn't the homecoming king,
so I guess in my adult life the most important thing
to me was that you believed in me and thought I was
good. On this night, 2011 Hall of Fame, I feel it,
I thank you, I love my ring. And I love each and every
one of you.
I
know this has been sappy. I can't help it. And if
you're not down with that, I got two words for you.
("Suck it!" from the crowd.)
2009
Profiles
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Funk Jr. Ricky
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The
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Hall of Fame
is a hall of fame for professional wrestlers maintained
by WWE. It was officially created on the February
1, 1993 episode of the World Wrestling Federation's
(WWF), the predecessor of WWE, Monday Night Raw
television program.
On
this episode, the sole induction of WWF alumnus
André the Giant, who had died the previous
week (January 27, 1993), was announced; his death
was the reason for the creation of the Hall of
Fame.
After
André's induction, the WWF continued the
process of inducting members into the Hall of
Fame. For these inductions, ceremonies were held
to formally induct the candidates from 1994 to
1996; no video footage has ever been released
by WWE of these ceremonies. After the 1996 ceremony,
the WWF stopped the inductions of wrestling personalities
into the Hall of Fame without a formal announcement.
In 2004, WWE relaunched the Hall of Fame to coincide
with the twentieth anniversary of WrestleMania.
This
ceremony, like its predecessors, was not broadcasted
on television, however, it was released on DVD
on June 1, 2004.
Beginning
with the 2005 ceremony, WWE broadcasted the final
few inductions into the Hall of Fame on Spike
TV (2005) and on the USA Network (2006 - present);
these were aired on tape delay. The first inductions
were broadcast on WWE's official website. The
2008 edition of the Hall of Fame was broadcasted
live on the USA Network. Since 2005, the Hall
of Fame ceremony has been packaged as part of
that year's WrestleMania DVD release. Although
a building has never been built to represent the
Hall of Fame, WWE has sought into constructing
a facility for the Hall of Fame. WWE's Executive
Vice President of Global Media Shane McMahon has
stated that the WWE has been storing wrestling
memorabilia in a warehouse for years, and that
all items are categorized and dated in case a
facility is created.
Induction into the Hall of Fame is dependent upon
whether the candidate is on good terms with WWE.
Former WWE employees who often criticize WWE or
currently work with a different promotion have
not been inducted. Others, such as Bruno Sammartino,
the longest-reigning WWE Champion in the title's
history, are alienated from the promotion and
refuse to be inducted, despite having been asked
several times.
As of 2008, there have been a total of 68 inductees,
with 60 members inducted individually and four
tag teams inducted. Thirteen of the inductees
have been inducted posthumously. André's
sole induction was the least amount of inductions
into the Hall of Fame in one year, while 2004
had the most, with 11. (Credit:
Wikipedia).
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