WWE Hall Of Fame 2011 Notes/Report

Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat arrived together, Road Warrior Animal is

sitting with Sunny. Everyone is making their way in and this is truly an

awesome sight. I've spotted JBL, Kevin Nash, Sean Waltman it looked

like, Trish Stratus, Steve Austin and others.

* Jerry Lawler is

hosting the ceremony. Hulk Hogan's name got a bad reaction. Lawler

introduces the first induction, Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Ted DiBiase Sr.

comes out to induct Duggan. Ted talked about Duggan's football career,

his wrestling days and fight against cancer. Duggan came out to an

ovation and talked about getting into the business. He ended his speech

with a promo against the terrorists we fight and a trademark HOOOO.

Duggan's speech was met with lots of USA chants from the crowd.

*

Other people we've spotted include Stephanie McMahon, Linda McMahon,

Wendi Richter, Lex Luger, DDP, Sharmell, Booker T, Pat Patterson. Just

about everybody is here.

* Road Dogg Jesse James, Scott Armstrong,

Brad and Brian come out to induct their father Bullet Bob Armstrong.

Great reaction from the fans for BG James who doesn't look much

different from his DX and TNA days. This induction was way shorter than

Duggan's.

* A fan was just ejected by security for yelling.

*

All of the WWE Divas are out now to induct Sunny. Layla and Michelle

McCool put her over big as the original Diva. Nice touch with the Divas

inducting Sunny and a good speech by her. The Divas hung around on stage

with her. Sunny talked about her late husband Chris Candido and getting

into the wrestling business. She said that after tonight there is no

debate on who the original Diva is anymore. Ashley notes that only

LayCool spoke but the entire Divas roster was present for the induction.

*

Lawler introduced Terry Funk next who talked about his history with

Abdullah the Butcher. Funk is great on the mic as usual. Abdullah the

Butcher was introduced next for another short speech. Abdullah got

emotional and cried when talking about his family and talked about

getting the call from WWE. He had his trademark fork with him. Big pop

from Abdullah from the crowd. He thanked God, the fans and his family.

*

The Road Warriors and Paul Ellering are being inducted next. Their name

gets a huge reaction at first. Dusty Rhodes comes out to induct them

and puts over how important they are to tag team wrestling. Dusty has

the best speech of the night so far. Huge LOD chants as Animal and Paul

Ellering come out. Ellering and Animal have an action figure of the late

Hawk on the podium to commemorate him. Animal did most of their speech.

He and Ellering talked about Hawk. Animal talked about the day Hawk

died. They thanked their fans and family. Great moment.

* Drew Carey gets boo'd during his video and his jokes. Kane comes out to induct him. Drew said he doesn't care about the boo's.

*

Triple H is out next to induct Shawn Michaels. Triple H came out to his

King of Kings theme and put his friend Shawn over more than anyone else

has in their speeches tonight. He said Shawn won't admit that he's in

the Hulk Hogan Hair Club for Men. He also called Shawn the greatest

performer he's ever seen. He got emotional and told Shawn he loves him.

Triple H talked about their history together and gave HBK a new nickname

- Mr. Hall of Fame. Triple H has had the longest speech yet probably.

Shawn is out next to a huge standing ovation from the crowd.

Shawn

joked about how nervous he was. Michaels thanked everyone and said

there was one name he should thank but he couldn't say the name,

obviously referring to Ric Flair. The crowd "Whooo'd" at this. Shawn

thanked the WWE Universe, his family, the WWE talents and God. Great

speech by HBK, showed a candid side of himself we don't see often. Shawn

left to DX music and was joined on stage by Triple H, Sean Waltman and

Kevin Nash.

Road Warrior Animal Interview Highlights

Road Warrior Animal appeared on Right After Wrestling this week and had the following to say about The Road Warriors and Paul Ellering going into the WWE Hall of Fame this year:


"Well you know how it is. Jealousy is the greatest equalizer (in our business) sometimes. Guys who don’t get invited to it…it’s just jealousy. You look at the path people take in this business, and I knew it was going to be sooner-or-later."



Animal also revealed that WWE is still working on a physical building for the Hall of Fame in Florida. He said:



"WWE is looking at a big building in Tampa. I’m gonna donate some of my gear there – maybe some of my spiked-shoulder pads will go in the Hall. They’re getting stuff from everybody. And it’s gonna be an attraction – some place where fans can go. It’s gonna be like the pro-football hall of fame."

Atlanta Fanfest sees legendary female wrestlers added to the bill

Three Legendary Ladies Added To Atlanta Fanfest!




Joyce Grable, Judy Martin and Leilani Kai





A lot of Georgia Championship Wrestling fans will remember Thanksgiving Night 1980 in Atlanta's Omni. Two women, out to prove they could hold their own against their male counterparts, had petitioned the NWA and had been granted entry in the one-night, holiday tournament for the National Tag Team championship.



Joyce Grable and Judy Martin were "tougher than nails" and met Steve O and Jerry Roberts (Jacques Rougeau Jr.) in the opening round of the tournament. Grable -- a veteran and already a world-travelled, three-time former NWA Women's World Tag Team champion with Vicki Williams -- and Martin, a young protege from the training camp of the legendary Fabulous Moolah. Although they didn't win, they forever cemented their place in Georgia wrestling history.



Both continued wrestling for many years.



Martin later joined with former WWF Women's World champion Leilani Kai, and the two "raised the bar" on women's wrestling, winning the WWF Women's World Tag Team championship belts on two occasions. Known as "The Glamour Girls" and managed by Jimmy Hart, Martin and Kai set out on a worldwide tour and are remembered for an incredible series of matches with Japan's Jumping Bomb Angels, Itsuki Yamazaki & Noriyo Tateno.



Grable, Martin and Kai are the most recent featured legends added to this summer's Georgia Wrestling Legends Fanfest Weekend in Atlanta, joining the previously-announced Ole Anderson, The Assassin, Mr. Wrestling II, former AWA Rookie of the Year and NWA National champion Steve O, Killer Karl Kox, "Million Dollar Man" Ted Dibiase, "Doctor D" David Schultz, "Mr. USA" Tony Atlas, Killer Tim Brooks,The Masked Superstar, Dory Funk Jr., Terry Funk, "Continental Lover" Eddie Mansfield, "Wildfire" Tommy Rich, Nick Bockwinkel and Harley Race. Each will be signing autographs and taking photos with fans over the course of the three-day, four night event August 4-7 at Atlanta's Airport Marriott hotel.



Over the next several months, we will be announcing more guest confirmations as we receive them.



Each featured legend will be scheduled to take photos with fans at least once (sometimes more,) during the weekend. For a nominal fee, we'll take your photo, process it, and return to you a beautiful 8" x 10" photo of you and your favorite wrestling legends! There will be individual photo ops with each of the featured legends, as well as some rare, group photo ops available.



Each featured legend will also be scheduled to sign autographs for fans at least once during the weekend. Those with VIP "All Access" Passes are allowed to get two free autographs from each featured legend at our Autograph Stage.





For complete details on the Georgia Wrestling Legends Fanfest Weekend, please visit NWALegends.com