WWE Hall Of Fame 2015 TV Report: Kevin Nash, Randy Savage, Bushwhackers, more!

By Jeremy Peeples, WrestlingObserver.com

Welcome to the 2015 WWE Hall of Fame recap. We’ll be covering the red carpet as well as the main ceremony. It may seem a bit of a waste, but last year’s red carpet gave us brief glimpses of who the people were behind the scenes. This year’s class of 2015 is Tatsumi Fujinami, The Bushwackers, Alundra Blayze, Larry Zbysko, Rikishi, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Connor “The Crusher” Michalek, and Kevin Nash. Michael Cole and Maria Menounos are the red carpet hosts.

Maria starts things off with a Macho Man impression while Cole throws it to Byron. He’s with Alicia and Paige and says he’s glad he showered, leading to an amusing bit where they smell him. Paige shows off her Doc Martens and says she’s a glampire. Renee talks to Lilian Garcia about how much she loves hearing all the stories from the legends. Byron is with Jake Roberts, who says that he wants to tell Roman that he needs to step it up a notch higher and say that he at least gave it everything he had. Jake is asked about Savage and says his favorite memory of him involves the snake, but dammit dammit dammit, Savage should be here now.

Renee meets with Bret and his wife. Bret ruled out Nattie’s idea of a pink tie and he thinks Savage is the most deserving induction. He misses Randy more than anyone outside of Owen. Wow – that was surprising to hear. Roman Reigns is with Cole and Maria alongside his wife. Roman says that the legends paved the road for him. DDP is with Brenda and talks to Renee about the importance of breathing berfore a speech. He gets in a plug for DDP Yoga and he says that he rewrote Jake’s hall of fame speech on an iPad. DDP looks and sounds great given his health scare just two months ago.

Maria talks about watching Dusty’s “hard times” speech and does a fantastic version of it right in front of Dusty and Eden. Dusty says he loved that promo, but his favorite was the “wined and dined on pork and beans” promo. I did this no justice – absolutely watch this section. Miz and Maryse are on the red carpet. She’s in an amazing white dress with her hair done up and Miz tells Renee to talk to him. Greatness. Roddy Piper and Kitty are here and Roddy talks about things being first-class now. He’s asked by Byron about the Bushwackers and he says he was the first one licked, but was glad it wasn’t when he came in over a cage, slipped, and wound up with his kilt over his head.

Cole and Maria talk with Bryan and Brie about Total Divas and how he doesn’t watch the show. Bryan is asked about Connor and he says he gets emotional just thinking about him, but he’s honored to induct him. He says that after winning the title last year, he went to Connor and they did a yes chant together that made him cry then and now. Renee takes Booker and Sharmell into the Vine booth, leading to Booker saying they should rename it the Spinarooni booth and send him royalties. What a worker.

Cena and Nikki are interviewed by Byron. Cena is proud to honor the past because without it, there’s no present. Nikki talks Alundra Blayze the first true diva. Truly. The first true diva, that was truly fearless. Big Show and Bess are interviewed by Cole and Maria. He says that it’s great to see his friends be inducted while he’s still on the road and Bess is asked who dresses him because he never looks this
good.

Renee meets with her fellow Canadian Christian. He says he’s been hibernating and is trying to get healthy. Byron talks to Mark Henry and his son Jacob. Mark is a very wide man in a suit, while Jacob has a neat little cap on. He looks rather dapper and cuts a great promo about the Hall of Fame being like a holiday. Maria and Cole ask Lita about what it’s like to be inducted in the Hall of Fame, and how she felt when Alundra Blayze tossed the title in the trash. She was shocked, and they’ve brought this up a ton. Renee meets with JBL about Arnold and he talks about Otto Wanz being Arnold’s friend and that he actually lived in Arnold’s hometown.

Ron Simmons is acting as JBL’s date – ha. Cole and Maria are here talking with King and his girlfriend Lauren. King says he probably should’ve dyed his hair red based on rumors and Cole says he was there when King and Lauren got the dress. Jimmy and Jey are with Renee and Jimmy’s kids. Jimmy says that the whole family is here and Renee jokes that the building is full of “Uso-looking people”. Byron talks to Ron Simmons, who enjoys being retired now because it lets him talk to the fans one on one. Randy Orton chats with Cole and Maria. Randy is with his girlfriend Kim, and Orton says he wants to steal the show, and with Seth as his opponent, he can.

Renee meets with Hulk Hogan, his wife Jennifer, Brooke, Nick, and their respective partners. Hulk says that Randy Savage helped raise his kids and Brooke says he deserves it more than just about anyone else while Nick shares memories of being babysat by him. Cole and Maria meet with Michael Hayes in a shiny blue pimp suit. Hayes talks about NXT and the future being so bright that he has to wear shades.

Renee chats with the Warrior family. Dana tears up hearing Warrior’s name again, but is glad to see him be honored now and really enjoyed talking to Connor’s father. Everyone does an impression of the Hall of Famers. Renee asks for a trash can to throw a championship into. That’s it for the red carpet, which was pretty entertaining. The show begins with a photographic rundown of this year’s inductees alongside clips of past entrants. Savage was the star of the video package with a lot of coverage in photos and video clips. A crowd pan brings us to a King introduction talking about everyone being inducted this year.

Rikishi is the opening act this year and gets a dubstep song alongside the Too Cool theme for his video package, which was just the TV one. If you’re as big a fan of Rikishi’s ass as WWE is, this is the video for you. The Usos come out to induct their father and get booed. They aren’t too thrown off though, and win them over saying they’re inducting a hometown boy, their father, Rikishi. Jimmy talks about seeing their dad grow up throw all kinds of characters, but one character fit and looked good – Rikishi. He would take the remote away so they couldn’t see him in a thong, and then they basically just induct their father’s ass into the hall of fame. They’re thankful for that ass putting them through college and putting food on their table. They’re proud of him for becoming a hall of famer and coming from humble roots just breakdancing for change outside the Cow Palace.

Rikishi tells them to leave that part out and that he’s part of a Samoan dynasty that has been on the WWF (which gets muted) and WWE roster for over 50 years. Rikishi pays tribute to the entire family, including the fallen Yokozuna and Umaga, who gets a fairly big chant. Even Manu got a pop, and it resulted in him getting the biggest one of his career while Roman’s name was booed heavily. Rikishi cries while honoring his father, who stands at his request, but he wishes his mother was still here. Rikishi thanks his wife Carina for being his backbone and really used his time to pay tribute to his entire family for making him who he is.

Without them, he wouldn’t have been the man that wound up being worthy of a hall of fame induction. He plugs his wrestling school and says that he, Black Pearl, and Gangrel train people now and he name-drops Rusev as a trainee. He loved his 30 years in wrestling, but regrets missing Christmases and birthdays, but remembers every character, every dance move, and each walk through the curtain. He’ll remember this stage more than any other though. This is pretty amazing for Rikishi – he gets to be inducted by his sons in front of his wife and his father in his hometown to boot. Rikishi closes his induction with a dance while one of his sons does the Worm! The entire crowd was clapping along to this and it was a ton of fun to see.

Larry Zbysko is the second inductee, and his video package remains the best one yet in terms of explaining just why he is worthy of being in the Hall of Fame for a newer fan. King introduces the greatest “WWF” champion to induct Larry, Bruno Sammartino. Bruno talks about Arnold and how he met Larry when he was 15. Larry found out where he lived and he asked Bruno to train him, but Bruno told him to keep wrestling. Bruno got him started with weightlifting and he told Larry to get an education in case he gets hurt, but he would only help him with wrestling if he got a degree. Larry called him before he called his parents and Bruno kept his word. Hearing Bruno talk about all of this puts a real-life spin on the video package right before, and it’s amazing how captivating this story is considering it didn’t take 26 people to write it.

Bruno endorsed Larry for a big push and Bruno agreed to wrestle Larry since he was at the end of his career and they were able to do what they wanted. They sold out the Cap Center and sold out Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and in the Garden. He says that after 26 years, Larry retired from the ring and became a broadcaster. Larry comes out in a fantastic white suit jacket and talks about this being a dream that has finally come true. He talks about Freud and wishes and dreams. He wanted to be like his hero, the heavyweight champion of the World – Bruno Sammartino. Larry says his father put up with him and his mother gave him a list that had Bruno’s address on it. He took off in his $300 Ford Falcon and saw a large wall of hedges while Bruno was sunbathing. The large hand of fate pushed him through the hedges and
towards Bruno, where Bruno’s speech picked things up at.

Larry name-drops legends of the past and talks about being here and not quite knowing while, which gets a huge applause. He dragged out his non-talking time marvelously while shutting up the fans – it’s exactly like what you would expect a speech from Larry on this stage. Hilariously, he loses his train of thought while talking about Bruno in his backyard. He knew at that moment that his dream would come true come Hell or high water. “This is over…whelming!” Larry is such a great heel here. “Those who learn the hard way become the wisest”. He can’t put the words together that can properly thank Bruno, and he wants to thank one more man – Vince McMahon Sr. Larry had a fantastic career outside of the WWWF, so it’s a shame that he didn’t talk about his AWA and WCW run. 47 years ago, he found a rabbit hole and dove in. Thanks to Bruno, he found his wonderland.

He now feels like he’s walked out the other end of it and Bruno is still there – but now he is holding the door that lets him out. At WrestleMania, he’ll sit back after playing a round of gold and enjoy his massage chair while watching the new Network era take off. Larry is determined to main event WrestleMania 32 in front of 100,000 glorious fans. Larry talks about being on every forecast, broadcast, and podcast while government spies watch the broadcast and hearing his name chanted while “Larry” chants flow through the building. He talks about being in bar fights, but tonight, he’s been stabbed in the ass by the best fans in the world – the WWE Universe. In the Vince Jr. vs. Larry war, Larry wins. He gets to do all of this on Vince’s dime AND GET PAID FOR IT! This was quite the bizarre deal, but damned entertaining.

Alundra Blayze’s video package airs. King jokes about two things prevent his heart from stopping again – breathing and the divas. King says that Nattie is the best-looking Hart ever, while Nattie comes out and says it’s not about puppies for her – she’s a kitty fan. This gets a lot of catcalls, and was just glorious. She talks about Alundra being a real ass-kicker who looked good in a bikini. Nattie gives Alundra credit for starting the Monday Night War. Nattie talks about Alundra taking forever to do a promo and Arn wanted to do his promo and he had a workout, but Alundra chased him out. Well, presumably – she didn’t tell the middle, just the beginning and end.

Alundra comes out to a kick-ass version of her WWF theme, so that’s one plus to them just using the Alundra moniker. She got into wrestling through a stunt coordinator and got into wrestling through Ed Sharkey. For the first two years, she lived in her car – and then had it repossessed. She came to the AWA thanks to Wahoo and loved working with Sherri Martel. The AWA prepared her for All Japan Women, WCW, and especially WWE. She thanks WWE for letting her induct the Fabulous Moolah into the Hall of Fame, and is thankful for Verne, Curt Hennig, and DDP in the AWA and Bull Nakano and Aja Kong as well as the whole staff in AJW. She says the biggest inspiration is her mother, who at 92, still rides Harleys.

She’s happy to be here on the WWE Network, available for only $9.99 and is proud to be a part of the Monster Jam family. She thanks everyone who did the job for her – including Evan Karagias for being the only guy with the balls to let her beat him, and she thanks Wendi Richter and Leilani Kai as well. She thanks Paul Heyman and loves him and his kids and puts herself over as the first Paul Heyman Girl. She loved the Dangerous Alliance days and talks about having the biggest crush on Steve Austin, and she’ll kick Arn’s ass today. Bobby Eaton got some love here, as did Rick Rude.

She cries bringing up Randy Savage, who she was with in WCW towards the end with Team Madness. Nora Greenwald and Stephanie Bellers get name-dropped too. She thanks WWE for mending fences tonight and thanks the staff. She thanks her husband for serving in the Army for 30 years, who she hadn’t seen in a year except for tonight. Everyone cheers this wildly and she asks that anyone serving their country in attendence stand up to be recognized. “Now let’s get to the fun shit!” She is nailing it.

In 1995, she was sitting on the toilet and got a call from Eric Bischoff offering her a job with WCW.

She says that she fired the first shot in the Monday Night War, and threw the WWE Women’s Championship Title in the trash. Her initial reaction was AW HELL NAW, but she was convinced to do it. She did it for job security, and it was done to get WWE’s attention – which it did, and continues to do 20 years later. She’s at peace with it and so should everyone else. She finds a bra and panties, hates the BBQ sauce rib but loves the sauce, can’t stand Bischoff’s book, and of course finds the WWF Women’s Title at the bottom of the trash. She parades around with it, says the word belt a few times, and says the title is home.

Her final bit of wisdom is to never give up on your dreams, and tonight, if you’re a younger fan, she’s the reigning WWE Women’s Champion and drives a monster truck. She’s a two-time Monster Jam world champion, and the only person to be a world champion in two male-dominated fields. She’s the ground-breaking, championship-winning, title-trashing Hall of Famer!

HHH video unveiling the Warior statue with his family. It was so great to see his wife and daughters shake the ropes in his honor, and as bizarre as Warrior’s time was with WWE, at least his family has been taken care of in a time of need. King talks about the Warrior Award and we get more of Warrior’s final promo before Connor’s beautiful video package.

Dana comes out with the Warrior Award with the Warrior statue behind her. She says that she is a Warrior and she misses her husband, but spent 20 years with a man that embodied the Warrior spirit. The pain she felt losing him was physical, and it was like a part of her body was taken and she never wanted to join him – because she knew he’d be mad at her for not embodying a Warrior, so that’s what she did. She says that she is a quiet Warrior, but received support from many. She thanks her daughters for being so brave and says that the most awesome thing she’ll ever do is be their mother.

She thanks her friend for bringing them groceries and making sure she and the kids ate when they simply didn’t want to. Kudos to WWE for taking care of the family, because while Warrior did seem to have money, they are doing the absolute right thing by ensuring that the family is taken care of. She thanks the roster for making her kids smile during their time of need. The Warrior Award may be a bit different than what Warrior envisioned last year, WWE is taking care of his family forever, so I doubt he’d mind. Plus, if they took every Warrior promo literally, they’d put Hogan on a rocket ship.

She calls Connor a little Warrior and now he’s with her husband in Parts Unknown and how he embodied Warrior’s spirit. She hopes that Connor’s loss could lead to the end of cancer and she encourages everyone to donate to Connor’s Cure in Warrior’s honor. If they raise $1 million in one month, she’ll run to the ring and bodyslam someone! We got Vickie as an on-air character due to Eddie’s passing, but man is Dana shining brightly here – she’s got something and would be a good presence on TV. She talks about Bryan’s struggle and how a Warrior scratches and claws to the top. “You can always tell a phony from the genuine article, and this guy’s the real deal”. He’s the American Dragon, and he’s honored to be inducted Connor tonight.

He gets a huge Daniel Bryan chant and has his hands in his pockets to keep the crying down. He first saw Connor on a Youtube video asking to meet him. It went viral and everyone knew about it – even he did, even though he’s not on social media. He asks if the fans ever met someone that stole your heart, because that happened when he met Connor.

At 3, he was diagnosed with brain cancer and lived half of his life in hospitals getting chemotherapy. Bryan says it’s a horrible process, and as someone who lost their mother to cancer, I can confirm that. Bryan talks about meeting Connor during the “no” era when the company was tired of the “yes” chant getting over. He loved how Connor empathized with Bryan not wanting the fans to chant yes, and when Bryan offered to let Connor put him in the No Lock, he wanted to put everyone in it! HHH had to beg Connor to punch him, and Hunter would probably say that Connor packed a heck of a punch. A gigantic Crusher chant broke out.

He wishes everyone could see Connor through Bryan’s eye after WrestleMania XXX. Confetti poured down and Connor sat through the entire show just to see him. Bryan says that seeing Connor in his dad’s arms remnded him of what was important – not him winning the title, but the love of a father and a son. Bryan somehow got through that without crying despite his father passing at around the same time. Bryan says that Connor’s Cure has raised $250,000 to ensure that other kids won’t have to endure what he did.

He presents the award to Connor’s father, who supported his son through everything. Beyond just Connor being an inspiration, his father was. Steve Michalek comes out while his son is on the titantron above with “Connor The Crusher” behind him. He thanks his son for giving him the strength to come out here and congratulates Dana for raising her daughters after losing her husband. Steve says that Daniel Bryan keeps the Warrior spirit alive and thanks him for being the man to induct his son tonight. He thanks HHH and Stephanie for making Connor’s Cure and thanks the fans for ensuring that Connor’s Cure makes a difference.

He talks about Connor and his little brother Jackson wanting to be tag team champions and how he beat HHH while hooking the leg. Steve thanked Daniel Bryan and Justin Roberts for spending time with him. Steve says that Connor told him he’d be famous one day, and thanks to the Warrior Award and the Hall of Fame, he is and his legacy will live forever. Steve introduces Connor’s younger brother Jackson, and thankfully just instructs him to wave and blow kisses before saying he was his partner. That could have gotten really awkward, but luckily, it was short and very sweet to see.

This was emotionally-exhausting, but only a single commercial break separated this and the Bushwackers induction. King talks about everyone watching this on the WWE Network, it’s only $9.99, and there are nine inductees, and once the show is over, you’ll feel 99. John Laurinitis comes out in a swank black suit and talks about how you never know who you’ll meet and how they’ll affect you. He was told by Dusty to go to Florida and was the flag-bearer for the Sheepherders. He waved their flag, and wished that they’d told him that his hairstyle wasn’t as cool as he thought it was.

He thanks them for being his friends, his brothers, and his mates. Johnny Ace does the Bushwacker stomp off the screen in something that will become a glorious GIF in due time and they come out. Luke looks just about the same as ever, but with a jet black hair and goatee. Beyond the hair, he really does look great facially. Luke can still do the stomp, but Butch is having a rough time with his crutch. He looks like quite the old badass though. They talk about facing Andre in the ’60s while Butch says that Chief Peter Maivia was like a God in Samoa. Butch was only in the business for six months and was green, but he had a match with Peter and wound up nearly getting killed. He didn’t want a rematch, but agreed to it and learned to fly because he got thrown around a lot.

They went to Stampede and wound up brawling with four people that ran in – Stu’s kids! They talk about being in the NWA and getting a call from Pat about being made babyfaces. They met and said how are you going to make these ugly faces beloved. Luke’s shoulder was bad and he didn’t want to do the stomp, but Butch asked him if he wanted to make money – so he did it. Butch came up with the licking and loves how great Americans taste! Luke talks about doing the fastest elimination in the Rumble at the time, while Butch was in there for 25 minutes. Butch got hot after they each got the same pay! Ha! He loved going to the WWF because they went from being wrestlers to famous and getting celebrity dinners and even TV spots.

Butch requests that Piper do the Bushwacker stomp to the stage, AND HE DOES! The Million Dollar Man joins in on the fun. Bret is asked and does it as well. Since they teamed with him at Summerslam ’92, Butch wants Duggan to join in too! “There was plenty of WOOOs, hos, and one big HOOO!” Butch asks his wife Helen to stand up and she does. He thanks his daughters for allowing him to wrestle and missing holidays. In his whole career, the only thing that pissed him off was working 25 minutes and getting the same pay as Luke did! Butch licks Luke to send them on their way – that speech ruled!

Tatsumi Fujinami’s up next.

His video package includes WCW, WWF, and New Japan footage. It was meant to be broadcast on SmackDown, but somehow never did despite that show being at least 30% video packages. Ric comes out and calls his run from 2008 his favorite run to date since he gets to be out here every year and honor his peers. Flair talks about Japan being a huge deal for him and he goes over the young boy system. He loves Vader and Muta, but Fujinami is the greatest in the history of Japan. Fujinami and Flair share a hug while Fujinami gets a beautiful theme song. He’s 61 and still wrestles. He thanks his wife and family for supporting him on his adventures before and all that will come. His English was quite broken, but he did his best and I hope they make his theme available for purchase on iTunes.

Jerry Lawler gets a few seconds to talk about Randy Savage, which is a real shame given their past in Memphis. Savage’s video package is one of the best ever done for a Hall of Famer in terms of just paying tribute to the person’s act. He’s got tons of people, including celebrities like Kevin Hart, doing impressions of him alongside talk show and Slim Jim ad campaign clips. Hogan comes out and does a perfect Randy Savage OH YEAH impression before saying “in all sincerity”, it was an honor to induct him.

Hulk talks about Randy being an intense guy, but an even better friend. He was a really good friend and would call Hulk and all hours of the night. Hogan says that he switched to the canary yellow tights because of Angelo Poffo because Angelo wore them and he stood out as a result no matter where he was on the card. He talks about WM III in the…SUPER…SILVERDOME BROTHER. Andre had a bad back and he was worried about living up to the hype, and they did, but Savage and Steamboat stole the show.

He talks about the Mega Powers split and the LUST IN YOUR EYES promo and how intense he was. He was the Macho Man 24/7 and always did the voice and didn’t pick up the tab, brother. That reminds me of some fantastic stories Jim Cornette tells in the Wrestling Gold DVD set with Dave Meltzer about how Angelo would save money on the road – like just using ketchup packets and sleeping with six to a room. Hulk says that Randy made he and everyone else raise their game. Without Macho Madness, there would be no Hulkamania. He brings out Lanny to accept the award to “Pomp and Circumstance”.

Lanny recites a beautiful poem about his brother’s life and career, including his Mega Powers run and the Spider-Man role. He said “life’s too short to hold a grudge and it’s time for us to heal. Finally, the Macho Man is in the Hall of Fame!” in one of the best quotes of the night. Lanny says their mother couldn’t be here tonight, but she’s on the DVD and Randy’s wife is watching because she paid her $9.99. Lanny cries thinking about how happy Lynn made Randy and tells himself to think of baseball. He says that the Ultimate Warrior got to say what was on his mind until his dying day, but Randy can’t do that, so he’s here to do that. Randy never had children, but he was a good uncle to his own kids and a great stepfather to Lynn’s daughters.

He loved doing work with the Special Olympics to fill that void as well. “Randy loved the children of the Special Olympics like Mr. T loves his mother”. Lanny’s 60 and loves to reminisce about reading his poetry at the Special Olympics while Randy made his entrance in his full getup. WWE sent a mountain of merchandise to sign for the Special Olympians and they all wound up with a slew of signed souvenirs. If Mick Jagger is complaining about having no satisfaction, he should have hung out with the Macho Man. Lanny recites his Macho King speech, but makes Lynn his queen and adds the hall of fame onto it.

This was beautiful, and while Lanny didn’t mention Angelo, Hulk did and this wound up serving as a fine tribute to the entire Poffo family. Arnold is up next. His video package is fine, but they didn’t show anyone doing impressions. HHH comes out to a pretty big pop. HHH discusses the celebrity wing and how his nose got this big due to Arnold’s punches. HHH runs through Arnold’s movie catchphrases. HHH hypes up Arnold as a big box office star and a two-time governor of California, which gets tons of boos. Ryback and Dolph mark out while he comes out.

Arnold talks about how great HHH is as a wrestler, a businessman, and a health advocate. He thanks WWE for being inducted and loves wrestling, and was grateful to be the governor of California. He was thankful for his dad taking him to Otto Wanz’s matches. That inspired him to become strong, although he didn’t clarify if Otto was a reverse role model or if the other wrestlers’ bodies made him want to workout. Bruno was judging a Mr. Universe content and Arnold won for the third time thanks to him being impressed. He loved inducting Bruno two years ago and chatting with him for Sports Illustrated. He thanks America for truly being the land of the free that allowed him to do what he has done with his life.

King is cut off mid-sentence while introducing Nash, presumably because the show is running really long. HBK comes out to induct Kevin Nash in a camo shirt, because of course he does. HBK tears up the script and says that while he’s happy to see sports entertainers being inducted by sports entertainers, tonight, we’ll see a pro wrestler induct a pro wrestler. He’ll get in trouble – but don’t worry, he’s used to that.

HBK ran into Rick backstage and asked him if he knew who Vinnie Vegas was and he did – he called him on a pay phone to come to the WWF quickly. Nash tells Ole that wrestling isn’t his thing, so it’s time to leave and return to the strip club bouncing scene. He takes the release to another part of WCW’s office and faxes it to JJ Dillon. Shawn introduces himself to Kevin and says he needs a bodyguard on-air and might need one for real because he’s not really well-liked. Shawn says that he shouldn’t mention Vince, but he is, so he’ll get heat. THE BIG MAN IS WHITE HOT says Vince, but Shawn thinks it’s the duo.

Vince disagrees, PUTS THE STRAP ON HIM. Nash wins the “at the time…WWE Championship – don’t want to get in too much trouble!” “He wins and he pulls me into the shower. Just saying – when you get pulled into the shower by a big man, you start to worry!” Nash thanks him for hitching his wagon to him years ago because he had no future until he met Shawn. Shawn says that Nash was the first guy to really treat the business as a business, and as a guy doing a job. He says the younger guys should appreciate Nash for ensuring they all got guaranteed money. One day, WWE will do this speech for Brock thanking him for introducing the idea of sponsorships for the talent. Shawn thanks everyone for buying DX merchandise and keeping him afloat for the rest of his life. HBK gets a “one more match” chant and tells them to pipe down before Nash comes out. HBK was a great wrestler, camera man, commentator, and now, Hall of Fame inductor.

Nash says that without Shawn asking Rick to call him, he’d have no career. He says that he came in as Nash, but there wouldn’t be Nash without Diesel. He says he couldn’t dance all that well, but he could follow well enough and thanks everyone who ever worked around him. Nash says that they’ve gone long, so he had 23 food trucks set up around the arena for everyone. Nash’s first match was live on a Clash of the Champions and they wanted to give him a fuchsia mohawk. His partner misses a headbutt by 20 miles and the crowd chants “LOD wannabee” and he’s told to grow his hair out. He points out Dusty and mentions Oz! He asks for a photo of Oz and we see that and he wants the dunce cap, which we finally get as well. Nash went through the gear box and said that he saw this horrible mask, and would’ve rather saw a “you’re fired” note. Nash says that his first night in, he gave Shawn an edge and the IC Title – so in one night, he did more than he had in years in WCW.

He was a goal-oriented guy and his goal was to be a World champion. He went on a European tour and was with Fatu, and they might’ve had a beer or 23. He’s told to go to Vince’s house, did, and fell asleep on his couch. Instead of being fired, he was told of their plans to make him the champion. He says that every match was a seven minute commercial for himself, and that was worth a lot. He thanks the fans for keeping the lights on. He says he’s 40 minutes away from Cape Canaveral and he can see anything they do from his deck. Every time he comes back, he’s amazed at how much this company grows. He expects to see a space ship that will leave and it will be for WrestleMania on the moon. He tells the fans to “hold their breasts”, or breath, for that one.

He thanks Rick Rude for being a mentor and he got a good piece of advice – don’t get your wife in the business if you want to keep her, and he’s still got her 27 years later. Nash was talking to Flair eariler and they said there are two moments in wrestling that are real – when you win your first title and when you’re put into the Hall of Fame. He’s thankful for both and we get the semi-annual Kliq celebration. Nash gets muted for saying something here. With that, the 2015 Hall of Fame comes to an end.

It was a long show, but really fun at times thanks to the Bushwackers. It was also a time to reflect and appreciate thanks to Connor and Dana Warrior.