Full Report From The 2012 WWE Hall Of Fame Ceremony
- The 2012 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony will begin soon. The Red Carpet presentation is going on now as Superstars, Divas, Legends and fans are making their way into the arena.
- Sunny, Mae Young, Lita, William Regal, Jim Ross, Haku, Ricky Steamboat, Linda McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, Diamond Dallas Page, Dusty Rhodes, Gerald Brisco, Jimmy Hart and Tommy Dreamer have all been spotted. All the WWE Superstars and most of the Divas are also seated.
- Jerry "The King" Lawler comes out to open tonight's ceremony. He will be the host again this year. The one-hour Hall of Fame special will air on Monday night before RAW hits the air. Lawler talks about the Hall of Fame.
- John Cena is seated with Betty Skaaland. Other names seen include Booker T, Sharmell, Dean Malenko, Maryse, The Miz, Lita, FCW President Steve Keirn, The Iron Sheik, Jamie Noble, Finlay, Bill DeMott and others.
- The first inductee of the night is Ron Simmons. Out comes his former partner JBL to handle the induction and he gets a big ovation from the crowd. JBL puts over Simmons and said Simmons didn't just break barriers down, he shattered them.
JBL introduces Ron Simmons to a big pop. Simmons is humbled by the induction and talks about his career. Simmons thanks everyone from the bottom of his heart and on behalf of his family. Simmons ends his speech with a big "DAMN!" which gets a huge pop from the audience.
- Alberto Del Rio comes out next to induct his uncle Mil Mascaras. Del Rio comes off as a really great talker. He says Mascaras put Mexican wrestling on the map. Del Rio talks about how Mascaras was a pioneer and the first Mexican wrestler to work Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Del Rio makes the introduction and Mascaras comes out to an ovation from the crowd. He is wearing his black lucha mask and starts getting emotional as he speaks. Mascaras did his induction in English and got an ovation from the crowd.
- The Four Horsemen are up next as Dusty Rhodes makes his way out to do the induction. Dusty talks about how unique the Horsemen were and calls Ric Flair a national treasure. Dusty talks about Flair with a lot of passion.
Dusty goes on to talk about his famous feuds with the Horsemen and calls Arn Anderson the Horsemen's heartbeat. Dusty puts over the others before introducing The Four Horsemen to a nice ovation.
A big "Thank You Horsemen" chant breaks out and it's amazing. Flair gets chants to come back and he says "I want to..." Flair gets emotional as he talks about his career and what the Horsemen were. Flair got whooo's but no TNA chants or mentions. Barry Windham looked great despite his recent health problems.
Tully Blanchard is stylin' but talks about his father who passed away recently. It changes the look on the others faces. Arn Anderson is up next and our correspondent reports that he gets the biggest pop of anyone so far out of all the inductions. Arn also gives one of the bet speeches so far of the night and puts over JJ Dillon, Bobby Heenan and Paul Ellering as managers.
Arn also puts over CM Punk. The rumors of Arn being a big CM Punk fan are true. He gives high marks to Randy Orton, Big Show, Rey Mysterio and John Cena. Cena's name looks to get boo'd but Arn calls Cena the best human being that he knows and the crowd approves.
- Triple H and Shawn Michaels are out next to induct Mike Tyson into the Celebrity Wing. Triple H jokes on Shawn Michaels and credits Tyson with helping WWE in the Monday Night Wars. DX are in classic fashion tonight with good stuff. They play into the WrestleMania 28 angle and get a "Shawn is better" chant going.
Mike Tyson is all smiles as he comes out for his induction. Tyson seems to have some nervous energy and talks about some of his favorites. Tyson thanks everyone.
- Yokozuna will be posthumously inducted by The Usos next. Jimmy and Jey Uso talk about how Yokozuna was part of their family and how he was Rodney to them. Rikishi and Yokozuna's family come out to accept the induction on behalf of the former WWE Champion. The Samoan Dynasty lives on he says.
- Edge's induction is up next. Christian comes out and starts joking about Edge's new haircut. Christian is all jokes until he gets emotional and calls Edge his best friend. Christian talks about how they came up and Edge wanted to make it big so he could support his mom. Christian introduces his friend after a great speech.
Edge comes out to a huge standing ovation and looks excited to be out. He has a handheld video camera with him filming. Edge thanks the Foo Fighters for the entrance music and tells everyone he will never be on Twitter or Facebook. Edge talks about different wrestlers he came up with.
Edge talks about Bret Hart saw something in him when he was younger and that made him keep going. Edge thanks lots of people from his career including The Dudleys, The Hardys, Owen Hart, Eddie Guerrero, Kurt Angle, Ric Flair and several others. He makes a joke about Hulk Hogan and a sextape. He also thanked his women – Lita and Vickie Guerrero. Our correspondent adds that Edge has the most natural feeling speech of the night with the right mix of comedy. Edge talks about Rhino, Tommy Dreamer, William Regal, Zack Ryder, Curt Hawkins and others.
Edge talked about his wife Beth coming into his life and said he loves her. Edge also thanked the best tag team partner he's ever had – his mother. Edge ends his awesome speech and has Foo Fighters played up again. The crowd wants 5 Second Poses so we get them.