The WWE Hall of Fame is just as scripted as all of the matches are with its celebrity wing and win-loss records and championships not really defining what it means to be a “Hall of Famer.” It took until 2015 for “Macho Man” Randy Savage to be inducted and if Koko B. Ware is a Hall of Famer, they should be putting a plaque for Joe McEwing in Cooperstown.
Alas, that does not mean that it isn’t a prestigious honor to be inducted. And each year, WWE usually has one legendary name that leads the class of inductees. This year with what may be the biggest WrestleMania ever at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, that man will be “The Icon” Sting.
WWE made the announcement on their website today:
For 14 years, sports-entertainment fans the world over could only dream of Sting competing inside a WWE ring. In 2015, The Icon added that missing accolade to his legendary resume by competing on The Grandest Stage of Them All at WrestleMania 31. This year, on the eve of WrestleMania 32, Sting will receive an even bigger honor and take his rightful place in sports-entertainment history, as he is inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
“We are truly honored to have Sting take his rightful place in the WWE Hall of Fame,” said WWE’s Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events and Creative, Paul Levesque. “His contributions to our industry are unprecedented, and we look forward to celebrating his incredible career with fans all over the world.”
The 2016 WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony takes place on Saturday, April 2, the night before WrestleMania 32, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas at 6:30 p.m. local time. Tickets go on sale this Friday, Jan. 15, at 10 a.m. ET/9 a.m. CT.
Sting made his first appearance in a WWE ring at last year’s WrestleMania in what was one of the last bucket list moments for anyone who grew up watching wrestling in the 80’s or 90’s. Sting was the defining fan favorite of WCW, staying loyal to the company until it was bought out by Vince McMahon and WWE in 2001. If there was one superstar we thought we’d never get to see in a WWE ring, it was Sting. After years of rumors and questions and wondering if it would ever happen, Sting finally made the jump to WWE when he debuted at the 2014 Survivor Series.
Sting’s last match in WWE, for the WWE Championship against Seth Rollins last September, saw him afflicted with a serious neck injury. He still faces surgery after taking a powerbomb from Rollins against the turnbuckle.
Although Sting’s career may end on that unfortunate note, he is one of the true legends of professional wrestling. This is the man that carried WCW for an entire generation – from bursting onto the scene at the very first Clash of The Champions, to being its #1 good guy throughout the 90’s, to transforming himself into “The Crow” and battling the nWo during the Monday Night Wars. Now that his career will finish in the WWE Hall of Fame, he’s one of the very few wrestlers who can truly say they did it all.
[WWE]
