What’s the story?
All speculation on who would induct Kurt Angle into the WWE Hall of Famer came to an end today when WWE broke the news of John Cena being the man to do the honours. Kurt Angle, as expected, was the first to comment on WWE’s tweet that carried the news, and the Cenation leader himself, felt it was an obligation to reply with an emotional tweet:
In case you didn’t know
WWE announced Kurt Angle as the first and headline inductee for this year Hall of Famer class, shocking a legion of fans worldwide. While the hints of the same were dropped months ago when Angle turned down indie bookers and told a handful of them that he was heading to the WWE in April, the Olympic Gold Medalist's induction was a pleasant surprise nonetheless.
Angle himself had tossed around names such as Stone Cold Steve Austin, Brock Lesnar, Undertaker and John Cena for the honourable role and WWE found it apt to give the opportunity to John Cena – the man who had his first match against Angle on SmackDown – effectively ushering in the Ruthless Aggression Era on that monumental episode of SmackDown on 6th June 2002.
The heart of the matter
The Face That Runs The Place has certainly learnt a lot from the legendary soon-to-be Hall of Famer and he has nothing but gratitude. It’s for this very reason and the history between the two that confirms a memorable moment between Cena and Angle at the ceremony that will be telecasted live.
The Induction ceremony is scheduled to take place on Friday, 31st March at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. Apart from Kurt Angle; Rick Rude, Diamond Dallas Page, Rock N’ Roll Express, Beth Pheonix, Teddy Long and Eric LeGrand (a former footballer-turned-motivational speaker will be the recipient of the Warrior Award).
WWE have also announced that Ricky ‘The Dragon’ Steamboat will be inducting Rick Rude.
What’s next?
It’s just three weeks away from the grandest spectacle of them all and the Hall of Fame ceremony has always been the perfect way to warm things up for the wrestling extravaganza.
This year’s list is stacked, with the celebrity wing probably being the only addition yet to be made. Cyndi Lauper and Regin Philbin are the names being rumoured to be inducted this year and the announcement will be made before the next episode of RAW.
Author’s take
How fitting indeed! Kurt Angle is one of the biggest reasons why John Cena is such a pivotal figure in the WWE because as they say, the first impression is the best one, and Angle made Cena look like a million bucks.
The two legends have had some great moments all through the years and as mentioned before, this is a fitting way to immortalise Angle amongst the true legends in the Hall of Fame. While the fans may have wanted Austin or Lesnar to do the honours instead, I personally have no problem with WWE’s decision. Angle too has approved and all we can do now is wait for the 31st of March. But what happens after that?
Will Kurt Angle return to be the General Manager of RAW? Or even better, for a final in-ring run with the company that put him on the map? Oh we wish it comes to fruition!
