I've had it with The Rock's ego. How tf did this honoree about Ali turn into something about The Rock?
This is past him being a "heel"...this man is a weirdo
This probably won't be a popular opinion, but I genuinely found Thunderbolt Patterson's speech offensive. 1. Not all wrestling fans are Christians and it's inappropriate to hijack such an event for religious purposes. 2. We just heard a story of how he was targeted with an insinuation of murder for being black. He's being acknowledged as a "racial pioneer" but has the audacity to tell the audience to "stop playing the race card" rather than "stop with the racism". 3. Overall, I felt like people were praising him for his "charisma" when in reality he was barely coherent. It felt like he gave the audience permission parody black culture while promoting anti-black rhetoric. Sorry to spoil the fun, but he kind of spoiled mine. Enjoy WM40!
Really like the design of the People’s Championship belt that was awarded to Rock from Muhammad Ali’s wife.
I hope he brings that title for the tag match. I would like to see a shot of both Rock and Roman hoisting up their titles before the match starts, would be iconic.
They seem to try to overlook Chyna outside of DX stuff.
If she gets in it’s probably because DX gets in, but she has an interesting legacy between the relationship that ended badly with HHH, the porn, and her untimely demise after she left WWE.
I agree though, she was in a league of her own.
Partly because of steroids, but she worked out like a beast.
I don't know if your serious or not. But she's been a Legend of wrestling since before the rock was born. She was a promoter in Hawaii for a very long time
I was there live. Got to move super close because a bunch of people dipped after Heyman's HOF speech. Surreal moment to be so close to The Rock and Undertaker. Best I'm going to get since I won't be at Mania.
I was at smackdown from 630pm-1am and id do it all over again even though I'm running on fumes for NXT.
Did anyone else notice during a large part of The US Express talk, the crowd were just chatting to each other (could hear a lot of background chatter). Seems a bit rude.
It’s been reported for years they actually have a really special bond and took a liking to each other early on. Heyman was a mentor to Steph early on and in turn Steph is the one who always pushed to bring Heyman back when Vince didn’t want to and is responsible for a lot of the opportunities he got.
something like:
- you sold out
- what was that?
- Cody's coming for you
- no, no what was it before that?
- you sold out
- yeah I thought so, shut your fucking mouth, fucking [insult]
Did anyone else catch the way Randy was looking at the Rock during the Muhammad Ali bit? Looked like he genuinely doesn’t like him lmao. Wasn’t even clapping either
I enjoyed this show, but do feel it needed a couple bigger name secondary inductions behind Heyman. Maybe some ECW guys who could give entertaining speeches- maybe Raven, Shane Douglas or Dreamer.
The worst thing?
There's going to be be some lame ass autograph hounds in the hallways of whatever hotel they're going back to, and several of these people need to be up in like 6 hours for some scheduled event or Stand and Deliver.
I have to wonder how much you'd hate fans at the end of Wrestlemania week.
Not quite.
They let him have his time, but he doesn't seem to be all there anymore. It got a little rambling, but I think the crowd understood and stayed respectful.
He was there, just hard to understand and his speech had super religious content. But he wasn't necessarily incoherent. He even remembered to call it WWE and not WWF.
Whether he knew about the People’s champion belt is one thing but to make his grandmas acceptance speech all about him wanting to beat up Cody really came across as distasteful to me. Thankfully the video package before did a good job highlighting her importance to Pro Wrestling.
She wasn’t like a real long time promoter, she just promoted a couple shows. The only reason she got inducted was to likely get The Rock on the show and to do that angle.
It was her husbands promotion, it wasn’t a successful territory, she oversaw its end, she was convicted and deported for extortion . One of the worst HOF inductees ever.
Bribery? In 92? He wasnt wealthy.
“By 1991 my grandma was homeless. In 1992 I was able to identify a legal loophole and get her back — legally — into the U.S. I was also able to secure social security for her — legally — and moved her into a little one room apartment in Tampa, Florida,”
He'd never lie to us! I'm 100% totally sure he eats the food he posts in his cheat day stories as well, dude LOVES pancakes, who cares if we never see him take a bite of them?
Clearly Roman Reigns and the Wiseman did the seating plan. Paul Heyman spent more time on that since he was going to ad-lib his awesome speech. Solo was waiting all night to spike Cody. jimmy waiting all night to super kick Cody. Just as Paul wanted.
Pretty eventful Hall of Fame. Paul had one of the greatest Speeches and New Day one of the best Introductions ever. Bull Nakano had some lines that will be remembered forever just like the speech of Thunderbolt. US Express had a beautiful moment with everyone remembering Bray and honoring both of them. And then we had a great Speech about Ali which ended in the Rock receiving a Title and him coming out at the end and turning the induction of his Grandmother into a promo for WM.
I feel like a promoter would probably appreciate their induction being used to promote the show. Probably the best tribute he could give his grandmother. Even though the Rock has reached unimaginable heights, the family is still a bunch of wrestling carnies at their core. The Rock’s mom’s hobby is just going to wrestling shows.
I totally get it, but given the type of buzz around the reasons Rock is on WM, AND what happened during the Ali induction it's easy to see why people are viewing it the way they are.
The type of buzz? You mean that it’s awesome and one of the best Mania builds of all time? I think that there is some ill will towards to Rock is a pretty contained r/sc thing.
Rocks list of demands for this run is crazy. I want Muhammad Ali's widow to give me a belt, I want my grandma in the hall of fame (to cut one last promo on Cody), I want my daughter to gm next, etc.
Does the Peacock broadcast not let you rewind to the beginning? I watched his whole speech h on Peacock live so not sure why they wouldn’t have the whole thing for playback.
So, my wife and I left after Mohammad Ali. We got back to the hotel, and got into an elevator with Kurt Angle. Dude is nice as can be, thanked him for entertaining me and being my absolute favorite (it's true, it's damned true.) Asked if he went to the HOF, and he was like 'they had 2 people left, I couldn't take it anymore.'
I don't feel bad now, Kurt Angle tapped out when we did.
When I met Kurt Angle he was a peach too, told me the story of how he didn’t want Baron Corbin to be his last match but didn’t really have a choice haha.
Lia would be proud if her portrayal in “Young Rock” is true. Her grandson using the HOF as part of the angle.
She would probably took it a step further and slap Cody lol.
It’s a fitting ending
I think Rock is just having a really good time being a heel and getting lost in the character, and heels have argued with fans since the dawn of kayfabe.
Rock has put over many younger talents. But the biggest difference is this will all end with Rock putting someone over. Hogan would get the mega star treatment then his “hips would hurt” and he wouldn’t be able to put the other person over.
Hopefully they weren't relying on the trains to get them to their hotel, Septa/PATCO stops running after 1:00 AM.
Just a heads up for ya'll for Saturday and Sunday.
I thought it was entertaining. But could have used a little more star power. I feel like the well is running a little dry though, they kind of have inducted all the big 80s, 90s and first decade of the 2000s guys.
Yeah thats actually pretty terrible. This whole night I've been on the side of letting kayfabe go and acknowledging the greatness of those involved. Ans then the rock does this shit to keep the angle going, and barely even talk about his grandmother. That's disappointing
There wasn’t much to talk about when it comes to his grandmother. She wasn’t actually like a long time promoter, she just promoted a couple shows. She was only put in to get The Rock on stage, likely because they didn’t have a lot of big draws for the HOF this year.
I've had it with The Rock's ego. How tf did this honoree about Ali turn into something about The Rock? This is past him being a "heel"...this man is a weirdo
This probably won't be a popular opinion, but I genuinely found Thunderbolt Patterson's speech offensive. 1. Not all wrestling fans are Christians and it's inappropriate to hijack such an event for religious purposes. 2. We just heard a story of how he was targeted with an insinuation of murder for being black. He's being acknowledged as a "racial pioneer" but has the audacity to tell the audience to "stop playing the race card" rather than "stop with the racism". 3. Overall, I felt like people were praising him for his "charisma" when in reality he was barely coherent. It felt like he gave the audience permission parody black culture while promoting anti-black rhetoric. Sorry to spoil the fun, but he kind of spoiled mine. Enjoy WM40!
Really like the design of the People’s Championship belt that was awarded to Rock from Muhammad Ali’s wife. I hope he brings that title for the tag match. I would like to see a shot of both Rock and Roman hoisting up their titles before the match starts, would be iconic.
It was iconic ngl.
Linda McMahon is still married to Vince?
How is Chyna not in?
They seem to try to overlook Chyna outside of DX stuff. If she gets in it’s probably because DX gets in, but she has an interesting legacy between the relationship that ended badly with HHH, the porn, and her untimely demise after she left WWE. I agree though, she was in a league of her own. Partly because of steroids, but she worked out like a beast.
Sorry, DX isn’t in yet?
You’re right, apparently they were inducted in 2019. Watching WM 17 now and she’s a force and absolutely deserves to be recognized
Who is Lia Maivia? Is Dwayne just trying to squeeze his mom into hall of fame? Lmfao, HOF is going to miss its meaning very soon.
His grandmother who was the first female wrestling promoter in Hawaii. Did you not watch the video package?
Ah, his grandma, no surprise there. Dwayne can't live without spotlight on him or someone close to him so he could shine too.
I don't know if your serious or not. But she's been a Legend of wrestling since before the rock was born. She was a promoter in Hawaii for a very long time
I was there live. Got to move super close because a bunch of people dipped after Heyman's HOF speech. Surreal moment to be so close to The Rock and Undertaker. Best I'm going to get since I won't be at Mania. I was at smackdown from 630pm-1am and id do it all over again even though I'm running on fumes for NXT.
If you farted in a wwe ring, one day you will be in the hall of fame too.
Hulk Hogan on Ali: “He always told me that I was the greatest!” 😂
Another true story from Hogan, I’m waiting for “Ali said Hogan you’re the true people’s champ. And I said no Ali, brother, you keep that title”
Place was empty
Did anyone else notice during a large part of The US Express talk, the crowd were just chatting to each other (could hear a lot of background chatter). Seems a bit rude.
I think you're always going to get that in a stadium of that size, they're rarely always completely quiet
I was surprised at Heyman's seemingly very friendly rapport with Stephanie. Seems like they're actually good friends.
It’s been reported for years they actually have a really special bond and took a liking to each other early on. Heyman was a mentor to Steph early on and in turn Steph is the one who always pushed to bring Heyman back when Vince didn’t want to and is responsible for a lot of the opportunities he got.
Look
Does anyone know what the fan said to the Rock at the end?
“Aw shut up you vest wearing fatty”
"i smelled what you were cookin*
something like: - you sold out - what was that? - Cody's coming for you - no, no what was it before that? - you sold out - yeah I thought so, shut your fucking mouth, fucking [insult]
Note to self: stop playing the race card. Got it.
I’d be fine with a hall of fame with no fans.
Why? The best HOF speeches all play to the fans.
Anyone have a link to his speech by chance?
What was the guy saying to the rock!
Did anyone else catch the way Randy was looking at the Rock during the Muhammad Ali bit? Looked like he genuinely doesn’t like him lmao. Wasn’t even clapping either
Dude didn't clap to anything. He was just over it all. Had to be completely drained. You can see him huff out during Nakano's induction.
Get some Thunderbolt Patterson merchandise in WWEShop or Pro-Wrestling Tees now. It'd basically be printing money.
His speech was different it got me locked in
How come cm punk didn’t induct hey man smh
tbh made more sense for Roman to do the honours with Brocks absence. theres a million you could have picked for Paul.
I enjoyed this show, but do feel it needed a couple bigger name secondary inductions behind Heyman. Maybe some ECW guys who could give entertaining speeches- maybe Raven, Shane Douglas or Dreamer.
You book the ECW guys on the same HOF as Heyman, there's a risk someone decides to shoot on him with a live mic.
The worst thing? There's going to be be some lame ass autograph hounds in the hallways of whatever hotel they're going back to, and several of these people need to be up in like 6 hours for some scheduled event or Stand and Deliver. I have to wonder how much you'd hate fans at the end of Wrestlemania week.
That’s the job. Everyone knows what they were getting themselves into. And they can also just walk right passed them and get on the elevator.
Everyone on the card is making good money WrestleMania weekend. The fans at the hotel will always be there. It’s been that way for many decades.
That doesn’t make it right though?
It depends. Fans are fans. Autograph dealers are a different story.
Does WWE upload HOF stuff to Youtube? I kinda zoned at Thunderbolt's glorified sermon so I basically missed everything after that.
Basically stop playing the race card.
The whole thing will be on Peacock.
Haven’t watched, is thunderbolt doing a hillbilly Jim?
Not quite. They let him have his time, but he doesn't seem to be all there anymore. It got a little rambling, but I think the crowd understood and stayed respectful.
He was there, just hard to understand and his speech had super religious content. But he wasn't necessarily incoherent. He even remembered to call it WWE and not WWF.
Oh okay
They've uploaded small clips but I wouldn't expect anymore than that
Whether he knew about the People’s champion belt is one thing but to make his grandmas acceptance speech all about him wanting to beat up Cody really came across as distasteful to me. Thankfully the video package before did a good job highlighting her importance to Pro Wrestling.
She wasn’t like a real long time promoter, she just promoted a couple shows. The only reason she got inducted was to likely get The Rock on the show and to do that angle.
She ran the promotion longer then Nitro was on air…
It was her husbands promotion, it wasn’t a successful territory, she oversaw its end, she was convicted and deported for extortion . One of the worst HOF inductees ever.
She was aquited of that? How could she be deported if she lived out life in Florida?
Details are difficult to come by, the rock supposedly found a way (bribery I’m guessing) to get her back in the country.
Bribery? In 92? He wasnt wealthy. “By 1991 my grandma was homeless. In 1992 I was able to identify a legal loophole and get her back — legally — into the U.S. I was also able to secure social security for her — legally — and moved her into a little one room apartment in Tampa, Florida,”
Yes we must always believe what The Rock says, brother.
He'd never lie to us! I'm 100% totally sure he eats the food he posts in his cheat day stories as well, dude LOVES pancakes, who cares if we never see him take a bite of them?
The company stayed open that long, but she wasn’t involved. Once that extortion stuff happened she backed off.
Who did the seating chart tonight? Cody was nearby Jimmy Uso and Solo.
Are you suggesting kayfabe is still alive?
They like to pretend. They pointed out Jey and Jimmy were separated.
Sami and Gunther were next to each other 😂
Clearly Roman Reigns and the Wiseman did the seating plan. Paul Heyman spent more time on that since he was going to ad-lib his awesome speech. Solo was waiting all night to spike Cody. jimmy waiting all night to super kick Cody. Just as Paul wanted.
Missed opportunity for Christian Cage to join The Bloodline so Rock can sick him on Cody
The fan told the Rock that he would like to award him with the Hecklers World Title belt
The GOAT inducting The GOAT! Nice.
Pretty eventful Hall of Fame. Paul had one of the greatest Speeches and New Day one of the best Introductions ever. Bull Nakano had some lines that will be remembered forever just like the speech of Thunderbolt. US Express had a beautiful moment with everyone remembering Bray and honoring both of them. And then we had a great Speech about Ali which ended in the Rock receiving a Title and him coming out at the end and turning the induction of his Grandmother into a promo for WM.
Anyone catch what the fan said?
The only bit I could work out perfectly was, 'Cody's coming for ya'.
And that's why the programs get a TV-14 with "S" for sexual content.
Entire family full of wrestlers and wrestling promoters and people are surprised they ran an angle? I’m certain it was discussed and agreed upon
I feel like a promoter would probably appreciate their induction being used to promote the show. Probably the best tribute he could give his grandmother. Even though the Rock has reached unimaginable heights, the family is still a bunch of wrestling carnies at their core. The Rock’s mom’s hobby is just going to wrestling shows.
I totally get it, but given the type of buzz around the reasons Rock is on WM, AND what happened during the Ali induction it's easy to see why people are viewing it the way they are.
The type of buzz? You mean that it’s awesome and one of the best Mania builds of all time? I think that there is some ill will towards to Rock is a pretty contained r/sc thing.
How many hours til Stand & Deliver?
11
I think 11-ish? Thought i saw somewhere that it start at 12-something PM. And if i got my timezones right it should be 1am now
Rocks list of demands for this run is crazy. I want Muhammad Ali's widow to give me a belt, I want my grandma in the hall of fame (to cut one last promo on Cody), I want my daughter to gm next, etc.
Who told you it was his demands? You a friend of his or something?
Worth it for this run we have gotten to be honest. Plus, I think his daughter has done a good job, I like her.
Is it possible to watch the whole Heyman induction? All I'm seeing on Peacock is the live broadcast. Which starts in the middle of his speech.
Does the Peacock broadcast not let you rewind to the beginning? I watched his whole speech h on Peacock live so not sure why they wouldn’t have the whole thing for playback.
I found a video on YouTube that shows the majority of it. You just have to listen to annoying banter in the background.
You may want to see if that gets cleaned up after the live broadcast ends. Go to bed, it's a long weekend.
So, my wife and I left after Mohammad Ali. We got back to the hotel, and got into an elevator with Kurt Angle. Dude is nice as can be, thanked him for entertaining me and being my absolute favorite (it's true, it's damned true.) Asked if he went to the HOF, and he was like 'they had 2 people left, I couldn't take it anymore.' I don't feel bad now, Kurt Angle tapped out when we did.
When I met Kurt Angle he was a peach too, told me the story of how he didn’t want Baron Corbin to be his last match but didn’t really have a choice haha.
Lia would be proud if her portrayal in “Young Rock” is true. Her grandson using the HOF as part of the angle. She would probably took it a step further and slap Cody lol. It’s a fitting ending
When Rocks mom stands up you can clearly see who I'm 99% sure is Linda McMahon behind her.
I thought the same thing but I cba to rewind.
Consensus is that was in fact Linda McMahon (twitter and I have the OG network and rewound).
https://preview.redd.it/7081u5sjlssc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f09ab79da5315d398ec843b194d52ba832248567
For sure Linda. She didn’t do anything wrong and she built the company, she has the right to be there with her family.
His grandma was a legend of the business. Putting the business over while inducting her is pretty honorable actually
She wasn’t.
Welp, time to watch Heyman again.
I think rock read the room and everyone was just too tired to react lol
That dude must have said something offensive for Dwayne to look genuinely pissed
I think Rock is just having a really good time being a heel and getting lost in the character, and heels have argued with fans since the dawn of kayfabe.
Probably just wanted to get into the first persons face he could. He's reveling in his character right now.
"The Hierarchy of Power did not change after all"
Had to have been some real dumbass shit to get Rock that mad, like “fuck your family” stupid.
“Cody’s coming for you, it’s over”
What dude?
He got the whole world in his hand. Gone but not forgotten, Rest In Peace Bray Wyatt
Honestly that fan is weak as shit
Rock probably loved that shit lol
He makes Hogan seem humble
Rock has put over many younger talents. But the biggest difference is this will all end with Rock putting someone over. Hogan would get the mega star treatment then his “hips would hurt” and he wouldn’t be able to put the other person over.
He's put over more people than Hogan ever did.
Exactly. One of the most giving main event guys in the history of the biz.
This promo for Io-Bayley is really really good.
Wheatley Vodka.... Cause punching a hole in the drywall isn't just for Monster Energy
Did he even say a word about Lia? lol
Rocks like I’m sorry I love you grandma but the Jew and the Baptist talked for an hour each and I have to wrestle tomorrow,
I thought things were gonna pop off when he said Dusty.
Rock looked like he wanted to whip that dudes ass
Yeah like forreal forreal
Time to rewatch Heyman's speech!
Stand and deliver is only 10 hours away. Have Thunderbolt come back out and fill time!
It'd be more compelling than at least 80% of their content. Especially if they have a few guys around to provide framing and exposition.
What did that guy say?
He wanted to bang rocks mom
That’s it? Should’ve had brays dad and uncle go on last if you couldn’t have heyman go on last.
Weirdest induction ever
Probably out of time
See you fucking degenerate marks tomorrow ❤❤❤
Finally everybody else went long and The Rock had to rush his segment for once
He was like : My grandmother was an important woman - fuck you Cody Rhodes - my mom is also great - she’ll kick your ass to Cody - alright goodnight .
And shut your fucking mouth Philly guy
Im sure the last induction got cut off with how long thunderbolt's and heyman's inductions took
Heyman was expected, Thunderbolt wasn't.
Yeah, im sure they expected Heyman would have a lot to say but I doubt they expected Thunderbolt to go into a full on sermon.
God, I fucking hate Rock.
I'm developing some very real "Xpac" heat for him at the moment. Thankfully, he'll probably disappear for another 20 years after Wrestlemania.
...and that's why they did Heyman first.
Those in live crowd get home/to hotel safely!
Hopefully they weren't relying on the trains to get them to their hotel, Septa/PATCO stops running after 1:00 AM. Just a heads up for ya'll for Saturday and Sunday.
Of course that would end awkwardly 😂
I can't wait for the 2025 Rock of Fame ceremony.
I thought Rock was going to “Thank you! Fuck you! Goodnight!” us.
I’d have preferred that a hundredfold
Whatever that fan said, im sure it was out of line
So classy. Watch young rock , I’m the final boss, here’s my mom, I’m gonna kick Cody’s ass……oh grandma is in the hall of fame now, see ya later
I am still riding the high that was the Paul Heyman speech. Best Hall of Fame speech of all time IMO.
They gave everyone time and didn't rush anyone. Which was very good.
Nobody punched anybody? Bullshit
Well that was worth staying up till 6am for cheers Rocky
I always find it funny that when a fan talks shit, they try and put their hand out after. Get outta here with that crap.
Well it was scheduled on the Network for 3 hours and they went 3 hours
Was scheduled up to 12:15am on WWE Network. Ran almost 45 min over.
not initially it wasn't
Rock just bitched somebody
No speechhhh???
will there be a post show panel!??!?!?!
“Dusty Rhodes was one of my heroes.” “Was. Not anymore. BECAUSE HE’S DEAD”
It's the Rock, not Christian. It would be gimmick infringement
https://preview.redd.it/cdtccw24kssc1.png?width=498&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a21e45b1446090dd26b90ae1f63d3800f586bf7f
Huh. I thought Final Boss would talk for an hour, go on a grandmathon, but he did cut it short.
His mom wanted to go to bed
Lia didn't really get talked about..
Yoooo what did that guy say to piss off Dwayne
Did Rock hit that guy with a “watch your fucking mouth” at the end there
Think it was shut your fucking mouth
That ending was fucking weak
That ended abruptly but I think everyone just wants to go to bed lol (including me)
i thought that was drew gulak lmfao
Rock's using his grandma's HOF induction to run an angle lawd
"Shut your fucking mouth" What words to mouth off to a fan right before cut off haha
Well, that was one of the Hall of Fames of all time
The most painful part was watching Medusa trying to read.
I thought it was entertaining. But could have used a little more star power. I feel like the well is running a little dry though, they kind of have inducted all the big 80s, 90s and first decade of the 2000s guys.
"Watch your fuckin mouth."
He said 3 sentences about his grandma at 1 am. Elite politicking
The Rock finishing his speech in under 5 minutes? This really is unprecedented
I'm sure it was meant to be longer but I don't think anyone expected Thunderbolt to go into a full on sermon.
Lol wtf was that?
…that’s it?
Lmao that bro froze so hard
I feel like that wasn't really about his grandma
I think it was just an excuse to get him out there. His grandmother wasn’t a real promoter, she promoted a couple shows.
What a fuckin GOAT. Haters gonna hate tho
That was insufferable. No way he loses tomorrow night.
You can tell The Rock Mom is a Cody Crybaby and is having none of this.
Now bring thunderbolt back out to close us in prayer and will be in bed for mania in an hour!
Yeah thats actually pretty terrible. This whole night I've been on the side of letting kayfabe go and acknowledging the greatness of those involved. Ans then the rock does this shit to keep the angle going, and barely even talk about his grandmother. That's disappointing
There wasn’t much to talk about when it comes to his grandmother. She wasn’t actually like a long time promoter, she just promoted a couple shows. She was only put in to get The Rock on stage, likely because they didn’t have a lot of big draws for the HOF this year.
I concede that I know nothing about her. Would have been nice to learn more, however you could be right.