I didn't have the biggest hopes in the world for Saturday night's WWE Hall of Fame ceremony at the Fox Theatre, and frankly was a little underwhelmed by the lineup that was being put into this years Hall. If you look at who was going in, you had a lot of non-WWE guys getting the nod. Sure, a guy like Dusty Rhodes was in WWE for sometime, and was in WrestleMania VI back in Toronto some years ago, but the bottom line is that a guy like Rhodes is not known for what he did in WWF (or WWE, whatever you call it), but he was known more for what took place in the glory days of NWA.

The Shiek - here was a guy that never really had any impact in WWE, but was more the guy that ran all over Big Time Wrestling for years. Even Jerry "The King" Lawler was not a true WWE guy, but got into the Hall based more on his years in Memphis. So on and so forth, that is one main reason I felt that this class lacked a little bit. Plus I still stand-by my thoughts that they should have paid some respect to WM III and put either or both Randy Savage or Ricky Steamboat in the Hall this year. What better way to give props to the mega 1987 event than to put in the two guys that had the best match on the card?

So I was pleasently surprised when Saturday night turned out to be a great time at the Fox Theatre. Each and every guy that got into the Hall gave what I thought was a great speech, and I think that if you get your hands on the event, either by watching it on WWE.com, or when they bring it out on DVD with WM 23, I think you'll enjoy all that went on in the event. We were two rows away from the wrestlers, and most of them, even the mid-card guys or ECW guys, really seemed to appreciate what each man brought to the table, and despite being told to do so by a cue card, there was plenty of applause and standing ovations all night long.

The worst part of the night was by far hearing washed up actor William Shatner read two pages of how he beat up Lawler one night on RAW, and how he and King have quite a bit in common. The crowd quickly turned on Shatner, as well they should have. I glanced over at Balls Mahoney at one point during the speech, and even he was kind of shaking his head, as if to say "get this guy off the stage." On the other hand, Wade Boggs gave a great tribute to a guy that he actually was friends with - Curt Henning. It almost makes me mad that Henning allowed himself to get caught up in drugs, leaving behind four wonderful kids and a loving wife.

Dusty Rhodes' speech was the best of the night in my opinion, and it was great to see Mr.Fuji, now one month short of 71 years old, getting into the Hall. It's a sad reminder that even a guy like Fuji, who was one of the great heel managers of his time - gets old. All in all, I would have to say that the event was well done, and that it was a great night to get the fans ready for Mania. They will need a strong class in 2008 to sell out the Amway Arena in Orlando (hint, hint - Savage, Steamboat).