On April 6, 2021, the WWE Hall of Fame Classes of 2020 & 2021 were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in a pre-recorded event uploaded to the new home of WWE’s content catalog – Peacock. If you’re a fan of professional wrestling, you already know the intrigue drawn up by the prospect of stories and memories shared at the podium of the WWE Hall of Fame ceremonies. There have been some incredible speeches delivered since the WWE Hall of Fame’s inception in 1993 (the likes of Mark Henry and Bobby Heenan come to mind.) We’ve also had some not-so-incredible speeches delivered at the event (sorry, Hillbilly Jim.) With this in mind, let’s take a look back at the speeches from WWE’s 2020 Hall of Fame Class and determine when they fall in our rank!
Author’s Note: I will not be ranking the Legacy inductions for the 2020 Class as they are done via video package and there is no Hall of Fame induction/acceptance speech for these individuals. Nevertheless, the careers of Ray Stevens, Brickhouse Brown, Gary Hart, Steve Williams, and Baron Michele Leon are preserved in the WWE Hall of Fame forever.
Discussing the validity of Shatner’s deservingness to grace the WWE Hall of Fame would leave us with a tired and repetitive argument. While that subject has been debated to death by professional wrestling fans as of late, one thing is undebatable: Shatner’s induction speech was beyond lackluster.
Shatner did not attend the WWE Hall of Fame event live (something deemed understandable given the climate of the current global health pandemic.) However, his lacking attendance could be easily forgiven if his speech had any interesting content matter. Despite the multiple segments Shatner could have referenced throughout his involvement with World Wrestling Entertainment, William left much to be desired after giving a brief “thank you” for his induction to the WWE Hall of Fame. Shatner’s speech radiated “Oscar-acceptance energy.” It felt as if he could not have cared less about the production he was a part of, and for that reason, William Shatner lands a spot at the bottom of this list.