The proceedings began with Dwayne Johnson, who received an outstanding response from the audience. Fans chanted “Please Come Back!” and “No More Movies” throughout Johnson’s speech. The former Rock directed comments toward Steve Austin, Mick Foley, John Cena, and others before introducing his father, Rocky Johnson.

Rocky commended Jimmy Snuka for opening the professional wrestling door to islanders and spoke of his appreciation for Ric Flair, whom Johnson feels assisted him in becoming a black grappler fans could support. Rocky stated that he would like to be remembered as someone who paved a road for all wrestlers, not just colored performers.

Dwayne Johnson mentioned John Cena, Shawn Michaels, and Rey Mysterio as three men he has always wished to wrestle before introducing his mother, Ata Johnson. Ata accepted the award on behalf of her late husband, Peter Maivia and thanked the Monsoons, Skaalands, and Strongbows for the support they showed to Samoan wrestlers.

John Bradshaw Layfield then inducted Jack and Gerald Brisco. JBL referred to the brothers as the greatest team in wrestling history and said that Native Americans got revenge for Manhattan when the Briscos sold Georgia Championship Wrestling to Vince McMahon in 1983. Upon their introduction, Jack and Gerald thanked family, as well as Eddie Graham and Jim Crockett Sr. Gerald stated that the pressures of the business are far more rigorous today than during his career and expressed his faith in today’s stars.

Jim Ross inducted Gordon Solie next. JR called Solie the greatest announcer of all-time and presented the HOF award to Gordon’s five children. Solie’s son spoke of his father’s love for the wrestling business.

Pat Patterson inducted Mae Young, who spoke about meeting The Fabulous Moolah and Ed “Strangler” Lewis. Young also promised to wrestle on her one-hundredth birthday.

Gene Okerlund introduced Dusty Rhodes, who was on hand to induct Eddie Graham. Rhodes credited Graham with helping him become The American Dream and brought out Eddie's son Mike Graham, who accepted the award on behalf of his father. Mike spoke about his dad’s career before pulling out a framed black-and-white picture of the inaugural National Wrestling Alliance meeting in 1961, where Eddie Graham, Pat O’Connor, Buddy Rogers, and others were photographed.

John Cena led the audience in a standing ovation for the night’s inductees as well as the entire Hall of Fame roster.

Triple H arrived on stage to induct The Man himself, Ric Flair. Hunter credited Flair for inspiring him to become a wrestler and stated that The Nature Boy deserves to have his own wing in the Hall. Triple H said that Flair is the greatest promo in the history of the industry and spoke of his idol’s many classic matches throughout the past thirty-five years against the likes of Sting, Harley Race, Dusty Rhodes, and others. The Game proclaimed Flair the best wrestler of all-time.

Flair was introduced to an incredible ovation (no surprise there). The sixteen-time World Champion thanked many people for their support throughout his career, including Kevin Dunn and WWE’s production crew, the creative team, his attorney John Taylor, booker George Scott, and even those who designed his clothing. Flair referred to Ricky Steamboat as his greatest opponent and gave special props to Edge, calling him a special guy and a great champion.

Flair mentioned The Four Horsemen, saying that nobody will ever know how good the group was both inside and outside the ring. He emotionally spoke of Arn Anderson and said he loved Double-A. Flair thanked Gordon Solie and Jim Ross for providing the “soundtrack” for his career and called Bobby Heenan the greatest manager in history.

Flair strongly put over John Cena, calling him WWE’s “go-to guy” and also praised Batista and Randy Orton. The Nature Boy referred to Steve Austin as the best wrestler in company history, saying that he was tired of Hulk Hogan receiving that accolade.

Flair concluded the speech by expressing love for his family and thanked his first two wives for the incredible job they did raising his children.

Unfortunately, I was unable to watch the Hall of Fame, as The Score here in Canada aired the show much later than originally scheduled (which is a problem when planning to watch the broadcast by setting your VCR to a certain time), but this ceremony - and Ric Flair’s speech in particular - sound amazing and I very much look forward to purchasing the WrestleMania DVD when it is released.

For a live (and much further detailed) report of the HOF, please visit Mike Johnson and Buck Woodward’s excellent two-part coverage of the event at the following PWInsider.com links:

Part 1 - Rocky Johnson and Peter Maivia, Jack and Gerald Brisco, Gordon Solie, Mae Young, and Eddie Graham.

Part 2 - Ric Flair.
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