WWE Hall Of Fame Ceremony 2017 Live

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Beth Phoenix

Lawler comes out and introduces the next speaker as well as play a video package. Natalya comes out to induct Beth Phoenix.

Natalya says she is so very happy to induct her best friend tonight. She says she doesn’t know how this came to be but it was destiny. She says it started with Mark Henry, who, the first time he met her, said he reminded her of Beth Phoenix. She says she asked Mark, “who the hell is she?” Natalya jokes that she used to get pissed about being told she looked just like Beth Phoenix. Then one day, her evil twin sent her a message on MySpace – “which you might have to Google” – and said she wanted to become a wrestler because of two people: Bret Hart and Owen Hart. The latter got a massive cheer from the Orlando crowd.

So, she finally met this strange, wonderful woman, and you wouldn’t believe it but they showed up in the same outfit. She says they became like sisters and did everything they could to impress trainers like Fit Finlay. Natalya says she wanted to be just like Beth, and they dubbed themselves, Mae Young and the Fabulous Moolah. They didn’t want to be supermodels, they wanted to kick-ass.

Natalya reminds us that in 2010, Beth and her faced Michelle McCool and Layla in the first ever woman’s table match. However, Beth was adamant that the spotlight be on Natalya and that’s who she is; someone who lifts others up. She says they travelled together and would stay up to 5 AM in motels, making up fake stories to tell gas station attendants. She says they shared the tough times and the good times, and Beth taught her that those times are what make you.

Beth isn’t just an ass-kicker, she’s a mother of two, classically trained pianist, has a degree in forensic psychology, can bench-press 220 lbs – which is “two Carmella’s”. Beth is a 4 time Women’s Champion and one of only three, ever to compete in the Royal Rumble. And, after all this time, she is still jealous that Beth got to kiss The Great Khali. To this day she believes that Beth was a gift from her uncle Owen, and because of her she believes in fate. She introduces her best friend, her soulmate: Beth Phoenix!

Beth hugs Natalya on her way out and there’s a few wet eyes in the arena. Phoenix has a hard time holding it together as the fans ask for “one more match”. She says you never forget your first love, and hers was wrestling. Her grandmother introduced her to wrestling, she would watch WCW and holler at the screen.

WrestleMania 10 changed everything for her, Bret Hart Vs. Owen Hart. They created a piece of art that flipped a switch for her and made her want to do this for a living. Natalya talks about when she started college; the first thing she did was hang a 6 foot tall poster of Stone Cold on the door of her dorm. One evening, her roommate and friend to this day, asked her what she wanted to be. She replied sheepishly, a wrestler. Her roommate, Janet, told her to go do it and that it was crazy but she could.

Beth thanks her trainer Ron Hutchinson, who also trained Edge, Christian and Trish Stratus. She recalls her first tryout with WWE, at the Air Canada Centre, Toronto. She stood outside, pumping herself up before, then wrenched the door open…right into Brock Lesnar. After regaining her composure she headed to a ring, where she saw many she had admired over the years: the Dudley Boyz, Christian, Val Venis, William Regal, and Chavo and Eddie Guerrero. Those men got in there with new talent like her, and they didn’t have to. She greatly appreciates that.

She became great friends at that time with Molly Holly, who gave her an entire box of ring gear when she didn’t have any. Molly also got her in touch with Ohio Valley Wrestling. So Phoenix went to OVW and paid $100 for her first tuition, to which the guy said it had been fully paid already…by Molly Holly. Beth says that’s the kind of person Molly Holly is, someone who builds others up. She says her time in OVW was exciting and she rhymes off a long list of people worth thanking.

Natalya says Tommy Dreamer is known for his iron stomach and love of self-destruction, but he should be known for his championing of little guys. She says nobody loves wrestling more than Tommy Dreamer and he has been a great friend to her. After a few hiccups, she was finally moved to the main roster. Beth goes on to thank “Gail Kim, Katie Lee Burchill, Traci Brooks, Ariel, Sherri, Melina, Maria, Nikki & Brie Bella, Vickie Guerrero, Tamina Snuka, Michelle McCool, Layla, Kelly Kelly, Alicia Fox, Eve Torres, Trish Stratus, every other person I worked with who helped elevate the role of women”. She talks about her initial rivalry with Candice Michelle, who, in many ways, created the Glamazon.

Mickie James was her first opponent in a wrestling match, and today’s roster is so lucky to have her. She says working with Mickie was like a night off because it was so much fun. Eve Torres is next on Beth’s list of thank you’s, as an incredibly strong woman who killed it in wrestling, has serious education and trains woman in Jiu-jitsu. Beth talks about Santino Marella and their hilarious run together. She says he was even funnier than the cameras would suggest. She says they worked a show in Milan and Santino gave a promo in Italian, not telling her what he said. Later that night a fan translate: “you gotta help me, the woman can’t cook. All she does is feed me protein shakes, I’m starving!” She says that was the most fun run of her entire life and she loves Santino.

And then there’s Natalya. Beth says the quality of Nattie’s personality makes her one of the best people she’s ever known. She recounts a match in which Natalya lost her two front teeth, gave them to the referee, and continue wrestling. She says they bonded over everything and Natalya helped her when she was at her lowest. She calls her family and she too believes Owen brought them together in some way. Beth then thanks the current roster of woman, who are transforming the business and making it even better. She thanks many more people in the back and says it takes an army to make a WWE Superstar.

Natalya lists Shawn Michaels, Ted Dibiase, Sherry Martel, Mr. Perfect, Alundra Blayze, Molly Holly, Trish Stratus, and Chyna, as her biggest influences. Phoenix says Chyna broke down the door that allowed her to compete in the Royal Rumble: her proudest achievement. She was 16 when she watched Chyna debut on Raw, and the next day she started lifting weights and never looked back. She never met Chyna but she can’t thank her enough or her contributions. She thanks the WWE Universe, for demanding women get an opportunity.

Her parents couldn’t make it here tonight because her mother recently had open-heart surgery. They were her biggest fans from day one. She thanks her mother-in-law, then her husband Adam (Edge). Beth is about to say Edge’s name but out comes Tony Chimel to introduce the man himself. Edge gets a standing ovation as his music plays. She says being a wrestler, married to a wrestler has a set of challenges: you might get called “brother” even if you’re a woman, you run out of ice packs, you never know’s whose underwear’s are who’s. She thanks Edge for his unwavering support, she says he was born to be a father to their children. He took 13 flights from Ireland to Nashville in a matter of weeks, while filming Vikings, in order to put his children to bed. Finally, Beth talks about her two daughters, and says they are her greatest accomplishments.

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Curtis does our weekly live match-by-match coverage of WWE RAW and SmackDown for Ringside News. In addition to SmackDown, Curtis also does WWE & NXT special event coverage as well. He has been helping out at for Ringside News for many years.

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