RVD Reveals His WWE Hall of Fame Speech Far Exceeded the Allotted Time

RVD is a true veteran in the pro wrestling world, having competed all over the world in various promotions such as ECW, WCW, WWE and more. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame a few years ago and now he has revealed his speech went over the allotted time.

The Whole F’n Show was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021 and many fans felt he more than deserved the honor. He also cut a speech as was expected but there’s more to it than initially thought.

While speaking on the Wrestling Life podcast, RVD talked about his Hall of Fame induction. He was honored to be inducted, but he felt a bit disappointed because the event happened during COVID, so there was no crowd. After years of watching others give long Hall of Fame speeches, he was surprised to hear that this time, they were only allowed three to five minutes. He compared it to waiting through high school to go on a big senior trip, only to have it changed to a small amusement park instead of a special destination.

Not having an audience and having such limited time didn’t feel right to him. While only about nine minutes of his speech aired, the full version actually lasted 27 minutes, as he went way over the limit. When he finished, the only feedback he got was, “That was a little long, wasn’t it?” He didn’t realize just how long he’d spoken until he watched it later. For him, it was a special moment, and it’s easy to lose track of time in the spotlight, even without a live crowd.

“I was honored. Um, the fact that it was during COVID and we didn’t have a crowd was kind of disappointing. After going to the Hall of Fame for so many years and watching the really long speeches—super, super long—and then they told us to go, uh, three to five minutes on our speeches…after hearing these guys going on and on. After the Hillbilly Jim 45-minute speech, right? Yeah, so it kind of felt like when I was in high school, like, uh, all the grades sell M&M’s to pay for the senior trip, and then when you’re finally a senior, you know, then you capitalize on it. But by the time we made it, they stopped taking the boat to the Bahamas, and instead, uh, we got screwed because we just went to like this local amusement park. I think it was Cedar Point we went to. Damn, you know, that happens to me sometimes.

But, um, the thing about the time and there not being people there…if you’ve seen my speech, then you’ve seen like nine minutes of it, but the whole thing was actually 27 minutes. So I actually went, um, in theory, like maybe 24 minutes over the three-minute request. You know, I didn’t hear anything when I got back except, ‘That was a little long, wasn’t it?’ But I had no idea till I saw the whole thing that it was that long. Because it’s your moment—it’s your moment in the spotlight. Yeah, and, and you know, you’re playing off of somebody turning the volume up and down.”

As for RVD lately, he made an appearance during the November 6 episode and helped Je’Von Evans in defeating Wes Lee. Regardless, many fans enjoyed RVD’s presence at the Hall of Fame in 2021 and also during his recent NXT appearance, so he will always be welcome to WWE no matter what.

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