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If there's one thing WrestleMania has become known for outside of the event itself, it's the festivities that take place around the city before and after. Multiple companies flock to WrestleMania's host city to stage some of the most unique and entertaining events of the year, and from a WWE perspective, there is the go-home "WWE SmackDown," "WWE NXT" Premium Live Event, and the "WWE Raw" after WrestleMania.
Another staple of WrestleMania weekend is the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony, and given that the event will take place in Philadelphia, Bully Ray took some time on "Busted Open Radio" to consider who should be inducted based on their ties to the city Rocky Balboa calls home. This is, of course, down to the fact the city was famously the home of ECW throughout its existence, prompting Bully and co-host Dave LaGreca to suggest Tommy Dreamer as an inductee given his legacy in ECW. Bully also pointed out some other ECW originals who have the careers to warrant induction. "If you go strictly ECW, there are lots of cases to be made for Sabu and The Sandman, just by their ECW career."
ECW already has some representation in the WWE Hall of Fame. Two of the company's most original acts, Rob Van Dam and The Dudley Boyz, have already been inducted, something Bully also touched upon. As have people like Steve Austin and Mick Foley, two men better known for their work in WWE, but that might not have been signed by WWE had it not been for their ECW stints.
Could 2024 Be Paul Heyman's Year To Be Inducted?
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When you look at ECW as a company, outside of the wrestlers, matches, and events, the first name to pop in to people's heads is Paul Heyman. Bully, who is a good friend of Heyman to this day, went into detail on whether or not Heyman will be inducted this year. Bully started by declaring that Heyman is a no-brainer when it comes to the 2024 class given his work as the booker and mastermind behind ECW's glory years, as well as his work in the territories, WCW, and continuing onscreen success with WWE. However, there are a few things that might stop an induction from happening.
"It's just going to be a question of whether or not Paul wants to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in Philadelphia where the overlying tone will be ECW." Bully explained that Heyman is always wanting to be known for what he's doing currently rather than what he's done before, not because he's embarrassed but because he is always looking forward, hence why he is part of WWE's biggest story at present, The Bloodline vs. Cody Rhodes.
When it comes to who might induct Heyman if he accepted, Bully had an interesting suggestion. "What if it was CM Punk? Punk checks a lot of boxes for the WWE right now. He's back there, he was a Heyman guy, always wanted to be an ECW guy, not going to be on WrestleMania, this is the best use of him." Bully's co-host LaGreca noted Punk would be modern enough to make people not think primarily about ECW, but has enough of a connection to Heyman that it would make sense for the occasion.
Please credit "Busted Open Radio" when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
