WWE Veteran Denies Falling Asleep During Hall Of Fame Ceremony

A former World Champion has reflected on one of the more controversial moments from the Hall of Fame ceremony.

The 2025 class of the WWE Hall of Fame was headlined by Triple H, who was inducted for the second time by Shawn Michaels. The WWE boss had previously been inducted as part of D-Generation X in 2019.

The rest of the class was made up of Lex Luger, the Natural Disasters, and Michelle McCool.

Meanwhile, the WrestleMania 13 classic between Bret Hart and Steve Austin was inducted as the first ever “Immortal Moment.” CM Punk was on hand to induct Austin and Hart, the latter was inducted for a record third time.

Booker T Offers WWE Hall Of Fame Explanation

Even before the ceremony was over, a photo began circulating online that appeared to show Booker T asleep during the festivities. However, according to the man himself, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Addressing the photo on his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker said he was praying in a moment of reflection, and definitely not asleep.

“I want to let everybody know that the photo that’s circulating around, I was not asleep. I mean, you could tell my head was straight up. It wasn’t tilted to the left or right. It was down because it was a somber moment, and I was praying, and really, really, thinking about that, being in the moment.

I mean, it’s one thing about situations like that, and having that Hall of Fame speech and that Hall of Fame moment. At certain times it’s going to be laughter, but certain times you gotta really, really take it seriously about what’s being said, and at that point, I was definitely in tune. Let’s just say that I was in tune, but sleeping, no, I was not sleeping. Okay, let’s just say that.

Sharmell was sitting right by me. If I was asleep, she would’ve let me know. Not one time throughout the night did Sharmell poke me.”

Booker went on to explain that the photo was taken when Fred Ottman was dedicating his induction to his former tag team partner, John Tenta, who passed away in 2006. As such, he claimed he was snapped at a particularly somber moment, which is why he bowed his head.

In the days following the ceremony, Triple H said Chyna will “definitely” be given a solo WWE Hall of Fame induction. The Game has previously been hesitant to honor the star who played such a huge role in his career.

H/t to WrestlingNews.Co