Update On Expected Number Of WWE Hall Of Fame Inductees This Year
It appears as though WWE is going to have fewer people inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2023.
The WWE Hall of Fame 2023 ceremony is going to take place in two weeks time on Friday, March 31st in Los Angeles immediately after Smackdown. The WWE HOF ceremony will air on Peacock in the US and WWE Network everywhere else.
To date, only two Hall of Famers are official. Rey Mysterio was announced last week on Smackdown and The Great Muta was announced on The Bump this past Friday.
One big name that isn’t expected to be part of the WWE Hall of Fame this year is Dave Bautista aka Batista. That’s because of movie commitments that will likely see him out of the US at the time of WrestleMania this year. Bautista was originally announced for the 2020 Hall of Fame, but he never was officially inducted because it was a COVID-19 year with no fans, so he pushed it back to a future year when he can do his speech in front of a crowd.
A third name that is expected to be announced for the WWE Hall of Fame is former diva Stacy Keibler, who worked for the company from 2001 to 2006 after working for WCW (as Miss Hancock) for two years before her WWE debut.
In the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer wrote about Keibler’s expected induction while noting that Mick Foley could induct her. In addition to that, Meltzer mentioned a “rule” WWE has for the Hall of Fame ceremony.
“Keibler, 43, has yet to be announced. She may be inducted by Mick Foley, but that’s not certain. Foley did say he was surprised to be asked by someone who would be entering the Hall of Fame this year, but didn’t say who it was. The rule is that there is a woman and African American in every ceremony.”
Later in the newsletter, Meltzer wrote that “there are believed to be two more names to be announced.”
Whether the two more names mean actual wrestlers being added or the recipient of the Warrior Award. There’s also usually a celebrity inductee announced.
With only two more weeks to go until the 2023 Hall of Fame, there should be some more official announcements coming soon.