WWE Hall of Fame News: Ivory Will Join 2018 Induction Class
Congratulations go out to former WWE superstar (then known as a “diva”) Ivory for being the next name added to the 2018 WWE Hall of Fame class. Ivory will join Bill Goldberg and The Dudley Boyz at the 2018 Hall of Fame, which will take place on the Friday before WrestleMania on April 6th.
The news is not a surprise because Ivory was on a list of rumored names from early December.
Ivory is 57 years old and her real name is Lisa Moretti. She started wrestling for Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (GLOW) in the mid-1980s under the name Tina Ferrari, which is relevant today since there’s a hit show on Netflix about GLOW. Ivory debuted in WWE in 1999 when she was in her late 30s. They brought her in first as a manager for D-Lo Brown and Mark Henry, but she quickly became a wrestler on her own. Ivory’s role was to bring some seriousness to a division that was full of scantily clad women. She took part in some of the silly matches as well, but her gimmick was usually about wanting to be a wrestler. Her most famous run may have been as part of the Right to Censor group, which led to her losing the Women’s Title to Chyna at WrestleMania 17.
Ivory held the WWE Women’s Title three times in her career. She was mostly a heel during her WWE run, which lasted from 1999 to 2005.
The story of Ivory being inducted in WWE’s Hall of Fame was first reported by ESPN-W. Here are some comments from Ivory about it.
“[This Hall of Fame recognition] means that it’s a full circle in your career, in your wrestling chapter. It’s great bragging rights for your family that have seen you go through the eras and I also feel like it’s an awesome tribute to the women in wrestling as a whole.”
Ivory compared the festivities to a wedding day.
“I liken it to almost getting married, it’s my wedding day, which I’ve never had one, so, this is probably as close to a wedding production as I’ll ever get. Hair and makeup, I will be speaking my vows — with regards to my wrestling career — to all these people I adore and love and we want it to all happen without a hitch.”
Ivory also spoke about women in wrestling and the dedication it takes to be a part of the business.
“Women who decide to wrestle are a special type of women. We are tomboys, we are women that can hang in a locker room. I am just grateful that there are outlets for that. It’s not about having a certain body type and looking picture perfect beautiful. It’s about having the drive and some kind of wacky attraction you have to the physicality, the test of learning how to wrestle and being to do it believably. It’s not easy theater to do. You can watch plenty of wrestling matches where the performers are not buying it. And it makes it boring for you to watch. There is a huge testament to the talent of the people who are engaging the fan or viewer.”
Congrats to Ivory on the honor. She’s a great talker that should deliver a memorable speech.