Paul Heyman’s upcoming WWE Hall of Fame induction will be the first of its kind.
On March 4th, news broke that Paul Heyman would be recognised for his contributions to wrestling at the ceremony the night before WrestleMania. Being the first announced inductee for this year’s class, Heyman is part of a new era of the Hall of Fame.
With Vince McMahon no longer a part of WWE after resigning from the company following allegations of sex trafficking and sexual assault, the 2024 class will be the first to be chosen entirely by Paul Levesque and not McMahon.
Discussing the upcoming induction on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer noted that Heyman is the first announced Levesque inductee and had previously refused the honour as he was still an active persona on TV:
“This will be the first Hall of Fame class that was chosen by Paul Levesque (Triple H), and not chosen by Vince McMahon. So Paul Heyman is the first Paul Levesque Hall of Famer, so that’s an interesting part of it. He’s been offered the Hall of Fame before and turned it down with the idea that he’s still active, he didn’t think he should be in the Hall of Fame until his career was over.
“But I think the idea maybe of being the first Paul Levesque inductee, and it’s in Philadelphia where ECW was from, and one of his main career claims to fame was ECW – maybe his biggest in some ways. So there’s that. Maybe they just needed a main eventer and he’s the guy. But he has been offered this before.”
Rising Star Praised By Paul Heyman
Having a great intuition to spot the next big thing in wrestling, when Heyman praises an up-and-coming talent in the company, fans take notice as they know that greatness is coming in the near future. The Wiseman recently lived up to his name once again as Tiffany Stratton was praised by Paul Heyman after an amazing performance in 2023.
While many are delighted to still see Paul Heyman on TV in 2024, there was a point where it looked like there would never be a return at all.
H/t to WrestleTalk.