The Undertaker To Be Inducted Into The WWE Hall of Fame

By Mick Robson

WWE have officially announced one of their biggest stars yet to be inducted into their Hall of Fame as the headliner for the 2022 class. Announced today, The Undertaker will be the main name in their year's ceremony. The following press release was issued:

STAMFORD, Conn., February 18, 2022 – WWE (NYSE: WWE) today announced that The Undertaker will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame at a ceremony on Friday, April 1 at American Airlines Center in Dallas as part of WrestleMania® Week. The event will stream live exclusively on Peacock in the U.S. and WWE Network everywhere else.

In addition, for the first time in history, WWE will present both Friday Night SmackDown® and the 2022 WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony live on the same night at American Airlines Center, giving all fans in attendance an unprecedented opportunity to witness both events for one price. Tickets for the special 2 for 1 SmackDown + Hall of Fame go on sale this Tuesday, February 22 at 10 AM CT via Ticketmaster. Additional 2022 WWE Hall of Fame inductees will be announced in the near future.

The Undertaker is one of the most popular Superstars in WWE history and a pop culture icon. After making his WWE debut at the 1990 Survivor Series® , “The Phenom” went on to hold nearly every major Championship in WWE and has competed in some of the most memorable matches in history over his illustrious 30-year career. In addition, The Undertaker amassed a historic consecutive 21-year WrestleMania undefeated streak that may never be broken. In 2020, The Undertaker was featured in the WWE Network docuseries “Undertaker: The Last Ride,” which was praised by both fans and critics and made his “Final Farewell” at Survivor Series. The Undertaker continues to make appearances outside the ring, most recently appearing in Netflix’s Escape The Undertaker.

WrestleMania 38, the most stupendous two-night WrestleMania in history, takes place Saturday, April 2 and Sunday, April 3 live from AT&T Stadium in Dallas. Tickets are currently on sale via Seatgeek.com.

Thoughts: It was a no brainer to induct Taker this year, with WrestleMania emanating from his home state of Texas. Couple of interesting notes surrounding this, though- first, combining the event with the Smackdown broadcast on the same night. That means they're likely to have a similar set-up to the 2019 Hall of Fame, with the inductees doing their speeches in the ring. I preferred when they had the big stage and podium in the separate events, just made it feel classier and gave it a sense of occasion.

I also wonder about the length of speeches, being in front of a live crowd that just witnessed a 2 hour Smackdown. There's gotta be a happy middle ground between letting Hillbilly Jim & Mr. T waffle on for hours and the 3 minute disgraces the inductees in the 2020/2021 HOF got.

There's also the note of additional inductees being announced for this year's class. They could have easily made it a single inductee this year given the status of the Undertaker. I wonder about the number of viable HOF candidates left. Without disparaging anyone in particular, I feel like the bar has been lowered quite a bit in recent years for what makes a performer Hall of Fame-worthy. With Taker being the headliner in Texas, and I assume The Rock will get the nod next year in Hollywood, I really can't think of a headline act for WrestleMania 40 weekend, all the big names are already in, barring a shock retirement. Maybe Cena? Batista was announced for the 2020 class, so I assume he makes it in this year, or the next if his filming schedule doesn't allow this time.

Anyway, extremely happy for Undertaker. One of my all-time favourites, and he deserves the big spotlight and send-off in front of fans on Mania weekend.