WWE Announces Larry Zbyszko For Hall Of Fame

WWE announced on Monday that former WWE, WCW and AWA superstar "The Living Legend" Larry Zbyszko will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in San Jose on Saturday March 28. Zbyszko joins a class that already includes Randy Savage, Rikishi, Alundra Blayze, The Bushwhackers, Arnold Schwarzenegger in the celebrity wing and the inaugural "Warrior Award" inductee Connor "The Crusher" Michalek. It's expected that Kevin Nash will also be added next week, which will be the last episode of Raw before WrestleMania. These days Zbyszko is 63 years old and helps out WWE's developmental talent by heading to the Performance Center on a regular basis. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Larry Z said that he had a feeling he'd get in one day: "My gut feeling over the years was that probably someday, sooner or later, I'd be getting in €“ and not just because of the long career I had. I'm a fan at heart; I love this business, and the Hall of Fame is an awesome part of the business. This has been my life, and if I had to do it again, I'd do it all the same €“ except maybe not get married so many times."

Zbyszko got his break in the wrestling business in the mid-1970s as the protege of Bruno Sammartino, who was the most famous wrestler in the world and long time WWE Champion. When Zbyszko turned on his mentor, he became the hottest heel in the business. It was a classic mentor vs. protege storyline that still works in the business today and will always work, but it can be argued that Bruno and Larry did it better than any two men could because it led to a huge match at Shea Stadium in New York in 1980 in front of over 36,000 fans. That card also had Andre the Giant beating Hulk Hogan, but it was Bruno beating Larry that was the main event in the steel cage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfFB0S-3bq4 Following his run in WWE, he went on to the AWA where he won their World Heavyweight Title two times. He gained more notoriety when he joined WCW in 1990. He was a part of two awesome Wargames matches in 1991 and 1992 that are considered among the best WCW matches ever. He worked mostly as a heel for much of his WCW run although he had some babyface moments too. Most modern wrestling fans might know him as an announcer more than anything because he was a commentator in WCW in the mid to late 1990s. He became a regular commentator on Nitro in 1996 and remained in the company until the end. He later worked for TNA Wrestling as an on-air authority figure and still appears at wrestling shows and signings once in a while. In 2013, he signed a WWE Legends contract, which led to him getting involved with WWE developmental more often. As for his speech, Zbyszko says he'll be ready for it: "I already have a speech in my head; it kind of just popped in there, because it's the story of my dream €“ to become like my hero Bruno Sammartino. And I'll also thank the people who helped me along the way. I've always considered myself one of the boys €“ everyone calls me 'Sir' these days, but I'm not that old!" You can watch the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony on Saturday March 28 on WWE Network and there will also be a one hour special on USA Network on Monday March 30. For the full version with all the speeches, WWE Network is your best choice. If you miss it live, they will make it available on demand soon after.