4 Ups And 4 Downs From WWE Hall Of Fame 2023

Downs...

4. A Poor Substitute

There really was only one perfect person to induct Andy Kaufman into the Hall of Fame – and no, it wasn’t Tony Clifton.

But Jerry “The King” Lawler understandably was in no condition to travel and appear at the HOF ceremony Friday night, less than two weeks removed from suffering a stroke. Instead, Lawler delivered a short, pre-recorded message saying that working with Kaufman was one of the most memorable moments of his career.

Jerry then threw it over to Jimmy Hart to induct the late Kaufman in person. Hart proceeded to tell a couple stories about his time managing Andy in Memphis. Unfortunately, Jimmy’s stories had no rhyme or flow and fell flat in the arena.

What was needed for the induction of Kaufman, a man who never appeared in WWE and died nearly 40 years ago, was a person who could properly convey the impact that he had and how revolutionary his work was. Lawler would have been perfect.

The promotional video did a pretty decent job of telling that story, but an inductor who could have actually weaved half of it together could have made it much more impactful.