Sharmell Announced For 2022 WWE Hall Of Fame Class

Sharmell to join the Undertaker and Vader in this year's WWE Hall of Fame.

by Andrew Pollard
Sharmell WWE
WWE.com

As first announced by Complex.com, Sharmell is the next name confirmed to be a part of the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2022. She joins the Undertaker and Vader as the names now announced to be inducted into the HOF next month.

With a background in beauty pageants and dancing - including a stint as a backing dancer for the legendary James Brown - Sharmell first entered the wrestling business in 1999, taking on the name Storm as part of WCW's Nitro Girls. She would later change her name to Paisley and begin managing the Artist, aka Prince Iaukea, and then Kwee Wee.

In terms of in-ring, Sharmell's first TV match was a mixed tag affair on the 15 March 2000 episode of WCW Saturday Night, where she'd team with the Artist in a losing effort against Billy Kidman and Torrie Wilson. As for her first singles match, that would come a month later as she scored a victory of Tammy Sytch.

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Sharmell would be released by WCW shortly before the company was assimilated by the then-WWF in 2001, and she would soon sign a WWF developmental deal that saw her sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling to train as a backstage interviewer in addition to being an in-ring talent. An injury later in the year would put her wrestling career on hold, but Sharmell would be moved to SmackDown in November '01 to serve as an interviewer.

That run with Vince McMahon's sports entertainment would come to an a few months later, with Sharmell opting to step away from the wrestling business. She would famously return to screens in 2005 as the valet of her real-life husband Booker T. Initially a babyface pairing, the duo would soon turn heel and eventually be rechristened as Queen Sharmell and King Booker once Book won the 2006 King of the Ring tournament. Sharmell and Booker would request - and be granted - their WWE releases in 2007, and Sharmell would often be at her husband's side during his subsequent run in TNA.

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Of course, Booker T himself is a two-time WWE Hall of Famer, being inducted for his singles career and then later for his days as part of Harlem Heat alongside his brother, Stevie Ray.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.