WWE Hall Of Fame 2017 Ceremony Moved To Friday

For the past 13 years, WWE's annual Hall of Fame induction ceremony has taken place the day before WrestleMania, but according to WWE.com, there's been a change of plans for next year. In 2017, the Hall of Fame ceremony will take place on Friday, two days before WrestleMania. In turn, the company's pre-WrestleMania NXT TakeOver special will take place on Saturday, the evening before the show of shows.

The festivities will take place in Orlando, with WrestleMania being hosted on April 2, 2017 at the Citrus Bowl. Meanwhile, the Amway Center will host the Hall of Fame ceremony, NXT TakeOver (which will now go head-to-head with the WWN Supershow, one of the weekend's most anticipated independent shows), the post-WrestleMania edition of Raw, and the live episode of Smackdown the following evening. This will mark the first time that Smackdown is part of the WrestleMania weekend festivities.

This will also mark the second time that Orlando hosts the Hall of Fame inductions. The previous time, in 2008, saw Ric Flair headline the cerenomy on the eve of his career-ending match with Shawn Michaels. Also inducted that year were Peter Maivia, Rocky Johnson, Mae Young, Eddie Graham, and Gordon Solie.