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Corey and Renee send us to the video for our next inductee, Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, and here to induct him is Hulk Hogan, who "Too Sweets" Hall and Nash on his way to the ring. He says "LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING, MEAN GENE!" before saying he and Brutus were in Tampa watching Dusty Rhodes wrestle, and he tells the story about Hiro Matsuda breaking his leg, and wrestling for a while before quitting to manage a bar. President Carter shut down Cape Canaveral, and he had to shut down the bar, and he called Superstar Billy Graham, who set him up to work for the Fullers, and he took Beefcake with him. Beefcake pretty much trained at those shows, were on the road for years together, then they went their separate ways for a while, and he talks about the million names they had for Brutus before he became the Barber. He thought they were a great team, except they never had any tag matches, and they weren't a polished team like the Harts or Road Warriors, but the matches they did eventually have were great because of the way Brutus sold. He said Brutus got good and the fans reacted, and he got better and better because he has wrestling in his blood. He went through a lot of problems with his parents dying and then the parasailing accident, and because he loves the business so much, it's only fitting to ask WHATCHA GONNA DO WHEN BRUTUS "THE BARBER" BEEFCAKE HAS A HAIRCUT FOR YOU, DUDE?Beefcake says if anyone told him as a kid in Tampa that he'd be traveling the world with WWE and standing here tonight, he'd have thought they were crazy. His life has been super crazy, and he'd like to thank WWE for taking a chance on him, giving him an identity, and an ability to put food on his family's table. This is an incredible reward, and he is honored to receive it. He wants to express his gratitude for the recognition he's received, and who knew the guy in the front row heckling the wrestlers at the aromry would become his best friend Hulk Hogan, and he thanks Hogan for the good times they had and the good times to come. He talks about getting that call from Hulk asking him to become a wrestler, and says he's his friend until the end. The next call came from WWE, the big break, and the first idea was a butler type character called Baron Beefcake, and he wasn't digging the name too much (no offense to Baron Corbin), but they're all sitting around when Hulk throws out the name Brutus, like Popeye. He tightened up his look a bit and went back to New York, walked in and wondered how this could not make money. That's all he heard, and it was the best feeling in his life, and that's when Brutus Beefcake took off. He got the Barber gimmick and hated it at first, and he's backstage getting mad that they gave him such a terrible gimmick, and again Hulk calmed him down and suggested putting a guy to sleep with a sleeper, then cutting their hair after the matches. Beefcake said he didn't even think of that, and said it might just work, and thanks Pat Patterson for giving him the gimmick. He thanks his wife for rescuing hmi because he needed rescuing, also his family here and watching at home, especially his grandson Gino and daughter Alanna. He thanks Greg Valentine, Kenny Casanova for helping with the book, DDP, Marty Jannetty, Wade Boggs, and people ask him what his favorite match is, but Summerslam 1989 teaming with Hulk against Macho Man and Zeus, facing Hulk in California in 1985 in front of a bunch of Hell's Angels wearing Hulk Hogan shirts, the Piper-Adonis match where he got his gimmick, Wrestlemania 6 against Mr Perfect with the Genius there, and then cut the Genius' hair even though Genius had no idea he was supposed to get his hair cut. Savage wanted to kick his ass until Patterson explained what happened. The only way he can describe those times was electrifying, and above all, he wants to thank God for sparing his life after the accident, and he was so close to going out at that time, and it gave him a second chance to be standing here tonight. He also announces that he just renewed his barber's license, and wants to give Shawn Michaels a shoutout, and not for putting Marty Jannetty through the Barber Shop window (which he still owes him $350 for), but for letting him practice his skills by shaving his head. He is happy to be cutting and strutting his way into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Our next inductee is Sue Aitchinson, who has been the driving force behind WWE's philanthrophy work, including Make A Wish. Dana Warrior comes out to introduce the Warrior Award, and how the Warrior inspired a generation, and his Warriors grew up and raised their own little Warriors, and taught them to always believe. She starts to cry as she talks about how this year's recipient is very close to the hearts of everyone here due to her hard work and years of service. Sue has no shortage of guts, she is passionate and persistent, and every one of the boys who has worked beside her has a story about her, and she had to wrangle many of the legends, including the man this award is named after. She's never afraid to kick some...Big Apple, and it is an honor to introduce John Cena to speak some more on Sue.
Out comes Cena, who is promptly informed by the crowd that he sucks. He says he must have wandered into the audience participation part of the program, then says he learned a lot from Sue, and the most important is that there are two ways of looking at things: how can this place help me, and how can I help this place? The fans start dueling Cena chants, as he says Sue operated from the position of asking how she can help. She is the reason WWE has a relationship with Make A Wish, and that partnership has given him a wonderful perspective on life. He owes all of that to Sue because of four words: how can I help? And now that he knows there is energy here, it takes him great pride to ask the fans for their help in showing her the respect she deserves and introduces Sue Aitchinson. Rey Mysterio helps walk her down the ramp, then Cena leads her into the ring.
Sue says she was shocked to hear she was winning this award, and she thanks the McMahons, and the word that came to mind was inspiration, and that's what she gets from the kids they work with. She first started with a kid who lost both legs to cancer, and she set him up to meet Hulk Hogan. She mentions Conor Michalek and his wish to meet Daniel Bryan, and then he was asked to be a guest at Wrestlemania. She helped Conor's dad wrestle with the reality of what happened to his son, and while Conor left this world, he made an impact and became a recipient of the Warrior Award, and now we have Conor's Cure to help raise money for sick children. It take a village to raise a child, and the same to grant a wish, and she thanks the team who surrounds her to help do this work. Most importantly, she wants to recognize the WWE superstars like DX, the Undertaker, Randy Orton, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, the Bellas, Charlotte, Sasha, and also the Ultimate Warrior and Randy Savage, She is blessed to have so many wonderful talents to make sure these kids get a wish they will never forget, and WWE leads the pack in the number of wishes granted. Jesse Ventura, Hulk Hogan, the Rock, and John Cena have all been given awards for the greatest number of wishes granted by anybody, with Cena leading the pack at 619. Nobody else has achieved this, and Justin Bieber tried to claim he did more, but she immediately picked up the phone to call Make A Wish and dispute that. She will finish with a word of insipration, and she is happy to say most of the kids recover and go on to live happy lives, and one of her top motivators is here tonight, a former Wisher who met the Rock 15 years ago, kept in touch, and is here with his two kids today, Jody Phillips. Jody stands up to applaud Sue and thank the fans for applauding him, and he is ushered onto the stage to join Sue. She says it's the greatest thing to put smiles on these faces, she is truly humbled, and wishes do come true, so let's keep on wishing.
Our next induction is up next on Page 5!
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