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From the very first #WrestleMania… to the WWE Hall of Fame.
— Triple H (@TripleH) March 8, 2024
Mike Rotunda & Barry Windham are a legendary tag team with deep family ties to our business, and their influence will be felt for generations to come.
It was an honor to tell the US Express that they're #WWEHOF bound. pic.twitter.com/PT4m7rQVIt
WWE revealed today that Mike Rotunda and Barry Windham, as The U.S. Express, will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame next month in Philadelphia.
The induction plays into the 40 Years of Wrestlemania theme as they were the team to defend the Tag Team belts at the very first Wrestlemania event in 1985.
This will be Windham's second WWE Hall of Fame induction as he was inducted already as a member of The Four Horsemen. Given his status at one point of being one of the best in-ring performers of his era, as well as a former NWA World and NWA United States Tag Team Champion, it's a fitting honor for someone who was so great in the ring.
It will be the first WWE Hall of Fame induction for Mike Rotunda, who later had a second life in the WWF portraying Irwin R. Shyster, as well as extended runs in WCW as a member of The Varsity Club and as Michael Wallstreet, among other personas. Like Windham, Rotunda was a great in-ring performer.
The U.S. Express, coming out to Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA were presented as an All-American wholesome team during the breakthrough WWF national period of the mid-1980s. They defeated Adrian Adonis and Dick Murdoch for the WWF Tag Team Championship. They lost the belts to The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff at the first Wrestlemania in 1985 before later regaining the belts. They later lost the titles to Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake in a match where the finish was Johnny Valiant's lit cigar was rubbed in Windham's eye "blinding" him to set up the finish. Windham would later leave the WWF, with Dan Spivey brought in as his replacement, although that team didn't have anywhere near the momentum or staying power.
The Rick Derringer song Real American, which everyone associates with Hulk Hogan, was originally written with the intent of it being Windham and Rotunda's theme song.Windham and Rotunda also teamed together in Championship Wrestling from Florida and New Japan Pro Wrestling, among other promotions. Windham and Rotunda are related as Rotunda married Windham's sister Stephanie.
Previously announced for the WWE Hall of Fame are Paul Heyman and Bull Nakano.
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