Like UFC, WWE has started to induct matches into the Hall of Fame under “Immortal Moment”. Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart from WrestleMania 13 is the first inductee under this category.
Both Austin & Hart will be at this year’s ceremony for the induction. WWE made the announcement on SmackDown in London.
This induction makes Bret Hart the first ever 3-time WWE Hall of Famer. His solo induction took place in 2006. In 2019, he was inducted as a part of The Hart Foundation.
Austin will now be a 2-time WWE Hall of Famer. His solo induction took place in 2009.
Ant Evans, who created the ‘Fight Wing’ of the UFC Hall of Fame, had the following to say about WWE’s decision:
“I love that WWE will be inducting matches/moments into their WWE Hall of Fame, riffing off the Fight Wing I created for the UFC Hall of Fame.
It’s appropriate that the WWE Hall borrows from the UFC Hall, as I used WWE’s institution as a major reference point when shaping the UFC HoF.
The two awards share similarities and differences:
Different in that the UFC Fight Wing was (supposed to be) a way to recognize fighters like Diego Sanchez, Stephan Bonnar, Alexander Gustafsson—fighters who had legendary matches even if their careers didn’t stack up against the GOATs. Fighters who wouldn’t otherwise appear on a roll call of champions but deserved remembrance.
The WWE version of those fighters would be, say, Marty Jannetty or Steve Lombardi. But WWE’s version of the Fight Wing, I suspect, will feature a who’s who of WWE history.
But similar in that, hopefully, when younger/new WWE fans hear about an ‘Immortal Moment,’ they’ll head to YouTube or wherever, and that match will thrill someone new all over again.
We’re all flies. Everything we do in life will eventually be forgotten. Hall of Fames are a way of slowing that process down to a crawl.
I love this move by WWE and am thrilled that one of my all-time favorite matches is going in first.”
