As the men and women of WWE get set to step into the ring for WrestleMania 35 on Sunday, the organization honored the 2019 WWE Hall of Fame inductees.
This is always a special night because it's one of the few times when everyone drops their characters and we get to see the people behind the gimmicks.
Still, the main attraction is hearing legends talk about their careers.
This year's Hall of Fame class included DX, The Hart Foundation, Harlem Heat, Torrie Wilson, The Honky Tonk Man, Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake and veteran WWE employee Sue Aitchison as the recipient of the Warrior Award.
Let's take a look at some of the highlights from Saturday's inductions ceremony.
Once the red carpet ceremony was over, WWE wasted no time getting to the first induction of the night by having Renee Young and Corey Graves introduce the video package for The Honky Tonk Man.
Jimmy Hart was brought out to induct his longtime client and friend. He talked about the early days of working with The Honky Tonk Man and helping him record the songs he used during his career.
Whenever Hart gets a chance to talk about the past, you get the impression he might have more hilarious backstage stories than anyone else in the business.
He talked for less than five minutes before bringing out The Honky Tonk Man in a pink Cadillac. The wrestler immediately credited Hart with all of the success he had during his career.
Honky spoke about how honored he was and how he never expected to be inducted. This brought on chants of "You deserve it."
The rest of his speech was devoted to chronicling the history behind his character and how he created it, and how WWE took it to a new level. As he was preparing to leave, Hart convinced him to sing his song one more time.
Notes and Highlights
Graves ribbed Hillbilly Jim for the length of his speech last year.
Instead of the usual stage, WWE set up a ring for the inductees to stand in and give their speeches. It meant half the crowd was looking at everyone's back all night.
Between the hair dye and outfit, Honky looked much the same as he did 20 years ago.
Stacy Keibler made her first WWE appearance in 13 years to induct her friend and colleague, Torrie Wilson, into the Hall of Fame.
She talked about meeting Wilson backstage during her audition to become a Nitro Girl and how they immediately formed a friendship that has lasted to this day.
She began by talking about how her first boyfriend in fourth grade called her "fatso" and how she used it as inspiration to get in shape and make him eat his words.
The former Diva talked about how WWE helped her build confidence and face her fears on a worldwide stage in front of millions of fans.
She admitted she wasn't hired for her wrestling ability but also talked about how she learned from the best in the business while she was coming up. She thanked several Superstars for helping her find her voice as a wrestler.
This was a great speech. It was poignant, classy, witty, graceful and inspiring. She might not be everyone's favorite wrestler, but she has worked hard to earn this honor.
Notes and Highlights
WWE didn't gloss over Wilson's Playboy appearance during her video package, which is a little surprising in a PG environment.
Keibler and Wilson both look like they could step back into the ring tomorrow.
Mentioning Becky Lynch caused the fans to chant her name for a solid 30 seconds while Keibler was talking.
Fit Finlay received yet another shoutout from a woman being inducted into the Hall of Fame. He was instrumental in helping the women's division rise. Not a lot of people realize how much he does behind the scenes.
Wilson delivered this speech two days after the death of her father.
The Hart Foundation was the third act inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, but since Bret Hart was inducted on his own in 2006, this was more about inducting the late Jim Neidhart.
The Hart Foundation was a favorite tag team of many kids who grew up in the '80s and '90s, and seeing them honored on a grand stage likely brought back back a lot of memories.
Hart and Natalya came out together to speak instead of having one introduce the other. Nattie accepted the induction on her father's behalf and used the opportunity to thank her mom for always taking care of her dad.
The Hitman held back tears as he talked about losing The Anvil last summer, but he eventually got the crowd to laugh by talking about some of his old gimmicks and coming up in the business with Neidhart by his side.
This was the perfect mix of humor and emotion, which is exactly what you would expect when one of the greatest tag teams is being inducted less than a year after one member died.
Then, one of the wildest things to ever happen at a Hall of Fame ceremony occurred. A fan rushed into the ring and tackled Hart. The camera immediately cut away, and several wrestlers rushed to help subdue him until the authorities could drag him away.
Like a true pro, the moment everything calmed back down, Hart continued his speech from the exact sentence where he left off. It was a wild moment, but Hart didn't let it define the induction.
Notes and Highlights
The Hart Foundation is still over with the WWE Universe.
You could tell Natalya was holding back tears at different times while speaking about her father.
A lot of people probably had no idea Anvil played for the NFL and was a shotput champion.
Natalya gave Owen Hart a quick shoutout during her speech.
The New Day, Heath Slater, Beth Phoenix, Edge, Braun Strowman and several more wrestlers hit the ring to help Hart when he was attacked.
Hart's shoutout to Dangerous Danny Davis was perfect.
Hulk Hogan came out next to induct Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, a man he has more history with than almost anyone else in the industry.
The Hulkster told some stories about coming up with Beefcake in the territory days and noted how it was The Barber who helped get him back into the business after he thought he was done for good.
Beefcake talked about being grateful for having a 41-year wrestling run and having a friend like Hogan to help him during his career.
This was not the loud, boisterous Barber we saw in the ring for years. This was a man who was quiet, humble and thankful to be remembered for all of his hard work.
This was another example of a short but effective speech at an event usually known for going over its scheduled end time.
Notes and Highlights
Hogan took up more time with his speech than most inductors, but he still kept it short compared to past years.
The Barber's entrance music is a great example of how far WWE's production values have come. The song he came out with sounded like it could have been made by a kid on a keyboard.
Beefcake said someone once tried to name him Baron Beefcake and took a funny shot at Baron Corbin's name.
When The Ultimate Warrior proposed the idea for a new award at the Hall of Fame for people who work hard outside the ring, it was people like Sue Aitchison he was talking about.
This is someone who has worked for WWE behind the scenes for decades and is one of many people whose hard work is almost never known to the WWE Universe.
Dana Warrior appeared once again to present the award created to honor her late husband. She even had a little Ultimate Warrior action figure with her on the podium. She eventually introduced John Cena as the one who would induct Aitchison into the HOF.
He talked about everything Aitchison has done to help others throughout her career and how instrumental she was in forming a partnership with the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
She jokingly talked about how despite being inducted, she still had to set up accommodations for the rest of the inductees and their families.
She was genuinely grateful to have a job that allows her to help make wishes come true for children and recalled the story of meeting Connor Michalek and his family.
A few Superstars were shown crying as she spoke, further displaying her importance.
Notes and Highlights
Dana appeared on the red carpet earlier in the evening, and Kayla Braxton talked about how she has become like a mom to many of the women in WWE.
Fans chanted "Face Kurt Angle" at Cena, and Angle was shown laughing his butt off in the crowd.
Like the class act she is, Aitchison used some of her time to mention some great work being done by other people to help children in need.
She called out Justin Bieber for trying to claim he had done more Make-A-Wish appearances than Cena in a funny moment.
In a move that was likely done to cut down on time, Harlem Heat were introduced by Young and Graves instead of someone else giving a long-winded speech before bringing them out.
Stevie Ray and Booker T received a warm welcome from the WWE Universe before King Booker began by talking about how he wished his mother could be there to see them being inducted.
Booker spoke candidly about his time in prison and how his brother always had his back and kept him interested in pro wrestling while he was locked up.
When it was time for the big brother to speak, Ray talked about how they trained to become wrestlers and how they were discovered after they appeared in an indie wrestling magazine when they were just getting started.
Ray earned some laughs throughout his speech, but most of his time was devoted to thanking the people who helped them in various ways. He name-dropped Hogan, Ole Anderson and Sid Vicious as people who helped them get and keep their jobs with WCW.
They had one of the longer speeches of the night, but it never felt like they overstayed their welcome.
Notes and Highlights
Ray was such an underrated worker. Booker had more success as a singles star, but Ray was the standout talent early on during their run as a tag team due to his size (6'5", 292 lbs).
Booker said he wouldn't be here if it weren't for Ray.
Booker's crediting of Sensational Sherri with their early success in WCW was a classy move. She helped some of the greats get over as a manager.
Harlem Heat gave shoutouts to The Usos, The Revival, The Street Profits and The New Day as the teams holding it down for the division today.
Daniel Bryan's threats to get into the ring when Booker said Kofi Kingston would beat him at WrestleMania was funny.
As expected, D-Generation X's induction closed the show, which is appropriate since it featured several Superstars being inducted at the same time.
Once again, WWE skipped having someone else introduce them with a long speech to save time, and considering how long these guys talked, that was a smart move.
Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Billy Gunn, Road Dogg and X-Pac got a lot of laughs before they moved on to the more serious matter of paying tribute to Chyna. The Heartbreak Kid credited her with making them popular when they first started the group.
Road Dogg thanked God for his sobriety and having the chance to be inducted into the same Hall of Fame as his father, Bullet Bob Armstrong. He also thanked his wife for putting up with the hell he put her through.
Other than a few serious instances, this was basically a series of comedic moments and quips, and that is exactly what a DX induction should be. Triple H thanked Killer Kowalski for training him, and he thanked everyone who has ever stepped into the ring with him for making him look good.
He became emotional when he spoke about Chyna. The crowd chanted, "thank you, Chyna," and The Game said she loved each member of the WWE Universe.
They brought out the classic DX podium to end their speech by issuing an apology to an entire generation for getting them in trouble as kids for copying what they did on television.
Notes and Highlights
Trips ribbed Vince McMahon by repeatedly telling everyone not to mention his name by saying his full name over and over. The crowd chanted "Vince McMahon" in response.
Gunn mentioned that McMahon can't fire him, and Triple H said Vince will buy All Elite Wrestling just so he can fire Gunn again.
Michaels' mention of All In got a pop from the crowd.
X-Pac said he didn't think he would be alive to see this day and thanked his family for accepting him back into their lives after all of his issues. He shed a few tears but kept his composure.
X-Pac gave credit to the underrated Jerry Lynn and called him one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. He also suggested WWE rename the Women's Battle Royal in honor of Chyna.
Triple H jokingly said his mom wrote all of the dirty jokes DX told back in the day.
