Donald Trump has been announced as the fifth inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2013.
The news broke during the day on Monday, February 25. The announcement was then made official on wwe.com later in the day and a full announcement was made that night on WWE Monday Night RAW.
As far as celebrity inductees go, Trump is a pretty logical person to include. His relationship with Vince McMahon and WWE goes back to the late ‘80s.
Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City hosted both 1988 and 1989’s WrestleMania IV and V with The Donald himself in attendance. He also made appearances over the years including WrestleMania VII in Los Angeles and WrestleMania XX in New York City.
Trump himself appeared at WrestleMania 23 in Detroit that saw Trump appear in the corner of a “hand-picked wrestler” (Bobby Lashley) to battle a “hand-picked wrestler” of McMahon’s choosing (Umaga). It was billed as the “Battle of the Billionaires” where the losing “billionaire” would get his head shaved. And as expected McMahon’s guy took the fall and the WWE honcho got his pompadour shaved clean. McMahon himself appeared as one of Trump’s advisors on the first season of Celebrity Apprentice.
Then in the summer of 2009, Donald Trump “bought” WWE RAW, ran a commercial free night and gave refunds back that same night to those in attendance in Green Bay, Wisconsin, sold the company back to McMahon for a profit and instituted the famed Guest Host gimmick that limped along for over a year before it faded into the background.
Trump will join the infamous Celebrity Wing of the WWE Hall of Fame. He now joins fellow former WWE Champions Bruno Sammartino, Bob Backlund and Mick Foley and former WWE Women’s Champion Trish Stratus as part of the 2013 Class. With no real thanks in Trump, this is easily the strongest class in WWE Hall of Fame history.
No inductor has been announced for Trump yet, but it is very likely that Vince McMahon himself or another outside celebrity will do the honors.
This year’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be on Saturday, April 6, in New York, New York inside the famed Madison Square Garden the night before WrestleMania XXIX.
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