William Shatner, best known for his role as Captain James T. Kirk in Star Trek: The Original Series, is set to be inducted into the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame.
This year’s WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place on April 6th inside the WWE ThunderDome. The event, which will stream on Peacock, will induct both the Class of 2020 and 2021 after last year’s ceremony was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Shatner is one of the 2020 inductees.
Shatner appeared in a number of WWE programming in the past, including his unforgettable 1995 appearance on the King’s Court, in which he monkey-flipped WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler, and when he hosted Monday Night Raw back in 2010, where he famously sang some of the best WWE Superstar entrance theme songs.
In an interview with USA Today, Shatner called the honor to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame “fantastic” and flaunted some impressive trash-talking skills when asked about monkey-flipping Lawler back in 1995. “Jerry Lawler was nothing. Nothing! He was a little bird,” said Shatner, who inducted Lawler into the hall in 2007.
Shatner went on to compare the energetic vibe at WWE events to Star Trek conventions, saying, “It’s very much the same, the approbation, the joy. The enthusiasm the wrestling audience shows toward its favorite people is not dissimilar to the enthusiasm Star Trek fans show.
At the end of the interview, Shatner revealed that he should have started a career in wrestling following his Star Trek stint. “I’m going to admit it now: I missed a career when Star Trek was over,” he said. “I should have gone into wrestling as Captain Kirk.”
In addition to Shatner, other new hall-of-fame honorees include JBL, The British Bulldog, Jushin
“Thunder” Liger, The Bella Twins, Molly Holly, Eric Bischoff, Kane, The Great Khali, and Rob Van Dam, as well as the wrestling group nWo or The New World Order comprised of Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and Sean Waltman.
Celebrities that were previously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame include Pete Rose, William “Refrigerator” Perry, Bob Uecker, Drew Carey, Mike Tyson, Mr. T, Kid Rock, Snoop Dogg, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony kicks off a WrestleMania Week that builds to two nights of WrestleMania 37 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, which will also stream on Peacock on April 10th and 11th.