Star Trek’s William Shatner inducted into WWE’s Hall of Fame

William Shatner accepts induction into the WWE Hall of Fame

APRIL 13, 2021 - Sooo...William Shatner is now a member of the WWE’s Hall of Fame.

USA Today first reported last week that the Star Trek actor would be part of the WWE’s Hall of Fame ceremony taking place on April 6th, a ceremony that included inductees from both 2020 and 2021 cohorts because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The event was streamed on NBCUniversal’s Peacock service, and it kicked off a WrestleMania Week that concluded last weekend in Tampa, Florida.

Shatner has a long history with the WWE. He first participated in the show wrestling arena in 1995 as a guest of Jerry “The King” Lawler. He returned to induct Lawler into the Hall of Fame in 2007, and then again as a special guest in 2010, according to Sports Illustrated.

In the USA Today piece, Shatner compared WWE events to Star Trek conventions, saying, “It’s very much the same, the approbation, the joy.” It’s a comparison he has made before: in 2019, he told WWE Backstage that Trekkies and wrestling fans are alike, saying they’re all “equally nuts” - as in, crazy with passion.

In his acceptance speech, Shatner credited his Canadian roots as partly responsible for his relationship with wrestling. “I was born in Montreal,” he said, “and out of Montreal came many of the great wrestlers [...] I have been a great fan of WWE for a long time. So I accept this induction into the Hall of Fame, with the delight of someone who is following some of his greatest heroes.”

Previous celebrity WWE Hall of Fame inductees include Mr. T, Snoop Dogg, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

You can watch clips from last week’s Hall of Fame ceremony now, on WWE’s YouTube channel.