In the history of WWE Hall Of Fame ceremonies, there have been several legends that often exceeded the time limit of their speech, with Triple H and Ric Flair most notably going over an hour in the past. However, one of this year’s inductee’s is determined to keep his speech brief, as AJ Styles recently stated on “The Phenomenally Retro Podcast” that he has no intentions of being on stage for too long, resulting in the audience to become frustrated.

“I’m going to try not to piss everybody off who has come there to see all the other inductions … there’s some guys that we’ve watched in the past you’re going holy cow, everybody’s thinking the same thing like ‘Alright man, that was good,”‘ he explained. “So, I’m going to try to make sure that I stay within the guidelines of that and not make people hate AJ Styles based on his Hall Of Fame induction speech. So, short and sweet, I think, is the best way to do it. I know there are guys who’ve tried to put a little bit more comedy in theirs, which is great. I don’t know exactly how it’s going to be or what I’m going to say, but I know I got a lot of people that I need to thank.”

Styles continued to explain that he also wants to express his appreciation to the fans for helping him achieve a WWE Hall Of Fame induction, as he feels that without his supporters, he would not be in the position he’s in today, claiming he never should’ve made it this far.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “The Phenomenally Retro Podcast” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

After weeks of speculation, WWE finally revealed Brock Lesnar’s opponent for WrestleMania 42 last week, when Oba Femi stepped up to answer Lesnar’s challenge. Since then, the match has garnered plenty of anticipation, not only because it pits one of WWE’s up and coming stars against a long-time veteran in Lesnar, but because many are wondering if WWE will pull the trigger and give Femi a marquee victory so soon into his main roster career.

That is certainly the direction Rikishi would go in. On his “Off the Top” podcast, the WWE Hall of Famer was adamant that Femi go over against Lesnar at WrestleMania, citing both Femi’s work ethic in getting to the main roster, and the fact that the crowd has already begun to get behind him. As a result, Rikishi feels it would be best for WWE to strike with the former NXT Champion while the iron is hot.

“You see his entrance,” Rikishi said. “When he comes out, the wrestling fans, and I say this over and over again, if they love you, they’re going to let you know. If they don’t love you, they’re going to let you know. The last time I heard people yell ‘Oba! Oba!’, it almost kind of sounded like ‘Goldberg! Goldberg!’ 

“So what does that tell you…We’re looking a star in the making here man. This guy here, to set him off, to set Oba off on the right track, WWE, don’t kill this man right off the bat. Don’t do that to him. Let him get his run. Let him get his opportunity. Let him stand for his people that look like him. Let him have that run. And so I say my prediction is Oba up, Brock Lesnar down.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Off The Top” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription

The start of 2026 has seen AEW enter the political spectrum, with anti-ICE chants becoming a commonplace at shows thanks to rising star Brody King and his anti-ICE activism. Though AEW owner Tony Khan has said AEW isn’t a political organization, he has done little to curtail the chants or suggest King be less outspoken, believing his wrestlers have the right to express themselves.

Fellow AEW wrestler Anthony Ogogo is now doing the same when it comes to not being a fan of the anti-ICE chants. Speaking with “Inside the Ropes,” Ogogo didn’t come out against King or anyone else for anti-ICE beliefs. Rather, he feels that wrestling is a place where politics should be left out of the equation, allowing wrestling to be a brief escape from reality.

“When you start bringing up political things into the show, it then brings real life into the show, which should be an escape,” Ogogo said. “That’s one perspective to have, like there’s lots of crazy crap going on in the world, I want to avoid that and watch wrestling for two hours. However, that being said, we have lots of fans, lots of passionate fans, and it’s one of those things where people want to voice their opinions. 

“Ricky Gervais says it very well. Ricky Gervais was hosting the Golden Globes. He’d be like come up here, say thank you and p**s off. Don’t start doing monologues and this and that. It’s almost like that. Come in, wrestle, p**s off. That being said, when I was doing promo, when I was with Cody, I did a promo, five years ago, I was obviously bashing America and I was talking about ICE, so all about leaving politics out and all that, I have done it. I did it five years ago before it was cool to talk about it. It is what it is at the end of the day. Wrestling is all about emotion.”