WWE Hall of Fame (2005) was the event which featured introduction of the 6th class to the

WWE Hall of Fame The WWE Hall of Fame is a hall of fame which honors professional wrestlers and professional wrestling personalities maintained by WWE. Originally known as the "WWF Hall of Fame", it was created in 1993 when André the Giant was posthumously i ...

. The event was produced by

World Wrestling Entertainment World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and va ...

(WWE) on April 2, 2005, from the Universal Amphitheatre in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. The event took place the same weekend as

WrestleMania 21 WrestleMania 21 was the 21st annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown! brand divisions. The event too ...

. The event was hosted by

Gene Okerlund Eugene Arthur Okerlund (December 19, 1942 – January 2, 2019), better known by his ring name "Mean Gene" Okerlund, was an American professional wrestling interviewer, announcer and television host. He was best known for his work in the World Wre ...

. A condensed version of the ceremony aired that evening on

Spike TV Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Media Networks. The network's headquarters are located at the Paramount Pictures studio lot in Los Angeles. The channel was o ...

. In March 2015 the ceremony was added to the

WWE Network WWE Network is a subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and digital television Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television t ...

Aftermath

On July 24, 2015, WWE terminated their contract with Hulk Hogan, stating that they are "committed to embracing and celebrating individuals from all backgrounds", although Hogan's lawyer said Hogan chose to resign. A day prior, WWE removed virtually all references to Hogan from their website, including his entry from its WWE Hall of Fame page. The termination coincided with the publication by the ''

National Enquirer The ''National Enquirer'' is an American tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1926, the newspaper has undergone a number of changes over the years. The ''National Enquirer'' openly acknowledges that it pays sources for tips, a common practice in tabl ...

'' and

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of an anti-black rant made by Hogan on his controversial leaked

sex tape Amateur pornography is a category of pornography that features models, actors or non-professionals performing without pay, or actors for whom this material is not their only paid modeling work. Reality pornography is made porn that seeks to e ...

in which he is heard expressing disgust with the notion of his daughter with any black man, referenced by repeated use of the

racial slur The following is a list of ethnic slurs or ethnophaulisms or ethnic epithets that are, or have been, used as insinuations or allegations about members of a given ethnicity or racial group or to refer to them in a derogatory, pejorative, or oth ...

nigger In the English language, the word ''nigger'' is an ethnic slur used against black people, especially African Americans. Starting in the late 1990s, references to ''nigger'' have been progressively replaced by the euphemism , notably in cases ...

". Hogan also admitted to being "a racist, to a point". However, no official statement about his removal had been made and he was still listed in the Hall of Fame entry of the official WWE encyclopedia released in October 2016. On July 15, 2018, despite no prior official statements by the WWE declaring his removal from the Hall of Fame, Hogan was reinstated into the Hall of Fame, after his numerous public apologies over the past year, as well as volunteering work.

Inductees

Individual

* ''Class headliners appear in boldface''

References

{{WWE Hall of Fame WWE Hall of Fame ceremonies 2005 in professional wrestling Professional wrestling in Los Angeles Events in Los Angeles 2005 in Los Angeles April 2005 events in the United States