With just a few weeks to go until WrestleMania XL weekend, this year’s WWE Hall of Fame inductees have slowly been unveiled by the company. So far, six individuals have been made official for the Class of 2024: Paul Heyman, Bull Nakano, Mike Rotunda & Barry Windham (collectively as The U.S. Express), Muhammad Ali, and Thunderbolt Patterson. Alongside the official announcements, Lia Maivia has been heavily rumored as a potential inductee.
Maivia, most notable for being the grandmother of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson as well as promoting Hawaii’s Polynesian Pro Wrestling throughout the 80s, was first reported to be under consideration by Fightful Select last week. Specifically, The Rock himself is said to have had input on this year’s inductees, an idea that WWE later disputed according to the outlet, and that his grandmother was one of several names he suggested to be inducted.
Now, Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer reports that Maivia will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame next month and that The Rock will be responsible for her induction speech. Meltzer claims that WWE sources confirmed Maivia’s impending induction after verifying the authenticity of a list, which was first posted to the SquaredCircle subreddit last week by user alexyy77, claiming to spoil the Class of 2024 inductees. The list has been accurate in regards to every inductee announced after its publication, those being The U.S. Express, Ali, and Patterson.
However, Meltzer went on to note that sources within the company did not confirm the accuracy of the final name featured on the list: Bray Wyatt, who tragically passed away at the age of 36 last August after suffering a heart attack. While Wyatt’s induction would make sense given his father, Mike Rotunda, is also set to be inducted this year, Meltzer claims that the three-time world champion’s status as a Class of 2024 inductee is currently uncertain.