- 13 hours ago
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00:03Hey, guys, don't worry, I'll let you in, come on.
00:08Torey Wilson, wow, looking great at him.
00:12The most downloaded SmackDown Superstar on WWE.com.
00:22Cover girl, Torey Wilson.
00:34She's like the girl next door, she's got the charisma, she's got the personality.
00:38She just drew attention wherever she went.
00:40People flocked to Torey.
00:42Torey Wilson was a household name.
00:44Torey Wilson!
00:46Torey Wilson and the lovely Torey Wilson.
00:49Welcome to my crib.
00:50I am the epitome of the all-American good girl.
00:57Torey Wilson was the perfect hybrid of beauty, strength, and personality.
01:03That's why she had such a lasting impression.
01:09Now get out of here.
01:12But then beyond that, she was an athlete.
01:14She came from the world of fitness and was thrown right in the fire.
01:18And she started to change the image of women to where it's not just about how you look.
01:22When it comes time to kick some butt, she certainly could.
01:24We always talk about how beautiful Torey Wilson is, but look at this.
01:30She always gave it her all.
01:31And she always went in with this attitude that she wanted to do her very best.
01:34And I admire that so much.
01:40She works harder than anybody I've ever seen in my entire life.
01:43Boys included.
01:44She has a website, Vintensity.com, where she offers programs for men and women.
01:48She could still go.
01:50Oh, yeah!
01:54She was a trailblazer in changing the way women will perceive that they're not just
01:58to be looked at as a pretty face.
02:00I really think that she helped pave the way for so many women.
02:04She has proved that you can be a WWE superstar, but you can also transcend beyond that.
02:09You can still inspire others far beyond a WWE ring.
02:23Here to induct Torey Wilson into the WWE Hall of Fame.
02:26Please welcome back, after nearly 13 years away, Stacey Keebler.
03:20I just want to say how grateful I am to be here because there are no fans like this
03:26in the WWE Universe.
03:31And there is no other year like 2019 to be a woman talking to the WWE Universe.
03:38So before I get to the amazing woman that we are about to honor, I just want to say thank
03:43you to all of you.
03:45You did this.
03:47You created the women's evolution.
03:53And I'm sure you're as excited as I am to watch Vonda Browson.
03:56Carly Cossie, Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch make history.
04:01Tomorrow night,
04:03and they become the first women to main event WrestleMania.
04:10Now,
04:12the women's evolution is about strength and courage.
04:22And it transcends sports entertainment.
04:25It's about standing up for something you believe in,
04:28even if it means standing up to your biggest fears and critics.
04:31It's about being fearless and vulnerable at the same time.
04:36And not only is it about physical strength, but
04:39it's also about strength of heart as well.
04:41And that is Tori Wilson.
04:46In college, I was a huge wrestling fan.
04:51And when I was 19, I did what any normal 19-year-old girl does.
04:54And I entered a dance contest to be the next Nitro Girl on Monday Nitro.
05:00The night was October 18th, 1999.
05:03And I remember walking backstage at the arena in Philadelphia.
05:07And I was so nervous because I was all of a sudden surrounded by all
05:11the superstars that I watched on TV every week.
05:14And as I walked into the dressing room, I was greeted with a big,
05:18beautiful smile with two cute dimples and given a giant hug by Tori Wilson.
05:24It was my first time meeting Tori.
05:26And I will never forget how warm and kind she was.
05:30And if you've met Tori, then you know what I'm talking about.
05:32Because she's compassionate and
05:34down to earth from the moment that you meet her.
05:37That's how she was with me.
05:38She immediately embraced me and took me under her wing.
05:41And that night was the start of our friendship.
05:43And it's still going strong 20 years later.
05:50We've been by each other's sides through laughter, tears, wins, and defeats.
05:55We've been partners in crime in the ring to the furthest corners of the world.
06:00And we were even roommates for years.
06:01I had a front row seat to watch Tori turn a lot of heads and break a lot of parts.
06:07Whatever we did, we gave it our all, and we had the most fun doing it.
06:12Over the years, I've watched Tori constantly reinvent herself as a fitness competitor,
06:17as an athlete, a model, and an entrepreneur.
06:21She's constantly evolving and challenging herself.
06:24And everyone that follows Tori knows that she's a woman on a mission to uplift,
06:29inspire, and motivate us to find our strength and confidence.
06:34We all have struggles.
06:36We're all fighting our own battle in our own rings every day.
06:39And Tori's social media platforms have allowed us to journey with her through her trials and
06:43tribulations and understand that her number one purpose is to leave this world a better place.
06:49She reminds us that we are all in this fight together.
06:54And tonight, her hard work and dedication is celebrated.
06:57But most of all, she is the embodiment of the evolution of women.
07:02Strong, smart, sexy, fierce, kind, powerful, and does everything with grace and confidence.
07:11And that is why I am so excited and honored to join WWE in inducting to the 2019 Hall of
07:19Fame, my good friend, Tori Wilson.
07:27My good friend, Tori Wilson.
07:33I just knew I was supposed to go, just to go the way I can do.
07:44I just knew I was supposed to go, just to go the way I can do.
07:49I just knew I was supposed to go, just to go, just to go, just to go, just to go.
08:16I love you guys.
08:17it's been a rough week all right I want to take you back it's 1985 in McCall
08:25Idaho fourth grade mr. Sheldon's class sitting at my desk when a note comes
08:32flying through the air so I open it up and I see three choices yes no maybe
08:40without even really thinking I check off the s box fold it back up pass it along
08:44and then all of a sudden it hits me oh my god the cutest boy in fourth grade just
08:49asked me to be his girlfriend and I've never had the guts to say more than two
08:53words to this kid so cut to lunch break chillin with my girls outside of course
08:58my new boyfriend wants to come hang out with me and he beelines for my hands and
09:04so I do what any girl would do I beeline for the bathroom and hide there until
09:08lunch is over all right so lucky for me school's now out for two weeks for
09:13Christmas break so for two weeks I get to stress and for two weeks I eat
09:20processed cheese chocolate mousse cherry pie whatever my grandma had in her
09:25refrigerator and then we're back in school standing outside all by myself and
09:33here comes mr. suave really trying to work myself up like okay don't be that
09:39weird shy girl like play it cool and right as he gets up next to me he says
09:46what's up fatso what happened to you
09:56and then he chases me around the playground yelling fatso fatso all right the walk
10:05home from school that day was the most mortifying walk I've ever had in my life
10:10I felt like such a loser and I cried my eyes out I got home locked myself in my
10:16room bald all day long and all I kept thinking was oh my god I'm such a loser like I
10:23don't want to be that girl I don't want to be that shy weird fatso like I don't want to
10:28be that girl and I made a vow right then and there that Terry was going to eat his damn
10:33words
10:34all right so fast forward to my first day in the WWE stomach and knots walking backstage holding my bag
10:51I
10:52look up I see stone-cold Steve Austin in the rock talking laughing in the hallway and I'm too nervous
11:02to even walk past them so I go to turn around and take the long way around to the locker
11:07room and I look up and I see Bubba Ray Dudley he's like mean mugging the heck out of me
11:13I'm like oh my god I have heat already and all I keep thinking is oh my god I hope
11:19these guys do not
11:20catch on to me I'm shy I'm not confident this does not feel natural to me at all like what
11:29the hell am I
11:29doing and then I have to stop myself and I'm like okay wait a second Tori who decides these feelings
11:35anyways me I do right so what if what if I was confident what if I wasn't shy what if
11:44this actually
11:44does feel natural to me and the thing is a lot of us think that fear is just something you
11:51choose to
11:52overcome but it's not all of us face it in some way you don't have to be on a stage
11:58whether it's parenting
12:00running a business speaking out on something you believe in it's it can scare us all and here's
12:08what I've learned to be true fear only has one enemy and that is a confident persona
12:23and thanks to the WWE and my nearly 10-year wrestling career I was able to find this confidence that
12:29I
12:29would have not ever found anywhere else I was able to face my fears repeatedly oh my gosh by playing
12:39the role of
12:40someone that I really wish I could be and all of you guys helped me you pushed me to find
12:47this confidence
12:49confident persona to really push through fear every single time I stepped into this ring in fact not just when
12:56I stepped in
12:56this ring but in all areas of my life and the thing is you don't have to be a WWE
13:03superstar to find your own confident persona and
13:07honestly I just I really wanted to take this moment while I was up here share with you guys that
13:15what you've taught me is so invaluable and if I could give that back to you in some way so
13:21that
13:21you can fight your fears so that you can go for something that you're too scared to do maybe it'll
13:27help you too so I just have a couple things I want to share with you guys number one first
13:34thing you got
13:34to do is realize that permission is for pansies we don't need anyone's permission to be who we are and
13:45we
13:46don't need permission to be who we want to be I didn't ask the guy who said Tory Wilson doesn't
13:52belong in the WWE Hall of Fame if he thought it was okay if I still came anyway and I
13:59didn't ask the
13:59guy that was up there booing me telling me I sucked if he deemed me worthy of lacing up my
14:05wrestling boots and
14:06giving it a try the next night because neither would have said yes but neither one was the one stepping
14:12in
14:12this ring
14:19my intention was to show up for you guys the fans and to play the role to play the role
14:27of who I really wished I
14:29could be outside of the ring a strong confident woman who's unafraid of failing unafraid of being sexy who owns
14:38who
14:38she is and to be quite honest who knows she is a badass whether anyone else believes it or not
14:48and the second thing you got to do if you want to have that confident persona the one you guys
14:52taught
14:53me you got to forget the failure now I know it come as you guys are probably going to be
15:01surprised by
15:01this but I'm pretty sure I wasn't hired based on my wrestling skills I had none my list of fields
15:11is
15:11very long a couple miles I botched moves tripped forgot what I was doing oh my god looked horribly
15:19awkward at times and sometimes even just trying to dance in front of a crowd was like cringe worthy
15:24but I maintained the courage to keep coming back for more even if I wasn't the best
15:31because I forgot the failure and of course last but not least if you want that confident persona you got
15:39to
15:39summon your swagger summon your swagger
15:45even when you feel puny and wimpy and you want to crawl on a ball and even if your swagger
15:50is dorky as hell
15:51your swagger is the first thing that people see when you come out of that curtain into an arena
15:56like this and it's also the first thing that people see when you walk into a room full of strangers
16:02you got to close your eyes and envision that confident badass and summon her and then tell her it's time
16:10to
16:11come out and play now a time I recall trying to summon my swagger like none other judgment day pay
16:22-per-view 2003
16:27wasn't a wrestling match per se kind of like a pose-off thing against probably one of the sexiest most
16:37confident
16:38women I've ever met in my life and I'll never forget standing in this ring watching watching Sable own the
16:46joint
16:46own the joint
16:49and I remember praying to God God please just strike me dead right now or at least just give me
16:58like five minutes of rhythm
17:01he gave me neither
17:04but I'll never forget closing my eyes and summoning my swagger like never ever before and I survived
17:11and you know what we've come a hell of a long way since then
17:21now I just want you guys to remember that not everything is as it seems and that fear is an
17:27enemy
17:29that affects all of us in some way but when you're willing to remember that permission is for pansies
17:35to summon your swagger and to forget the failure you can win your match against fear anytime
17:42I got to say I'm I am sincerely grateful for everyone that I've worked with in front of the camera
17:49behind the camera
17:50booking travel Johnny Ace Mark Carano everyone I appreciate because it just created a memory I don't want to change
17:59but I do have to thank first Kevin Nash and Hulk Hogan
18:11you guys you guys they they met this nobody fitness model backstage at a show
18:20and handed her an opportunity that I was scared out of my mind to take
18:26and I ran with it and I I'll forever be indebted because I never would have met any of you
18:32if it wasn't for them
18:33and I love you guys Kevin Polk I don't know if you're here
18:43uh Fit Finley
18:51Fit Fit Fit I'm sorry
18:56I'm I'm so sorry for all the times that I've cried because I couldn't get something right or I messed
19:03it up
19:03you guys Fit is literally the most patient man and wants nothing more than to see women crushing it
19:19even when I had a hard time taking myself seriously Fit showed me what I was made of and I
19:26surprised myself
19:27and if you ask me Fit Finley is a huge reason why we get to see women main eventing tomorrow
19:34at WrestleMania
19:45that and all the badass women of course
19:49Thank you, Billy!
19:52Thank you, Billy!
19:55Thank you, Billy!
19:58Thank you, Billy!
20:13Pete!
20:14Oh my God!
20:16Trust me, there were thousands of times you wanted to bang your head with a steel chair
20:21I know, I get it and I don't blame you but thank you for not doing that
20:25You know, Pete taught me how to function in this world
20:31I had no clue what I was doing
20:33He taught me right away what heat was and how to avoid it
20:36And it probably had to do with the fact that he did not want it rubbing off on him
20:41But I still appreciate it
20:42Pete, I love you
20:44Thank you
20:49And of course, Stacy Keebler
20:52Stacy
20:55Oh my God!
20:55You guys, you guys, Stacy and I bebopped into here like two clueless blondes
21:03We just wanted to have fun, we were like, hey, let's just go out tonight
21:09And no one understands my journey like she does, the full scope of it
21:13I'm so honored that she came here tonight to be with me
21:17And Stacy, thank you for actually, she did so many things wrong when we first started in WWE
21:23That she got a lot of heat and it kind of like made it safe for me
21:26I was kind of like pushing around there
21:30Uh, Michelle McCool
21:36Michelle, you know, I was lucky enough to claim Michelle McCool as my road wife
21:41Before Undertaker got his hands on her
21:46She is one of the most honest, loyal, good people you will ever meet today
21:53And I'll never forget our hours and hours driving in the car and just contemplating life
21:57We should all have a friend like that
21:59And I'm so, so, so grateful for you, Michelle, wherever you are
22:09Lisa, Victoria
22:14You guys, if you haven't had the pleasure of meeting Victoria
22:17She is one of the absolute craziest people you'll ever meet
22:21One of the funniest people you'll ever meet
22:22And a lot of people don't know
22:24Her and I were friends way before wrestling
22:26She saw me in wrestling and she was like, whoa, wait, that looks kind of cool
22:29I think I want to do that too
22:31She's someone that builds everyone up around her
22:34And wants everyone to shine
22:36Whether they suck in the ring or not
22:38Like, she's making them look like a million bucks
22:41And, Lisa, I love you
22:43Thank you for being my friend
22:48Candice Michelle
22:53You guys, Candice is ballsy, outspoken, fun, fearless
22:57She's actually all the things that I said I wished I could be outside of the ring
23:00She's all those things in real life
23:03And I know she doesn't feel that way all the time
23:06But that's what she gives to the world
23:07She came in as a sexy sexpot
23:09Became women's champion
23:11And shut people down
23:14And we all need a friend like that in our life
23:17To push us to be our most fearless self
23:20Candice, I love you
23:26I can't forget my family
23:29My family's here somewhere
23:33This has been a really, really hard week
23:39My family has ridden a crazy rollercoaster ride with me
23:42Never let me forget who I am
23:44No matter how high, how low
23:45Thank you guys for coming
23:46And, you know, my dad
23:50My...
24:01My dad, um
24:02God, dad
24:05My dad passed away
24:06Like, two days ago
24:09And, you know, I feel so blessed
24:12That I was able to have this crazy experience with him
24:15Here
24:17You know, he came in
24:18He made an ass out of himself in the ring
24:20He had no idea what he was doing
24:22And he was scared
24:23I know he was
24:24But he did it for his daughter
24:25And we got to spend some time together
24:27And, um
24:28Dad, I know you're here with me
24:30There's a picture
24:32Don Marie, you made my dad's life
24:34By the way
24:35With that
24:37Storyline
24:40I love you, dad
24:45And
24:46Most of all
24:47You guys
24:49The WWE Universe
24:51Um
24:52You guys are the only reason I get to stand here today
24:55The only reason
24:56And the only reason that I've had
24:58A ten year awesome career
25:00You guys
25:01Honestly
25:01You are not easy to win over
25:05And you say it like it is
25:07Which is what I love about you
25:09But I appreciate everything about you
25:11You're so hardcore
25:12And I just want to thank you for letting me be
25:15Just even a small part of your life
25:17And for many of you guys
25:20A part of your puberty
25:21Like I've heard that a lot lately
25:23Like I've heard that a lot lately
25:38I have one more thing to say
25:43This is a good morning
25:43I just
25:43I really
25:45I really
25:46I really just want to thank
25:47I really
25:48I want to thank Terry
25:49My fourth grade boyfriend
25:53Thank you, Lawrence
25:58Thank you, Lawrence
26:01Thank you, Lawrence
26:05You guys, I've got to thank Terry, my fourth-grade boyfriend, for giving me a glimpse into the
26:09confidence that I really needed to find for myself.
26:14And you guys, please, the next time that you have the opportunity to face your fear head-on
26:21and to check that box, yes, no matter how scared you are, please check the box, yes,
26:27and the next ring that you step into just might change your life forever like it has mine.