Muhammad Ali will join the 2024 WWE Hall of Fame class

The WWE Hall of Fame has some iconic entries in its annals, but there are also some peculiar names as well. On Monday, WWE announced the next member for the 2024 class and this one is an icon of all things professional sports and perhaps one of the first real “sports entertainers.” The great Muhammad Ali will be one of the featured additions to the 2024 Hall of Fame class.

Ali is recognized as one of the greatest professional boxers of all time. By the time his career was over in 1981, he had put together a 56-5 record that included multiple stints as the heavyweight champion of the world. He also won the 1960 Olympic Games, picking up the gold medal in Rome in the light-heavyweight division. His career featured some of the most important fights in boxing, including the battles with Sonny Liston, Joe Fraizer, and George Foreman.

Ali had some stints in professional wrestling as well. This includes the famed 1976 match with the late Antonio Inoki. This is a bout that some point to as the start of mixed martial arts in North America. He appeared in the WWWF multiple times throughout his career. This includes challenging Gorilla Monsoon and being the guest referee at WrestleMania 1 in 1985.

Ali is also one of the most important sports figures to have lived. This is due to his outspoken work as a social justice advocate. It’s well-known that he was stripped of the heavyweight championship when he refused to join the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. He was jailed and pushed out of boxing for years. He also played a part in freeing American hostages from Iraq in the lead-up to the Iraqi War.  

Ali is the latest entry into the 2024 WWE Hall of Fame class that includes Bull Nakano, Paul Heyman, and the U.S. Express.

Joe Otterson of Variety had the report first on Monday, March 11.