The Honky Tonk Man to join 2019 WWE Hall of Fame class

A noted heel and the longest-running intercontinental title holder ever, The Honky Tonk Man will become a WWE Hall of Famer this year.

WrestleMania weekend has become Hall of Fame induction weekend in WWE, and that will continue in 2019. D-Generation X and The Hart Foundation have already been announced in this year’s WWE Hall of Fame class. At WrestleMania 35 in Brooklyn, New York April 6, as first reported by CBS Sports, The Honky Tonk Man will be inducted as well.

The Honky Tonk Man was an Elvis-impersonator gimmick done to great effect by Wayne Farris (his real name). He famously held the intercontinental championship belt for more than a year in 1987-1988, the longest run with that belt in company history. He used an acoustic guitar as a weapon, with a signature finishing move called “Shake, Rattle and Roll.”

Farris recently appeared on CBS Sports’ State of Combat podcast to discuss his career, the Hall of Fame honor that became public on Tuesday and how the lyrics of Johnny Horton’s 1956 song “Honky Tonk Man” (later covered by Dwight Yoakam) inspired his memorable character.

"The words that were in this song was about this character that I wanted in my mind,” Farris said. “That’s where the name came from and that’s where I started doing it. I had worked on the character [with Southeastern Championship Wrestling and later at Stampede Wrestling in Calgary] and started to perfect it, but then, WWE polished it up and put the finishing touches on it."

If you’re too young or need a refresher, here’s The Honky Tonk Man’s classic theme song.

And here’s his finishing move, the aforementioned “Shake, Rattle and Roll.” (at around the 2:40 mark of the video below).

Farris had lineage in the wrestling business, as a first cousin of Jerry “The King” Lawler. He turned pro in 1977, and made his then-WWF debut in 1986 with The Honky Tonk Man as a babyface. But he turned into a cocky villain pretty quickly, with Jimmy Hart as his manager, and a legend was born.

Cool. Cocky. Bad. The self-proclaimed “greatest Intercontinental Champion of all-time”, with a lengthy run to back that up. But a singular label now fits The Honky Tonk Man. WWE Hall of Famer.