Stephanie McMahon doubted she deserved the honor when WWE named her a 2026 Hall of Fame inductee. There was doubt.
The former co-CEO sat down with Triple H on her What's Your Story? podcast ahead of the April 17 ceremony at Dolby Live in Las Vegas and was candid about how long it took for the honor to feel deserved.
"At first, I very much felt like I didn't deserve it. Really very much felt I didn't deserve it. I haven't done what our talent have done and endured and sacrificed, in different ways maybe, but that's how I felt. And it's taken a while, but all these conversations with people remembering these moments, it's everybody's support, just not letting me not see it. And now I'm just so grateful and appreciative and accepting and trying, especially at this point in my life, to enjoy every minute."
Triple H offered a tribute that framed her contribution beyond her on-screen work, arguing that she changed the company's internal culture rather than simply participating in it.
"People come along and participate in the business. People come along and add to the business. Very few people change the business. You put the culture in what we do. It didn't exist before that. It was just the Wild West. And then you came in, and all of a sudden, there was a different take on it, a different perspective of it. It wasn't that Wild West business anymore. All of a sudden, it was a family."
He described her as the heart and soul of the company, a phrase he said he still hears from people today, pointing to the way she stayed after shows to talk with crew members, knew families and their children by name, and made the road feel less like a job and more like a community.
"No matter what happens moving forward, this has been my life, and I'm so grateful to have had this remarkable, incredible life surrounded by these characters and people who are probably the most honest, truthful versions of themselves."
Stephanie joins AJ Styles, Demolition, and Dennis Rodman as part of the 2026 Hall of Fame class. The ceremony streams live from Dolby Live in Las Vegas on April 17.
