One of the main reasons the time limits were enforced in a more strict fashion at this year’s 2009 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony is because the original idea was that by booking the show to start at 6:00 p.m. local time that they would have had until 9:30 p.m. to finish the show for the airing on the USA Network since it would air at 11:00 p.m. ET (10:00 p.m. CT).
However, two weeks before the show USA decided to move the start time from 11:00 p.m. ET to 10:00 p.m. ET cutting an hour off the time they thought they would originally have to edit and get the show ready for airing. In previous year’s the show aired in the 11:00 p.m. ET timeslot on USA. As a result, the WWE crew was intent on not having the show still taking place as the TV show started on USA since the network only wanted a one hour show and not go any longer.
This is why many live reports from the show noted how much more strict they were with time limits this year then in the past. Some have suggested the company look into running the show on the Friday night of WrestleMania weekend instead of Saturday night giving them enough time to edit the show and give the inductees as much time as they would like to talk. It should be noted that the WrestleMania 25 DVD will include the full 2009 Hall of Fame ceremony along with extended interviews conducted with inductees over the weekend.