Jerry Lawler

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Jerry Lawler
Statistics
Ring name(s) Jerry "The King" Lawler
Billed height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Billed weight 243 lb (114 kg)[1]
Born November 29, 1949
Memphis, Tennessee
Trained by Jackie Fargo
Debut 1970

Jerry O'Neil Lawler (born November 29, 1949) is a professional wrestler and wrestling commentator, known throughout the wrestling world as "The King". He is currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment working and wrestling on its RAW brand as the color commentator. He also wrestles and occasionally commentates for the Memphis Wrestling promotion.

Contents

Jerry Lawler has made history as being the wrestler with the most championship reigns of all time. He has won 111 titles in his career; 43 of which were the AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship; the AWA became the owner of the CWA in 1979. In fact, between them, Lawler and his son Brian have held a combined 68 Southern Heavyweight Championships.

Earlier in his career, like many wrestlers, Lawler took his turns as both face ("good guy") and heel ("bad guy"). Perhaps the best-known gimmick of this period was his on-and-off feud with an erstwhile tag-team partner, Australian wrestler Bill Dundee, whom Lawler began teaming with 1987; Lawler also feuded with Dundee between in 1985 and 1986. A celebrated "grudge match" between the two at Memphis' Mid-South Coliseum represented a rare example of theatrical make-up blood actually being found in use at a pro wrestling event, since the match was being taped for an NBC television program documenting the rise in popularity of wrestling. Lawler also had a long-term feud with Handsome Jimmy Valiant during the late 1970's -early 1980's. Lawler earned himself the nickname as "The King (of Memphis Wrestling)" after he defeated his idol Jackie Fargo and "knocked Fargo off his throne."

Lawler's matches in Memphis usually had two common elements: First, there was very little emphasis on the part of Lawler on technical wrestling skill, often appearing proud of himself for pulling off what might be considered common moves at that time such as a dropkick. Most of the time, particularly later in matches he relied mostly on punches. This lack of technical skills was emphasized against him in the plotline of his first ascent to the AWA World Championship in a several-month war with Nick Bockwinkel. Second, particularly during the times he went face, he would almost always appear to fall far behind in a match, only to seem to gain his second wind in a comeback attempt, which would be initiated by pulling down the single shoulder strap on his uniform, much to the delight of the fans. This would be followed by a flurry of fists to be finished off by a flying fist of the top turnbuckle or a piledriver, when allowed by the association he was wrestling in at the time. Lawler would sometimes perform the piledriver on his opponents, which was illegal in the Memphis promotion the Continental Wrestling Association (CWA), which Lawler worked for between 1974 and 1987. In 1987, Lawler and Bill Dundee went to work for Verne Gagne in the Twin Cities section of the AWA in late 1987.

Lawler unified the American Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Title (defeating Curt Hennig on May 9, 1988) with the WCCW World Heavyweight Title (defeating Kerry Von Erich on December 13, 1988), creating the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship. After a dispute with AWA owner Verne Gagne, Lawler left the promotion and was stripped of the AWA World title (although he remained the WCCW champion). Shortly thereafter Lawler started the United States Wrestling Association along with co-owner, Jerry Jarrett. The WCCW title became the USWA title. From its start in 1989 to its end in 1997, Jerry Lawler held the USWA heavyweight title a total of 28 times. He began working for the WWF in 1992. Entering the federation as a heel, Lawler soon began a lengthy feud with Bret "The Hitman" Hart over the latter's winning of the inaugural King Of The Ring tournament. The feud ended when Hart defeated Lawler in a "Kiss My Foot" match at King Of The Ring 1995, After that match, Lawler kissed his own foot with the help of the victorious Hart. Despite some brief feuds with other faces, such as the The Ultimate Warrior and Jake "The Snake" Roberts, in 1996, Lawler gradually began to settle into a role as the primary color commentator for WWF TV telecasts. Lately Lawler has had somewhat of a feud with Raw wrestler Chris Masters leading to Lawler taking on the Masterlock Challenge.

Lawler may be best known for a publicized feud with Andy Kaufman, that was later revealed to be completely contrived (kayfabe or a "total work" in wrestling parlance). The truth about it being a work was kept secret for more than 10 years after Kaufman's death, until the Emmy-nominated documentary A Comedy Salute to Andy Kaufman aired on NBC in 1995. It all stated with Lawler challenging Kaufman to fight "a real wrestler" instead of women from the audience-since Kaufman had been defending his Intergender Championship against random women from audiences, whenever he guest starred on talk shows, and challenged them for $1,000.00 since 1979-, to which Kaufman responded by making the controversial short film "I'm From Hollywood" and mocked the people Memphis-which was Jerry Lawler's hometown- as stinky and uncivilized hicks. Lawler and Kaufman then fought on April 5, 1982, where Lawler gave Kaufman the piledriver and broke Kaufman's neck. Afterwards, Kaufman would then continue to show up at the Mid South Collesium and vow that he would get his revenge on Jerry Lawler.

On the television show Late Night with David Letterman in the early 1980s, Jerry was in an interview with comedian Andy Kaufman. The two engaged in a shouting match, and Jerry got up and slapped him, to which Kaufman responded by getting up and swearing profusly and Lawler, before throwing Letterman's coffee on Lawler and walking off the set. No lawsuit was filed. It was later stated by The King in his 2002 book "It's Good To Be The King....Sometimes" that the entire incident was staged, at the request of Andy, in order to further the wrestling angle between the two.

The feud, including the Letterman incident, was dramatized in the Andy Kaufman biopic Man On The Moon in which Lawler played himself. After this incident on Letterman occured, Kaufman would team up with Jimmy Hart and offered a bounty of $10,000.00 to anyone who could piledrive Lawler and put him in the hospital; nobody could ever manage to do so to Lawler, when the bounty was in effect in 1982, and thus the bounty was never enforced. After fighting Kaufman and Hart in a handicap match, Lawler would team with the Assassin. In early 1983, after months of feuding with Lawler, Hart and Kaufman got into a fight, and Kaufman made a promise with Lawler that if he helped him take on the Assassins, he (Kaufman) would officially retire from wrestling; Kaufman now defended the Intergender Title at the Memphis Collesium since he returned to wrestling in August of 1982, and added two additional prizes to the $1,000.00: that any woman who could finally manage to pin him (Kaufman) would have the privilage of marrying him, and that Kaufman would also shave his head completely bald if he ever lost to a woman as well. Three minutes into the match, Kaufman threw powder in Lawler's face and let the Assassins piledrive Lawler as well. Lawler would then officially end the feud by throwing a fireball in Kaufman's face as Jimmy Hart was crowning Kaufman the "New King of Memphis Wrestling."

Lawler has recorded some material. Among these are two late-70s 45 recordings: "Cadillac Man/Memphis", and "Bad News". During his feud with manager Jimmy Hart (Jerry Lawler is a factor for "The Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart entering professional wrestling. Lawler wanted to record a wrestling album with him singing and, since they had gone to school together, he called Hart and asked him to be a part of it). in the mid-80s, Hart became known as "The Wimp", a nickname given to him by Lawler and chanted by fans, and was the subject of the song "Wimpbusters", which was sung by Lawler to the tune of the popular hit "Ghostbusters" by Ray Parker, Jr.; a music video was also made featuring Lawler, legendary announcer Lance Russell, and wrestlers such as Savage, Jimmy Valiant, Dutch Mantel, Tommy Rich, and Rufus R. Jones, along with footage of "The King" beating Hart and his "First Family" (a very young Brian Christopher also made an appearance as a young child being bullied, and another child is seen wearing a replica of Tully Blanchard's West Texas State jersey). He also recorded a CD called, "Memphis' Other King" [2].

Lawler often shows a code of morality in his commentary; for example, even when he was decidedly pro-heel at the announcer's table, he would show respect for a face wrestler who was legitimately injured. His tune has always changed, however, when one of the WWE's valets are involved, in which case he often uses innuendo to hype the valet ("Puppies!") and has been nicknamed "Puppy Patrol." Lawler's commentary began in 1988, while with the CWA, and since that time Lawler's core routine has not changed. Also, when something is of extreme hilarity or disgust, his voice will rise about 3 octaves, dictating in sometimes unintelligible dialogue.

Throughout most of his stay in the WWE, Lawler has served as a color commentator, first with the promotion's syndicated programs and later on WWE Raw. Originally in the WWE, Lawler would often root for the heel wrestlers. During this time, whenever he would walk down the aisle, whether to wrestle or go to the commentator booth, the fans would chant "Burger King" at him (in regards to this, in 2005, Lawler dressed as The Burger King for the Halloween edition of RAW).

As the years have gone by he has become more and more face than ever, causing some fans to question the lack of heel announcing on RAW and therefore having two face announcers instead of one and one split. This can be attributed to Lawler having had feuds with various heels (most notably Daivari, an Arab-American heel who insulted Americans) often defending fellow RAW commentator Jim Ross; and the rise of Jonathan Coachman as the heel color commentator on "WWE RAW." Looking back on Lawler's broadcasts from a decade ago, one can notice that today he has become much less acidic and mean-spirited, and slightly more level headed and fun-loving.

On May 1 2006, Lawler briefly returned to his classic heel-style color commentary (in Coachman's absence), culminating in a segment where he played along with the Spirit Squad's insistence that play-by-play announcer Joey Styles proclaim Kenny as the new WWE Champion with the proper "spirit" should Kenny win their title bout (Styles would have to wear a cheerleader outfit on the next RAW episode if he was found to not be showing the proper enthusiasm). Styles refused, began insulting Lawler and slapped him. Lawler knocked down Styles, who angrily retreated to the back of the arena. Lawler quickly apologized to the crowd, insisting his kidding around was all in good fun, but Styles refused to accept Lawler's apology or to rejoin him on commentary. Instead, Styles delivered a hard-hitting shoot-style promo, where he bashed WWE, Vince McMahon, sports entertainment and the fans before saying he was quitting. Joined by Todd Grisham, Lawler returned to his current face-praising routine for the rest of the broadcast. It was announced on May 3, 2006 that Lawler would be rejoined at the RAW announce table by former partner Jim Ross. On May 22, 2006, Lawler reverted to his status as a tweener personality. However in more recent times he has become a total face commentator. A good example was his recent feud with Chris Masters when he turned to J.R. and said "Do you remember when I used to tell you to be quiet at his (Masters) entrance and enjoy it? Well, I'm over it now."

He has reverted back to a tweener personality on occasion, with the feud between RAW/SmackDown! and the ECW Brand as an example. Despite the current rivalry between the (now) McMahon-led "New Breed of Extreme" and the "ECW Originals", he refers to the brand (regardless of whomever is competing for ECW) as "Extremely Crappy Wrestling", which he had done in the past when referring to ECW. He also reverts to his tweener status whenever RAW and SmackDown! themselves feud, staying loyal to RAW regardless of who competes.

Lawler was hired as a commentator for the XFL alongside his RAW co-host, Jim Ross, in 2001. He quit the WWF on February 21, 2001 in protest over then-wife Stacy "The Kat" Carter's dismissal, and was rehired on November 19 of the same year, some time after he separated from her.

Lawler holds the record for most times appearing on the WrestleMania commentary team. He has done color commentary at every WrestleMania since 1994's WrestleMania X, with the lone exception being WrestleMania X-Seven which took place during his time away from the company. In a Byte This! interview before WrestleMania XIX he stated that he's "yet to do it all 'till he wrestles a match" at WrestleMania.

So close are Lawler and Jimmy Hart, that on April 2, 2005, when Hart was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, Lawler performed Hart's induction.

Lawler hosted the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony on April 1, 2006, in lieu of regular ceremony host "Mean" Gene Okerlund, who was being inducted that night.

On the February 26, 2007 episode of RAW it was announced that Jerry Lawler will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2007. WWE has announced that he will be inducted by William Shatner.

In 1997, as part of a WWF cross-promotional deal with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), Lawler insulted the credibility of ECW as a commentator on RAW. Later in the evening, ECW owner Paul Heyman personally called him over the air and gave a rebuttal. This led to several ECW wrestlers making appearances (and even wrestling matches) on WWF television, with Lawler all the while insulting ECW and its wrestlers. He was booked to wrestle Tommy Dreamer at ECW's Hardcore Heaven pay-per-view in August 1997, and despite interference by Rick Rude, Sunny, and Roberts, he still lost.

Lawler was involved in a feud with Gregory Helms, whom he defeated at New Year's Revolution 2006 with a diving fist drop from the top rope. He also faced The Coach in a Royal Rumble 2006 qualifier, which he lost due to interference from the debuting Spirit Squad.

Lawler was defeated by Tazz at ECW One Night Stand 2006 after passing out from the Tazzmission. Lawler, however, slapped Joey Styles once again during this event.

Lawler also played a minor role in the feud between Randy Orton and Hulk Hogan, in favor of Hogan. His involvement in the feud was started by accident when Orton rudely shoved Lawler, without apologizing. Lawler later returned the favor and threw Orton into the ring towards an angry Hogan. On the July 31, 2006 RAW, Orton slapped Lawler in the face while he was doing commentary. Minutes later, Lawler challenged Orton to a match the next week in Lawler's hometown, Memphis, Tennessee. Lawler lost the match when Orton kicked him in the groin when the referee wasn't watching and giving him an RKO.

On the November 6, 2006 edition of RAW, in defense of Jim Ross and his job, Lawler agreed to wrestle a match against Chris Masters with one hand handcuffed to the top rope. He eventually submitted to Masters' Master Lock. The storyline continued over to the November 12, 2006 edition of Raw, when Lawler took on Chris Masters in the "Masterlock Challenge." Masters feigned being tentative in accepting Lawler's challenge, but eventually applied the move. Lawler "fought" the MasterLock for a little while, but eventually was "knocked out" by the move. A week later he beat Masters with help from Carlito. On December 18, 2006, Lawler participated in a 30 Man Battle Royal in which he was eliminated by Masters who came from behind toss Lawler over the top rope.

In 1999, perhaps inspired by fellow wrestler Jesse Ventura's successful run for the governorship of Minnesota, Lawler ran for mayor of Memphis, finishing third in a field of twelve candidates without actually campaigning.

  • Finishing and signature moves
  • Dirty attacks
Lawler was known for his myriad of illegal attacks during his career. The most notable were:
  • Throwing fire
  • Foreign objects (including "phantom foreign objects" removed from either his tights or a hidden area in the ring which an opponent would sell as if they had been attacked by brass knuckles, or cause a referee to "reprimand" Lawler allowing him to set up yet another dirty move)

  • Maryland Championship Wrestling
  • NWA United States Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • NWA Polynesian Pacific Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • NWA All-Star Wrestling Heavyweight Champion (1 time)
  • Power Pro Wrestling
  • PPW Tag Team Champion (1 time) - with Bill Dundee
  • Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • He is a member of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (inducted in 1996)
  • Feud of the Year (1987) vs Austin Idol and Tommy Rich
  • Feud of the Year (1992) with Jeff Jarrett vs. The Moondogs
  • Feud of the Year (1993) vs. Bret Hart

Lawler has been married three times. He has two children from his first marriage. His son Brian, who has previously wrestled in WWE (as "Brian Christopher" and "Grandmaster Sexay"), is now performing in independent promotions. His other son, Kevin, has dabbled in professional wrestling as both a referee and wrestler. In his book It's Good to Be the King ... Sometimes, Lawler says he believes Kevin's short physical stature has prevented him from reaching success similar to Brian.

His second ex-wife Paula was dragged into a feud with him for the Memphis Wrestling promotion.

In Mid-February 2001, Lawler's third (then-)wife Stacy "The Kat" Carter (who was a valet and has made in-ring appearances) was released by WWE (then known as the World Wrestling Federation) He left the company in protest. Shortly after, Lawler and Carter's marriage ended. He would rejoin WWE in November 2001. (According to his 2002 autobiography "It's Good To Be The King....Sometimes", the divorce was not a deciding factor in Lawler's return.)

His current girlfriend Renee has appeared with him under the "Queen Renee" moniker for Memphis Wrestling.

Jerry claims to have never touched alcohol, preferring Coca-Cola instead. This has led to his extensive Coca-Cola merchandise collection.

Lawler is a Cleveland Indians and Cleveland Browns fan and has often said on WWE TV that outside of his hometown of Memphis, Cleveland is his favorite city to visit. Lawler spent part of his childhood in Ohio.

Lawler is an accomplished artist, and has done various paintings, portraits, and caricatures of sports stars, film stars, and other professional wrestlers. He also drew the illustrations for a children's book written by fellow wrestler Mick Foley, entitled "Mick Foley's Christmas Chaos". It has recently been announced Lawler will work with DC Comics on a Superman project. Lawler is a lifelong fan of Superman, and said on WWE.com that the call was the "fulfillment of a lifelong fantasy." Full details will be released soon.

Lawler is a cousin to Wayne Ferris, better known as The Honky Tonk Man. It is said that the two have a somewhat acrimonious relationship, which has been played on many times both whilst they were on good terms and bad terms.

Lawler has a tattoo of a crown on his upper forearm.

  • Lawler, Jerry It's Good to Be the King... Sometimes (2003) ISBN 0-7434-5767-6 Autobiography.

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