♪♪
- What a great crowd today, huh?
50th anniversary of jerry "the king" lawler.
We've got all kind of superstars and legends here.
A lot of wwe hall of famers, so it's a wonderful day.
- Man, I'm just so excited to be here
For the 50th anniversary of jerry lawler.
It blows my mind.
- Thank you for coming.
- I thought you were older than 50.
- I am a little older than 50,
But I've been wrestling for 50 years.
- It's a great honor for me just to have known jerry.
Never got a chance to wrestle jerry.
- Thank you. Thank you for coming.
- Yes, sir.
- It's awesome.
- Thank you for allowing me to be here.
- Oh, are you kidding?
- 50 damn years.
- Understand that he's in the top three
In the whole time of wrestling.
- When I hear somebody say, "congratulations on being
In the ring for 50 straight years,"
I can't believe it myself.
I still enjoy going into the ring,
I still enjoy competing, I still enjoy being in front
Of the fans as much today as I did 50 years ago.
- Jerry "the king" lawler.
- He was a big deal and still is.
- I could just see myself standing up there and all those
People saying, "look at that lawler.
He's great isn't he?"
- Jerry lawler was a cornerstone of wrestling.
He was one of the foundations that led us to where
We're going now.
- He beat everybody from andre the giant to ric flair
To hulk hogan.
He beat everybody.
- Lawler, you don't touch me.
I am from hollywood.
- The king of memphis who became
King of a lot more than that.
- The king himself.
- Get down on your hands and knees and kiss my feet.
- Jerry was one of the greatest villains in wrestling history.
- He was the voice of the attitude era.
- Oh, baby, we are live tonight on raw.
I look back on all the things that happened here and there.
All the coincidences, all the things that shouldn't
Have happened that did happen to get me where I am today.
I've never thought about quitting,
It's just a way of life to me.
[crowd chants "jerry"]
[engine running]
♪♪
- Without a doubt, my favorite piece of memorabilia
Is my batmobile.
I mean, that's my coolest piece that I own anywhere.
I realized that I have the peter pan syndrome.
I've never grown up, and I really don't want to.
I was born in memphis, tennessee, November 29th, 1949.
My childhood was like watching leave it to beaver.
Had an older brother, my dad went to work every day,
A stay-at-home mom.
It was just a great time.
We are in what I refer to sometimes as my bat cave.
Most people call it a man cave.
- This is all stuff that really meant something
To me from my childhood.
As a kid growing up, moved to a little town right
Outside of cleveland with my parents and became
A huge cleveland sports fan.
I was right at the age, I was in my teen years
When beatlemania hit.
Still I wear a superman ring instead of my wwe hall of fame
Ring because at five years old, I became a unbelievable
Superhero fan and that's when I first realized I could draw.
When it comes to art, I realized that it's a god-given
Talent that in all my life have really taken for granted.
I think in my first grade and the teacher wrote to my parents
And talked about what great artistic ability I had.
It was just something like I said, that just always came
Natural and I was always just shocked
That everybody couldn't draw.
I think the first time that my artwork got any real attention
Was when my dad and I were going to the live wrestling shows.
- This is lance russell from the memphis mid-south coliseum.
- Memphis wrestling, it was the biggest thing
That happened in the city.
- What a match this has been so far.
- The first time I watched wrestling was with my dad.
My dad actually worked as an usher and
That way we got free tickets.
When I was watching the wrestling,
I watched it really, really closely.
I watched the moves that the guys were doing and I would try
To think in my mind how you would emulate those things.
I remember I started to draw some pictures of the wrestlers.
Somebody said, "man, you ought to take some
Of those pictures and send them into the tv station
That airs wrestling every week."
- Jerry was 14 or 15 and he came to me by the mail.
He sent in some drawings on wrestling.
- Sure enough, about halfway through the show, he says
"dave, well, we have a young fan that sent in some pictures
To illustrate what took place."
- I would use it at tell people about what happened last week
Down at the auditorium.
- I thought, "man, it couldn't get any better than that,"
But it did, because a week later, I got a call
From lance russell himself.
And he said, "listen, everybody loved your artwork,
Maybe you could come over to the studio next week.
Show your artwork and everybody wants to see what you look like.
Plus, jackie fargo wants to check with you about having you
Do some artwork for his nightclub in memphis."
- Fabulous jackie fargo.
He was like the rock or john cena.
He was the top guy in the memphis
Territory at that time.
He and a guy named eddie bond owned a nightclub in memphis and
He wanted me to come to that nightclub and literally paint
Caricatures of he and eddie bond all over the inside of his club.
For the next few years, he would send me on errands and all of
This different kind of stuff, but I didn't mind.
I guess I still got to be around him, you know?
Being around jackie fargo, the huge celebrity that he was,
It just really turned my head.
Girls were going crazy and I'm looking around and look up
At him and I said, "now that is what I want to be.
Forget about being an artist."
- Oh.
- I'm thinking, "oh my gosh, I would love to get into this
Business as a wrestler."
But, I was just too embarrassed to say anything to jackie.
I mean, I would just think he was just looking at me
As just a punk kid that had some artistic ability.
At that time, I had heard that every Saturday night in
West memphis, arkansas, right across the bridge,
They have live wrestling matches.
Then I talked to the promoter and next thing you know,
I'm in the wrestling business.
Now, I'd never even been in a ring before,
I'm fixing to step into a ring, an actual wrestling ring
Without having any training.
I get tagged in, first time I'm in the ring now,
Man, he grabs me, runs across the ring
And he throws me out of the ring.
The next thing I know, I'm waking up.
I was like this, I'm waking up,
We're already back in the locker
Room and I said, "what happened?"
All I remember was hearing a a loud pop when
I got thrown out of the ring.
"yes, that was your head hitting the concrete floor.
You've been knocked out for about 5 minutes."
Stepping into that ring for the first time with people,
They're cheering for you, they're clapping their hands.
It was just something I had never experienced before
And I knew I wanted to do it again.
Jackie fargo hears about this and he gets upset.
He said, "kid, you don't want to
Do this, you're too good an artist.
Stick with art, don't mess with the wrestling."
I said, "jackie, please.
I just want to do it in memphis."
He said, "all right, kid.
If I stick my neck out to the promoters and tell them to book
You on tv, will you do the one match and then forget about it?
Go back to being an artist?"
I said, "I promise you, jackie, I will."
Of course, near 52 years later, I'm still doing it.
- Lawler from very, very early on was a star.
- All I cared about was being on tv and I just I loved it
If somebody would ever ask me for an autograph.
Even though I was only getting to wrestle once a week,
It was a great learning process.
- He was terrific at bumps, his basic wrestling knowledge
Was advanced for the experience that he had,
But what he did that really set him apart was that he
Connected with the fans.
- People related to him.
He was one of them.
Jerry lawler was different in the fact that he was real.
- It just came natural to me, and jerry jarrett started
Putting me higher up on the card until I reached
Main event status.
- Jackie fargo was getting older, and I was in need
As a booker, a promoter of a single wrestling star.
- I'm suddenly pushed into the limelight in a feud with
Jackie fargo, my mentor.
- He's a very tough opponent, and he's always competition
When you get in the ring.
- It was the program that passed the torch from fargo to lawler.
- And fargo taunting lawler.
- I said, "jackie fargo, you're a legend.
You're the best.
You've been the king of memphis wrestling for years,
But you're looking at the kid that's going to knock
You off your throne."
And somehow I won the match.
As I was going back to the dressing room,
There was a lot of young people.
They were patting me on the back and some were saying,
"hey, you're the king now.
You beat jackie fargo, you're the king."
The next morning, memphis tv, I come walking out with
The crown on, the robe on, and I was from that moment on,
The king of memphis.
- Little surprise that you didn't elaborate
On all of your talents.
I was positive that he would tell you in addition to being
The greatest athlete and wrestler in the world today.
In addition to that, he is a brilliant artist.
He is an outstanding businessman,
A connoisseur of all fine foods and wine, and in addition
To that, just a general all-around fellow.
- Did I do it like you wrote it?
- Well, I don't think I'm a general all-around fellow,
But what's my opinion against millions of others, you know?
- Man, jerry came up the ranks really quick.
It didn't take him that long.
Maybe a year or so and all of a sudden, he was known
In all the different territories.
- Lawler, a man with enormous confidence.
- I was different from what they had had in the memphis
Territory in the past.
I was a different type of bad guy.
I was young, brash, outspoken.
He knows they want to see the king.
Do you think anybody would pay to come down and see a
Sawed off runt?
A bug-eyed bill dundee?
No, they come to see me, baby.
- He had this phenomenal ability to entertain.
Verbally, he could have you laughing one minute
And ready to kill him the next.
- Bill dundee was just like a big steak dinner, baby.
It's good when you eat it, but there comes a time to go to
The bathroom, and I just had to get rid of you, dundee, baby.
You're low down.
You're a back fighter.
You're a coward.
You're low, man.
That's all you are.
You're just lowbred.
- He was a natural.
He had one of the greatest mouths that I'd ever run into.
- Merry christmas, you rednecks.
He tried everything he could--
What are you looking at your watch for?
Don't be looking at your watch when I'm out here, you goof.
These people tune in to see me.
These people tune in to hear me tell what I'm going to be doing
To people like bockwinkel.
- Lawler comes back at it. Look out.
- When I first started in memphis, I was a heel and then
I became so popular as being a heel, I became a babyface.
- The screams of the many people who have come out to support
The king of wrestling.
- Jerry lawler was definitely the king of memphis.
He owned that town.
It was the same way.
Tupelo, louisville, fayetteville,
He was over everywhere.
- As my career was really, really just getting off
The ground, I had a girlfriend at the time, kay williams.
Went to the same high school and that sort of thing.
Before we knew it, she became pregnant.
So we immediately went down to florence, alabama, in front of
A justice of the peace, and she and I got married.
Nine months later, my first son is born, and then ten months
Later had another son.
During that time, I'm having to travel more, I'm away from home.
And it was just tough.
- He'd be gone, on the road and doing everything.
When it happens at such an early age, that's all you know.
- I justified it by saying,
"hey, I'm going to provide for them."
In a way by being successful as a wrestler,
But it took a full-time devotion to my career.
It cost me my marriage.
- They got divorced when I was about four years old.
You know, just the schedule, the lifestyle, it probably just
Didn't work out as far as on your time off wanting to have
The kids around and be the family-type guy you know?
- I sometimes look back and think, would it have been
A wise decision maybe at that time to maybe
Look for another career?
But I felt in my heart and in my mind that something was there,
That something was going to come out of this.
And just a couple of years later, I'm red hot, I'm on fire.
I didn't think I could get any higher in the wrestling
Business, but my next rivalry, my next feud took me
To the next level.
- Hello, mr. Lawler.
Jerry lawler, do you remember me?
I'm andy kaufman from hollywood.
- Andy kaufman was this legendary absurdist comedian.
He was somebody that became very famous for starring
On the sitcom taxi, which was huge, but also very famous
For getting just as much of a buzz out of getting somebody
To laugh as he did getting somebody to hate him.
[laughter]
- No, seriously, why everyone is going "boo"
When I tell some of the jokes.
Then when I don't want you to laugh, you're laughing.
Just trying to do my best to have some fun.
And if you don't like it, that's it, okay?
Thank you very much, and goodnight.
- He loved to never let the audience in on what was
A performance and what was real life.
And there is no art form on earth that does all of that
Better than professional wrestling.
- As we said, one of the rising superstars
In the world of comedy.
Welcome to madison square garden, andy.
- Hi, how are you?
Thank you.
- Wrestling here tonight and especially most exciting,
You do wrestling on your own, as matter of fact,
But generally, with the ladies.
- Andy, had been wrestling women on tv and in different nightclub
Performances, but it wasn't really being
Accepted the way he wanted it to.
He wanted to wrestle in front of wrestling fans,
In front of people that would actually come to see wrestling.
- That's right. That's right.
I just don't think that it's possible for a woman
To beat a man in wrestling.
- He was backstage at madison square garden a lot.
He said, "I'd love to wrestle here in
Madison square garden," and all that.
Later on in the evening, I saw vince mcmahon
And I mentioned this, vince senior, and he said,
"nice boy and all this, but we don't do comedy here."
- Andy, the best of luck to you against diana nyad
Or whomever it may be.
- I said, "you know what?
I have a friend in memphis, tennessee."
I said, "do you know who jerry lawler is?"
- The next day I get a call from andy kaufman.
He introduces himself, and he tells me that
Whole story, that he wanted to live out his fantasy of being
A bad guy wrestler.
So, I said, "andy, come on down.
- Okay, now just be quiet. We'd love to have you in memphis."
♪♪
- I will pay $1000 to any woman that will beat me in this ring.
- Now, andy kaufman came down to memphis just to live out his
Fantasy of being a bad guy wrestler.
- Two, three, he got her.
- I'm going to send you back in the kitchen where you belong
And have you scrubbing the potatoes and washing the carrots
[whining noises]
Because that's where you belong, ladies.
- Had legit wrestling matches.
He had never seen them before.
We had never seen these women before.
- And kaufman on top going for a pin.
One, two, three and that's it.
[bell rings]
- The people hated it.
They wanted to see andy get his comeuppance.
I mean, we sold out 11,500 people that night.
We talked andy into coming back to memphis and
That's how it all got started.
He said, "I didn't like being called a comedian.
I've never told a joke in my life."
He said, "I was a performance artist and in my performances,
I would rather make people not like me or be uncomfortable
Than for them to like me."
That was the wrestling influence on him.
- I just thought he was misguided, terribly.
- He's a real nerd, a real jerk.
- I said, "andy, you've gone just about as
Far as you can go wrestling women."
I said, "it's time for you to have a match against a man."
- I will sue, lawler, I will sue you.
You don't touch me. I am from hollywood.
I'll get hollywood against you, baby.
I'll sue you, baby.
Lawler.
- The match was set mid-south coliseum.
Once again, turnaway crowd,
Couldn't get him in the building.
- Opposite the ring, but not for long.
Look at him.
He's outside, running away.
Andy, he doesn't want any part of it.
- We really had I felt short-changed the people
In so much as a match.
There was really no match to speak of.
The only involvement was he finally grabbed a headlock.
I immediately picked him up, dropped him with a back suplex.
- And he slammed kaufman.
- And then the piledriver.
- Bang, goes kaufman.
[bell rings]
- It's going to be a disqualification.
- People were going crazy.
They loved what they saw.
[ambulance siren]
- The amazing thing was, I'm thinking in my mind,
"I don't think I hurt andy kaufman."
I know he certainly didn't need an ambulance.
He was staying in character.
He stayed in the hospital in traction for three days.
- I've just been out under this macho delusion
For the last few years.
It was building up to the point where I could actually seriously
Think that I could beat jerry lawler in a wrestling match.
- It made headlines all over the world.
So, the fallout was it became
Bigger than just professional wrestling.
- Then one week out of the blue, andy calls me up and he says,
"hey, you want to be on the david letterman show?"
- There are a lot of people watching who probably view
Wrestling as being a show, a display, a demonstration,
And this maybe as the pinnacle representation of that.
Was this thing fixed or rigged?
Are you guys really friends?
Was it a scam?
- No, not at all.
I couldn't warm up to this guy if we were cremated together.
[laughter]
- He is a wimp.
That's exactly what he thought.
That's what he thought about wrestling.
He thinks it's all a big joke, a big fix or whatever.
And you're right.
There are a lot of people that think that.
- And you're a redneck.
You're just trying to prove a point because I was a yankee.
I heard this from so many people in memphis.
I was going down there because you believed all that stuff
That I was saying.
- There are a lot of people that think that, david.
He was one of them.
On the morning of the taping of the show, they said,
"they would like for you guys to be a little bit antagonistic.
Not too much, just a little bit.
Then andy will apologize to you for making fun of wrestling, and
Then you apologize to andy for hurting his neck, and then andy
Is going to get up and sing
What the world needs now is love, sweet love.
And I said, "okay."
We get back to the hotel and my hotel phone rings.
I pick it up.
It's andy kaufman.
He said, "did they tell you what they want us to do tonight?"
I said, "yes, they did.
What do you think?"
I will never forget how he said this, "wonder what would happen
If you just hauled off and slugged me?"
- My father said, my manager said,
They all said that I had a right.
I could have gotten a lawyer and I could have sued you
For what you did.
I didn't.
All I want is an apology.
Even you asked me last time I was on your show
If I was going to have a lawsuit.
- That's right, yes.
- I could have sued you.
I could have sued you for everything you're worth.
I didn't because I'm not that kind of a guy.
- What kind of a guy are you?
[laughter]
- I'll just be over here.
We're going to pause here for station identification, get the
Hoses out here.
[crowd applauds]
- This was the most famous guys in the world.
In the world, and jerry lawler just bitch slaps him right
In the middle of the show.
- As soon as that aired, my phone started ringing.
It was the new york post.
It was the new york times.
It was just like went all over the world immediately.
- Everybody was talking about it.
The whole nation was talking about it.
It made lawler a household name.
- This put me on a worldwide stage.
- From memphis, tennessee.
Ladies and gentlemen, jerry "the king" lawler.
- After the david letterman show aired,
It was a bombardment of attention.
Now it's the mid-'80s and along came cable television.
This was the evolution of the wrestling industry.
Most of the territories, their top wrestlers
Went to either work for
Vince mcmahon in wwe or they went to atlanta
And they worked for ted turner in wcw.
I didn't want to go to the wwe because then I knew
Our territory would fall by the wayside because
I was the biggest star at the time.
And the reason I didn't want to go is because I was part owner.
I didn't want to lose my part of the business that
I was a partner in, so I stayed.
- And if you think it's not going to be a struggle to take
It away from me, you got another thing coming.
We were able to last longer than almost any other promotion.
Almost everybody had fallen by the wayside except
Our memphis territory.
And vince and wwe kept contacting us.
I think they saw, "well, you know what?
We need a territory like this that we can bring
In young guys and train them.
This could be a developmental territory."
We were the very first developmental territory
For the wwe.
They would send guys down to us that turned
Out to be huge superstars.
Guys like kurt angle came down to memphis.
The rock.
Oh my gosh, the rock came to memphis, had his first matches
Right here in memphis, tennessee.
Then later on, wwe and vince mcmahon
Said, "look, king, we want you to come
And work for us.
We'll help keep your territory going down there in memphis."
And so, that's where the relationship
Started with the wwe.
- At this time, it is my pleasure to introduce
The king himself, jerry "the king" lawler.
- Well, well, well, my goodness.
Mr. Lawler, what brings you to the wwe?
- First of all, let me thank my good friend, bobby heenan,
For that introduction.
He's been a loyal subject of mine for years.
Let me tell you, you don't have to refer to me as mr. Lawler.
King will suffice nicely.
- When I made my debut in wwe, it was the same character that
I had the crown, I had the robe, I went in as a heel.
That's always been my forte.
- You are, without a doubt, the most repulsive bunch of peons.
- Jerry really fit in because jerry was quick on the
One-liners that made people want to just kill him.
You people are so ugly.
I bet when you look in the mirror,
Your reflections throw up.
- Jerry lawler's as corny as it gets from that era, but he was
So funny that it made him cool at the same time
In a way you know?
- Bret "the hitman" hart.
- There he is.
- Hi, boy.
How are you?
- Hey, look.
- Look, I'm up here with your parents.
- It's jerry lawler.
- Oh, no.
- Why don't you put your false teeth in back
Or eat yourself to death?
[laughs]
- As a credit to jerry, jerry was one of the greatest
Villains in wrestling history.
He had a real genius for being against the good guy.
- Oh my gosh, what a cheap shot.
Oh, god.
- Oh.
- When jerry lawler went out, they were going to cheer for me.
For sure, they hated jerry lawler.
- He's going to make jerry lawler kiss
His own stinking foot.
Look, look, look, look, look.
Unbelievable.
- Whether it was with bret hart, whether it was with "rowdy"
Roddy piper, no matter who he had a match with, everything
That they did with him up there was bigger than life.
- All right, we're back, ladies and gentlemen.
We have more action for you momentarily at this time.
Obviously, conspicuous by his absence,
Is the "macho man" randy savage.
- At this time, randy "macho man" savage was doing the color
Commentary with vince on Monday nights, but then he had jumped
Ship without telling anybody.
He was on wcw.
- Randy savage is here tonight, live.
- And vince, he just looked around the room, looked at me,
And said, "king, would you do
Color commentary with me tonight?"
- We're back, ladies and gentlemen,
For more Monday night raw.
Are you really missing a jewel there?
- Yes, I am.
I want to know who's going to pay for it or
Who's going to replace it.
- There's a green hair there.
- Give me that burger king-- take that burger king crown off.
- I think he realized that jerry had a gift for gab.
He fit in that role so well because he knew so much
About the wrestling business.
But then when you least expected,
He was able to hit you with a one-liner.
- You're a coward, aren't you?
- What?
You have the audacity to say something like that to my face,
Mcmahon?
- Wait, I just made--
- You want me to slap your toupee off?
I will you know.
- Then went from vince mcmahon being my broadcast
Partner, then good old jr.
- I got to tell you, fans, it is great to be back
In the saddle.
- Well, jim ross, I must say, it's good to see you back,
Especially after seeing you're front.
[laughs]
- Now we're at a point in time when wrestling is on fire.
Well, we're about to see the most electrifying move in
Sports entertainment.
I'm the voice of Monday night wrestling,
And it's the most-watched thing on television.
- We are live tonight here on pay-per-view here
At madison square garden.
- The end of the road is in sight, and there's
Going to be a collision.
It's fixing to happen in just a few short minutes.
So now, I'm at the commentary desk like almost full-time.
I was there for, gosh, the dawning of the attitude era.
I remember when, of course, doing the commentary for
"stone cold" steve austin showing up and
Becoming the biggest star in the company.
- It's a damn good thing he ain't here tonight,
Because I damn sure would dump him flat on his head.
- Then the rock coming in.
- Do you know what the rock did?
The rock kicked him between his legs and it felt like
The rock was kicking a damn pillow.
- Well, I've said this before, and I'll say it again.
I never really liked the commentary.
I never really liked it as much as I liked wrestling.
A lot of people just don't realize
That the commentary is tough.
The commentators, they got to sit up there
And try to be entertaining for the entire 3 hours.
I would much rather go out there and do a wrestling match for ten
Minutes rather than being there under that scrutiny, under that
Pressure of trying to entertain people for three straight hours.
One of the questions I get asked a lot about my commentary is
Like people will remember the jokes or the insults and that
Sort of stuff, and they'll ask me,
"is that just off the top of your head?"
And that's when I tell them, "of course, it was, you know?"
But in reality, I did a lot of preparation for that.
I have reference books, joke books, insult books,
But this is actually "stone cold" steve austin's blood.
If I'm not mistaken, I think it was triple h that came over and
Slammed stone cold's head, it was covered with blood into my
Notes and I'd be going over my jokes and see who's coming up
Next and getting ready to insult the next person.
This is just things that I would say to jr.
Jr, I read so much
About sex being bad for you, so I finally gave up reading.
You heard of an idiot savant?
He's that without the savant.
You knwo,that was just like I said, I didn't take it serious.
I was just having a good time out there.
- The attitude era was a really unique time for wwe because
Of the sheer amount of eyeballs that were on the product
Every single week.
Every single week, it would be jerry lawler's voice
That was painting the picture of everything that you were seeing.
It really made him the voice of the attitude era.
- I'd suggest we get out of the way jr. Triple h.
Look out.
Good god, almighty.
I told you.
For gosh sakes, they're 70-something years old.
I saw them getting checked by the doctors in the back
And moolah's birth certificate was in hieroglyphics.
Up in the air.
She got her.
- Lawler as a commentator, was the perfect guy.
He was so entertaining.
Plus it was the attitude era.
There weren't restrictions on language, there weren't
Restrictions on what he could say.
- It's very edgy, it's very adult-oriented now,
And it's become very sexy.
And every time a beautiful diva would come up walking down,
I'd say, "hey, jr. Look, puppies."
- He was the epitome of not having a filter.
If he saw it and thought it, he said it.
- Oh, look at lita.
She's got the puppies in the net.
Woohoo.
- If you want to try to put a positive spin on it, at least
Jerry was always excited when we came to the ring.
- One of the women heavily involved in the attitude era and
All the sexy scenes was stacy carter, better known as the kat.
She and I had actually been together in a relationship
For almost 10 years.
I could go a little bit further because at that time,
Now I was married to her.
Yeah.
Merry christmas.
Woohoo.
- Oh my god.
- Actually, for the women's segments, especially the ones
That I was obviously a part of, him being involved in it made
It easier for me.
- There you go, king.
Thank you, kat.
- He made it seem so easy to be on camera,
So you'd have to relax about it.
- Then one day, out of the blue, they called me in and said,
Vince wants to give stacy her release.
Well, if they're going to release stacy,
I'm going to have to go with her.
I'll never forget, vince stuck his hand out and said,
"well, king, nice working with you.
Thank you for everything you've done for us."
I was there for 10 years.
And so just like that, me and stacy were gone from the wwe.
- I'm joined by paul heyman.
- You're joined by paul heyman because last Tuesday
Night, the kat was released by the wwe and her husband
Jerry "the king" lawler, to his credit,
Walked down right alongside with her.
- It was really difficult.
Then it just ended up being about him quitting
And not about me being fired.
It was just really hard for me.
- That lasted for-- it was about a year that went by.
In the meantime, stacy and I got a divorce.
Then I got a call from the wwe saying,
"hey, we'd like you to come back."
The next few years of my life, my career, I'm still wrestling.
- Jerry "the king" lawler has won this matchup.
- I'm doing the commentary every single week.
I'm in my 60s and still going strong.
2010, I get my first ever wwe title match and almost
Became the wwe champion.
- Going to head to the top.
No, miz through the table.
- In 2011, I'm wrestling at wrestlemania in front of
Like 100,000 people.
It's crazy.
- Oh.
The first wrestlemania for the king.
His first wrestlemania dropkick.
- Jerry always will be that kid that's living his dream.
I don't think jerry wants to grow up, and why should he?
- I'm thinking, what could possibly go wrong?
Then along comes 2012.
- Jerry, jerry.
Talk to me, jerry.
Jerry, talk to us. Jerry, talk to us.
- Oh yes.
Welcome to Monday night raw live tonight in montreal.
- So, now it's September 10th, 2012.
Big night.
It was one of those nights where I'm going to have to come up out
Of my commentary spot to actually wrestle in a match.
- Lawler, going to orton's aid
And king with a dropkick.
- We won the match.
So, I go right from the ring down to the commentary desk,
Put my jacket back on, and michael cole and I
Start doing commentary again.
- Hello, back at ringside, I'm once again joined by
Jerry "the king" lawler.
Congratulations are in order after your victory moments ago.
- Well, thank you.
Let's hand it to randy orton.
He was the victor in that match.
- It's a two-man booth, and I was watching my monitor to my
Right and jerry was on my left, and there was
A match in the ring.
And all of a sudden I heard snoring--
[snoring]
And I thought jerry, being jerry,
Was making fun of the match.
I thought it was jerry saying, "this match is boring.
I'm falling asleep on the air."
I looked over at jerry and he faceplanted right on the
Announce table,
[snoring]
And his mouth is quivering and he turned blue
I hit my mute switch and I screamed,
"doc, get over here. Something's wrong with jerry."
- Jerry.
Jerry, talk to me buddy, jerry.
Jerry, talk to me.
Jerry.
Jerry, at this point, I realized he's having a heart attack.
They give him cpr.
They're dragging emts in there.
They drag him out on the stretcher.
[crowd chants "jerry"]
- I was in the arena, for all this, I saw it happen.
It was really scary because I think everybody knew,
"oh, he's probably having a heart attack."
And you just kind of assume the worst
When stuff like that happens you know?
- I don't think I was aware of what was happening because
All of a sudden my phone is blowing up you know?
And I'm looking at all these messages of
These people asking, "hey, what happened?
What's going on?
Is this part of the show?"
I didn't know what people were talking about.
- Apparently, I had a cardiac arrest,
Which means your heart just stops.
When they put me in the ambulance and taken me
To the hospital, everybody thought I was dead.
- My broadcast colleague, jerry "the king" lawler,
Passed out while working here at ringside.
He has been taken to a local hospital.
Jerry, my friend, my prayers are with you.
Beat this thing.
Get them, king.
Good night, everybody.
- It's a crazy situation.
Probably the scariest thing I ever had to experience.
- I didn't have a long stay in the hospital.
When I got back to memphis, there was this huge poster that
A radio station had put up a huge sign, like a welcome home
Sign that had been signed by thousands of people.
And it was humbling to realize that there are that
Many people out there that care for you.
- Only the king would make a comeback like that.
That's a freaking egotistical babyface, isn't it?
To die on air and make a comeback?
[laughs]
- Ladies and gentlemen, many of us thought
This night might never come.
But without any further ado, please join me and the
Wwe universe in welcoming back wwe hall of famer and my friend,
Jerry "the king"lawler.
[crowd cheers]
♪♪
- From the bottom of my heart, I appreciate it.
I love each and every one of you.
Thank you all so much.
And it's great to be back.
I tried to, in my mind, play it down.
I've tried to say, "hey, there's nothing wrong with me."
It was just that blunt trauma that happens once in a lifetime
That stopped my heart.
It wasn't because I'm out of shape or shouldn't be
Doing this anymore.
So, I just looked at it from that standpoint and
I just kept going.
- He was my last match on the indies before I came to the wwe.
And it's funny because it was after his heart attack.
And I don't remember in the match, even thinking about it
To see how good he's doing and that he kept wrestling after.
It's pretty incredible when you think back in that moment
And how that felt.
- Belive it or not, when you do something for so long,
It's really hard to put it behind you.
It's all you know.
- Wrestling has been my life.
From the time I became an adult, you know,
I've had several marriages,
Several relationships that all meant a lot to me
But they sort of came and went.
But the wrestling was the constant.
When I asked myself, "why do you continue on?"
And I just think, "what else would I do
If I'm not a wrestler?"
[crowd applauds]
The legend, "the king" jerry lawler.
[crowd cheers]
- Wow.
How many people could say they've had
A 50-year anniversary?
You know, not a lot.
Like I said, he's one of a kind.
- A 50-year career means you're hooked,
You got it in your blood.
[bell ringing]
There's no way out for you.
This is your destiny.
- I think the secret to jerry lawler's success is that he
Loves being jerry "the king" lawler.
He was a big deal and still is.
- I don't think jerry wants to grow up.
Why should he?
He's enjoying life.
He's getting through life the same way he's made
A ton of freaking money.
He's this incredibly legendary historical figure.
And he doesn't want to grow up.
I hope he doesn't.
- I've never met an individual who is constantly happy,
Who constantly has fun, who loves this business as a
Promoter, as a worker, as a babyface, as a heel,
As an announcer, as an entertainer.
He's going to go down as one of the greatest of all time.
- I mean you know, it's one of those things
That never gets old.
I still have as much fun in there tonight as
I did back in 1970.
I think that as long as I still have that train of thought,
I don't see any reason to stop.