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Countdown To WrestleMania: Sometimes Reality Is Blurred

Posted: Feb 11th 2008 By: CMBurnham

Their feud is still one of the most memorable in wrestling history: big, bad Jerry "The King" Lawler versus quirky comic Andy Kaufman.

It really was no contest when the two finally wrestled each other in 1982, after Kaufman dubbed himself the "intergender champion" and egged on Lawler for months. Lawler used his pile driver to shut up Kaufman, but that was only the beginning.

When the two appeared on Late Night with David Letterman to apologize to each other, things went downhill quickly. Lawler slapped Kaufman so hard, the comic fell out of his chair. In response, Kaufman unleashed a stream of obscenities, then threw coffee on Lawler.

It made for great television. The country wondered whether what they saw was real or fake.

There are many more stories like this one, stories that help explain some of the myths and truths of professional wrestling. If you are a wrestling fan, you have probably wondered if feuds like the one between Lawler and Kaufman continue outside the ring.

Or maybe you have wondered if wrestlers get hurt, considering what they do is scripted. Is that real blood pouring from their foreheads? What is up with those nicknames and costumes?

Most people believed Kaufman and Lawler hated each other. When Letterman asked them to appear on his show, the plan was to apologize and sing, "What the World Needs Now." Kaufman hated the idea and called Lawler in his hotel room just before taping to tell him they needed to make the segment into a fight.

Lawler reluctantly went along. When he slapped Kaufman, Letterman was stunned. He had no idea what they were doing. Neither did the producers or the studio audience. Kaufman played it to the hilt, screaming and yelling and walking off the set. After going to a commercial, the crowd started booing Lawler.

Then Kaufman came back on set for his final hurrah, sending the audience into a frenzy.

When the show finally aired, their feud went national. Newspapers from around the metropolitan area started calling Lawler for comment, including TheNew York Times. They had to keep up the charade -- even though the two were actually close friends.

"That was really the defining moment in my career," Lawler said. "I was talking with a guy and he was saying, 'That may have been the most famous wrestling match in history. What other match can you think of that people still ask you about?' I really couldn't think of another match."

When it came time to recreate the Letterman scene for the 1999 Kaufman biopic Man on the Moon, Lawler was ready. Only Jim Carrey, the actor portraying Kaufman, thought the two hated each other. Carrey, a method actor, always was in character on set. So he treated Lawler horribly, as he probably imagined Kaufman did.

"Jim Carrey was such a jerk, I slapped him twice as hard as I slapped Andy on Letterman," Lawler said. "Carrey said, 'I hope you got that with one take because I can't do that one again.'"

Generally, most wrestlers have good relationships with each other outside the ring, though it is difficult to say whether everyone is friends. There is too much competition between them to form strong bonds. Certainly they all respect one another, but at the same time, each performer is looking to become the next star -- and that might mean stepping on people in their way.

It also might mean putting together some rather dangerous moves inside the ring. Now more than ever, guys are performing more daring feats. Sometimes those moves lead to major injuries. Just because the wrestling is scripted doesn't mean it feels great to get hit with a chair or get tossed to the cement floor -- though they are not being hit at full force. Guys tear knee ligaments, injure their backs and sustain concussions all the time.

"I know guys on their second or third hips. It takes a big toll on the body," said John Sutton, better known as the longtime manager Sir Oliver Humperdink. "Some of the holds, getting whacked with a chair, all that stuff hurts, believe me. While the outcome may be predetermined, you could hurt yourself quite badly. The human body is not designed to take that kind of abuse."

The blood that you sometimes see gushing from the forehead is real -- though it is not necessarily the result of any wrestling move. Wrestlers cut themselves intentionally with little blades they hide between their taped fingers, slicing their hairline to produce the greatest effect. The blood mixes with sweat, creating a nasty scene. If you saw a wrestler with tape on his fingers or hands, there was a good chance you would see a "crimson mask."

The practice, known as blading, was much more common in the early days of wrestling until the early 1980s. Nowadays, blading happens on occasion in a televised match and more often on pay-per-view but the practice isn't used as much for several reasons, among them an increased awareness of the transmission of AIDS has made blading more dangerous.

As for the nicknames and costumes, most of the current WWE wrestlers have had their personas created for them. But in the past, many guys came up with their own gimmicks. Bob Remus, who went on to become Sgt. Slaughter, started his career with long, bleached blond hair and tie-dyed shirts because he admired "Superstar"Billy Graham.

Once people started making fun of him for being too "girly," he took on a macho look as Bruiser Bob, chopping off his hair and dying it back to its normal color. After a few years, he got the inspiration to become Sgt. Slaughter while watching a movie about a drill sergeant.

The idea intrigued him. He went into his closet and found his old combat boots, camouflage, whistle and hat. Remus went to the regional wrestling office to show his new persona to the promoter, and he loved it. Sgt. Slaughter was born in 1976 as a "heel" who called people maggots and barked orders.

But he eventually became beloved in the 1980s after he signed with the then-WWF and became an American hero, facing off against the Iron Sheik, an Iranian heel who rose to infamy during the time of the Iranian hostage crisis.

"It was so gratifying," Remus said. "I would get sacks and sacks of mail every week from people who were in the service or loved America. I went from being the most hated wrestler of all time to the most popular, all of a sudden it was Sergeant for president. It was an amazing transition from being the bad guy to the good guy, a lot more responsibility."

Incidentally, Remus said he and Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri, who was the Iron Sheik (and later an associate of his named Col. Mustafa), never got along outside the ring.

"It got to be a real battle with him," Remus said. "I know he pulled a knife on me a couple of times in the locker room and wanted to slice me up. If we saw each other at airports, we stayed away from each other. We never had a real love for each other."

Maybe Remus is telling the truth. Or maybe he is continuing to perpetuate this myth. After all, wrestling can't give away all its secrets.

Tags: WWE, Jerry Lawler, Sgt. Slaughter