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"The King" Jerry Lawler's Crown Jewel Is "WrestleMania" Gig

Posted: Mar 31st 2011 By: CMBurnham

The pro wrestler nicknamed "The King" is about to enjoy the crowning moment of his illustrious 41-year career:

Performing in a match at "Wrestlemania."

Since 1992, Jerry Lawler has worked as a World Wrestling Entertainment announcer with occasional forays into the ring. But he never was given the opportunity to grapple on the company's annual pay-per-view spectacular.

Until now.

Lawler will wrestle Sunday against fellow announcer Michael Cole at "Wrestlemania 27" in Atlanta. Not only is the bout the culmination of a well-promoted feud between the two, Lawler will also be fulfilling a goal that he thought could no longer be reached.

"I had pretty much given up hope," Lawler said Tuesday in a telephone interview. "Every single year it just seemed like something else would come up. I'd get pushed to the backburner or it just wasn't remembered (by WWE owner Vince McMahon). When 2009 and 2010 came and went with nothing there, I wasn't really expecting anything just because it was a situation where I thought the age thing was going to play a big factor."

Then again, there are few 61-year-olds in the same physical shape as Lawler.

For his birthday last November, Lawler was given a WWE title match against champion Mike "The Miz" Mizanin on "Monday Night Raw" (9 p.m. EDT, USA Network). The bout received such a positive response -- even from the notoriously critical live crowd in Philadelphia -- that Lawler's feud with Mizanin was extended. Cole and his ringside second, Jack Swagger, were then worked into the mix through snide remarks and pot shots about The King.

Lawler said the pre-bout storyline is reminiscent of his legendary Memphis feud with the late comedian, Andy Kaufman, in 1982. Kaufman viciously insulted Lawler and pro wrestling to the extent that few fans knew the two were actually in cahoots behind the scenes. The match between the two ended with Kaufman being taken out on a stretcher and "hospitalized" following a series of Lawler pile drivers.

Lawler said that experience has helped him in promoting the grudge with a non-wrestler like Cole.

"This is reminiscent of the Andy situation because once again I'm with a guy who's not a wrestler," said Lawler, who was in the 1999 Kaufman biopic "Man on the Moon." "This is a guy who's 150 pounds soaking wet and has never been in the ring before.

"Combine that with the intensity that we've gotten with this. People love to see guys wrestle for the (world) title and matches with different stipulations. But what has always meant the most to fans is when there's some personal issue. I don't think a lot of fans can relate to what it would be like to (personally) win a WWE championship. But they can certainly relate to how they would feel about another guy -- no matter who it was -- who said something bad about their deceased parent."

The February passing of Lawler's 90-year-old mother, Hazel, was worked into the Cole feud by WWE scriptwriters. Lawler said some of the comments "pushed the envelope but nothing derogatory was said (about her). That's why I was OK with it."

Asked if she would have approved, Lawler said, "Probably not, but I don't mean that in a bad way. My mom was never a wrestling fan. She worked for us for 20 years at the (Memphis) wrestling company, but all she did was sold advance tickets for us. She never stayed for the matches. She couldn't stand watching me wrestle. It made her too nervous. No matter what age, I was always her baby. She was worried about her son getting hurt."

The fact that Lawler has managed to avoid serious injury -- "dumb luck," he calls it -- even when wrestling a handful of matches a week for almost 20 years in the Memphis territory has allowed him to remain a solid performer. So has a lifestyle that never included drugs or alcohol.
That's also why Lawler doesn't regard his match with Cole as putting him on the road to retirement.

"I think the reason I've lasted as long as I have is that I never looked at things like winning a title or having certain kinds of matches as accomplishments," said Lawler, who continues to wrestle for independent promotions when not working for WWE. "I had that attitude about this business from the get-go. I'm getting paid to do something I enjoy. As long as people still want to come see me do it, I want to continue."

Lawler does acknowledge that he may never wrestle in front of such a large crowd again. As many as 75,000 fans are expected inside the Georgia Dome, which he admits creates "tremendous pressure, but, by the same token, is also a great feeling."

Cole is in an even tougher position, having to make his in-ring debut under such a grandiose environment. But just like Kaufman, Lawler expects Cole will deliver on his end.

"All I know is when I hit him, he's going down one way or the other whether he knows how to fall or not. In that respect, I don't think there's any way he can screw up."

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin will serve as guest referee for the Lawler-Cole match. Other top bouts include Triple H vs. The Undertaker and The Miz vs. John Cena with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson involved in some fashion. For more information, visit wwe.com.

"Wrestlemania 27" isn't the only grappling in Atlanta this weekend. Ring of Honor is offering a $19.95 two-for-one special for Internet pay-per-view shows Friday and Saturday night on gofightlive.tv. For more information, visit www.rohwrestling.com.

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