Jimmy Hart revisited the night a fan shot him with a homemade dart gun at a wrestling event.
He detailed the incident to Cody Rhodes on the latest episode of What Do You Wanna Talk About? Podcast. It happened after a six-man tag team match featuring himself, The Dream Machine (Troy Graham) and Handsome Jimmy (Jimmy Valiant) against Jerry Lawler, Jerry Jarrett and Dylan D. When he was being carried out after the match, he initially thought his tights were burnt but backstage learned he had been shot with a dart gun.
“I didn’t complain or get mad. I loved that when we had people (mad), you know, I got shot one time in Louisville. Everybody has, in the rump with a dart gun. A guy made a homemade dart, hit me right up. They, he got a cheap little straw from Wendy’s or McDonald’s or whatever building this big one made at home, took a little needle, like threading needle, put it in there, put a little thing on it and went as I was coming out because they had me draped over Handsome Jimmy’s shoulder.”
“It was a six man tag. It was like Jerry Lawler, Jerry Jarrett and Dylan D against me, the Dream Machine and Handsome Jimmy. And I’m leaning over the back. They carried me out. Of course I got beat right. So I’m leaning over the back and all of a sudden I’m going, ‘Oh God’. And I thought, ‘man, I hope nobody burnt my tights’ because we didn’t make a lot of money back then. And so I got back. I went, ‘Oh my, I hope my tights aren’t burnt.’ They go no, look, they went ‘whoa’ And I went ‘what is it?’ They go, ‘look, it’s a dart’. And I went ‘Oh my God,’. Then Miss Jarrett ran, she goes ‘you’ve got to go get a tetanus shot.'”
“I went ‘Oh my God, it’s going to take my whole payoff to go get a tetanus shot’, you know, but I went and got a tetanus shot.I didn’t have anything, thank goodness, but that’s what happened.”
Hart stated he does not hold any grudges over the incident and believes fan backlash comes with varied portrayals in wrestling.
“I don’t really get mad about it because we get the people upset over it and then we get mad because they get upset with those. It didn’t make any sense, right?”
Jerry Lawler said he still has one more match in him.
The 76-year-old was featured in a recent segment on Action News 5 in Memphis, promoting a special edition of Memphis Wrestling titled Christmas with the King, which will air on the channel on Thursday, December 25.
The segment mentioned Lawler’s recent health challenges, including a stroke he suffered in September. When asked how he’s feeling on a scale of 1 to 10, Lawler responded that he’s about a six or a seven.
“Something I saw on the news recently is people say six or seven,” Lawler joked, referencing a recent viral trend. “I get up to seven and something happens, I go back to six.”
Lawler also revealed during the interview that he is now color-blind as a result of his most recent stroke. The segment featured Lawler taking the crew on a tour of some of his artwork, when he noted that it all looks black and white to him.
“Because I’m color blind and I can’t see the colors,” Lawler said.
He also addressed a possible return to the ring, saying it’s something he still thinks about.
“I have not put it out of my mind. We have one more match in there somewhere,” Lawler said.
The one-hour Memphis Wrestling: Christmas with the King special will air on WMC-TV 5 beginning at 11 a.m. on Thursday. Lawler’s full interview with Action News 5 is available below.
– The weekend schedule is that Garrett Gonzales and I will be doing a show this afternoon talking the news of the week, talking about this weekend’s events, Mick Foley and taking questions. Our weekend show will be Saturday Night with Bryan Alvarez talking Saturday Night’s Main Event, Smackdown, Bandido vs. Mascara Dorada on Collision, and the rest of the news.
– The new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter is up on the site right now:
Major Hall of Fame article covering the Mexico and Japanese ballot. We go into detail on the likes of Zack Sabre Jr., Iyo Sky, Inoki & Sakaguchi, Yoshihiro Takayama, Angel Blanco & Dr. Wagner, Dorrell Dixon, El Dandy, Volador Jr., Sangre Chicana and others.
A look at Saturday Night’s Main Event and favorites.
The eye poke and crazy reaction to the Tom Aspinall vs Cyril Gane ending.
El Hijo del Santo will retire on the same night as John Cena and historical notes regarding his last shows.
A look at the wrestling career of Mike Rotunda, from star high school and college athlete to success with a number of different gimmicks.
Full coverage of NXT Halloween Havoc.
How WWE continues to change AAA and the phenomenon that is Dominik Mysterio in Mexico
The most detailed look at the ratings over the past week, how the new data has done a number on wrestling, Braun Strowman, World Series and an NFL rating that makes seven less sense than pro wrestling numbers
Women’s Grand Prix draws the largest crowd of the week
Lots of big matches and angles in a major week for CMLL
The New Japan Super Juniors tag team tournament
Iyo Sky vs. Mayu Iwatani in Sumo Hall
Updates on many legends
UFC star elected to wrestling Hall of Fame
Legal action involving former wrestlers including her mother’s prior lawsuit against her daughter who now wants to be a wrestler
Some very interesting independent notes
RAF goes the route of using MMA names and family members as its attempt to draw in Chicago
AEW PPV update
How people watch AEW TV & PPVs based on a survey we are doing
Advance ticket sales for upcoming WWE & AEW shows
Gable Steveson fights Dirty Boxing
Tank Davis sued by former girlfriend
Brother of WWE & UFC head Ari Emanuel talked about as presidential candidate for 2028
The WWE WrestleMania ad
Andrade and his non-compete
– WWE is in Salt Lake City tonight for SmackDown. The only matches announced are Carmelo Hayes vs. Kit Wilson and Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax. It goes against the World Series, plus Halloween is traditionally a very bad night for wrestling on television. Don’t be surprised with a low number, although I don’t think it’ll be down by percentages as much as Halloween SmackDowns years in the past because the current audience does consist of a lot fewer trick or treaters and a far higher percentage of over 50 viewers. But the series could hurt it there. Other things announced are a Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre face-off which will be a contract signing, Jade Cargill explains her actions and interacts with Tiffany Stratton and Ilja Dragunov defends the U.S. title. There are about 7,000 tickets out. Salt Lake City has been a tough market for WWE. WWE asked fans to come in Halloween costumes tonight.
– Saturday will be Saturday Night’s Main Event, airing exclusively on Peacock in the U.S and YouTube outside the U.S. It’s Rhodes vs. McIntyre for the WWE title, CM Punk vs. Jey Uso for the vacant world title, Tiffany Stratton vs. Jade Cargill for the WWE women’s title and Dominik Mysterio vs. Rusev vs. Penta for the IC title. I think Punk vs. Jey may save the show from the hit it would take IF the series goes seven. AEW Collision has Mercedes Mone vs. Olympia for the CMLL women’s title and Bandido vs. Mascara Dorada for the ROH title. This was taped on Wednesday. People raved about the main event.
– The Best of the Super Juniors final night of B block is tomorrow morning with a 5 a.m show from Osaka. It comes down to this: A block winners and current jr. tag team champions Sho & Douki will face, most likely, the winner of tomorrow’s main event with Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita vs. Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X. Eagles & Fujita go to the finals with a win or a draw. If they lose, it becomes a three-way tie with those two teams and Kushida & Yuki Yoshioka, provided Kushida & Yoshioka beat El Desperado & Kuukai. If all that happens, all three teams are 4-2 and would be 1-1 against each other, meaning they’d need a playoff match. If Kushida & Yoshioka lose, then the tag match determines who goes to the finals which are Sunday morning at 4 a.m. Eastern from Gifu. That will be part of a show that includes Konosuke Takeshita defending the IWGP title against Hirooki Goto and Yota Tsuji defending the Global title against Hiroshi Tanahashi.
– Logan Paul was able to get himself removed from a class action lawsuit regarding CryptoZoo, a program that he promoted and a suit was filed for his involvement. His name was there on the grounds it was alleged he defrauded investors in a cryptocurrency game that never got off the ground. Judge Alan Albright on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Waco, TX, dismissed Paul as a defendant in the suit. A magistrate judge had ruled that the plaintiffs failed to present evidence that directly linked Paul to the losses suffered from the game previously as the judge this week backed up that ruling.
– Arena Mexico is sold out with 16,000 tickets sold for tonight’s Halloween show. The Sky team faces Hechicero & Volador Jr. & Barbaro Cavernario on top. The Rey del Inframundo title has Difunto defending in a four-way against the winners of Cibernetico matches in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Puebla, who are Adrenalina, Villano III Jr. and Guerrero Maya Jr, plus Titan & Esfinge & Xelhua vs. Averno & Mephisto & Euforia and India Sioux vs. Persephone.
Persephone replaces Diamante, who had to return to the U.S. and cut her tour early. The show is available in English on Triller PPV. These Sky Team main events have been pretty much guaranteed fantastic matches of late.
– While Soberano Jr. did an angle on Tuesday in Guadalajara with Atlantis Jr., he is not on this coming Tuesday’s show. He’s expected to be back from surgery on the 11/11 show.
– UFC tomorrow night from the Apex in Las Vegas with an ESPN+ exclusive show airing from 4-10 p.m. Eastern. That means the top fights go head-to-head with WWE on Peacock.
Talita Alencar (115) vs. Ariane Carnelossi (115.5)
Phil Rowe (171) vs. Seokhyon Ko (170)
Alice Ardelean (115.5) vs. Montserrat Ruiz (115)
Ketlen Vieira (136) vs. Norma Dumont (136)
Donte Johnson (184) vs. Sedriques Dumas (185.5)
Timmy Cuamba (136) vs. Chang Ho Lee (135.5)
Billy Elekana (205.5) vs. Kevin Christian (205)
Allan Nascimento (129.5) vs. Cody Durden (130)
Charles Radtke (171) vs. Daniel Funza (171)
Isaac Dulgarian (146) vs. Yaider del Valle (146)
Jeremiah Wells (170.5) vs. Themba Gorimbo (171)
Wado Cortes-Acosta (263) vs. Ante Delija (237)
Steve Garcia (145.5) vs. David Onama (146)
– Jerry Lawler will be appearing at the 11/23 taping of Memphis Wrestling. He will be doing photo-ops at the VIP experience. This will be a special Christmas TV taping for WMC-TV, which aired wrestling on Saturday mornings from 1977 to 1997, and at other points later, with Lawler as the biggest star. At its peak, it was one of the top five television shows in the market, beating NFL numbers.
– Gene Anderson died 34 years ago on this day at the age of 52. Moose Chokal died 23 years ago this day at the age of 72. 16-year-old Akihisa Mera, who was just in the news last week, had his first pro match 61 years ago today. You would know him better as the second and most famous Great Kabuki, with Gary Hart (thanks to Tony Richards).
– Tyler Breeze will be working for AIW on 11/28 at the Glove Iron in Cleveland. Nic Nemeth works the 12/27 show in Akron, OH at the Royal Palace.
– MCW is doing Autumn Armageddon shows tomorrow night in Hollywood, MD at the Volunteer Fire Department and Sunday in Dundalk, MD at the North Point Flea Market.
Wrestling legend Jerry “The King” Lawler is thanking everyone for the support they’ve shown him after his recent stroke.
After previously suffering strokes in 2018 and 2013, Lawler had a stroke on September 5 that has forced him to cancel upcoming convention bookings. Lawler tells Fox 13 in Memphis that the stroke was minor, though, and he’s feeling “pretty good” other than experiencing some difficulty with his vision.
“I remember lying in the bed in the hospital and when people that I knew, like family members, came in — and I didn’t even recognize them,” Lawler said. “People kept coming out of nowhere to thank me and to pray for me. All of that means such a great, great deal to me and I want to thank them for all that.”
Lawler, 75, said he now realizes that he wasn’t taking his medication in the days before suffering this stroke and is now going to be more diligent about that.
The stroke happened at Lawler’s home in Florida, but he’s since been given clearance to return to his primary home in Memphis. He will be taking the rest of September off to focus on his recovery.
In 2024, Lawler’s broadcast contract with WWE was not renewed. The “massive” stroke Lawler suffered in 2023 still impacts his daily life, with speech being one of the areas that was affected.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Lance Storm is back with tons to talk about including an update on Jerry Lawler, WWE in Saudi is official, Worlds Collide, Dynamite ratings up with matches announced, TKO property interested in buying WBD, FUN FRIDAY QUESTIONS, and tons more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
Memphis wrestling icon and WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler is recovering after suffering a stroke last week.
Lawler was supposed to travel to Cincinnati, Ohio this coming weekend for a convention booking, but it was announced that he would be unable to appear due to a personal matter. TMZ Sports has now confirmed the reason, with Lawler’s daughter telling the outlet that her father suffered a stroke on September 5.
“The good news is he’s already on the road to recovery,” TMZ Sports wrote about the situation. “Jerry’s daughter tells us he experienced the medical issue in Florida last Friday at one of his homes. Luckily, he says his daughter is taking him back to his primary residence, where he will rest up for a few more weeks before getting back to normal.”
Lawler previously suffered strokes in 2018 and 2023, with the latter being a massive stroke that has had lasting impacts on his speech and ability to write. Despite those issues and a 2024 knee replacement, Lawler told Bill Apter in an interview this March that he was feeling good physically. He was recently in attendance at Vince McMahon’s 80th birthday party.
HorrorHound 2025 was the convention Lawler was scheduled to be at this weekend. Organizers noted that Lawler hopes to make up the appearance in 2026.
Wrestling legend Jerry “The King” Lawler is set to miss some upcoming personal appearances due to an undisclosed health-related reason.
This coming weekend, Lawler was scheduled to be in Cincinnati, Ohio for HorrorHound 2025, but the convention has announced that Lawler will not be able to appear due to “personal matters.” Lex Luger has instead been booked as a replacement.
“We received word that, due to some personal matters, Jerry Lawler is unable to get to Cincinnati this weekend,” HorrorHound wrote. “His agent worked quickly to find a replacement; of which we are happy to reveal former WCW Champ and WWE HOF wrestler Lex Luger will now be in attendance. The King hopes to make up the appearance in 2026. We will keep everyone up to date with any news.”
PWInsider reports that Lawler canceled this appearance and some other upcoming convention bookings to “focus on some health issues.”
In 2023, Lawler suffered a stroke that still impacts his day-to-day life in terms of his speech and making it difficult to write. He also underwent a knee replacement in 2024.
“I feel great. I feel good, except my knees are a little bit under the weather,” Lawler told Sportskeeda WrestleBinge this March. “I had my right knee replaced about seven months ago — six or seven months ago. And they said it takes about a year to get that back to normal. And then my left knee needs to be replaced too, but I’m going to wait a while on that one.
“Well, that’s something that’s here constantly every day [the impact of his stroke]. I want to say gotten over — I haven’t gotten over [it] because the effects of the stroke, they’re always there. I mean, my whole right side of my body is damaged. I can’t really write too good. I can’t draw worth a darn, but I can still sign an autograph, thank goodness. But other than that, I feel fine.”
Full coverage of AEW Revolution, business numbers, what matches showed the most interest, match order, PPV buys, live numbers, what the PPV number means, Dynasty card and more
WrestleMania update, MSG angle with Reigns, Punk and Rollins, card and interest level of the show.
New Japan Cup update with notes on every tournament match
Full UFC 313 coverage, looking at the main event decision, what comes next, fight of the year candidate and business notes.
Lex Luger goes into the WWE Hall of Fame and notes about his life and career from the highs to the lows.
Latest update on the Vince McMahon/Janel Grant lawsuit
The classic Frank Deford story on the life of Mildred Burke
We look at “Queen of the Ring,” deciphering what was and wasn’t real about the movie, the facts regarding the career of Burke, the breakup with Billy Wolfe, the characters in the movie and how they were portrayed and Burke’s significance in the history of pro wrestling.
The most detailed look at the ratings of all the pro wrestling and MMA shows this past week, how they ranked for the week and for the night, competition, how Raw did on Netflix as well as how the other shows did worldwide.
A look at the all-women’s Friday night show at Arena Mexico.
More on the Stardom Tam Nakano angle.
Notes on a week with some of the best matches of the year.
Notes on Dark Side of the Ring for this coming season.
New books out on wrestling.
What pro wrestling legend is Gable Steveson attempting to tie the record of?
Hodge Trophy candidates
Forming boxing celebrity back doing pro wrestling.
Notes on Bruno Sammartino and others with Madison Square Garden longevity.
Full details on the 16 Carat gold tournament
WBD news story regarding sports and how this affects wrestling.
Notes on AEW booing.
Advance ticket sales for WWE & AEW
More notes on the 18-49 record low number for Dynamite on a Wednesday.
More on the Dana White/Nick Khan/Turki Alashikh boxing promotion and who is the person responsible for originally putting them together.
More on the next WWE & UFC media rights talks.
Notes on a time slot change for WWE & AEW shows over the next few weeks.
Idea being discussed for a WWE PPV show.
Netflix and how much WWE is worth to them and the key change coming.
Lots of backstage notes.
This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter Back Issue
Seemingly responding to speculation about her WrestleMania status after she was pulled from a scheduled appearance at WWE World during WrestleMania week, Alexa Bliss tweeted a gif from the show “Friends” that has the following caption: “I’m fine, okay? I’m great!”
In their top 50 countdown, WWE ranked Daniel Bryan vs. Triple H (WrestleMania 30) as the 28th greatest match in WrestleMania history.
Seth Rollins was featured on a new episode of WWE Break It Down, where he discussed some of the best ring gear he’s worn throughout his career.
AEW/Other Wrestling
TMZ Sports posted an article about the spot from AEW Dynamite last night where Jon Moxley was slammed into a bed of nails by Adam Copeland. Moxley went on to win their street fight and retain the AEW World Championship.
In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Saraya praised Toni Storm for how much she’s grown as a performer:
She’s one of the best promos and characters, I think, of all time. And she’s one of my favorites all together right now. She is making wrestling fun and exciting and I love that. And it’s just funny seeing her from two years ago… when she was scared to pick up a microphone.
Once you have a character and something that you’re enjoying in wrestling, you wanna put a hundred percent of your mind, body, and soul into it. And she’s doing it. And she’s so humble about it and I love that for her. She’s just like, ‘I hope I’m doing a good job.’ I’m like, ‘Babe, you are smashing it! You are the best thing in wrestling right now.’
Viva Van was the guest on this week’s episode of AEW Unrestricted. She opened up about now officially being signed to AEW after having worked as an extra for so long:
First person I told was my boyfriend and then my family, so I celebrated with my boyfriend and my family. What it means to me? The world because I’ve been training, wrestling for eight years, working for seven and it just felt like all the hard work finally paid off.
For a few years, I was like, ‘Man, what do I got to do?’ I mean, I feel like I’m on the same show with everybody except, you know, I just don’t have a contract yet. But I kept telling myself that: ‘Not yet.’ And I think that’s what kept me going.
I feel great. I feel good, except my knees are a little bit under the weather. I had my right knee replaced about seven months ago – six or seven months ago. And they said it takes about a year to get that back to normal. And then my left knee needs to be replaced too, but I’m going to wait a while on that one.
Lawler said that, while he’s feeling good, the effects of his 2023 stroke still impact his life every day:
Well, that’s something that’s here constantly every day. I want to say gotten over – I haven’t gotten over [it] because the effects of the stroke, they’re always there. I mean, my whole right side of my body is damaged. I can’t really write too good. I can’t draw worth a darn, but I can still sign an autograph, thank goodness. But other than that, I feel fine.
Indi Hartwell uploaded a new vlog documenting her House of Glory match against Mercedes Mone.
The two biggest players in the modern U.S. wrestling world, Hulk Hogan and Vince McMahon, and their love/hate relationship caught the Memphis Wrestling promotion in the crossfire this past week.
The promotion was planning the biggest non-Hispanic independent wrestling show in recent memory, a rematch some 26 years in the making between Hogan and local legend Jerry Lawler at the Fed Ex Forum on 4/27. The match had been talked about for months, but only in recent weeks did it seem like anything more than a local publicity stunt. Hogan somewhat surprisingly agreed to do it after VH-1 agreed to do a one-hour documentary on Hogan where his return to wrestling would be a focal point, plus he’s interested in making a farewell tour and currently he’s on the major outs with WWE.
But on 4/9, when Lawler was at Raw in Bridgeport, CT, he was told by WWE officials that they suggested he not appear on the show. Lawler’s actual contract with WWE is as an announcer and not as a wrestler, and he is free contractually to do any independent dates as long as he doesn’t work for TNA, which the company considers as direct competition.
Jerry “The King” Lawler continues to progress in his battle with health issues.
In February 2023, Lawler suffered a massive stroke that continues to affect his speech. The 74-year-old wrestling legend also underwent knee replacement surgery earlier this year. While speaking with Going Ringside at River City Wrestling Con in Florida, Lawler gave an update on how he’s feeling now that he’s back on the road doing convention appearances.
“I’m doing a lot of conventions. I’m sort of hobbling around right now,” he said. “I just had a knee replacement on my right knee. But it’s doing good, but it’s a little bit hobbling here and there.”
Living alone has been a challenge for Lawler after surgery, but he says things are getting better.
“Well, I seem to be doing pretty well,” Lawler said. “People just see me like this. But at home, I live by myself, and it’s a little tough there right now. But it’s seemed to get better.”
This May, it was revealed that WWE had chosen not to renew Lawler’s broadcasting contract when it expired at the start of 2024. Lawler confirmed to Going Ringside that he’s still under a Legends deal with WWE.
Lawler said, now that his knee replacement is done, he’s traveling more for appearances and is doing something every weekend.
Jim Ross believes that he and Jerry “The King” Lawler will call at least one more match together.
It was confirmed earlier this week that WWE chose not to renew Lawler’s broadcasting contract when it expired this January. Lawler is still under a legends deal with WWE but believes that his commentary career with the company has “probably ended.”
During Thursday’s episode of his Grilling JR podcast, Ross expressed that he felt bad about Lawler’s WWE contract not being renewed. Ross thinks that he and Lawler will reunite their memorable commentary team at some point down the road, whether that’s on television or as a one-off at a personal appearance.
I felt bad about this week’s news about Lawler, my partner. You know, I don’t think that he and I have worked our last match together, I really don’t believe that. I think somewhere down the road — if nothing else it’ll be at an appearance.
The 72-year-old Ross stressed that he’s not saying Lawler will be joining him in AEW. Ross said he doesn’t know anything about that and it isn’t his role to hire talent.
I just think that JR and The King at an appearance is marketable after all these years together. So we’ll see how that works out. I’m not saying that he’s going to join the staff at AEW, whatsoever. I don’t have any idea about that. And nor do I want to know, it’s not my place to hire talent. But I certainly feel in my bones that there will be opportunities for he and I to work together, whether it be on a TV show, a one-off type thing, or certainly some appearances.
Ross thinks he and Lawler still have great chemistry. The two last worked together on commentary for WWE in 2018, appearing on Raw’s 25th anniversary episode and the pre-show for WrestleMania 34.
This March, Ross announced that he had signed a new one-year contract with AEW. His role in AEW is doing commentary at pay-per-view events.
Lawler, 74, recently said his health is “great.” He’s continuing to recover from a February 2023 stroke that affected his speech.
Jerry Lawler says his career with WWE is most likely over.
PWInsider reported yesterday that WWE chose not to renew Lawler’s broadcasting contract after it expired at the start of the year. He is believed to still be under a legends deal with the company, however.
In a newly published interview, Lawler said his career with WWE has most likely come to an end.
Lawler said:
One other thing that a lot of people wonder about, my career has probably ended with the WWE and that’s it’s just one of those things that goes with my getting over with all the stuff that happened with the stroke and it was my, my just sitting behind a desk and doing it commentating on a match again was the extremely difficult.
Lawler suffered a stroke in February 2023 but recently said his “health is great” and is only dealing with minor difficulties associated with it. The 74-year-old underwent knee replacement surgery in March as well.
Lawler was last on WWE programming in November when he helped announce qualifying matches for the NXT Iron Survivor Match. He also appeared in front of the live crowd in Memphis when Raw was there last August.
Jerry Lawler is reportedly no longer under contract with WWE as a broadcaster.
PWInsider is reporting that WWE decided not to renew the 74-year-old’s broadcasting contract, which is said to have expired at the start of 2024. Shortly after the report was published, it was updated to include a note that WWE reached out to confirm Lawler is still under a legends deal with the company.
He last appeared on WWE programming in November when he helped announce the qualifying matches for the NXT Iron Survivor match.
Lawler had been with the company since 1992, although he was gone for several months in 93-94 due to legal trouble and left for nine months in 2001 following the release of Stacy Carter, aka The Kat, who was his romantic partner at the time.
Lawler took part in a virtual autograph signing during the weekend and addressed his health and recovery from a stroke he suffered in February 2023.
“My health is great,” Lawler replied. “I’m just getting over from the doctor’s to get back on the road from my knee replacement. And, of course, there’s still some minor difficulties from the stroke but all of that stuff is coming around fast.”
Lawler was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame inaugural class of 1996. He’s also a three-time Feud of the Year Award winner, in 1987 vs. Austin Idol and Tommy Rich, in 1992 with Jeff Jarrett vs. The Moondogs, and in 1993 with Bret Hart. He was also voted Best Color Commentator in 1995 and 96.
The 74-year-old suffered a stroke in February 2023 but says he is now only dealing with minor difficulties associated with it.
Lawler took part in a virtual autograph signing with East Coast Autographs Auctions recently and was asked about his health.
“My health is great,” Lawler replied. “I’m just getting over from the doctor’s to get back on the road from my knee replacement. And, of course, there’s still some minor difficulties from the stroke but all of that stuff is coming around fast.”
Following his stroke, Lawler appeared via video at the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony last year as part of Andy Kaufman’s induction.
Last August, Lawler appeared in front of the live crowd during a commercial break on an episode of Raw from Memphis. In November, he appeared on NXT programming as one of the legends who announced the Iron Survivor Qualifying matches.
WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler has announced a pair of Iron Survivor Challenge qualifying matches for this week’s NXT show.
In a video posted to Lawler’s social media channels & WWE’s YouTube page on Monday, both a men’s and women’s Iron Survivor Challenge qualifier were announced for the Tuesday, November 28 episode of NXT.
In the men’s division, Bron Breakker will face Eddy Thorpe in an Iron Survivor Challenge qualifier on Tuesday’s show. In the women’s division, Kiana James will face Kelani Jordan.
The winners of each bout will be added to their respective division’s Iron Survivor Challenge match set for NXT Deadline on Saturday, December 9. The Iron Survivor Challenge winners will be declared the number one contenders to the NXT Championship currently held by Ilja Dragunov, and the NXT Women’s Championship currently held by Lyra Valkyria.
Lawler’s announcement can be seen in the video below.
The current lineup for this week’s NXT:
NXT Tag Team Champions Tony D’Angelo & Stacks Lorenzo defend against Angel Garza & Humberto Carrillo
NXT North American Championship number one contender’s match: Wes Lee vs. Cameron Grimes vs. Bronson Reed vs. Johnny Gargano
Men’s Iron Survivor Challenge qualifying match: Bron Breakker vs. Eddy Thorpe
Women’s Iron Survivor Challenge qualifying match: Kiana James vs. Kelani Jordan
Andre Chase breaks his silence
The current lineup for NXT Deadline on Saturday, December 9:
NXT Champion Ilja Dragunov defends against Baron Corbin
Men’s Iron Survivor Challenge for the number one contendership to the NXT Championship: Trick Williams vs. Dijak vs. Josh Briggs vs. Bron Breakker/Eddy Thorpe winner vs. TBD
Women’s Iron Survivor Challenge for the number one contendership to the NXT Women’s Championship: Tiffany Stratton vs. Lash Legend vs. Blair Davenport vs. Kiana James/Kelani Jordan winner vs. TBD
