Tag: Jerry Lawler

Jerry Lawler re-signs with WWE, says he’s calling Rumble match

Posted on by Joseph Currier

On the latest episode of his podcast, Jerry Lawler revealed that he’s re-signed with WWE.

Lawler noted on Monday’s episode of “Dinner with the King” that he’s signed a two-year contract with WWE. Lawler said his deal with WWE comes up on January 10 every year, and he texted Kevin Dunn a reminder about it on January 8. Lawler said he was offered a two-year deal with a raise the next day.

Lawler also said he’s going to be on commentary for this year’s men’s Royal Rumble match. Lawler said it sounds like it will be him, Michael Cole, and JBL calling the match. Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona is hosting the pay-per-view on January 27.

With this Monday’s Raw taking place at the FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee, Lawler made a brief appearance on the episode. He was shown coming out of Vince McMahon’s office during a backstage segment where wrestlers were waiting outside the door to meet with McMahon about wanting to challenge for Brock Lesnar’s Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble. The segment ended with Lawler looking bewildered as No Way Jose’s conga line went by him.

Jerry Lawler pays tribute to Brian Christopher at wrestling show

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Image: Dinner With The King

A week after Brian Christopher Lawler’s death, Jerry Lawler returned to the ring on Sunday and paid tribute to his late son.

Lawler defeated James Ellsworth at a show for USA Championship Wrestling in Jackson, Tennessee. Lawler wore one of Brian’s vests to the ring, and Ellsworth wrote that it was the most emotional match he’s ever had: “Just wrestled the most emotional match of my career Words can’t describe the amount of respect I have for @JerryLawler It’s a true honor and pleasure to share the ring with him always”

“I think the main thing was, at least for me, it was something that Brian would have been proud of. It was something that Brian would have loved to have been a part of and, in a sense, he was,” Lawler said about the show in an interview with WBBJ TV.

“Honestly, to me, it’s almost therapeutic,” Lawler said. “Because ever since the day that I first heard the news about my son, it’s been like a nightmare.”

Lawler said he appreciates the support he’s received from the fans. WBBJ wrote that proceeds from bandanas that were sold in honor of Brian at the show will go to Hope Church in his memory.

Brian passed away at 46 years old on July 29 while in jail for a July 7 DUI. His death is believed to be a suicide, but the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations has noted that their investigation is active and ongoing.

Lawler to appear on SmackDown, Almas vs. Sin Cara removed

Posted on by Joseph Currier

A segment has been added and another has been removed from tonight’s SmackDown.

With the show taking place in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, Jerry Lawler will be making an appearance and interviewing AJ Styles ahead of Money in the Bank. The segment will be part of the final build to Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura’s last man standing match for the WWE Championship at the pay-per-view.

Nakamura will be facing United States Champion Jeff Hardy in a non-title match tonight, with Daniel Bryan vs. Shelton Benjamin and a women’s Money in the Bank summit also set.

A match between Andrade “Cien” Almas and Sin Cara was originally scheduled but has been canceled as part of an apparent storyline where Sin Cara’s shoulder was “injured” when Almas attacked him backstage last Tuesday. Sin Cara posted a promo on Twitter where he called Almas a coward and said he’s coming for him.

Almas and Sin Cara worked against each other on this past weekend’s house shows.

WWE announces Greatest Royal Rumble pre-show panelists

Posted on by Joseph Currier

While Jerry Lawler had said he and Jim Ross would be doing commentary for the show, it looks like they’ll be in a slightly different role at the Greatest Royal Rumble.

WWE announced today that Lawler, Ross, and Booker T will be pre-show panelists for the Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia. With no women from WWE on the event, Byron Saxton will be hosting the pre-show broadcast instead of Renee Young.

Lawler and Ross did make an appearance on commentary at WrestleMania 34 in New Orleans, calling the 2018 Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Lawler later revealed that he suffered a stroke at his home on March 21st, but he felt better in the days after the stroke and was able to make WrestleMania weekend.

The hour-long Greatest Royal Rumble pre-show is scheduled to begin on the WWE Network at 11 a.m. Eastern time this Friday. The main card is listed as running for five hours.

Jerry Lawler suffered stroke prior to WrestleMania weekend

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Jerry Lawler suffered a stroke shortly before WrestleMania weekend.

On the latest episode of Dinner With the King, Jerry Lawler talked to his co-host Glenn Moore about a stroke that he suffered on 3/21 shortly before going to the WonderCon event in Anaheim. As he described it, he and his girlfriend were together when she noticed that one side of his face was paralyzed and was slurring his words. He was taken to the hospital, where he had trouble communicating with others and had a high blood pressure rating of 296/145.

Three days after suffering the stroke, he was able to talk again and felt much better. He was released from the hospital a few days after the stroke on 3/24. The only people he had told about the situation prior to the podcast were Kevin Dunn and Triple H.

Despite being hospitalized over a stroke just a few weeks prior, Lawler was at WrestleMania weekend, hosting the Hall of Fame and also doing commentary for the Andre the Giant memorial battle royal during the WrestleMania pre-show. He also appeared at the WrestleCon Supershow, doing an angle with Joey Ryan where he threw a fireball at Ryan’s genitals.

Guest commentators announced for WrestleMania pre-show

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Several special guest commentators are set for the WrestleMania pre-show this Sunday.

WWE announced today in an article on their website that former women’s champion and Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix will join the announce team for the WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal. Meanwhile, Jim Ross and Jerry “the King” Lawler will be guest commentators during the Andre the Giant Battle Royal. The pre-show will also have the finals of the Cruiserweight championship tournament, which will pit Mustafa Ali against Cedric Alexander.

The panel for the pre-show, which will have breakdowns of most of the WrestleMania bouts, will comprise of Renee Young and Shawn Michaels, among others. The article also promises appearances from other wrestlers during the show.

The WrestleMania pre-show will start at 5 p.m. EDT on the WWE Network and will run for two hours. It will also be seen for free on WWE.com, the WWE App, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest and Google+. The second hour will air live on the USA Network.

Jim Ross & Jerry Lawler to reunite for WWE Raw 25th anniversary

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler will be reuniting to call part of Raw’s 25th anniversary episode.

In a video that WWE posted this afternoon, Mike Rome confirmed that Ross and Lawler will be doing commentary from the Manhattan Center next Monday for that portion of the show. That’s the role that had been expected for them, and WWE officially announced last week that they would be appearing on the show.

Both the Manhattan Center, which was the original home of Raw, and the Barclays Center will be hosting next week’s anniversary episode. It will also be Raw’s go-home show for the Royal Rumble, with Roman Reigns set to defend his Intercontinental Championship against The Miz and both Brock Lesnar and John Cena scheduled to appear.

In addition to Ross and Lawler, here’s the list of names WWE has confirmed will be making special appearances next week:

  • Steve Austin
  • The Undertaker
  • Ric Flair
  • DX (Triple H & Shawn Michaels)
  • The Dudley Boys
  • Scott Hall & Kevin Nash
  • Nikki & Brie Bella
  • The New Age Outlaws
  • JBL & Ron Simmons
  • “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase
  • The Godfather
  • Brother Love
  • The Boogeyman
  • Teddy Long
  • John Laurinaitis
  • Sgt. Slaughter 

WWE removes Jerry Lawler & Lita from regular TV duties

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

The WWE has confirmed today that Jerry Lawler and Amy “Lita” Dumas have been removed from regular weekly programming.

Both have been moved from full-time deals to Legends contracts and the decision was made to take them off the pre-show panels before Raw, SmackDown and PPV events.

The Lawler situation followed the pattern of Jim Ross, where, likely due to age, he was moved from Raw to SmackDown, then given a lesser role on SmackDown, and then the decision was made to remove them from regular television but keep them with the company, although Ross was later let go after controversy regarding his hosting a WWE event that went awry.

Both are still affiliated loosely with the company and may be brought back to television on the WWE Network for special occasions.

Last Sunday’s TLC PPV featured a change in pre-show format with radio host Peter Rosenberg as a guest on the panel.

DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Marathon: Lance Russell

Posted on by Karl Stern

On the latest edition of the July Classic Wrestling Marathon, Karl Stern takes a look at one of the greatest announcers of all time: legendary Memphis wrestling announcer Lance Russell.

Russell was more than just a play-by-play announcer, and was every bit as important a character to Memphis TV as Jerry Lawler or Bill Dundee was. It was Russell’s smooth and reasoned style that drove one of the most popular wrestling shows in the country.

Many will argue there were better announcers than Russell, saying that Gordon Solie or Jim Ross were better in many ways. On this show, Karl makes a strong case that for his particular territory and for his particular fan base, no one could have pulled off leading a show the way Russell did.

He not only was involved in pro wrestling for many decades, but also pulled off something very few people in the wrestling business have: remaining universally liked and respected.

Today, the DragonKingKarl Show takes a look at Lance Russell, one of the greatest announcers in wrestling history. 

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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling July Marathon: “Wildfire” Tommy Rich

Posted on by Karl Stern

Tommy “Wildfire” Rich became a near instant star in the early 1980s but almost as quickly as he shot to stardom, he fell from the top going from one of the youngest NWA World Heavyweight champions to a comedy figure in just a few years time.

So, what went wrong? Actually, Rich had a better career than most give him credit for. And in this show, Karl Stern will talk about that in detail, including Rich’s involvement in one of the best angles of 1987.

Fred Ward and Harley Race believed in Rich to such a degree that he had a short run as the NWA World Heavyweight Champion while being one of the hottest ever babyfaces in Georgia. Often moving back and forth between Georgia and Memphis wrestling, it seemed like Rich was building toward becoming one of the biggest stars of the 1980s and possibly beyond.

But it burnt out as quickly as it started. Though Rich worked a variety of places including Continental, AWA, and WCW, he never came close to recapturing that magic he had early on in Georgia.

But for a short time in 1987, he did. Along with Paul Heyman (Paul E. Dangerously at the time) and Austin Idol, he was part of one of the last great angles of the territorial era where the heels finally outsmarted Jerry “The King” Lawler. In the weeks leading to a big hair vs. hair match, Rich laid down a great series of promos and matches which helped build to the big surprise – when he came out from under the ring in a steel cage match and cost Lawler his hair for the first and only time in his career.

On the latest episode of our classic wrestling July marathon, join us in taking a look at “Wildfire” Tommy Rich.

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Domestic assault charges dropped against Jerry Lawler, WWE lifts suspension

Posted on by Josh Nason

Jerry Lawler’s holiday weekend got off to a good start Friday as domestic assault charges against he and his fiancee were dismissed in a Memphis, TN, courtroom. Later on in the day, his suspension from WWE was lifted, effective immediately according to Pro Wrestling Sheet.

The 66-year-old Lawler and 27-year-old Lauryn McBride were arrested several weeks ago after police came to their West Memphis, TN, home after a violent altercation between the two. Police arrested both of them as they couldn’t determine who was the primary aggressor. The charges will be removed from their records.

WWE released the following: “Jerry Lawler’s legal matter has been resolved and his suspension has been lifted, effective immediately.”

Lawler attorney Ted Hansom said the incident “was a big misunderstanding and won’t happen again. We are happy with the outcome.”

The two had an argument when Lawler returned home that night after a wrestling show in Memphis and claimed that she had lied about her whereabouts and been drinking with friends while watching the NBA playoffs. McBride attempted to call 911 but apparently hung up the phone before betting an operator, but police traced the call and came to the home.

McBride told officers Lawler held her against the kitchen counter and hit her on the left side of the head, and then pushed her against the stove, and went upstairs and got a pistol and told her to “go ahead and kill yourself.”

Lawler said McBride scratched him in the face, threw a candle at him and kicked him in the groin.  He said she was the one who brought the pistol into the kitchen after getting it from the garage and she was trying to leave and drive away, but he stopped her from driving because she was intoxicated.

After the two were released following a hearing, a judge ordered them to stay away from each other.

WWE News: Jerry Lawler & fiancee released from jail; changes to Money In The Bank show

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Both Jerry Lawler and fiancee Lauryn McBride were released from Shelby County jail in Memphis at around 11:30 AM local time and are due for a hearing on Monday. Each was charged with domestic violence from an incident that took place early Friday morning. With media surrounding him upon leaving jail, Lawler said he will make a statement after he talks with his attorney.

For the details on what happened, here’s our early morning story on the matter.

The WWE has also made changes to Sunday’s Money In The Bank event, adding two matches to the main show: Dolph Ziggler vs. Baron Corbin and Sheamus vs. Apollo Crews. This changes the PPV from six matches to eight, meaning when timing out the show, they needed more time filled than they allotted for the six.

With the change comes two additional pre-show matches: Goldust & R-Truth vs. Tyler Breeze & Fandango, plus The Dudleys vs. Lucha Dragons.

With the new formatting of the show, it’s possible some finishes were discussed because there were heavy betting switches, most notably strong odds movements for Dean Ambrose and against Kevin Owens in the Money in the Bank mach, as well as for Roman Reigns, The New Day and A.J. Styles.

Jerry Lawler & girlfriend involved in auto accident Saturday night

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Both WWE Hall-of-Famer and Smackdown commentator Jerry Lawler & girlfriend involved in auto accident Saturday nightJerry Lawler and girlfriend Lauryn Laine McBride have confirmed scattered reports that they were involved in a head-on automobile accident Saturday night.

The news was first reported at an independent show in Tennessee where it was announced to the crowd and said that they had gotten the information from Brian Christopher (Jerry’s son Brian Lawler).  Jamie Dundee later had the same story, saying he heard it from Christopher. The word at the show was Lawler was fine but his girlfriend was banged up.

McBride posted Sunday: “Not exactly how we expected to spend our Halloween, but while on our way home from dinner (Peyton wasn’t with us, thank God) a girl ran a red light and hit us, totaling the car. The airbag deployed, hitting me in the face (hence why I look like Sandy the Squirrel from SpongeBob), causing the swelling to my face…have to wear a silly brace and crutches for my knee for the time being. Thank God we are okay other than that and I think Jerry is Superman.  Not a scratch or anything.  He tried to cover me to save me from the airbag before it deployed. Thank God for my sweet BFF Haley Sterling Campbell for taking good are of me at the hospital tonight.”

Lawler posted a photo on his Twitter account of the smashed up car and said “@Lauryn911 and I were in a car crash last night.  She spent four hours in emergency room but is home now. We were lucky,” and then “@Lauryn911 and I were lucky things weren’t worse than they were last night. My car not so lucky.”