Original subtitles

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

So it's a wonderful day.

Man, I'm just so excited to be here for the 50th anniversary of Jerry Lawler.

It's most of my... I thought you were older than 50.

Huh? 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 to...

I don't, Jerry.

Never got a chance to wrestle, Jerry. Thank you for coming.

Thank you for allowing me to be here. Oh, are you kidding? In your damn ears.

Understand me. He's in the top three in the whole time of wrestling.

When I hear somebody say, congratulations on being in the ring for

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 and that as much today as I did 50

years ago.

He was a big deal. I

still is.

I could just see myself standing up there and all those people saying, look

that Lawler.

He's great, isn't he?

Jerry Lawler was a cornerstone of wrestling. He was one of the foundations

led us to where we're going now.

He beat everybody from Andre the Giant to Ric Flair to Hulk Hogan. He beat

everybody. Brother, 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.

Gary was one of the greatest villains in wrestling history.

He was the voice of the Attitude Era.

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.

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 29, 1949.

My childhood was like watching Leave it to Beaver. I had an older brother.

My dad went to work every day. My stay -at -home mom.

And 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.

Gosh, 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 like in my teen years when Beatlemania hit.

Still there wear a Superman ring instead of my WWE Hall of Fame ring because

five years old, I became an unbelievable superhero fan.

And that's when I first realized I could draw.

When it comes to art.

I realized that, you know, it's a God -given talent that all my life have

taken for granted.

I think in my first grade, and the teacher wrote to my parents, you know,

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 one has been so far.

The first time I watched wrestling was with my dad. My dad actually worked as

usher, and that way we got free ticket.

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 starting to draw some pictures of the wrestlers.

Somebody said, man, you ought to take some of those pictures and send them

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, we have a young fan

that sent in some pictures that kind of illustrate what took place.

And I would use it to 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

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. I mean, 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 still got to be around him, you know.

Being around Jackie Fargo, the huge celebrity that he was, I mean, it just

really turned my head. Girls were going crazy, and I'm looking around.

And I look up at him and I say, now that is what I want to be. Forget about

being an artist.

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 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,

right across the bridge, they have live wrestling matches.

I would talk to the promoter, and next thing you know, I'm in the wrestling

business. Now, I had never even been in a ring before.

I'm fixing to step into a ring, an actual wrestling ring, without having

training.

I get tagged in.

First time I'm in the ring now.

So, man, he grabs me. He throws, runs across the ring. He throws me out of the

ring. The next thing I know.

I'm waking up. I'm like this. I'm waking up. We're already back in the locker

room. And I said, well, what happened?

All I remember was like hearing a loud pop when I got thrown out of the ring.

Yeah, that was your head hitting the concrete floor. You've been knocked out

about five 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

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.

And 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.

And, of course.

Here, 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, you know, I just loved it if somebody would ever ask me for an

Even though I was only getting to wrestle once a week, it was a great

process. He was terrific at bumps.

His basic wrestling knowledge was advanced for the experience that he'd

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 kind of came natural to me.

Jerry Jarrett started putting me higher up on the card until I would reach main

event status.

Jackie Fargo was getting older, and I was in

need as a booker, a promoter, of a single wrestling star.

And I'm suddenly pushed into the limelight in a feud with Jackie Fargo,

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.

And as I was going back to the dressing room, I saw a lot of young people. They

were patting me on the back. And some of them 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

And I was, from that moment on, the king of Memphis.

A little surprised 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

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,

addition to that, just a general all -around fella. And I do it like you

it. Well, I don't think I'm a general all -around fella, 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,

year or so, and all of a sudden he was known in all the different territories.

Waller, 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.

You think anybody would pay to come down and see a thought -off runt?

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 that big steak dinner, baby.

It's good when you eat it, but there comes a time to go to the bathroom, and

just had to get rid of you, Dundee, baby.

You're low down. You're a backfighter. You're a coward.

You're low, man. That's all you are. You're just low bread.

He was unnatural.

He had one of the greatest mouths that I've 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 Buckwinkle.

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 scream 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 in Tupelo, Louisville, Fayetteville. It was over.

Everywhere.

As my career was really, really just getting off the ground, I had a

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, I had another son.

During that time, I'm having to travel more, I'm away from home, and it was

tough. He'd be gone on the road and doing everything. When it happens at

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 at a wrestler, but it took a full -time devotion to my career. It

cost me my marriage.

They got divorced when I was probably about four years old.

You know, just the schedule, the lifestyle, you know, it probably just

work out as far as on your time off, wanting to have the kids around and be

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?

I just 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. And I didn't think

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.

No, seriously.

Why everyone is...

Going boo on like the joke when I told some of the joke.

And 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

Okay, thank you very much and good night.

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's Burgard, Andy.

Hi, how are you?

Thank you. The wrestling here tonight, unfortunately, most exciting. But you do

wrestling on your own, as a matter of fact. But generally, what's 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 had actually come

see wrestling.

That's right.

That's right. I just don't think that it's possible for a woman to beat a man

wrestling. He was backstage at Madison Square Garden a lot.

He said, I'd love to, you know, like, wrestle here at Madison Square Garden

all that. Later on in the evening, I saw Vince McMahon, and I mentioned this,

Vince Sr., and he said, he's a nice boy and all this, but, you know, we don't do

comedy here.

Eddie, the best of luck to you against Diane and Ed or whomever it may be.

They said, you know what?

I have a friend in Memphis, Tennessee.

Do you know who Jerry Lawler is? The next day, I get a call from Andy

and 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!

Now, Andy Kaufman came down to Memphis just to live out his fantasy of being a

bad guy wrestler.

Two, three, got her.

I'm going to send you back to the kitchen where you belong. I'm going to

you scrubbing the potatoes and washing the carrots.

Because that's where you belong, ladies.

Had legit wrestling matches. He had never seen them before. We had never

these women before.

And Kaufman on top, going for a pin. One, two, three, and that's it.

People hated him.

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

He said, I...

Didn't like being called a comedian. I've never told a joke in my life. He

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. And 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 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, turned away crowd.

Couldn't get him in the building.

Hawkins in the ring.

Not for long. Look at him. He's outside.

We really had kind of, I felt, shortchanged the people in so much as a

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 pile driver.

And bang goes Kaufman. It's going to be a disqualification.

People are going crazy. They loved what they saw.

The amazing thing was, I'm thinking in my mind, I don't think I heard Andy

Kaufman. You know, he certainly didn't need an ambulance. He was staying in

character, and he stayed in the hospital in traction for three days. You know,

I'm just...

Been under this macho delusion for the last few years. It was building up to

point where I could actually seriously think that I could beat a Jerry Lawler

a wrestling match. It made headlines all over the world. So the fallout was it

became bigger than just professional wrestling.

And 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 may be as the pinnacle representation of that. Was this thing

rigged? Are you guys really friends? No, not at all.

I couldn't warm up to this guy. We were cremated together.

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 then you're right. There are a lot of people that think that.

Well, you're just trying to prove a point because I was a Yankee and I heard

this from so many people and members. I was going down there and because there

are a lot of people that think that. And he was one of them. On the morning of

the taping of the show, they said, Dave would like for you guys to be a little

bit antagonistic. Not too much, just a little bit.

and then Andy will apologize to you for making fun of wrestling, and then you

apologize to Andy for hurting his neck, and then Andy's going to get up and sing

what the world needs now is love, sweet love.

And I said, okay. I get back to the hotel, and my hotel phone rings.

Pick it up.

It's Andy Kaufman.

He said, did they tell you what they want us to do tonight?

And I said, yeah, they did. What do you think?

I'll never forget how he said this. He said,

I wonder what would happen if you just hauled off and slugged me.

My father said, 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

and 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

I could have sued you. I could have sued you for everything you're worth. And I

didn't because I'm not that kind of a guy.

You know what kind of a guy are you?

I'll just be over here.

We're going to do a pause here for station identification and get the hoses

of here.

This was one of the most famous guys in the world.

And Jerry Lawler just bitch -slops 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

Lawler a household name.

This put me on a worldwide stage.

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 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

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 WWD.

Kept contacting us. I think they thought, well, you know what? We need a

territory like this so 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

Kurt Angle came down to Memphis. The Rock, oh my gosh, The Rock came to

had his first matches right here in Memphis, Tennessee.

And 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.

so that's where the relationship started with the WWE.

At this time, it is my pleasure to introduce the King himself, Jerry, the

Lawler.

My goodness, Mr. Lawler, what brings you to the WWF? First of all, let me thank

my good friend Bobby Heenan for that introduction.

He's been a loyal subject of mine for years.

And 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.

I had the crown. I had the robe.

I went in as a heel.

And 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

want to just kill him.

Jerry Lawler is 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?

And credit to Jerry. Jerry was one of the greatest villains in wrestling

history. And he had a real genius for being against the good guys.

When Jerry Lawler went out, they were going to cheer for me. Like, for sure.

They hated Jerry Lawler.

Whether it was with Bret Hart, whether it was with Roddy 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'll have more action for

momentarily. At this time, obviously conspicuous by his absence is the Macho

Randy Savage.

At this time, Randy Macho Man Savage was doing the color commentary with Vince

on Monday night.

But then he had jumped ship without telling anybody.

He was on WCW.

Randy Savage is here tonight.

And Vince, he just looked around the room and he looked at me and said, King,

would you do color commentary with me tonight? We're back, ladies and

for Monday Night Raw. And are you really missing us? Yes, I am. And I want to

know who's going to pay for it or who's going to replace him.

There's some green hair there.

Give me that Burger King. Take that Burger King crown off. I think he

that Jerry had a gift for Gab. You fit in that role so well because he knew so

much about the wrestling business. But then, when you least expect it, 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?

Why not, Eastman? Give me a slap in your toupee off. I will, you know.

And then went from Vince McMahon being my broadcast partner to 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're back, especially after seeing your front.

And now we're at a point in time when, I mean, wrestling is on fire.

Well, we're about to see the most electrifying move.

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.

And it's a damn good thing he ain't here tonight because I damn sure would dump

him flat on his head.

And then The Rock coming in.

The rock kick came 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 like wrestling. A lot of

just don't realize that the commentary is tough.

The commentators, they got to sit out there and try to be entertaining for the

entire three hours. I would much rather go out there and do a wrestling match

for 10 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

remember the jokes or the insults and that sort of stuff, and they'll ask me,

that just off the top of your head?

And naturally, 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

But this was, 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

Cold's head. It was covered with blood into my notes. I'd be going over my

to see who's coming up next and getting ready to insult the next person, you

know. These are just things that I would say to J .R.

J .R., I read so much about sex being bad for you, so I finally gave up

You heard of an idiot savant?

Well, he's that without the savant.

You know, that was just like I said. I didn't take it serious. I was just

a good time out there.

The Attitude Era was a really unique time for WWE because of the sheer amount

eyeballs that were on the product every single week. And 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, J .R.

You can get out.

God almighty.

I told you. For gosh sakes, they're 70 -something years old. That's why I'm

getting checked by the doctors in the back. Moolah's birth certificate was in

Hieroglyphics.

Lawler, as a commentator, was the perfect guy.

He was so entertaining.

And plus, it was the attitude error. So there weren't restrictions on language.

There weren't restrictions on what he could say. It's very edgy. It's very

-oriented now. And it's become very sexy.

And every time a beautiful diva would come walking out, I'd say, Hey, J .R.,

look, puppies!

He was the epitome of not having a filter. If he thought and thought it, he

it. Oh, look at Lita. She's got the puppies in a net.

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 Stacey Carter.

better known as the cat.

And she and I had actually been together in a relationship for almost 10 years.

And I could go a little bit further because at that time, you know, I was

married to her. Yeah, Merry Christmas!

Woo -hoo!

Oh, my God.

Actually, for the women's segment, especially the ones that I was obviously

part of, him being involved in it made it easier for me.

There you go, King.

Thank you, cat.

He made it.

It seemed 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

Stacey her release.

Well, if they're going to release Stacey, I'm going to have to go with

And 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 Stacey were gone from the WWE.

I'm joined by Paul Heyman. You're joined by Paul Heyman because last Tuesday

night, the cat was released by the WWF and her husband, Jerry the King Lawler,

to his credit, walked down right alongside with her.

It was really difficult. And then it just ended up being about him quitting

not about me being fired.

It was just really hard for me.

That lasted for, like, it was about a year that went by. In the meantime,

and I got a divorce, and 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

In 2011, I'm wrestling at WrestleMania in

front of like 100 ,000 people. It's crazy.

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

to grow up, and why should he? I'm thinking, what could possibly go wrong?

And then along comes 2012.

Jerry.

Jerry.

Talk to me, Jerry.

Jerry, talk to us.

Jerry, talk to us.

Oh, yeah. 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.

We win the match.

So I go right from the ring.

Down to the commentary desk, put my jacket back on, and Michael Cole and I

doing commentary again.

Well, 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, but let's hand it to Randy Orton. He was the victor in that

match. It was 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.

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

air. I looked over at Jerry and he face planted right on the announce table.

And his mouth was 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 realize, is having a heart attack.

We're giving him CPR.

They're dragging EMTs in there.

They're dragging him out on a stretcher.

I was in the arena for it. I saw it happen.

It was really scary because I think everybody kind of knew, oh, he...

have 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

is blowing up, you know, and I'm looking at all these messages and it's, you

know, people asking, hey, you know, 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.

You know, Jerry, my friend, my prayers are with you.

Beat this thing.

Get him, King.

Good night, everybody.

Crazy situation. I mean, probably the scariest thing I ever had.

you know, had 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

put up, a huge sign, you know, like a welcome home sign that had been signed

thousands of people. And it was kind of 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

baby face isn't it to die on air and make a comeback ladies and gentlemen

of us thought this night might never come but without any further ado please

join me in the wwe universe and welcoming back wwe hall of famer

and my friend terry

From the bottom of my heart, I appreciate it. And I love each and every

you. Thank you all so much. And it's great to be back.

I tried to, in my mind, play it down. I tried to say, hey, there's nothing wrong

with me. It was just that blunt trauma that happens, you know, once in a

lifetime that stopped my heart. It wasn't because I'm out of shape or

be doing this anymore.

So I just looked at it.

from that standpoint, and I just kept going.

It was my last match on the Indies before I came to WWE, and it's funny

it was after his heart attack, and I don't remember in the match even

about it, how good he's doing and that he kept wrestling after.

It's pretty incredible when you think back at that moment and how that felt.

Believe 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 ask myself, why do you continue on?

And I just think, what else would I do if I'm not a wrestler?

The legend, the king, Jerry Roller.

Wow, how many people can 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've got it in your blood.

And 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, and 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

want to grow up, and I hope he doesn't.

I've never met an individual who is constantly happy, who constantly has

who loves this business.

As a promoter, as a worker, as a baby face, as a heel, as

an announcer, as an entertainer, he's going to go down as one of the greatest

all time.

I mean, you know, it's one of those things that never gets old.

I still had 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.