Jerry Lawler recently spoke on several subjects on his “Dinner with the King” podcast.
Lawler and his co-host spoke on the Hollywood sexual assault scandal, PC culture, and fans’ memories of the Attitude Era.
Jerry Lawler on Sexual Misconduct in Wrestling/Hollywood:
Lawler was asked if there would be a similar scandal in wrestling as there is in Hollywood if people started talking..
“It appears that eventually anybody that’s ever flirted with anybody or had any kind of sexual contact with anybody is, all of a sudden, you could potentially be a target in the future.”
“I’ve seen pictures in the past of wrestlers, I’m not gonna say who or whatever, this was guys, but as a joke or a prank, a wrestler falls asleep, and another guy comes over and says ‘take a picture of this’ and he takes his genitals out and puts it near the guy’s face,” Lawler remembered. “It’s a prank and it’s done in jest, but it’s like a college kid’s prank. I’ve seen that done before.”
“At the time, you’re thinking ‘this is totally harmless,’” he continued. “But then if all of a sudden if, 15-years-later, that photograph shows up somewhere, it’s gonna offend somebody. That’s the way the country has become, that everything that 99% of the people may think is done in jest, or whatever, all of a sudden that 1% out there is gonna be offended by it. And that 1% can speak as loudly as the other 99% cannot.”
Jerry Lawler on PC Culture
“Good grief. I remember the stuff at commentary, things that we would be able to get away with saying, that nowadays, god, people’s heads would explode. Could you imagine going out and saying, get ready, tonight, we’ve got a bra and panties match. That used to be the highlight of a show. A bra and panties match.”
“I remember, one of my favorite lines,” Lawler added, “was, panties aren’t the greatest thing in the world, but they are next to it.”
On Fans’ Memories of the Attitude Era:
“I don’t know how the country and people’s attitudes have changed so much over a short period of time that now those things are taboo,” Lawler lamented. But back during that time, I mean, that’s all I’d hear about. ‘My gosh, I used to love it when you’d commentate on a bra and panties match, or you know, with the divas.’”
