Jerry Lawler returned to the RAW broadcast booth last night and is currently garnering backlash online for a joke he made during the Austin Theory vs Akira Tozawa match.
Tozawa hit Theory with a diving senton during the match. As the replay aired, Lawler remarked that the move was a “ramen noodle moonsault.”
Lawler’s comment was edited off the Hulu version of RAW. Twitter user @GetDaTables posted footage of Lawler’s comment in the Tweet below:
Lawler’s comment is receiving backlash online:
Jim Cornette Defends Jerry Lawler
Jim Cornette posted the following in defense of Lawler’s comment:
Cornette is no stranger to online backlash from comments made at the announce booth. The NWA and Cornette agreed to part ways shortly after he made a joke in reference to the Ethiopian famine of the mid-80s during an episode of Powerrr.
“He’s the only man I’ve ever known that can strap a bucket of fried chicken on his back and ride a motor scooter across Ethiopia.”
- Jim Cornette Gone From The NWA (Statement)
- NWA Pulls Powerrr Episode For Racially Offensive Comment By Jim Cornette
The Ethiopian famine led to massive global fundraising efforts including the Live Aid festival in 1985. Cornette defended the line on his podcast, stating that decades ago similar jokes were made on-air.
“It’s a starvation joke, not a race joke,” Cornette said. “Whether it’s a good joke or a bad joke, it was a joke that has been told on TBS, USA Network, broadcast television stations across America over a variety of locations for the past 30 years.”
Discussion: Was Jerry Lawler’s joke in bad taste, or are people overreacting?
