As previously reported, WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler will be returning to the ring later this month for the first time since suffering a heart attack on WWE RAW last year. Lawler will be wrestling in a 8-person inter-gender tag team match.
The following press release was sent out this weekend regarding his match:
!BANG! TV Report – Update on Jerry “The King” Lawler Returning to the Ring.
Saturday May 25th at the !BANG! TV Sound Stage, Jerry “The King” Lawler is returning to the ring for the first time since his heart attack 8 months ago on WWE’s Monday Night Raw.
Jerry Lawler has been cleared by his doctors for “In Ring Performance and his first wrestling match will be at the !BANG! TV Sound Stage in Ocala, Florida.
8-Person Inter-Gender Tag Team Action:
Jerry “The King” Lawler, Dory Funk Jr., Johnny Magnum and Jessica Power-House Hill will face the challenge of Cory “Wild” Weston, Quinton “Drop-Back” Hitchcock, Romero Youngblood and Hollywood Heather
Tickets to see Jerry Lawler’s Return to the Ring are now online at Dory-funk.com.
– After Monday’s WWE RAW went off the air, WWE Champion John Cena teamed up with tag team champions Team Hell No against The Shield. The Shield dominated early. At one point, Seth Rollins came in with a stel chair as Cena was about to win the match. The Sheild tried to triple power bomb Cena, but Daniel Bryan came back into the ring with a chair to run The Shield off. (Thanks to Jeff Burke).
– WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler is returning to the ring for the first time since suffering a heart attack live on Monday Night RAW last year. Lawler is scheduled to team with former NWA World champion Dory Funk Jr. on May 25th in Ocala, Florida for Funk’s !Bang! promotion.
– Antonio Cesaro passed the 200-day mark as WWE United States Champion on Thursday, thereby making him the fifth longest holder of the WWE version of the strap. He trails MVP—who the belt for a record 343 days in 2007 and 2008-Chris Benoit, The Miz and Shelton Benjamin.
– Amy Dumas, known in WWE as Lita, appears in a newly released music video from JD & The FDCs. The song, “From The Shadows,” features the former WWE Diva in a spoken word portion that she specifically wrote for the song.
– Jerry “The King” Lawler has been announced to appear at this spring’s Chiller Theatre convention, which takes place April 26-28 at the Sheraton Parsippany in Parsippany, New Jersey.
– Bruno Sammartino tweeted over the weekend that a WWE-produced documentary on his career might be in the works. Speaking of Sammartino, one of the reasons Triple H was at this past weekend’s Arnold Classic event was to see if he could get Arnold Schwarzenegger to agree to induct Bruno into the WWE Hall of Fame next month. No word yet on whether Arnold agreed, but Bruno tweeted him after the event that he could see him in “NY or LA soon.”
– Following up on the story that Jerry Lawler wants to return to the ring, Lawler was reportedly telling fans at an independent wrestling show over the weekend that he still wants to wrestle again, but has not been cleared by doctors and WWE is against the idea.
– Mick Foley noted on Twitter that he’s finishing a new kids book this week that will feature WWE tag team champions Kane and Daniel Bryan as two of the main characters.
Speaking of Foley, he made a brief cameo on Sunday night’s “The Apprentice: All Stars” season premiere. Foley showed up as a guest of music star Dee Snyder (Twisted Sister) and donated money to Snyder’s team for the first challenge, which was to see which team could raise more money selling meatballs.
The official WWE website is looking back at the late “Macho Man” Randy Savage today with a story on his intense animosity with Jerry “The King” Lawler in the late 1970s and early ’80s.
In those days, Lawler’s home promotion, the Continental Wrestling Association, was the chief promotion in Tennessee, Kentucky and parts of Mississippi, Alabama, Indiana and Arkansas. In 1978, the International Championship Wrestling was created by WCW Hall of Famer Angelo Poffo, the father of Savage and “The Genius” Lanny Poffo. ICW was considered an “outlaw” promotion, since it was not a member of the National Wrestling Alliance and promoted shows in direct competition against NWA regional leagues such as the CWA.
“What happened was Randy Savage, his brother Lanny Poffo and his father Angelo Poffo got the idea that they wanted to start a little promotion of their own,” Lawler told WWE.com. “When you’re on the bottom rung of the ladder, you usually think the way to get attention is to try to get the rub off the established guys. Well what Randy and his group did is they started making challenges.
“Randy Savage would go out and say, ‘I’m going to wrestle Jerry Lawler this Saturday night in Lexington!’ ” Lawler continued. “Of course, I was never going to be there. I didn’t even know this was being done. Then Randy would go out to the ring and say, ‘Would you look at this? Jerry Lawler’s a coward!’ That was their philosophy on how to make a name for themselves.”
Members of the renegade promotion would at times come to arenas where Lawler was running shows and harass his wrestlers in the parking lot, which put them on edge. As a precautionary measure, some carried weapons in their cars.
“The animosity between Randy Savage and myself went beyond the ring,” Lawler said. “It became really personal.” The full story is available here.
– This Friday on Syfy, WWE will present “Social Media SmackDown.” The sports-entertainment organization issued the following press release Wednesday touting the event.
WWE® SOCIAL MEDIA Smackdown GOES LIVE ON SYFY FRIDAY, MARCH 1 AT 8PM
NEW YORK — February 27, 2013 – Syfy and WWE (NYSE:WWE) today announced Social Media Smackdown, a live social media event which, for the first time ever, will include live social media content, interactive fan polls, WWE Superstar and Diva tweets, Touts and more. WWE announcers Jerry “The King” Lawler, Michael Cole and Josh Matthews will provide live commentary throughout the night, which airs on Syfy Friday, March 1 at 8PM (ET/PT).
The Friday night special will feature WWE’s biggest Superstars and Divas, including World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio®, Randy Orton®, Big Show®, Daniel Bryan®, Kaitlyn™ and Sheamus®.
Smackdown is the second longest-running, weekly episodic program in U.S. primetime TV history, behind only Monday Night Raw.
– The official WWE website has published a photo gallery looking back at WCW’s annual February pay-per-view event, SuperBrawl.
– Diamond Dallas Page is today’s featured Superstar on WWE.com.
WWE Hall of Famer Jerry Lawler spoke with WMC-TV in Memphis to discuss his recovery after suffering a heart attack on RAW last year.
After “never” going to the gym throughout his decades-long wrestling career, Lawler says he has begun exercising with Lauryn. Lawler has kicked his habit of eating fried chicken several times per week and is now eating healthier at the advise of his doctors. Lawler says he feels great now and there was very little damage to his heart as a result of the heart attack.
Feeling great, Lawler says he’s itching to get back in the ring, but is still waiting on clearance from WWE’s doctors. One of the main reasons he can’t wrestle yet is because the blood thinners he’s taking (common for people after suffering a heart attack) would spell trouble for him if he were to ever get cut during a match.
Here’s what the King said about wanting to get back in the ring:
“The one thing I’ve not done since the heart attack is get back into the ring and wrestle. And, Lauryn says that I’ve been, the one thing that’s different about me since the heart attack, she says, ‘You’re depressed. You’re going through depression.’ Which I don’t feel it. I don’t think it. But, yeah, I certainly do miss the wrestling and I do want to go back and do it some more.”
WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler was interviewed by Peter Rosenberg of RosenbergRadio.com New York’s Hot 97 hip hop radio station. Among the topics discussed were:
– His recent heart attack.
– The tragic death of Owen Hart in 1998.
– His memorable feud with Bret Hart.
– Being disappointed with his only WrestleMania match.
– WWE contacted Rikishi to participate in Sunday’s 30-Man Royal Rumble Match but the veteran wrestler is unable to appear due to a prior commitment, Jerry “The King” Lawler revealed in an interview with New York Post promoting WrestleMania Axxess.
“I do know that they had contacted Rikishi, but he had a prior commitment that he could not get out of. My son Brian told me that it was just a commitment he literally could not get out of even though he really wanted to [be in the Rumble],” Lawler said.
Lawler also hinted that former stars could resurface as surprise entrants.
“The Royal Rumble has become our next biggest and most fan-favorite pay-per-view. It’s so unpredictable. I know for a fact, I don’t know who it will be, but there’s always some surprise entrants. There will be some people that you didn’t have a clue they were going to be involved in the Rumble.”
– This week’s edition of The JBL & Cole Show features appearances by Mick Foley and Shawn Michaels, who have some kind words for JBL. Plus, Hornswoggle faces off with Daniel Bryan and his “magician’s assistant” in the “SUPERStar Search.”
– Darren Young is featured in today’s “Superstar Spotlight” on WWE.com.
– The official website of the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, is no longer advertising Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson for the February 25 Raw show.
– Former WCW wrestler Dave Taylor underwent hip replacement surgery last week, his former tag team partner, William Regal, has revealed.
“Just spoke to my old moaning tag partner Dave Taylor. He had a hip replacement 3 days ago and he’s up and walking about with no aid. He’s a machine,” Regal wrote Saturday.
– Friday’s episode of WWE Vintage Collection featured just one match: the 2000 Royal Rumble match.
– Jerry “The King” Lawler appears at USA Championship Wrestling’s “A Tribute Fit For A King” event on March 9, 2013 at the Crestview Middle School in Covington, Tennessee. Bell time is 7:30 p.m.
– Despite Comcast listing a rerun of NCIS: Los Angeles for this Monday night on the USA Network at 8:00 p.m., Raw will remain three hours in its regular time slot.
WWE officials confirmed to F4WOnline.com Wednesday night that Raw will remain a three-hour show airing from 8:00 to 11:05 p.m. The cause of this miscommunication is currently unknown.
– Former WWE Diva Maria Kanellis announced on Twitter Wednesday night that she is engaged to be married to Ring of Honor wrestler Mike Bennett. She tweeted a photo of her engagement ring.
After parting ways with WWE in 2010, Kanellis largely kept away from the professional wrestling industry until meeting Bennett through Twitter last year. She regularly accompanies him to independent events as his valet and now holds the position of creative director of Crossfire Wrestling in Nashville, Tennessee.
– Today marks as the 63rd birthday of WWE Hall of Famer Jerry Lawler. Also sharing birthdays with “The King” are fellow WWE broadcaster John “Bradshaw” Layfield, who turns 46-years-old, and WWE Hall of Famer “Mean” Gene Okerlund, who turns 70.
E!’S “THE SOUP” CELEBRATES WWE IN A SPECIAL EPISODE PREMIERING ON WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21ST
Following A Regularly Scheduled Episode at 10pm, “The Soup” Host Joel McHale Welcomes WWE’s Biggest Superstars For A No-Holds-Barred Special Salute to WWE at 10:30pm
Los Angeles, CA, November 19, 2012 – Just in time for Thanksgiving, E!’s “The Soup” is serving up a special night filled with not one, but two brand new episodes on Wednesday, November 21st!
Starting at 10pm ET/PT, Joel McHale presents a fresh new episode of “The Soup” with his tongue-in-cheek humor audiences have grown to love. As if that weren’t enough, immediately following at 10:30pm ET/PT, Joel welcomes to the set some of WWE’s most popular Superstars and Divas including The Miz, Eve Torres, Rey Mysterio, Daniel Bryan and Hornswoggle, along with the legendary announcers Michael Cole and Jerry “The King” Lawler for the special episode, ” The Soup Salutes WWE- Pile Driving Clips in your Face.”
CHECK OUT A SNEAK PEEK FEATURING JOEL MCHALE, THE MIZ, EVE TORRES AND HORNSWOGGLE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AecKn9Qj_TM
Complete with plenty of pec bouncing, “The Soup Salutes WWE- Pile Driving Clips in your Face” delivers the most hilarious WWE moments and themed clips. From David Hasselhoff engaging in creepy conversation with the WWE Divas and Hulk Hogan doggy-paddling Donald Trump to safety, to more ‘sober’ fist pumping on “Jersey Shore” and classy romance on “Love Games,” this special episode continues the tradition of presenting the “best” of the funniest moments in television. Plus, “The Soup” cameras follow as some of the WWE Superstars stop by the “Fashion Police” set to give Joan and Melissa Rivers a run for their money!
So, grab a chair and tune in to a night of “The Soup,” November 21st beginning at 10pm ET/PT, only on E!
– WWE returns to the McKenzie Arena at the University Of Tennessee in Chattanooga on February 1st, 2012. Tickets go on sale December 1st at 10 AM.
– The upcoming NXT live event from the Armory in Orlando, FL on November 28th has been rescheduled and will now take place on February 13th, 2013.
– Jerry Lawler tweeted that the television show Inside Edition will have a segment on him tomorrow featuring the WWE doctor who saved his life, Dr. Mike Sampson.
CM Punk took a shot at the Rock on Twitter this afternoon, writing:
Dwayne says it doesn't matter who his opponent is for the rumble.Funny, I say it doesn't matter who is in the new G.I. Joe, it'll still suck
– The controversial angle on RAW where Paul Heyman faked a heart attack to mock Jerry Lawler was planned several weeks ago. According to Bryan Alvarez of the Figure Four Weekly Newsletter, the angle was approved by all participating parties in advance, including Jerry Lawler.
– Former WWE divas the Bella Twins will be participating in a Twitter chat this evening as part of the New Orleans Wizard World Comic Con event. The chat takes place at 6PM PST (8PM CT). For more information, visit t.co/jnV1Qndc.
– Former WWE superstar Dustin Rhodes (Goldust) told a fan on Twitter this morning that his younger brother Cody is scheduled to undergo an MRI on Friday morning. Cody was injured at Tuesday’s WWE Main Event tapings and appeared to have injured his shoulder.
As noted earlier, WWE.com updated Cody’s condition this morning, saying that he suffered a “concussion and a strained shoulder.” His status for Sunday’s Surivvor Series will depend on the results of his upcoming medical examinations.
– F4WOnline.com reports Wednesday that WWE officials are contemplating a match pitting Mick Foley against CM Punk at next month’s TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view event in Brooklyn, New York. Monday’s Raw angle with Jerry “The King” Lawler points in that direction, and the idea has been discussed for over a month.
– Celebrating her Greek heritage, seven-time WWE Women’s Champion Trish Stratus is featured on the cover of OPA!, an Australian lifestyle magazine. It marks as her 93rd magazine cover, and can be viewed her.
– WWE has released the following compilation video highlighting the best slaps in company history.
Moday’s RAW featured a controversial angle, with Paul Heyman and CM Punk mocking Jerry Lawler’s heart attack by Heyman faking a heart attack of his own. Several former WWE superstars spoke to Arda Ocal of the Baltimore Sun about the angle, including Steve Austin, Chris Jericho and Lance Storm.
Here are some highlights of what they said about WWE turning Lawler’s brush with death into a storyline:
Steve Austin: “I believe in pushing the envelope in an aggressive fashion. But when a guy damn near dies at ringside, let it go. You look at all the contributions Jerry Lawler has made in this business: from a work standpoint, a promo standpoint and then as a broadcaster. I think that’s pushing the envelope in the wrong direction. There’s better ways to go get real heat than that.”
Chris Jericho: “I think it was pretty obvious, don’t you? I kind of expected it. Punk’s promo was awesome. It’s wrestling so you knew it would end up as an angle sooner or later. I got the same complaints when I did the alcoholic angle (earlier this year with CM Punk). It would be like being mad at “Breaking Bad” because the dad was a drug addict or something. It’s just a TV show, after all.”
Lance Storm: “Thought it was poor. Both he and Punk are capable to get real heat, no need to sink so low. Also thought it was out of character for Punk so it hurt. Punk is about Best in World and himself. Why bother joking about heart attack it goes nowhere. Interuption was okay and in character. Fake heart attack was cheap and pointless.”
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog, which you can read in its entirety at JRsBarBQ.com. Here are some highlights of what JR wrote about Jerry Lawler’s return to WWE television on RAW:
“Loved seeing the King back on RAW this past Monday night. Jerry’s feeling great and has dropped approximately 20 pounds via a more disciplined diet. We hooked up at the Westin Hotel in Columbus and rode to the arena together just like old times. Nothing had changed…the music we listened to…the topics of our conversation…King not stopping at stop signs…me giving him the wrong directions…nothing changed and it seemed like old times when we worked together every week.”
JR says the emotion that we saw on RAW between him and Jerry Lawler was unscripted:
“Seeing Jerry and getting to introduce him back to RAW was a big, personal thrill for me. It was approximately two months ago that I never thought I would see him alive again.”
“Our hug was real. That was a ‘moment’ in case you might be wondering what a real ‘moment’ in our business truly is.”
As for Jim Ross’ future on Monday Night RAW and the possibility of WWE going with a 3-man announce team each week, JR said:
“The plan all along was for me to simply sit in for the King, do color commentary and not play by play, and keep Jerry’s seat warm until he was well enough to return to the announce table. I never heard anyone in WWE ever discuss King, Cole and me ever doing a three man announce team but that rumor or sentiment sort of took on a life of its own in some fan’s eyes.”
– Jerry Jarrett, Jerry Lawler’s former business partner, took offense to WWE using the legendary grappler’s near-fatal heart attack as a “cheap heat” angle on Raw Monday.
Nine weeks following the ordeal, a tearful Lawler offered his gratitude for the amount of support he received. The WWE Hall of Famer was then interrupted by CM Punk, who continued their on-screen rivalry by mocking him. The segment included a crass imitation of a heart attack, courtesy of Paul Heyman.
“I watched WWE last night. Jerry Lawler was returning after surviving a life threatening heart attack. I sat watching the television with a feeling of pride that they were honoring the return of such a great wrestler. I sat thinking, “now this is real class”. Just when I was appreciating the class WWE was showing, it ended suddenly with a juvenile cheap heat angle,” wrote Jarrett on Facebook.
“I turned the television off and starting thinking about Linda McMahon’s hard work and great expense running for the Senate. It is exactly this kind of programming that prevented her from becoming a Senator. Wrestling should have some limits and boundaries. If you offend great portions of the audience, it is a bad angle.”
– According to SLAM! Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Illustrated has discontinued its sister publications, The Wrestler and Inside Wrestling (which had been combined into one large issue in recent years). The publications had been in circulation since 1968.
Pro Wrestling Illustrated will continue to be published. It is now the last remaining non-WWE publication in the United States.
The wrestling magazine industry has struggled mightily since last year, with WWE continuously posting decreasing revenue for its own publications.
Following Monday’s WWE RAW, WWE Champion CM Punk posted a series of tweets making fun of Jerry Lawler and playing off the angle from RAW where Paul Heyman suffered a “heart attack” and was saved by CM Punk administering CPR.
DISCUSSION: Comment below and tell us if you think WWE, CM Punk and Paul Heyman went too far on RAW with Heyman’s fake heart attack angle. Was it in bad taste – or was that great television?
Punk tweeted:
You people are pigs. I saved a mans life tonight. This isn't something you joke about. PIGS. #learnCPR
Here’s the segment from RAW with Paul Heyman faking a heart attack, which has drawn a lot of criticism from viewers. The controversial “fake heart attack” occurs at around the 9:55 mark:
– Both the RAW and SmackDown crews flew home from Europe to Columbus, Ohio (site of tonight’s RAW) on Saturday. WWE Champion CM Punk summed up the tour with this tweet:
– WWE is expected to release an announcement today regarding how mnay tickets were sold for WrestleMania 29. As reported over the weekend, there were approximately 50,000 tickets sold in the first few days they were on sale, with only $600 and $400 seats available on Ticketmaster.com at one point.
WWE will be releasing more seats in the coming months as plans for the production setup are finalized.
– The announcing team for tonight’s WWE RAW from Columbus, Ohio will be Michael Cole, Jim Ross and the returning Jerry “The King” Lawler. This will be Lawler’s return to the announcing booth after his recent on-air heart attack. Jerry Lawler tweeted on Monday morning:
On the plane about to take off to Columbus, Ohio for my first time back on Raw in nine weeks! Gotta admit, I'm a little nervous, but excited
It’s unknown how long Jim Ross will remain on RAW, but we’ll get a Ross-Lawler reunion tonight. A few weeks ago the plan was for RAW to return to a 2-man team (Cole/Lawler), but WWE might keep Jim Ross on board until Lawler gets comfortable.
– After recovering from his heart attack in September, WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler returns to the Raw announce table this Monday at 8/7 CT on USA Network. The legendary grappler addressed his return in a Twitter message Wednesday.
“Really excited about returning to Raw this Monday night in Columbus, Ohio!! I’ve missed everyone!” he wrote.
– WWE has released online the Wade Barrett video package that aired on Wednesday’s episode of WWE Main Event.
– Mick Foley appears on Imus in the Morning Thursday to promote his new holiday children’s book, “A Most Mizerable Christmas,” The show is syndicated on radio, and also airs on the Fox Business Network from 6:00 a.m. to 9:20 a.m.
WWE Hall of Famer Jerry Lawler will make his return to commentary on next week’s WWE RAW from Columbus, Ohio. There has been some talk of WWE keeping Jim Ross on board to call RAW along with Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler, but that’s not confirmed yet.
Next week’s RAW will also feature Ryback vs. suspended WWE referee Brad Maddox, with Vince McMahon awarding Maddox a $1 million contract if he can defeat Ryback.
Speaking of Maddox, WWE.com’s Matt Striker caught up with referee Rod Zapata at RAW and asked him about the controversy of Maddox costing Ryback his match with CM Punk at WWE’s Hell in a Cell pay-per-view.
Zapata called Maddox a “piece of garbage” and doesn’t believe Maddox when he says he acted alone in costing Ryback his WWE title match.
Check out this video of Brad Maddox hitting his finisher, the “Dealbreaker” on Richie Steamboat in FCW back when he was a wrestler there:
– WWE.com has released video of Jerry Lawler’s return to WWE at Tuesday’s SmackDown tapings from Memphis, Tennessee. Lawler was interviewed by Michael Cole in the ring and said he feels fully recovered from his heart attack (aside from his scratchy voice) and hopes to return to RAW soon.
– John Cena tweeted on Thursday that he’s headed to Arizona for a Make A Wish conference: