Jerry 'The King' Lawler

[HBK-aholic]

Watching Raw this week, the first thing I noticed is how much I love Jerry Lawler. He's just so enthusiastic about everything, and seems to genuinely care about the show. He's had some fun moments in the business, and I really love watching him. What do you think of this Hall of Famer?

 

[Blue Chipper]

Jerry Lawler was a terrific wrestler in his hey day, and is currently a good asset in regards to commentary. He has been a great commentator during his tenure, and always makes a given match or show more exciting. Like you said, you can just sense his extreme passion, and love for the buisness. He meshed seemingly well with any commentator he's worked with, from JR to Cole.

On the mic, or in a match, nowadays, he's still fair, espeacially on the mic. He still knows how to tell a story in the ring, and when he's on the mic, he talks so sincere that he gets a reaction.

In my book, Jerry "the king" Lawler was a great wrestler in his prime, and is a good asset to wrestling now. He is a legend, and will always be remebered fondly.

 

[Kenny Powers]

The King is a legend in the ring and on the mic. He is always great on commentary. I wish WWE wouldn't tone him and the other announcers down because he does have some great one liners. Recently though his jokes sound old and tired like a 10 year old wrote them. Too bad WWE wants their announcers to be robotic.

 

[lilbigman36]

oh well they are their to announce the obvious and they get front row seats and get paid for stating the obvious im sure hes fine

 

[travoltage]

Well being from the Memphis area, let me tell you that Lawler in our eyes is right up there with Hogan or Flair...as I realize that that isn't necessarily a nationwide opinion, I do wish that WWE could do more to promote his legendary status...His bloody matches with people like Terry Funk or the Moondogs are just as responsible for "Hardcore" wrestling as is someone like Abdullah the Butcher or Mick Foley. Lawler knows the art of working the crowd like no other and I just wish the rest of the nation could see some of his best moments.

Personal best feuds
Lawler v. Austin Idol
Lawler v. Humongus
Lawler v. Savage

 

[WWF Wrestling Fan]

I Like The King Jerry Lawler he still wrestles from time to time I Love his mic skills and yes his one lines are funny as hell to bad he cant say '' puppies'' no more that was funny as hell the only bad thing i dont like about Jerry Lawler and its not his fault he has to work with that fuckin idiot Michael Cole he should still be on Smackdown if i didnt know any better WWE Is putting king as the play by play announcer you hear him more now then you do cole and lastly I think the best fude Jerry Lawler has ever been in has to be him and Andy Kaulfman and second Bret Hart and him self

 

[Superman]

Without a doubt Jerry Lawler is an all around legend on the mic, behind the announce desk, and in the ring. I like it when every now and then he has to interject himself in with some of the younger stars. Hes provided many a classic moment in wwe history and wrestling history. He needs to be paired with someone that isnt a total cyborg. like michael cole is.

 

[thebigredmonster84]

The king is fine on the mic what really sucks is that they moved Jim Ross away from him as i thought the two of them had great chemistry (especially with JR being a mark for stone cold and jerry kissing up to Mcmahon) The real problem is Michael Cole who must have incriminating pics of vince to be on raw i have to say Matt Strikers better than Michael Cole ever will be on the mic

 

[foxhound101]

I think Jerry Lawler is THE Icon. I have followed his career my entire life. (30 years). I Live not too far from Memphis, and have had the opportunity to meet lawler on more than one occasion. First time when i was 6 years old....He's always seemed to me to be a class act....long live the KING!!!

 

[RatedRKO93]

I personally think The King had a great wrestling career. His commentary also is awsome from my point of few if he still had JR as his annoucer i think raw would be a bit more enjoyable to watch.

 

[Viola Moonlight]

Jerry "The King" Lawler deserves every bit of HOF glory he can get, despite the fact that he holds hardly any accollades within the company that give him a HOF spot besides being a colour commentator. The man has held more than top tier championships than Ric Flair ever has... & thats if you only count Lawler's AWA achievements alone. Say what you will about these smaller promotions, but a top tier championship is a top tier championship.

His commentating is simply phenomenial as the colour man. Granted he isn't the best as Bobby 'The Brain' Heenan will always hold that spot, but he is a very close second for the title. Lawler has been paired with many people of his broadcasting days & has never dissappointed. He knows when to make the smart remarks without getting in trouble by the screaming McMahon in the earpiece & will certainly get you into the action with his expression of voice. As a diva fan, he has done the best commentary work in this field... not including Taz.

Quite simply, in the ring or on the commentating position... the pairing of pretty much anyone alongside Lawlyer will always lead to a nice combination. If the paired anybody has anything above moderate talent, it was & still is a great formula to produce. Too bad that he has to tone down his character, but even then... out of the current commentators, who has the most character? The only other commentator who comes close is Striker with his sophisticated knowledge of wrestling.

 

[Steamboat Ricky]

Lawler, in his prime, is second only to Bobby Heenan as the greatest color man of all-time. That being said...Lawler is way out of his prime...which I tend to blame on WWE in its use of him and all of the announcers. King has a great voice and is a great, great heel commentator. However, as a full-time babyface...Lawler just doesn't get over like he once did.

What separated Lawler from other heel commentators of his era was that he could be a dastardly heel, but his compassion for his play-by-play associate would shine through when he would be attacked by a superstar and Jerry would come in for the save. People loved that. Then, he would go back to supporting the bad guys and drooling over the divas.

2nd best color man of all-time.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

I believe Lawler is past his prime. In his heyday he was one of the best ever. I loved him as a heel commentator especially during the Evolution days. I remembered watching the Booker T/HHH match and I've never laughed so much at commentating when Lawler was making jokes about Booker T and his past. He was the perfect heel to JR's commentating style and that can never be duplicated. I wish he would turn heel again but that's probably not going to happen.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

I've made my thoughts known regarding Lawler several times. I think he could go back to being the Heel Color Commentator tomorrow if he was able to, and he would bring back the Jerry Lawler we all preferred on the mic. The problem is that Vince McMahon no longer wants Face/Heel commentators who argue ... as he doesn't want the commentators "being part of the entertainment". He just wants Play by Play Commentators who call the action and Color Commentators who provide backup on calling the action, while providing a little bit of depth into the wrestlers and the feud, if the guys are feuding. That's it. And that is a terrible mistake on Vince's part, in my opinion, as it is just one more than that has taken the "E" out of World Wrestling ENTERTAINMENT.

Although most people accept that Bobby Heenan is the greatest Color Commentator of all time, I really go back and forth with who I feel the second greatest Color Commentator is. The Lawler of today, there is no question it is not him. But the Lawler of the New Generation Era into the early days of the Attitude Era was awesome and at his peak.

However, I still have to give the edge on #2 to Jesse "The Body" Ventura. The Body always told it like it was, and always kept Vince McMahon and his "toupee" in line, while proving to be more than a match for Bobby Heenan's nemesis, Gorilla Monsoon, whenever he did the PPV's.

Jesse's hatred for Hulk Hogan was absolutely classic, also had great one-liners of his own, and routinely bullied McMahon and Monsoon behind the mic.

Jerry Lawler in his prime, I would have to rank as the third best Color guy in the business, right behind Bobby Heenan (#1) and Jesse Ventura (#2). Paul Heyman would then be #4.

 

[CJ The Pirate]

This is a huge misconception. "Vince doesn't want the commentators to be part of the action"

Am I wrong but hasn't Lawler been involved in a match recently on Raw. Is that not being part of the action? Lawler is still an active wrestler for Memphis. He gets up from the desk regularly on Raw. They get in the ring now to announce PPV Cards. Announcers are more active in the live show than they ever have been

 

[mcflyboy]

Lawler is ok, but sometimes his jokes are really terrible. I'm not sure if they were fed to him by mcmahon or they are his own, but as someone else already said in this thread, they sound like they are written by a 10-year old (so probably Mcmahon wrote them). For example, his barrage of "short" jokes a few weeks ago when hornswaggle was wrestling...I think it was on superstars, not raw.

However, I am extremely glad that he's finally past the stage where he's yelling about puppies every time a diva shows up. That was old within 2 weeks, and he did it for years.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

This is a huge misconception. "Vince doesn't want the commentators to be part of the action"

Am I wrong but hasn't Lawler been involved in a match recently on Raw. Is that not being part of the action? Lawler is still an active wrestler for Memphis. He gets up from the desk regularly on Raw. They get in the ring now to announce PPV Cards. Announcers are more active in the live show than they ever have been

That's not true at all.

At one point, we had Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, and even Michael Cole all put in matches. Jim Ross has "wrestled" on Raw at least twice back in the day.

As far as Lawler goes, he is there to try to put the feuds over. Notice how on the rare occasions he does step in the ring to wrestle, it is basically over the next week, and things are back to normal again.

Announcers can get in the ring, but that isn't really a big deal. They get in the ring to put over PPV's ... not really do angles.

Keep in mind that I don't necessarily even need them doing angles ... maybe once in a blue moon, but definitely not regularly.

All I want them to do is show more excitement and enthusiasm then what Vince has been allowing them to show on TV, and I would like to see Face/Heel commentary teams brought back, as I strongly feel that they provide for the more entertaining broadcast.

 

[Doomsday Device]

Vince McMahon deciding to turn both commentators face was/is a huge mistake. Having two commentators face praising the hell out of whatever wrestler comes down the ramp whether he's a rookie or a vet, WHAT?

If the wrestler is sucking at something leave it to the heel commentator to hand the wrestler his ass.

When we had a heel and face commentator we had a perfect balance. Now with 2 face commentators its just one sided and boring.

I miss the days when the heel commentator used to rip on the face wrestler. How Bobby Heenan and Ventura used to do it. Then Lawler.

In some aspects Vince is losing his fucking mind and he should be taken off the helm before they hit another iceberg like they did in 1996-1997 with WCW.

 

[oldschool123]

Hes good now but he used to be really good when he was more of a heel announcer, not nearly as funny anymore.