Was Jerry Lawler supposed to take Cole's place as the heel commentator?

[The Future Rises]

I know this sounds a little.. weird.. but something has been bugging me for quite some time now.

Shortly before Michael Cole's heel turn against Daniel Bryan on NXT I've been noticing how it looked like the WWE were slowly turning Jerry Lawler into a heel again.

First it was when The Miz debuted his "I Came To Play" theme song and confronted Maryse. You can hear Cole say "Oh no.." and after it King responds to Cole with "What? It's The Miz!".

Then I remember when something like a cheap heel attack on a babyface can't remember exactly what was happening but King was all for it. He and Matt Striker were aiding the heels and Cole said something along the lines of "I can't believe you two would enjoy this".

So it looked like the WWE were slowly turning King into a heel again but I think they had second thoughts about it after looking back at Jerry's HoF career and realizing that turning him heel again in this stage of his career was a bad move considering his high reputation so they just went with Cole.

So here are my questionas : Do You Think It's Possible That The WWE Were Gonna Make Jerry Lawler The Heel Commentator And The Miz Mark Instead Of Michael Cole? If so, then how do you think that would have gone?

 

[LegendKiller716]

It wouldn't be a good idea. Jerry Lawler has horrible mic skills and horrible in-ring skills. Miz would lose tons of credibility if Lawler was his bodyguard. Cole, on the other hand, even though I hate him, I admit he has pretty good mic skills, which gives Miz more heat.

Where did he say bodyguard? I don't think they were gonna turn Jerry, but I wish they would have. He was such a good heel commentator, and I think it would have been a lot better. Cole is too over the top, at least on Raw. I think Cole should go to Smackdown full time and leave JR and Lawler on Raw.

 

[Rulk25]

Yeah not seeing where the Bodyguard part came in and yeah that woudl be silly but Heel Commentator yeah. He had a way to do it so well...and did it without an irritating catchphrase. But I am sure Lawler wanted no part of it while Cole is more a company man and will do what it takes to get ahead

What would have been the result...ultimately minimal...Might have made commentary a little different but woudl not have had the storyline that Cole has had (whatever you think of it) and would have denied Lawler his Mania Match (which sadly was a loss)

 

[Hazardous]

It wouldn't be a good idea. Jerry Lawler has horrible mic skills and horrible in-ring skills. Miz would lose tons of credibility if Lawler was his bodyguard. Cole, on the other hand, even though I hate him, I admit he has pretty good mic skills, which gives Miz more heat.

In what world do YOU live in? I mean, yeah now he may not be as good, but in his prime Jerry was great in the ring. As bad as he is now, are you saying watching Cole is better?
I would have liked this. Always loved the Face JR with Heel Lawler.

 

[ECW Sandman]

If WWE turned Jerry heel instead of Cole it would have been a stupid mistake,yeah Jerry was a great heel back in the day but now everyone loves Jerry Lawler he's a hall of famer plus it wouldn't have work if he was a heel when his mom passed away Cole was the perfect choice to play the heel the '' And I Quote '' from him is so annoying the heel heat he gets is just out of this world.

 

[avi01]

The problem with Lawler is that he used to be good but is not anymore and it is not necessarily because he is not a heel.. yes as a heel he was perfect...but if he were to turn heel right now, it would feel forced and will eventually fail. Lawler has passed his prime. Jr too but he somehow remains very efficient at the job without being Jr at his best. WWE still needs JR cause he still is the best at what he does. Lawler tho is just plain boring, he doesn`t work as a face and he simply does not really contribute that much, Michael Cole carry him every Monday night. At this point , having JR and Lawler as a duo is a step backwards...I`d much prefer having Jr and Cole as a duo. Lawler during his prime was just priceless, WWE was very very lucky to have Heyman as his replacement in 2001, anybody else would have failed, lawler was that great. But yeah, key word here is was. Face JR and Heel King will always be my favorite duo.

 

[Mercer the Ruthless]

Cole is too over the top, at least on Raw. I think Cole should go to Smackdown full time and leave JR and Lawler on Raw.

Yes, yes he is too over the top, for the sake of controversy he's cool but with JR on RAW his over the top and down right erratic behavior is just too much to bare heck I get tired of him undermining the talent on Smackdown, granted Lawler did the same thing but he wasn't as frustrating as Cole.

As for the heel turn for Lawler, they probably did have it slightly in mind but then decided against it. They had to create a new heel commentator and felt Cole could do it and he can, I don't think Lawler's HOF status would keep him from being a heel but we've heard him play heel before, I think WWE wants to avoid harping on JR and King too much, just in case reality hits (death) hits.

 

[Dude_Love87]

It wouldn't be a good idea. Jerry Lawler has horrible mic skills and horrible in-ring skills.

You can't be serious? Jerry Lawler has great mic skills, and is a great technical wrestler. Where did you get this from? ECW in the mid 90's? Lawler has held over a 100 belts, they don't give the belt to any jo smo over a 100 times. You have to draw money. Plus, he's one the best announcers in history.

I would love to see Jerry Lawler turn Heel again. To me, that's some of his best work. The puppies & kissing McMahons ass. I can see him playing that same role with Triple H as COO.

 

[sTyLnK]

It wouldn't be a good idea. Jerry Lawler has horrible mic skills and horrible in-ring skills. Miz would lose tons of credibility if Lawler was his bodyguard. Cole, on the other hand, even though I hate him, I admit he has pretty good mic skills, which gives Miz more heat.

His mic skills aren't that bad at all. Good Lord, the IWC thinks they know it all. They don't. He's still a great commentator and there's a reason he's still doing it. He's good at his job.

I will say that I'd love to see him go heel again though. Obviously when Cole turned heel they couldn't have 2 heel announcers. Be a nice change though.

 

[willross]

It wouldn't be a good idea. Jerry Lawler has horrible mic skills and horrible in-ring skills. Miz would lose tons of credibility if Lawler was his bodyguard. Cole, on the other hand, even though I hate him, I admit he has pretty good mic skills, which gives Miz more heat.

Dude really? Really? Lawler is fucking awesome. His matches with The Miz were some great stuff and he is one of the better color commentators of all time, and anyone who knows anything would know you need good mic skills to be a great commentator.

Cole is talented but does rely on cheap heat more often than not and also he was "JR's Replacement" which gave him instant heat. Even before this, years before, he was being booed anyway. I remember when 16,000 people booed him right out of the ACC in Toronto at Summerslam 2004.

 

[911 JP]

I actually loved Jerry Lawlers heel mic skills back in the days of the attitude era up un til around 2004 - 2005. The way that he would cheer for the heels and make up blatantly one sided arguments for them i found very entertaining, and a credit on his part.

However it is no longer the attitude era and Lawler would not make a good heel commentator anymore, he has transformed from the Diva loving heel commentator to Uncle Jerry found on Monday nights and PPV. However give him props for playing a good foil to Michael Cole's heel antics and commentary.

I cannot see Jerry Lawler playing Michael Cole's place on commentary, especially not in this day and age.

 

[RicoLen]

I hate Jerry LOLer, but even I can recognize the man is a legend and pretty much a permanent face. LOLer was one of the biggest names in wrestling back in Andre the Giant's days. The feud he had with Andy Kaufman is legendary because everyone thought the two were in a legit feud and that LOLer actually broke Kaufman's neck on Letterman. The guy is a legend, and WAS a great wrestler... but I've never liked his commentating in the least. He absolutely sucks, and between the two major roles he could play either as the playcaller or as the color commentator I'd rather LOLer ruin the color commentator role and have a legit playcaller. Micheal Cole was a good playcaller, and even though I'm not all that thrilled with Cole he's head and shoulders better than Jerry "PUPPIES!" LOLer.