Why wasn't Lawler ever pushed towards a title in WWE?

[Trill Co$by]

In the 1990s, Jerry Lawler sold all that was left of USWA to Vincent McMahon and brought in to the WWF with a storyline (along the USWA side of things) that Lawler was going to march up to New York, fight for the name of USWA, and become a great hero to the fans in Tennessee that watched Lawler for years. And in the beginning, he did a great job getting over... or at least I thought he did. He had a somewhat rise to the top of the cards when he entered into a feud with Bret Hart, but the only thing people remember about that feud was Lawler sucking on toes.

As a fan of Lawler, I've been baffled by the number of times Jerry was passed up and pushed aside from getting any kind of title push. It seemed to me like Jerry was just put into a "jobber to the stars" kind of role before quietly fading into being the official color commentator. And I really think that it has always been for the worst. Next to Ric Flair, I would say that Jerry is one of the best workers of the 80s... probably the best if I was really pushed to mention it.

But instead of rambling on about Lawler, I just have to ask... why do you think Lawler was never pushed in WWE?

 

[The Butcher]

Personally, I've never considered Lawler a great worker. His look also left a lot to be desired. He is, however, one of the all-time great talkers. His value, then, was more in his talking than his wrestling, hence commentary. That may be me oversimplifying, but I'd say Vince made the right call in hindsight.

He did get over, especially in that feud against the Hitman, but WWF was in "New Generation" mode. Bret, HBK, Diesel, Taker, etc. were the guys Vince wanted to push; looking back, it's hard to argue with that decision. Along with that a guy like Lawler had credibility. He was a Roddy Piper, Jake Roberts type. He had cred, got heat, and didn't need a belt.

 

[klunderbunker]

Two reasons: his age, and he didn't need one.

Often times people forget how old Lawler is. He started wrestling in 1970 and debuted in the WWF in December of 1992 at the age of 43. In the words of the Natural: "At that age you're not starting, you're retiring." Lawler wasn't brought in as a guy to build the company around. He was brought in as a guy to put over guys like Bret and whoever else he faced because Lawler is an absolute master at getting heat. He's one of the probably five best in history at making a crowd hate him, so what better way to make fans cheer for other guys?

Second, Lawler didn't need a title. Lawler was a genuine legend who had held dozens of championships in Memphis and national titles in the AWA. Also keep in mind that he was well known nationally for the Andy Kaufman stuff. Lawler was already a wrestling legend who didn't need to win titles in the WWF to validate his career. You could have anyone beat him and his reputation wasn't going to take a big hit. Once you reach that point, it's nearly impossible to lose that kind of credibility which is incredibly valuable.

Lawler didn't win titles because he wasn't brought in to win them and he didn't need them.

 

[AJ1981]

As others have said it was partially due to age, partially due to Lawler being sufficiently over to not need a championship. However it was partially due to a legal issue. In 1993 a 15 year old girl accused Lawler of rape and sodomy, Jerry was arrested and had to take a leave of abscence from the WWF. Fortunately for Lawler the girl later admitted that she had made up the charges and Jerry was cleared, but at the time with the steroid scandals facing the WWF they didn't need anymore negative publicity so would not feature Lawler as a company figurehead. Strangely though the whole incident improved Lawler's relationship with the locker room. When Lawler debuted in the WWF he had heat as many of the guys had previously worked for USWA and had endured measly pay offs, in fact on his first night as Lawler prepared to head to the ring he found someone had taken a dump in his crown. However the quiet dignity he showed whilst being investigated earned him the respect of the boys

 

[RKO920]

Three words...Vince McMahon's Ego.

Look at a lot of the guys that have come in who have made names for themselves in other territories or in WCW, they took time to get to the top. Yes there are exceptions (Goldberg, Flair). At the time the storyline with the WWF guys going to USWA was a great story and if anyone ever gets the chance to watch it on YouTube I highly recommend it. However when Jerry came to the WWF it was more to be used as a commentator and wrestle part time.

He had one main feud which was with Bret Hart, which was a carry over from USWA where the rolls were reversed and Bret was the heel, again great story. However, Vince wanted to show the Tennessee legend that Bret Hart was the national or international superstar and that Jerry Lawler was just a territorial wrestler and that he's now in the big time. Jerry's next feud....Doink the Clown.

Jerry was not a star from the WWF machine so Vince took his time pushing him. Don't believe it? How long did it take CM Punk, Rob Van Dam, Booker T, Steve Austin, Mick Foley, Chris Jericho, Daniel Bryan, or Eddie Guerrero to get to the top of the WWF/E? and why wasn't a guy like Colt Cabana or Samoa Joe ever given a shot in the WWF/E...they weren't WWE made stars and didn't offer something for Vince to buy like Jerry did.

 

[GeneralKarim]

Not much else to say , KB got all the points correct.The man was too old to come in and start winning championships. He was already a legend and a measly push in WWE wouldnt really do him more good.Another reason would be that he wasnt a guy that came from the WWE machine.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

The legal issue was a massive reason, make no mistake... Jerry could easily have had the Bob Backlund reign in 1995 and that may have been the original plan during his feud with Bret in 93 which ultimately led to them turning Owen instead, by 95 the Bret feud was back on but Lawler had lost momentum in the ring and was letting guys like Hakushi and Glen "Issac" Jacobs fight for him. Once the accusations hit, he was out of Survivor Series and as I remember the original plan had been for Owen to turn on Bret, costing him the pin to Lawler.

Remember this though, Lawler was one of only 3 or 4 guys who had gone out and gotten Hollywood/Mainstream exposure by the early 90's. His stuff with Kaufman on the Tonight Show was well loved and remembered by many, there was only really he, Hogan, Piper and Jesse Ventura who had crossed over by that time and Lawler had done it a similar time to Hogan initially. So Vince signing him was likely a way to try and capitalize on some of that 10 years later, and indeed at the start Jerry did play to that kind of character. Had things gone different you could easily have seen Jerry back on the show with Bret. Also around the time he was cleared, he found his groove on commentary with JR and with their lack of luck with commentators at that time, a decision was made to focus him there. They'd tried Perfect, Piper, DiBiase, Hayes, Stan Lane and even Honky Tonk Man in the colour position but JR and Lawler clearly had some chemistry and with Vince moving further away from the booth he got that gig.

Now the irony is before his heart attack, I could genuinely see them pushing Lawler more than they ever had and I really thought he would be the guy to unseat Punk only to get "cashed in on" by Ziggler or set up to take the fall to Ryback in the way Backlund was. Was that ever on the cards? Only Vince and Jerry know but the way that TV was headed before that fateful moment it definitely seemed like Jerry was gonna get at least a PPV title match.

At times Lawler has hurt his own chances, quitting over his wife at the time was again seen as honorable, but a bit naive, and was borne out later but as a previous reply said, while Lawler may have been stingy with payoffs from time to time as a promoter, he had also give a lot of guys of that era their first breaks and pushes in the USWA and their first WWF exposure through the talent trades. From memory Taker (Master Of Pain), Godfather (Soultaker), Men on a Mission (Harlem Knights), Austin, Brian Christopher and Jeff Jarrett were the main ones who had their first title runs or pushes in the USWA, although Austin took longer to arrive.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

KB pretty much pointed out the major reasons why. By the time Jerry Lawler came to WWE in the early 90s, he was well into his 40s and had been wrestling for well over 20 years. His best days in the business as a pro wrestler were behind him and had been for several years.

It never bothered me that Lawler never got a title push. Personally, I never thought Lawler was all that great inside the ring. I will say that Lawler could be a good storyteller in the ring but his offense was pretty much limited to punches and kicks. Unless it was some sort of hardcore style match, in my opinion, Lawler could be incredibly boring to watch inside the ring. Much of the time, I'd have rather heard him cut a promo than watch him wrestle.

Also, as KB pointed out, what good would it have really done to put a title on Lawler? By the time he came to WWE in very late 1992, he'd had over 100 reigns with various titles throughout his career. He was already a celebrated legend and was a consistent big draw for the Memphis territory for the better part of 2 decades.

In my opinion, vanity title runs are the worst. It always bugs me to see someone carrying a title just for the simple fact of what they did once upon a time in wrestling. That's all a title run for Lawler in WWE would have been.

 

[CrucifiedRaven]

I think he was just too old in the 90s. I know they gave Backlund his "thank you", "goodbye" push to the top.... and it wasn't that good. At all. If they ever did one for Lawler it would have been similar, and as bad as the WWF was during this time, they didn't need to do that. And I'm glad they didn't. It was simply not believable that Backlund was a threat to Bret Hart. And an old, color commentary Jerry Lawler was just as bad, in my opinion.

 

[lil bitch Kid]

Lawler was never what one would refer to as a great worker. He could talk, yes, and very well at that, but in the ring, not so much. He was the John Cena of the generation, in the sense that he had his handful of moves that people would pop for and not much else. He sold well, but was very much, in most, not all, matches, punch, kick, rake the eyes, punch more, bodyslam, second turnbuckle, drop the strap, punch, piledriver and away we go. We bitch about Cena having the five moves of doom, well, Lawler barely had 5.

In USWA, Lawler got titles because he was the owner. In AWA, he got into bed with the Gagnes, and was holding the company until Hennig was mature enough to carry the belt.

By the time he got the the E, he was old, under investigation and well, not as good as guys that were getting titles. They were in the throws of the 'New Generation' phase, and didn't book Lawler in a way to challenge the new stars. If they had had him lead a charge of old guard guys against the new generation, it might have worked, and would have been done long before WCW's failed attempt.

 

[markages]

because he was no where near that level, people get sentimental.. but he was just a fat old guy in a silly costume as far as i was concerned... never even crossed my mind, that he could wear the strap

 

[justtxyank]

LOL at the time "Lawler only won titles because he was the owner" line. Lawler was wildly popular in his promotion. He could make a feud with almost anyone work. However, working a heel wrestler was not really his strength in my mind. He had to play a weasel heel which is not the character he had built in Memphis. He was a fighter.

 

[lil bitch Kid]

I didn't say it was the only reason, but it was a factor, to be sure. When he's shelling the cash and is an active wrestler, he pushed himself as a draw, which led to him being over and taking the strap. If he had put the same energy into someone else that he did his own push, they could have taken the same spot.

 

[PsychoBlack]

Lawler didn't win the strap because he was old as shit. Now has that stopped WWE before? No (See Mick Foley), but I do believe if Lawler wanted a run with the title he probably could have got it considering that when he came to the WWF it was a pretty bad time for the company and they weren't drawing shit anyway.

 

[HBKistheHOF]

I think it was mostly because Lawler simply didn't need a title & WWF wasn't trying to push him full time as a main star in the company. Lawler obviously had plenty of memorable moments & matches without ever wearing a title in the WWE anyways. I also think, especially in his later years when facing off with The Miz, Lawler was much too old for a championship run & his in-ring skills were never the most refined to begin with.

I really don't think it has hurt Lawler or his WWE career in any way, shape or form. The true fans or 'smarks' know his value & title history outside of his WWF/E tenure & the rest simply value him for his commentary & feuds with the likes of the Hart family, Michael Cole & The Miz.

So all in all I think Lawler has had a very unique path in sports entertainment & legendary career & I would only have to assume The King himself is very happy with how everything has gone for him for the most part.

 

[The Brain]

Three words...Vince McMahon's Ego.

Oh give me a break. Vince's ego? That's IWC cliche #23. It's just a lame argument people make when they want to appear cool by going against the machine. Vince's ego had nothing to do with Lawler not getting the WWF title.

Look at a lot of the guys that have come in who have made names for themselves in other territories or in WCW, they took time to get to the top. Yes there are exceptions (Goldberg, Flair). At the time the storyline with the WWF guys going to USWA was a great story and if anyone ever gets the chance to watch it on YouTube I highly recommend it. However when Jerry came to the WWF it was more to be used as a commentator and wrestle part time.

He had one main feud which was with Bret Hart, which was a carry over from USWA where the rolls were reversed and Bret was the heel, again great story. However, Vince wanted to show the Tennessee legend that Bret Hart was the national or international superstar and that Jerry Lawler was just a territorial wrestler and that he's now in the big time. Jerry's next feud....Doink the Clown.

So you're saying Jerry Lawler should have been WWF champion in 1993. Is that correct?

Jerry was not a star from the WWF machine so Vince took his time pushing him. Don't believe it? How long did it take CM Punk, Rob Van Dam, Booker T, Steve Austin, Mick Foley, Chris Jericho, Daniel Bryan, or Eddie Guerrero to get to the top of the WWF/E? and why wasn't a guy like Colt Cabana or Samoa Joe ever given a shot in the WWF/E...they weren't WWE made stars and didn't offer something for Vince to buy like Jerry did.

All those guys you listed did pretty well for themselves in WWE. Did you expect them to all be handed the strap on day one? Your argument is weak. You're actually using Austin, Foley, and Jericho while arguing Vince's ego causes him to hold back talent that he didn't create. I don't think you're going to win that one.

Others have already mentioned Lawler's age and that he didn't need the title but let's talk about something else. His schedule. Lawler was still heavily active (as owner and booker) in the USWA during his time in the WWF. He was not a full time WWF wrestler. He did tv tapings and pay per views. He did not do the house show circuit. A part time wrestler was not going to be champion. That's a little to logical though. The Vince's ego argument is a sexier one even if it is bullshit.

Lawler didn't win the strap because he was old as shit. Now has that stopped WWE before? No (See Mick Foley), but I do believe if Lawler wanted a run with the title he probably could have got it considering that when he came to the WWF it was a pretty bad time for the company and they weren't drawing shit anyway.

Are you saying the WWF put the title on Foley when he was 'old as shit?' I don't consider 33 to be old as shit.

 

[dukes07]

Like someone said the WWF was in the "New Generation" phase. Besides, there was absolutely no reason for Lawler to get the title. He did not need it. I disagree with Dr. that he was not a great worker, as that is just a silly thing to say. The guy had good match with the Miz not that long ago. Lawler put butts in the seats in the 80s and still did down South not that long ago.

Sure, there is the argument that if Vince did not create someone then they won't get a push. And yeah he can be a vindictive douche and also piss money away on asinine decisions. But if he thought Lawler could sell tickets and make him a lot of money he would have gotten a bigger push. Besides there are former WCW/NWA/AWA/Mid-South guys that were really successful in WWF/E.

Ultimately, Vince did a fine job with Lawler who was a comedic heel and played his role to perfection. Now I would argue that DiBiase deserved the title far more than Lawler did. DiBiase is still one of my favorite heels of all time and was a damn good worker too.

 

[JJ15776]

Oh give me a break. Vince's ego? That's IWC cliche #23. It's just a lame argument people make when they want to appear cool by going against the machine. Vince's ego had nothing to do with Lawler not getting the WWF title.

So you're saying Jerry Lawler should have been WWF champion in 1993. Is that correct?

All those guys you listed did pretty well for themselves in WWE. Did you expect them to all be handed the strap on day one? Your argument is weak. You're actually using Austin, Foley, and Jericho while arguing Vince's ego causes him to hold back talent that he didn't create. I don't think you're going to win that one.

Others have already mentioned Lawler's age and that he didn't need the title but let's talk about something else. His schedule. Lawler was still heavily active (as owner and booker) in the USWA during his time in the WWF. He was not a full time WWF wrestler. He did tv tapings and pay per views. He did not do the house show circuit. A part time wrestler was not going to be champion. That's a little to logical though. The Vince's ego argument is a sexier one even if it is bullshit.

Are you saying the WWF put the title on Foley when he was 'old as shit?' I don't consider 33 to be old as shit.

This. Those were the two posts I was going to respond to, and I think you did a better job of it than I would have.

I think everybody else has covered the reasons why Lawler wasn't pushed to a title, but I wanted to provide some perspective on just how old he was. He was 43 years old when he came into the WWF. Let's look at what some other superstars were doing in the WWE when they were 43.

Shawn Michaels turned 43 in 2008. That was six years after his last title and just two years before his retirement.
Undertaker also turned 43 in 2008. He would win one more world title, at the age of 44, before becoming a once a year wrestler.
Mick Foley also turned 43 in 2008. (Weird...) That was nine years after his last title win, eight years after his official retirement, and two years after his last WWE match.
Steve Austin turned 43 in 2007. That was six years after his last WWE Championship and four years after his last match.
Triple H turned 43 in 2012. That was three years after his last title win and two years after he went from being a full time wrestler to a part time wrestler.

That's five of the biggest superstars in WWE history. Only one of them won a title and so far only two of them have even wrestled a match after turning 43. When you really look at it, it would've been more unusual if Lawler DID win a title or wrestle full time for very long.

 

[pyrusane]

This. Those were the two posts I was going to respond to, and I think you did a better job of it than I would have.

I think everybody else has covered the reasons why Lawler wasn't pushed to a title, but I wanted to provide some perspective on just how old he was. He was 43 years old when he came into the WWF. Let's look at what some other superstars were doing in the WWE when they were 43.

Shawn Michaels turned 43 in 2008. That was six years after his last title and just two years before his retirement.
Undertaker also turned 43 in 2008. He would win one more world title, at the age of 44, before becoming a once a year wrestler.
Mick Foley also turned 43 in 2008. (Weird...) That was nine years after his last title win, eight years after his official retirement, and two years after his last WWE match.
Steve Austin turned 43 in 2007. That was six years after his last WWE Championship and four years after his last match.
Triple H turned 43 in 2012. That was three years after his last title win and two years after he went from being a full time wrestler to a part time wrestler.

That's five of the biggest superstars in WWE history. Only one of them won a title and so far only two of them have even wrestled a match after turning 43. When you really look at it, it would've been more unusual if Lawler DID win a title or wrestle full time for very long.

Not disagreeing with any of what you posted up there, but did want to offer a slightly different perspective. All five of the guys you just listed turned 43 within the last five or so years. Let take a look at the time frame when Lawler joined the WWE, that 92-93 era. One of his contemporaries, Ric Flair won the Royal Rumble in 1992, winning the Title in the process. You know what else Ric Flair did in 92? He turned 43...

 

[FlairFan2003]

KB pretty much pointed out the major reasons why. By the time Jerry Lawler came to WWE in the early 90s, he was well into his 40s and had been wrestling for well over 20 years. His best days in the business as a pro wrestler were behind him and had been for several years.

.

No doubt Jerry's legal issues coming at the same time as the Federal Steroids Investigation (Really think McMahon wanted to get rid of Hogan ??) combined with the rebuilding process of trying to go with younger stars (New Generation, although ironically the top stars of the NG were all guys who had been wrestling for over a decade or were close in age to Lawler).

I wouldnt say age alone was a factor in Lawler not getting the title. Fact is, 43 is NOT OLD for pro wrestling. Look at the last 30, 20, even 10 years at who is selling the most tickets, drawing the most interest, etc. HHH vs Taker was a huge match last year, and an exceptionally entertaining one. Both of those guys are well past 40. HBK & Flair wrestled multiple great matches past the age of 40. HBK was pushing 50 when he had his last two great WrestleMania Matches (both against the post 40 Undertaker). Flair was 42 when he won The Royal Rumble in probably the most impressive single performance in that event's history. Biggest match amongtodays roster ? Rock vs Cena, by a wide margin, unless Rock faces Taker with The Streak on the line at WrestleMania, not exactly a resounding thumbs up for youth. Jerry only has maybe 8-10 years on Hart & HBK, not a huge age difference.

While Jerry did a good job initially in getting over as a heel, he didnt have the excitement factor that HBK had. Michaels was an extremely charismatic performer and once he got comfortable on the mic the potential was huge for him. That is why he rose to prominence as the top heel as quick as he did, much like Flair surpasing Harley Race in the early 80s (although both guys has to turn into fan favs to get their initial title runs before settling back in as mega heels).

If Jerry didnt have his legal problems he might have ended up winning more gold just as if Ted DiBiase didnt injure his back he might have grabbed a title run during this time (remember business wise The New Gen era wasnt very good, WWE was consistently looking for a new guy, a different angle, to ignite things bouncing between old favs like Hart and newer guys like Nash).

 

[George Steele's Barber]

I don't know what kind of agreement Vince originally had with Lawler but when the Hart/Lawler feud started to develop I remember thinking it felt like filler. It was just an opportunity for Hart to look good and have more time with the title until WWE could find a better feud. I just didn't see any reason for Lawler to be champion. Between his age, appearance and establishment as a non-wrestling commentator, he didn't seem to fit in with the WWE mold of a superstar.

Then again maybe his feud with Hart was a tryout to see what he could do for ratings and he didn't push the needle. Anyone have this information?

 

[Mustang Sally]

Might have been a case of career planning for a long-time professional. Lawler knew he didn't have much time left as an active wrestler and may have been angling for a front office job.....or an announcer's position. I don't know whether the company initially contacted Jerry, or the other way around, but once contact was made, they might have cut a deal in which he wrestled for them awhile and then eased into a more sedentary role.

After all, the guy practically owned mid-South wrestling in his era. I could see him orchestrating an exit strategy that worked to his own benefit, even as it gave WWE the services of a certified wrestling legend. Smart.

Then again, that blunder he made in quitting the company because they released his trophy wife seemed like a pretty dumb move, no? Wonder what was really behind it, especially when she dumped his aged ass after he fell on his sword for her.

Do you like the soap opera aspects of pro wrestling? Sometimes, they can't hold a candle to what happens in real life.

 

[justtxyank]

Brain nailed it when he hit on the part time wrestler point. Lawler still wrestled a LOT. The person who said he didn't have much time left as an active wrestler couldn't be more wrong.The USWA would stay open until 1997 with Jerry Lawler as a full time worker the entire time.

When the USWA finally went out of business in 97, Lawler ended up in a lawsuit and a federal investigation (he wasn't the target of it but was party to it). He never won the title because he was never a full time wrestler for the WWF.

Now, his age did hurt him of course in how high he could go. The WWF had just started the new generation angle and it wouldn't have been good to have a 40+ year old star of the territories from the 80s carrying your strap.

 

[midgensa]

Well ... I am a little late to the party, so I am sure I will be repeating after some people.

Lawler was simply never that great in the ring. He worked hard. Could tell a story. But by the time he got to the WWF he was 40+ and just not a high workrate guy. Having him involved in battles for the strap with the roided up freaks would not have been believable or worked in any capacity.

The King was always better on the mic than he was in the ring. He was pretty much an older version of Piper (though Piper definitely could do better ring work, even if it was not exceptional). Lawler fit in exactly how he was supposed to. Transitioned a new crowd to WWF and then kept that crowd by moving to commentary and using his best asset ... his mouth ... to keep people tuning in.

 

[TheHorndogSays]

Lawler didn't NEED a belt, simple as that. Lawler was a LEGEND when he came to WWF plus he was so good on the mic that he did not need a belt. He still had enough cred to help put over a guy like Bret Hart. Plus aligning himself with Hakuski and Isaac Yankem gave them instant credibility as well. I have said it for years that I feel Kane owes his WWE career to Jerry Lawler. Jerry was a professional and had no problems helping put over Bret Hart and giving him credibility.

Plus like others have said, the 90s started to see the emergence of mat wrestling with guys like Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart. While Jerry may be one of the most underrated when it comes to his ring timing and ability to throw a punch, he has never been known as a "mat specialist". He saw the future but everyone knew he was excellent on the mic so he made the switch to color commentator.

To me the bigger travesty when it comes to Lawler is it took him almost 20 years in WWE to finally get a Wrestlemania match.