Jerry O'Neil Lawler (born November 29, 1949), better known as Jerry "the King" Lawler, is an American color commentator and professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, although he has not performed as a full-time commentator since April 2020.
Prior to joining the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in 1992, he wrestled in numerous territories, winning many championships, including multiple World Heavyweight Championships, throughout his career. Lawler is a one-time AWA World Heavyweight Champion and a three-time WCWA World Heavyweight Champion: he unified the titles by defeating Kerry Von Erich at Superclash III, forming the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship, a championship which he held 28 times. He is also known for his feud with comedian Andy Kaufman and he portrayed himself in the 1999 film Man on the Moon.
Lawler has held more recognized championships than any professional wrestler in history, though he has never won any championships in WWE, having wrestled sporadically whilst primarily providing color commentary since joining the company. In 2007, Lawler was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Early life
Lawler was born November 29, 1949, in Memphis, Tennessee, where he graduated from Treadwell High School. When he was 19, his father, Jerome Lawler, died.
Professional wrestling career
Early career (1970–1977) While working in Memphis, Tennessee, as a disc jockey, Lawler's artistic ability attracted the attention of local wrestling promoter Aubrey Griffith.
The two made an agreement in which Lawler would give Griffith free publicity in exchange for free wrestling training. Lawler debuted as a wrestler in 1970, and won his first championship in September 1971 by winning a battle royal. He soon won the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship under the managerial service of Sam Bass with partner Jim White. In 1974, Lawler began feuding with Jackie Fargo, who had been his trainer and mentor. This led to a match for the NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship. On July 24, 1974, Lawler won the belt and the title of "King of Wrestling."
During 1975, Lawler teamed with a variety of partners such as Mr Wrestling II, Don Greene, and Bob Orton, Jr. He won the NWA Macon Tag Team Championship twice during this period. While Lawler began his career as a heel, he became a face after splitting from Bass at the end of 1974.
Continental Wrestling Association (1977–1989)
In 1977, promoter Jerry Jarrett broke away from Nick Gulas' NWA Mid-America promotion and formed his own promotion, the Continental Wrestling Association. Lawler—Gulas' biggest star—opted to join Jarrett. The CWA quickly outperformed NWA Mid-America, which ultimately folded in 1981. Lawler was both a co-owner of the CWA and its top star.
On November 12, 1979, while working in the CWA, Lawler defeated Superstar Billy Graham to become the CWA World Champion. In 1980, coming off the back end of a feud with The Fabulous Freebirds, his career was put on hold due to a broken leg suffered in a game of touch football, but he returned to the ring after several months.
In 1982, Lawler began a notorious feud with comedian Andy Kaufman. At the time, Kaufman wrestled women as part of his skits and had declared himself the Intergender Heavyweight Champion. On April 5, Lawler, who had taken exception to the skits, wrestled Kaufman in Memphis. During the course of the match, Lawler delivered two piledrivers to Kaufman, the second after the bell rang, sending him to the hospital and nearly breaking his neck. On July 29, Lawler slapped Kaufman in the face on an episode of Late Night with David Letterman. Kaufman responded by shouting profanities and throwing his coffee at Lawler.
Years later, Lawler appeared as himself in the Kaufman biopic Man on the Moon; the film revealed that Lawler's feud with Kaufman had been staged. Lawler later claimed that not only was his entire feud with Kaufman staged, but also the two were actually very good friends.
In 1988, Lawler feuded with Dutch Mantel.
In 1989, the CWA merged with World Class Championship Wrestling to form the United States Wrestling Association.