F4WOnline were the first to report that both Lita and Jerry Lawler was removed from TV earlier this week. The two Hall of Famers were last used on the Pre-Show as Panellists on the WWE Network. It is confirmed since then that both Lawler and Lita were removed from their regular spots on the Pre-Show next to Renee Young and Booker T. It has been noted that both are signed to a Legends' Deal, but neither are signed to a Full-Time contract.
Lita, one of the most influential women to step foot in the squared circle, made her WWE debut in 1999. A former Women's Champion, she left the company in 2006 and was later inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2014. The last few years saw her return to television and WWE Network 'Kick-off' shows serving as a panellist. Jim Ross was one of the first to confirm Lita's second exit from the company on the 7th December, via Twitter.
Jerry 'The King' Lawler is a legend in the Wrestling business, and the period he spent working alongside Jim Ross on commentary will go down in both Wrestling and Sports-Entertainment History in general. Since 1992, we have been blessed with Lawler's commentary on classic matches, and with the odd appearance in the ring too. In an interview with the Cerrito Live podcast, Lawler revealed that he was removed from the Pre-Show because the WWE wanted to save money.
"Well, I got a call last week from (Kevin Dunn) ... he's one of the guys that makes the decisions when it comes to TV. He is the guy that is in charge of WWE TV and has been for years. ... I got a call from him and basically -- I don't want to say anything talking out of school or anything like that -- when you're a publicly traded company everything comes down to dollars and cents. Apparently once they moved my job over to the pre-shows and the pre-shows had to absorb my salary and my pay, it made it a very expensive show to produce every week. I guess, as Kevin explained to me, they decided to cut back on the pre-show because it was costing them too much money at the time."
That was not all the Memphis Legend has a say on the matter either.
"That's their decision. I'm still under contract with WWE until the middle of January. What we're going to do then is probably go in and renegotiate something else where I won't be probably making as much money as I have been in the past because I, quite frankly, and I'm not bragging or anything, but I make a lot of money for a one day a week job. So that's the situation.
Lawler further said:
The pre-shows were just stopped because of a cost saving thing. It's not that I'm gone from WWE or anything like that. On the contrary, Vince (McMahon) called me in the next day and said "you know, King, I hope you don't think this is goodbye or anything like that. We may have you busier than ever in the future now.' I think we may work something different contract wise, as opposed to a television contract, maybe a talent contract, where I'm available for everything and thus might have to wind up working more than ever as Vince said before. So, anyway, yeah, it's just one of those things that times they are changing and there's nothing sure in life but change. It's no big deal."
So good ol' King is not going anywhere, anytime soon. Sad news about Lita. I vividly enjoyed her on my TV screen again; Pre-Show just had a big loss. Lawler on the hand came off with an even better job in the WWE. How do you feel about the King staying with the company?
