Jerry Lawler Talks Vince McMahon's Reaction To His Lawsuit Against WWE, Signing With WWE, The Rock
Jonathan Snowden of The Bleacher Report interviewed WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler last week. Here are a few highlights from the interview:
Austin Idol on the mic and if The Rock thinking that Idol delivered one of the best promos that he’s ever heard:
“Well, I’m not going to say he was the best ever. But he was great. He was awesome. That was, of course, his strong point, and when I look at the Rock, I can see that he might have patterned some of his promos after Austin Idol.
“He was a guy that probably could have had a huge career nationwide. But Austin was involved in a plane crash down in Florida. He survived the crash, which killed one of the other wrestlers on the flight, Bobby Shane and hurt him pretty bad. After that, he had a fear of flying. And who could blame him?
“He just didn’t want to travel, so he couldn’t go to a place like WWE. He worked mainly the Memphis territory and that was pretty much it.”
Still wrestling despite suffering a heart attack:
“I was cleared by my personal doctor almost a year ago. I still do shows on the independent circuit. I’ve got two coming up this weekend. I just haven’t gotten back in the WWE ring. But I still feel mentally and physically as good as when I first started. I don’t know how to explain it.”
Suing WWF for Harley Race being given the “King” gimmick:
“I filed a lawsuit when they ran a show in Jackson, Tennessee. I sued Vince McMahon and the WWE for trademark infringement, claiming I was the king of wrestling in the state of Tennessee. And I actually won the case. I think Vince really respected that. It didn’t make him mad. I think he got a kick out of it.”