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Jerry Lawler's slap to Andy Kaufman is considered one of pro wrestling's greatest moments. The segment on Dave Letterman happened years before Vince McMahon made the business mainstream with guest celebrity appearances.
Speaking on a recent edition of What Were They Thinking? on Backstage Pass, JBL revealed how the iconic pro wrestling moment came close to being pulled off the air.
"It was a fantastic scene. I've seen it many times. But we had Jerry (Lawler) on the show as well. You know, he's told us a story. Dave Letterman was the one that got a little bit cold feet and was going to go to commercial break. And then Andy Kaufman decided he didn't want to do that."
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He continued that the entire scene was an ad lib.
"That's when they did the whole thing kind of ad lib and did this entire scene. Letterman had the opportunity to edit that out because it was taped and he didn't do it. He showed it just like it happened." [From 15:32 onwards]
Elsewhere on the podcast, veteran journalist Bill Apter said Vince McMahon wanted to bring the storyline into WWE but his father, Vincent J. McMahon, was against celebrity appearances.
Catch that and more of What Were They Thinking? with JBL and Gerald Brisco on Backstage Pass. You can also unlock our exclusive content via YouTube membership.
