"The King" throws smack down in St. Catharines
Steve Evenden
Issue date: 11/23/04 Section: Sports
Wrestling and commentating legend Jerry "The King" Lawler entertained hundreds of adoring fans at the Merritton Lions Club last weekend, part of Neo Spirit Pro Wrestling's Crossroads event.
Lawler, whose wrestling career spans 34 years of full and part-time grappling, entertained fans over the two-day show, signing autographs, posing for photos, and most importantly, plying his trade as a wrestler. After saving JT Playa from a beatdown on night one, Lawler donned his tights and boots to team with Playa on night two to take on Super Tornado and Tyson Dux in a retirement match. If Dux and Tornado won, Lawler and Playa would have to retire. However, as Lawler put it, "if we lose to these jerks, we should retire."
Of course, the good guys won, finishing Tornado and Dux with side-by-side piledrivers, and Lawler lives to fight another day in another town.
"The King," who most people know as the colour commentator on World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) Monday Night Raw, has a special clause in his contract which allows him to fight on independent shows around the world when he's not supposed to be on Raw. While in town on what he called a "working vacation," he also went to WWE Niagara Falls and did an appearance there.
Lawler is perhaps most famous for his feud with comedian Andy Kaufman. Kaufman was belittling the sport of professional wrestling by challenging women to matches. Lawler confronted him, and in a match with Kaufman in Memphis, delivered two of his patented piledrivers on the comedian, sending him to hospital for three days, and making him wear a neck brace for six months. The affair, which also included Lawler smacking the taste out of Kaufman's mouth on The Late Show with David Letterman, went down in wrestling lore, despite recent admissions by both parties that it was entirely a work.
"It was my biggest match and my biggest win, and it got me worldwide notoriety," said Lawler.
Over his career, Lawler has won various titles. He has wrestled all the biggest names from Ric Flair to Terry Funk, Bret Hart to Kerry von Erich, and he's been on the biggest stage of 70,000 people at SkyDome in Wrestlemania XVIII. He's also wrestled before crowds of just friends and family. All the while, he's taken it in stride and enjoyed every minute.
Lawler, whose wrestling career spans 34 years of full and part-time grappling, entertained fans over the two-day show, signing autographs, posing for photos, and most importantly, plying his trade as a wrestler. After saving JT Playa from a beatdown on night one, Lawler donned his tights and boots to team with Playa on night two to take on Super Tornado and Tyson Dux in a retirement match. If Dux and Tornado won, Lawler and Playa would have to retire. However, as Lawler put it, "if we lose to these jerks, we should retire."
Of course, the good guys won, finishing Tornado and Dux with side-by-side piledrivers, and Lawler lives to fight another day in another town.
"The King," who most people know as the colour commentator on World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) Monday Night Raw, has a special clause in his contract which allows him to fight on independent shows around the world when he's not supposed to be on Raw. While in town on what he called a "working vacation," he also went to WWE Niagara Falls and did an appearance there.
Lawler is perhaps most famous for his feud with comedian Andy Kaufman. Kaufman was belittling the sport of professional wrestling by challenging women to matches. Lawler confronted him, and in a match with Kaufman in Memphis, delivered two of his patented piledrivers on the comedian, sending him to hospital for three days, and making him wear a neck brace for six months. The affair, which also included Lawler smacking the taste out of Kaufman's mouth on The Late Show with David Letterman, went down in wrestling lore, despite recent admissions by both parties that it was entirely a work.
"It was my biggest match and my biggest win, and it got me worldwide notoriety," said Lawler.
Over his career, Lawler has won various titles. He has wrestled all the biggest names from Ric Flair to Terry Funk, Bret Hart to Kerry von Erich, and he's been on the biggest stage of 70,000 people at SkyDome in Wrestlemania XVIII. He's also wrestled before crowds of just friends and family. All the while, he's taken it in stride and enjoyed every minute.
