We are live tonight here on Pay-Per-View
here at Madison Square Garden.
The end of the road is in sight, and there's
going to be a collision.
It's fixing to happen in just a few short minutes.
[music playing]
So now I'm at the commentary desk, like, almost full time.
I was there for, gosh, the dawning of the attitude era.
I remember when, of course, doing the commentary for Stone
Cold Steve Austin showing up and becoming the biggest
star in the company.
And it's a damn good thing he ain't here tonight,
because I damn sure would dump him flat on his head.
And then The Rock coming in.
Ooh!
Ow!
The Rock-- the Rock kick cam between
his legs and it felt like The Rock was kicking a damn pillow!
Ha!
Well, I've-- I've said this before and I'll say it again.
I never really liked the commentary.
I never really liked it as much as I like wrestling.
A lot of people just don't realize
that the commentary is tough.
The commentators, they got to sit
up there and try to be entertaining
for the entire three hours.
I would much rather go out there and do a wrestling match
for 10 minutes rather than being there under that scrutiny,
under that pressure of trying to entertain people
for three straight hours.
One of the questions I get asked a lot about my commentary
is, like, people will remember the jokes or the insults
and that sort of stuff.
And they'll ask me, is that just off the top of your head?
And naturally I tell them, of course it was, you know?
But in reality, I did a lot of preparation for that.
I have reference books, joke books, insult books.
But this was-- this is actually Stone
Cold Steve Austin's blood.
And if I'm not mistaken, I think it was Triple H that came over
and slammed Stone Cold's head--
it was covered with blood-- into my notes.
I'd be going over my jokes and see who's
coming up next and getting ready to insult the next person,
you know?
These are just things that I would say to JR. "JR,
I read so much about sex being bad for you,
so I finally gave up reading."
"You heard of an idiot savant?
Well, he's that without the savant."
[laughs] You know, that was just, like I said,
I didn't take it serious.
I was just having a good time out there.
The attitude era was a really unique time
for WWE because of the sheer amount of eyeballs
that were on the product every single week.
And every single week, it would be Jerry Lawler's voice
that was painting the picture of everything
that you were seeing.
It really made him the voice of the attitude era.
I'd suggest we get out of the way, JR!
You can give the--
Look out!
Good God almighty.
I told you!
For gosh sakes, they're 70-something years old.
I saw him getting checked by the doctors in the back,
and Moola's birth certificate was in hieroglyphics.
[laughs] He got her!
Lawler, as a commentator, was the perfect guy.
He was so entertaining.
And plus, it was the attitude era.
So there weren't restrictions on language.
There weren't restrictions on what he could say.
It's very edgy.
It's a very adult-oriented now.
And it's become very sexy.
And every time a beautiful diva would come walking out,
I'd say, "Hey, JR, look!
Puppies!"
He was the epitome of not having a filter.
If he saw it and thought it, he said it.
Oh, look at Lita!
She's got the puppies in a net!
Woo hoo!
If you want to try to put a positive spin on it,
at least Jerry was always excited
when we came to the ring.
One of the women heavily involved
in the attitude era and all the sexy scenes
was Stacy Carter, better known as "The Kat."
And she and I had actually been together in a relationship
for almost 10 years.
And I could go a little bit further, because at that time
now, I was married to her.
Yeah, Merry Christmas!
Woo hoo!
Oh, my god!
Actually, for the women segments,
especially the ones that I was obviously a part of, it--
him being involved in it made it easier for me.
Ah-ha-ha!
There you go, King!
Thank you, Kat!
He made it seem so easy to be on camera,
so you'd have to relax about it.
Then one day, out of the blue, they
called me in and said, Vince wants
to give Stacy her release.
Well, if they're going to release Stacy,
I'm going to have to go with her.
And I'll never forget, Vince stuck
his hand out and said, oh, King, nice working with you.
Thank you for everything you've done for us.
I was there for 10 years.
And so, just like that, me and Stacy were gone from the WWE.
I'm joined by Paul Heyman--
You're joined by Paul Heyman because last Tuesday night,
The Kat was released by the WW [bleep]..
And her husband, Jerry "The King" Lawler, to his credit,
walked out right alongside with her.
It was really difficult. And then
it just ended up being about him quitting and not about me
being fired.
It was just really hard for me.
That lasted for, like-- it was about a year that went by.
In the meantime, Stacy and I got a divorce.
And then I got a call from the WWE saying, hey,
we'd like you to come back.
The next few years of my life, my career, I'm still wrestling.
[crowd cheering]
Uh!
Jerry "The King" Lawler has won this match up.
I'm doing the commentary every single week.
I'm in my 60s and still going strong.
2010, I get my first ever WWE title match
and almost became the WWE Champion.
Going to ahead to the top rope.
No! No!
Vince threw a table!
In 2011, I'm wrestling at WrestleMania in front
of, like, 100,000 people.
It's crazy.
Ooh!
The first WrestleMania for The King.
His first WrestleMania dropkick.
Jerry always will be that kid that's living his dream.
I don't think Jerry wants to grow up, and why should he?