Jerry Lawler

Jerry O'Neil Lawler (born November 29, 1949) is an American professional wrestler and wrestling commentator, known throughout the wrestling world as "The King". He is currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment working and wrestling on its RAW brand as the color commentator. He also wrestles and occasionally commentates for the Memphis Wrestling promotion.

As a wrestler
Jerry Lawler has made history as being the wrestler with the most championship reigns of all time. He has won a total of 124 titles in his career; 30 of which were the AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship. Lawler held the championship another 13 times when the National Wrestling Alliance controlled the title.

Lawler was initially set to wrestle Hulk Hogan at the PMG Clash of Legends, a Memphis Wrestling event, on April 27, 2007. WWE took exception to the match with the reasoning that WWE stars are NBC Universal talent and since footage of the events surrounding the match was being filmed for Hogan Knows Best, which airs on VH1, there was a conflict. WWE tried to force cancellation of the event. The event took place on April 27 2007, with Paul Wight replacing Lawler. In response, WWE has pulled all its talent from Memphis Wrestling shows.

As a singer
Lawler has recorded some material. Among these are two late-70s recordings: "Cadillac Man/Memphis", and "Bad News". During his feud with manager Jimmy Hart (Jerry Lawler is a factor for "The Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart entering professional wrestling. Lawler wanted to record a wrestling album with him singing and, since they had gone to school together, he called Hart and asked him to be a part of it) in the mid-80s, Hart became known as "The Wimp", a nickname given to him by Lawler and chanted by fans, and was the subject of the song "Wimpbusters", which was sung by Lawler to the tune of the popular hit Ghostbusters by Ray Parker Jr.. A music video was also made featuring Lawler, legendary announcer Lance Russell, and wrestlers such as Randy Savage, Jimmy Valiant, Dutch Mantel, Tommy Rich, and Rufus R. Jones, along with footage of "The King" beating Hart and his "First Family" (a very young Brian Christopher also made an appearance as a young child being bullied, and another child is seen wearing a replica of Tully Blanchard's West Texas State jersey). He also recorded a CD called, "Memphis' Other King".

In wrestling

 * Finishing and signature moves
 * Spike Piledriver
 * Royal Fist Drop (Diving fist drop from the second turnbuckle) (typically preceded by pulling down the single shoulder strap on his attire)
 * Elbow Drop
 * Brainbuster
 * Back Suplex


 * Dirty attacks
 * Lawler was known for his myriad of illegal attacks during his career. The most notable were:
 * Throwing fire
 * Foreign objects (including "phantom foreign objects" removed from either his tights or a hidden area in the ring which an opponent would sell as if they had been attacked by brass knuckles, or cause a referee to "reprimand" Lawler allowing him to set up yet another dirty move)

Championships and accomplishments

 * American Wrestling Association
 * AWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
 * AWA World Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Bill Dundee


 * Continental Wrestling Association
 * AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (30 times)
 * AWA Southern Tag Team Championship (10 times) - with Gorgeous George, Jr. (2), Bill Dundee (4), Mongolian Stomper (1), Jos LeDuc (1), Austin Idol (1), and Big Bubba (1)
 * CWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time) (First Champion)
 * CWA/AWA International Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
 * CWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Austin Idol
 * CWA Lord of the Ring winner in 1988
 * NWA Southern Junior Heavyweight Championship (4 times)


 * Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling
 * NWA Tennessee Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Jim White


 * Jersey All Pro Wrestling
 * JAPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)


 * Maryland Championship Wrestling
 * MCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
 * MCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with The Bruiser


 * Memphis Championship Wrestling
 * MCW Southern Heavyweight Championship (2 times) (First Champion)


 * NWA Mid-America
 * NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
 * NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (Memphis version) (12 times) (First Champion)
 * NWA Southern Junior Heavyweight Championship (Memphis version) (1 time)
 * NWA Southern Tag Team Championship (Mid-America version) (8 times) - with Jim White (4), Tojo Yamamoto (2), Playboy Frazier (1), and The Scorpion (1)


 * NWA Polynesian Wrestling
 * NWA Polynesian Pacific Heavyweight Championship (1 time)


 * NWA Virginia
 * NWA All-Star Heavyweight Championship (1 time)


 * Power Pro Wrestling
 * PPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Bill Dundee


 * Pro Wrestling Illustrated
 * PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year award in 1988
 * PWI Feud of the Year award in 1992 with Jeff Jarrett vs. The Moondogs
 * PWI Feud of the Year in 1993 vs. Bret Hart
 * PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year award in 1993
 * PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year award in 1995
 * PWI ranked him #23 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003.
 * PWI ranked him #56 of the 100 best tag teams of the "PWI Years" with Bill Dundee in 2003.
 * PWI ranked him #78 of the 100 best tag teams of the "PWI Years" with Jeff Jarrett in 2003.


 * Smoky Mountain Wrestling
 * SMW Heavyweight Championship (2 times)


 * United States Wrestling Association
 * USWA Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
 * USWA Tag Team Championship (5 times) - with Jeff Jarrett (3), and Bill Dundee (2)
 * USWA Texas Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
 * USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship (28 times) (First Champion)


 * World Class Championship Wrestling
 * WCWA Heavyweight Championship (3 times)


 * World Wrestling Entertainment
 * WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2007)


 * Wrestling Observer Newsletter
 * Feud of the Year award in 1987 vs Austin Idol and Tommy Rich
 * Feud of the Year award in 1992 with Jeff Jarrett vs. The Moondogs
 * Feud of the Year award in 1993 vs. Bret Hart
 * Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1996)

Books

 * Lawler, Jerry "It's Good to Be the King… Sometimes" (2003) ISBN 0-7434-5767-6 Autobiography.