WWE News: Hall Of Famer Considered ‘Liability To The Company’
Although he still wrestles outside of WWE, Jerry Lawler hasn’t featured in a company match since he suffered a cardiac arrest on a 2012 episode of Monday Night Raw. According to the Hall of Famer, the company won’t allow him to compete again either.
As quoted by Sportskeeda, “The King” opened up about the situation on The Jerry Lawler Show podcast, revealing that WWE has taken precautions to ensure that they aren’t responsible for him ever experiencing another life-threatening health scare at a company show.
“Still, to this day, the people in WWE still feel like that’s not the case [Lawler being cleared to wrestle]. They keep me on the no-touch list and all of that kind of thing. We’ve talked about this before on the podcast. The doctors told [his fiancee] Lauryn, ‘We can’t clear him to go back in the ring because he’s a liability to the company.'”
Lawler seems interested in competing in more matches on the grand stage, but he believes that WWE officials are wary of him bringing negative attention to the company should something go wrong.
“[If] they let me go out there and wrestle again, and then something did happen again, it would be a PR disaster for the company.”
These days, Lawler is one of the voices on Monday Night Raw‘s commentary team, and he remains one of the company’s most reliable on-air personalities. He recently returned to the red brand announcer’s desk to help ease Dio Maddin and Vic Joseph into their positions as announcers of WWE’s flagship show, as both men are fairly inexperienced.
There's no escape from #TheFiend for @JerryLawler on #RAW!
@WWEBrayWyatt pic.twitter.com/8pcZ429ESP
— WWE (@WWE) August 20, 2019
Samoa Joe replaced Maddin in November, as Vince McMahon was reportedly unhappy with the former commentator’s performance. Now the future of the third commentator role remains unclear, as Joe is set to return to in-ring action going forward.
As noted by Sportskeeda, Lawler revealed that the new team is in “flux” following Corey Grave and Michael Cole’s switch to Friday Night SmackDown back in October. As WWE tries to solidify a new long-term team, Lawler’s experience will be invaluable during the transition period.
However, fans wanting to see the 70-year-old in the squared circle again can find him on the independent circuit. He started competing again in 2013, one year after his heart attack, and has been a regular fixture in promotions such as Northeast Wrestling and USA Championship Wrestling. The Hall of Famer shows no signs of slowing down, even if WWE isn’t willing to let him wrestle.
