Early career (1970–1977) While working in
Memphis, Tennessee, as a
disc jockey, Lawler's artistic ability attracted the attention of local wrestling
promoter Aubrey Griffith. The two made an agreement in which Lawler would give Griffith free publicity in exchange for free wrestling training. While Lawler began his career as a
heel, he became a
face after splitting from Bass at the end of 1974. In 1982, Lawler began a notorious feud with comedian
Andy Kaufman. In 1988, Lawler feuded with
Dutch Mantel. In 1989, the CWA merged with
World Class Championship Wrestling to form the
United States Wrestling Association.
American Wrestling Association (1982–1985, 1987–1988) On March 7, 1983, Lawler won the
AWA International Championship by defeating
Austin Idol. He made his in-ring debut at the
1993 Royal Rumble when he participated in the namesake match, which was won by
Yokozuna. From 1993 to 1995, he feuded with
Bret Hart and the rest of the
Hart family. The feud began at
King of the Ring when Lawler interrupted Hart's victory ceremony and attacked Bret. Lawler claimed that he was the only true king in the
World Wrestling Federation (WWF), and the two were scheduled to wrestle at
SummerSlam to settle the dispute. At the event, however, Lawler came to the ring on crutches and claimed that he could not wrestle because of injuries suffered in a car accident. Hart faced Lawler's "court jester",
Doink the Clown instead, and beat him by
submission. Lawler then attacked Hart, revealing that he was not injured. The two would continue to work throughout the fall on the house show circuit, including in steel cages. Simultaneously, in a form of cross-promotion, Lawler engaged in a bitter feud with
Vince McMahon (who at the time was never advertised as the actual owner of the World Wrestling Federation) back in the USWA. There, Lawler played the babyface to his hometown Memphis audience, whereas McMahon (who had always played face in the WWF) was being portrayed as a smug heel intent on dethroning Lawler as the king of professional wrestling. As part of the cross-promotion, McMahon, Bret and
Owen Hart,
Giant González,
Tatanka, and
"Macho Man" Randy Savage would begin appearing on USWA television to further the feud. While the program continued in the USWA, the feud between Lawler and McMahon would not be acknowledged on WWF television. The Hart family (
Bret,
Owen,
Bruce, and
Keith) was scheduled to face a team captained by Lawler in an
elimination match at
Survivor Series. However,
Shawn Michaels had to take Lawler's place because Lawler was facing legal troubles. He was indicted for raping and sodomizing a 15-year-old girl, though charges were dropped when the alleged victim recanted her story. As a result, the feud between Lawler and Vince McMahon back in the USWA was also abruptly discontinued. Lawler did not face Bret Hart at another
pay-per-view until the first
In Your House, when he beat Hart after
Hakushi and his
manager Shinja interfered. This set up a "Kiss My Foot" match at
King of the Ring 1995, which Bret won. however, the feud quickly disappeared. Following the end of his legal troubles which kept him out of Survivor Series 1993, Lawler eventually returned to the WWF at
WrestleMania X, which was also his first appearance as a commentator on a WWF pay-per-view. During the main event of the night,
"Rowdy" Roddy Piper served as special guest referee for the second WWF World Heavyweight Championship match. During this Lawler began making disparaging remarks about him. Lawler would continue to berate Piper on later episodes of
Monday Night Raw, including bringing a skinny kid into the ring dressed as Piper and forcing him to kiss his feet. This ultimately led to a match between the two at
King of the Ring 1994 which Lawler lost. In the fall of 1994, Lawler initiated a feud with Doink the Clown. Lawler popped the balloons carried by Doink's
midget sidekick,
Dink. After Doink and Dink retaliated, Lawler introduced a midget sidekick of his own, who he named Queasy. After the match, however, Lawler's team turned on him, joining with Doink's team to attack Lawler.
Smoky Mountain and various feuds (1994–1996) In late 1994 and early 1995, Lawler wrestled briefly in
Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW) while still continuing to commentate sporadically for the WWF. Afterwards, he feuded with
Mark Henry, which the two meet at
In Your House 10: Mind Games which Henry won.
Part-time wrestling and commentator (1997–1998) In early 1997, Lawler was involved in a working relationship between the WWF and
Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). In June, Lawler entered the King of the Ring tournament for the first time and advanced to the semi-final round where he was defeated by
Mankind. By the fall, the WWF introduced a new "light-heavyweight division" to compete with
World Championship Wrestling (WCW)'s cruiserweight division. Lawler's son,
Brian Christopher, was one of the major superstars in the division, although the WWF played up an angle where both Lawler and Christopher would deny their family relationship, even though the two would aid each other in matches and so on. USWA folded in November of that year. By 1998, Lawler rarely wrestled in the WWF and focused on commentary. Despite their feud in the USWA in 1993, by 1998, Vince McMahon had
turned heel in the WWF for the first time and left the announce position, to which Lawler began praising McMahon's name on commentary as part of his own heel persona, much to the chagrin of
Jim Ross. It was McMahon's departure from the commentary team which led to the strong on-screen chemistry between Lawler and Ross in subsequent years. This played a key role in a change of Lawler's character; although he still supported the heels, he showed a sense of right and wrong, and would condemn actions of heels when they went too far.
Sporadic appearances, feud with Tazz, and departure (1999–2001) Lawler during this period would continue commentating and rarely wrestled for the WWF. He wrestled between 1999 and 2001 mainly in house shows. On June 22, 2000, he made an appearance on
SmackDown! teaming with
The Kat to defeat
Dean Malenko and
Terri Runnels. This would be the first time in two years he wrestled on WWF television. A week later, he defeated Malenko on
Raw. He would turn face by 2000 (while wrestling). This began when Lawler surprisingly attacked
Tazz when Tazz started bullying Jim Ross, thus beginning a feud with Tazz. At
SummerSlam on August 27, Lawler wrestled Tazz in defense of Ross, and defeated him.
Extreme Championship Wrestling (1997) In 1997, Lawler became heavily involved in the working relationship between the WWF and
Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). In interviews and commentary, he referred to the promotion as "Extremely Crappy Wrestling".
Independent circuit (2001–2012) During his absence from the WWF, Lawler made appearances on the
independent circuit in both Australia and the States, In 2003, ''
Raw's announce team of Lawler and Jim Ross feuded with Sunday Night Heat'''s team of
Jonathan Coachman and
Al Snow. In July 2006, Randy Orton began a feud with
Hulk Hogan. Lawler attacked Orton in defense of Hogan, which set up a match between them on
Raw. Orton defeated Lawler after a
low blow and an
RKO. On March 31, 2007, Lawler was inducted into the
WWE Hall of Fame by
William Shatner, whom Lawler had a memorable altercation with on a January 1995 episode of
Raw. In August,
King Booker claimed to be the only one entitled to be known as "King". After being beaten by Booker in the ring, Lawler was supposed to be forced to crown his opponent at a show of August 13 in
Madison Square Garden. During the ceremony, however, Lawler announced another king as a new opponent for King Booker, "The King of Kings"
Triple H. This led to a
worked brawl between Lawler and King Booker. Later that summer, he teamed with "Hacksaw"
Jim Duggan to face
Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes for the
World Tag Team Championship but lost. On the March 23, 2009, episode of
Raw, Lawler challenged
Chris Jericho to a match because of his disrespectful and erratic behavior to WWE Hall of Famers, which Jericho accepted. The following week, Lawler lost to Jericho after submitting to the Walls of Jericho. After the match, Jericho outlined how he would remain supreme against WWE Hall of Famers at
WrestleMania 25. On the July 20 episode of
Raw, Lawler announced himself as the opponent against The
Brian Kendrick. He went on to defeat Kendrick. On the November 16 episode of
Raw, after recent acquisition
Sheamus attacked the timekeeper in frustration for not receiving an opponent, Lawler left the announce table to confront Sheamus and check on the victim, only to receive a kick to the head for his troubles. On June 7, 2010, during a Viewer's Choice edition of
Raw, Lawler lost his crown to
IRS because he had apparently not paid his taxes, but it was regained by
Quinton Jackson later on. At the end of the night, Lawler was one of the many employees at ringside that were brutally attacked by the season 1
NXT rookies. Lawler, however, was the only person at ringside that fought back, as he used punches and chops to attack the NXT rookies assaulting him until it was a 3-on-1 assault. The following week on Raw, Lawler and the Raw roster fought off the now-called "The Nexus" when they attempted to ambush
John Cena a second time. On June 28, Lawler, Ricky Steamboat,
Michael Hayes,
Arn Anderson,
Mike Rotunda and
Dean Malenko were severely attacked by the Nexus, just as they were celebrating Steamboat's career. Josh Mathews replaced Lawler on color commentator for the remainder of the show. On the July 26 episode of
Raw, Lawler teamed with
Mark Henry,
Goldust,
Yoshi Tatsu,
Evan Bourne and
The Hart Dynasty in a tag team elimination match versus
the Nexus. Lawler was eliminated by
Heath Slater. On the November 29
King of the Ring Raw special, Lawler (who was celebrating his 61st birthday) challenged
The Miz to a
WWE Championship match. It was granted by the
Anonymous Raw General Manager, who made it a
Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match and it was Lawler's first shot at the title. The Miz retained the championship after interference by Cole and
Alex Riley. Cole's interference caused tension between the two, but when Lawler threatened to attack Cole, the Anonymous Raw General Manager issued a "cease and desist" order, which barred any physicality between them. Lawler continued to challenge with The Miz, where on the December 20
Raw, Lawler teamed with
Randy Orton and
John Morrison to take on The Miz, Riley and
Sheamus in a 6-man tag match which Lawler won by pinning The Miz. This led to a rematch between The Miz and Lawler the following week, with Lawler once again getting the victory, this time by count-out after Morrison got involved. Lawler teamed with Orton again on the January 10, 2011
Raw, facing The Miz and Riley, which Lawler won by pinning Riley. Lawler won a 7-man
Raw Rumble match on the January 31
Raw with help from
John Cena to earn a WWE Championship match against The Miz at
Elimination Chamber, where he was unsuccessful in winning the title, ending the feud. The following night on
Raw, Lawler, after having enough of Cole's attitude, which included the mocking of Lawler's mother's recent death, challenged him to a match at
WrestleMania XXVII, which Cole accepted on the February 28
Raw and announced that he would be trained in the coming weeks by
Jack Swagger for the upcoming match.
Stone Cold Steve Austin was announced as the guest referee for the match the following week. On the March 14
Raw, Lawler was confronted by his son,
Brian Lawler, who was invited to Raw to "expose" his father's character. Brian ranted about various problems he had with his father before slapping him and leaving. Cole continued to harass Lawler after Brian left, but was interrupted by a returning
Jim Ross. Before Ross could attack Cole, Swagger attacked Lawler from behind and then proceeded to attack and lock in the
ankle lock on Ross, while Cole harassed him. Lawler tried to stop the attack, but fell victim to the ankle lock as well. At WrestleMania, Lawler initially won by submission, but the Anonymous Raw General Manager reversed the decision due to Stone Cold physically getting involved in the match by pushing Cole, making Cole the winner by
disqualification. Lawler and Ross then faced Cole and Swagger at
Extreme Rules in a Country Whipping match, where they were defeated. Lawler challenged Cole to one last match at
Over the Limit, even going as far as to putting his
Hall of Fame ring on the line and offered to personally induct Cole into the Hall of Fame itself. During the contract signing, Cole announced it would be a "Kiss My Foot" match. At the pay-per-view, Lawler defeated Cole. Afterwards, Ross,
Eve Torres and
Bret Hart helped Lawler by making Cole kiss his foot. Following the pay-per-view, Cole apologized to Lawler, ending the feud. Lawler competed in the
2012 Royal Rumble match as the number 12 entrant, but was eliminated by
Cody Rhodes after 43 seconds. He, along with
Booker T, eliminated Cole afterwards. On the April 30, 2012, episode of
Raw, Lawler competed in a
Beat the Clock challenge to determine the number one contender for the
WWE Championship match at
Over the Limit, but was defeated by
Daniel Bryan, who went on to challenge for the title. On the July 9 episode of
Raw, Lawler went against Cole in a
WrestleMania XXVII rematch, which he quickly won, but the anonymous
Raw General Manager, who returned that night as the guest general manager, reversed the decision and Lawler lost to Cole by disqualification following interference by Booker T.
Santino Marella came out to reveal that
Hornswoggle was the Anonymous
Raw General Manager, who was hiding underneath the ring. On the July 23 episode of
WWE Raw 1000, after
CM Punk attacked
The Rock, Lawler would mention on commentary that "CM Punk has turned his back on the WWE Universe." The following week on
Raw, Punk would confront Lawler about what he said before being interrupted by
Big Show. On the August 20 episode of
Raw, after Cena would not tell Punk he was the "Best in the World", Punk would ask for Lawler to get in the ring and say it for the WWE Universe. After Lawler refused to say Punk was the "Best in the World" too, Punk would attack Lawler from behind. The next week on
Raw, after Lawler demanded an apology from Punk, Punk would challenge Lawler to a match, which Lawler would accept later that night, where Punk would defeat Lawler in a
Steel Cage match. Before the September 3 episode of
Raw, Punk and Lawler brawled backstage, with Punk getting the upper hand before officials stopped them, Lawler was kicked in the throat, which caused Lawler to miss commentary that night, with
The Miz filling in for him.
Heart attack incident On September 10, 2012, during
Raw at the
Bell Centre in
Montreal, Quebec, not long after defeating Punk and
Dolph Ziggler in a tag-team match with
Randy Orton, Lawler
legitimately collapsed at the announcers table while
Kane and Daniel Bryan competed against
Titus O'Neil and Darren Young. Cole continued to call that match alone, as well as the next match, before WWE (through Cole) announced the medical situation with Lawler. The remaining matches on the show went ahead as scheduled but without commentary and updates on Lawler's condition were provided by Cole. At the end of the broadcast, it was announced that he had received
CPR, but was breathing independently and reacting to stimulation. Doctors said that Lawler was clinically dead for almost 30 minutes. It was later confirmed on WWE.com that Lawler had suffered a heart attack. On September 11, he underwent an
angioplasty to improve blood flow to his heart. On September 12, Lawler was reported to be slowly being eased off sedation, his ventilator removed. He was able to blink, nod, and squeeze with his hands, and that same day, the results of several CT scans showed no signs of brain damage. By September 17, Lawler had returned to his home in Memphis. During Lawler's hospital stay, it was determined that his heart attack was not caused by a blocked artery, but was instead an unexplained cardiac arrest. Lawler was soon medically cleared to continue wrestling. (left) and
Michael Cole (center) in January 2014 It was announced on October 29 that Lawler would return to WWE on the November 12 episode of
Raw. He continued his rivalry with Punk after his return was interrupted by Punk and
Paul Heyman, who re-enacted his heart attack. Lawler continued to favor Punk's opponents, hoping that Punk would lose the
WWE Championship, which he eventually did to
The Rock at the
Royal Rumble much to Lawler's delight.
SmackDown (2015–2016) On January 8, 2015, it was announced on WWE.com that Lawler would be a part of the
SmackDown broadcast team as a color commentator along with Cole and
Byron Saxton starting January 15, ending his 19-year run as a color commentator of
Raw as he was replaced by
Booker T. On the March 30 episode of
Raw, however, Lawler made a one-night return to commentary with Saxton to fill in for Cole, Booker T and
John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) after they were assaulted by
Brock Lesnar after Lesnar was refused his rematch against
Seth Rollins. On June 17, 2016, Lawler was suspended following his arrest for domestic violence, with WWE stating they have "zero tolerance for matters involving domestic violence, and per our policy, Jerry Lawler was suspended indefinitely following his arrest", until July 1, when the charges were dropped and WWE lifted Lawler's suspension. On July 7, 2016, Lawler returned to
SmackDown resuming his commentary role. However, shortly afterwards, Lawler was taken off air and placed on the pre-show of both
Raw and
SmackDown as an analyst.
Sporadic appearances (2016–2019) On December 5, 2016, it was announced that Lawler would no longer be used on pre-shows and instead be kept for special events such as the Hall of Fame ceremony. On January 17, 2017, Lawler returned to
SmackDown Live to host the return of The King's Court from his hometown of
Memphis, Tennessee. During his interview with Dolph Ziggler, Ziggler took credit for Lawler's
real life heart attack in September 2012 before and kicking him in the chest and leaving the ring. Later that night on
Talking Smack, Renee Young announced that Lawler, Cole and
Corey Graves will be the commentary team for the Royal Rumble match at the
2017 Royal Rumble. On August 28, Lawler filled in for Booker T on
Raw commentary from his hometown of Memphis. Lawler, Ross and numerous other WWE Legends appeared on
Raw 25 on January 22, 2018. On January 26, it was revealed that Lawler signed a new one-year deal with WWE. At the
2018 Royal Rumble, during the men's match, Lawler was the special guest commentator where he correctly predicted that
Shinsuke Nakamura would win. On March 21, 2018, Lawler suffered a stroke at his home in Memphis. He explained the incident on his podcast, which he revealed he could not speak for three days. He stayed in the hospital's ICU until he woke up three days later and regained his speech. The doctors said Lawler would make a full recovery. He was able to make all of his appearances during WrestleMania 34 weekend in New Orleans and was cleared to wrestle. On April 8, 2018, at
WrestleMania 34, Lawler called the fifth annual André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal on the WrestleMania 34 pre-show, alongside Ross and Saxton. On April 27, 2018, Lawler served as part of the pre-show panel at the first WWE pay per view in Saudi Arabia called the
Greatest Royal Rumble alongside Ross. On the special
SmackDown Live 1000th episode on October 16, 2018, Lawler returned as a guest commentator alongside Booker T to provide commentary for the
New Day–
The Bar match for the
SmackDown Tag Team Championship. Lawler returned as a guest commentator on the July 22, 2019, special episode of
Raw called the Raw Reunion. On the July 30, 2019, edition of
SmackDown Live, Lawler returned to host the Kings Court with
Trish Stratus as his guest. Lawler returned on the August 19, 2019, edition of
Raw to host the Kings Court and was attacked by
"The Fiend" Bray Wyatt.
Return to full-time commentary (2019–2020) On September 26, 2019, WWE announced as a part of their "WWE Premiere Week" that a new commentary team will be on
Raw. Lawler would return to full-time commentary on
Raw, as an analyst alongside
Vic Joseph and
Dio Maddin beginning on the September 30, 2019, edition of
Raw. By January 2020, Lawler had outlasted both Joseph and Maddin, who were replaced by
Tom Phillips and Byron Saxton, respectively. Lawler was replaced by
Samoa Joe on the April 27, 2020, episode of
Raw.
Sporadic appearances (2023–present) Following his 2023 stroke recovery, Lawler appeared at
Raw in Memphis, Tennessee on August 28, 2023, in a segment for the live audience, which was later uploaded to WWE's YouTube page as a digital exclusive. On the November 28, 2023, episode of
NXT, he chose the participants that will compete in the Iron Survivor Challenge at
NXT Deadline. On May 6, 2024, it was reported that Lawler's broadcast contract with WWE expired at the beginning of 2024 and the company decided not to renew it. Lawler still remains under a Legends contract with WWE.
Memphis Wrestling (2003–2005, 2008–2009, 2014, 2025) In 2003, Lawler made his debut for
Memphis Wrestling. He defeated his rival
Kamala by disqualification on May 17. He would occasionally teamed up with
Bill Dundee and
Brian Christopher. He had a short feud with
King Mabel. On February 14, 2004, he lost to Brian Christopher in a Memphis Wrestling Television Title Vs. Jerry Lawler's Hummer match. On July 14, Brian and he won a tag team battle royal. Also, Lawler won a battle royal on
Boxing Day 2004. He defeated
Cassidy Reilly for the USACW United States Title on April 14, 2005. On June 20, 2008, Lawler returned to Memphis to defeat Kevin White. He lost to
Sid Vicious on February 28, 2009. On March 14, 2014, he returned and defeated
Gangrel at
Carl Perkins Benefit event. On November 23, 2025, Lawler appeared for Dustin Starr's Memphis Wrestling. This marked the first time Lawler had appeared for Memphis Wrestling in over a decade.
Proposed match with Hulk Hogan (2007–2008) In 2007, it was announced that Lawler would be participating in a 'dream match' with
Hulk Hogan which had been set to take place in the
Memphis Wrestling promotion on April 27. The match had been heavily hyped by promoter Corey Maclin as Hogan had competed in the Memphis territory early in his career. On April 12, however, Lawler pulled out of the event citing his contractual obligations to WWE rendering him unable to appear on a show that was due to be filmed by
VH1 for the television show
Hogan Knows Best. On January 11, 2008, Maclin revealed that he filed a lawsuit against WWE, claiming that pressure on Lawler (and others) to withdraw from the event violated section two of the
Sherman Antitrust Act.
Jerry Lawler's Memphis Wrestling (2010) In May 2010, Lawler announced a new TV wrestling show called, ''Jerry Lawler's Memphis Wrestling''. The show was set to debut on
Ion Network channel 50 in Memphis on June 5 at the classic 11 am time slot. Three episodes were taped on May 20, 2010, at the Vine in Memphis. On September 11, 2010, Lawler announced that there would no longer be any new shows, but that the talent was still available for fundraisers.
Northeast Wrestling (2002–2022) For twenty years, Lawler has worked for
Northeast Wrestling based in Massachusetts. His first match was on November 9, 2002, when he defeated
Syxx-Pac. On April 30, 2005, he defeated
King Kong Bundy with special guest referee
Mick Foley in Bristol, Connecticut. From 2006 to 2007, he feuded with former WWE wrestler
Romeo Roselli. On January 15, 2011, he defeated
Tommy Dreamer in a cage match. Then on October 1, 2011, he defeated
Terry Funk in a No Disqualification No Holds Barred match. In 2013, he returned to Northeast after a heart attack in 2012 where he defeated
Matt Striker on September 21. On August 25, 2017, he lost to
NEW Heavyweight Champion Cody Rhodes in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. From 2015 to 2019, he has been feuding with Brian Anthony. Lawler would team with Keith Youngblood defeating Anthony Battle and Daniel Evans on April 26, 2019, for the NEW Tag Team titles. They dropped the tiles to Brian Anthony and Daniel Evans on August 17. On August 14, 2021, Lawler defeated
Enzo Amore in a
Casket match in Poughkeepsie, New York. Lawler's last Northeast match was on September 9, 2022, teaming with
Erick Rowan and defeating Elijah Dean and Zach Nystorm.
Return to the independent circuit (2013–2023) He returned to wrestling in 2013 nearly a year after his heart attack in an appearance in WWE. His first match back was on May 25 in an 8 Tag team where he teamed with
Dory Funk Jr. which they won at
Funking Conservatory in
Ocala, Florida. On July 7, 2014, he defeated
Scott Steiner at Wild Fire Wrestling in Memphis. A week later, he went to
World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico where he defeated
Carlito. On October 24, 2015, Lawler defeated
Terry Funk by disqualification at
USA Championship Wrestling in
Jackson, Tennessee, at the
Oman Arena. He would feud with
Tommy Rich from 2017 to 2018. On March 23, 2019, he teamed with
Rikishi defeating Scott Steiner and
Buff Bagwell for the Grind City Tag Team titles at a
Memphis Grizzlies game. At 70, Lawler put his career on the line on January 18, 2020, against Arkansas Heavyweight Champion
Matt Riviera in a "Title vs Career" match at Championship Wrestling of Arkansas' "No Surrender" event in
North Little Rock, Arkansas, where he won the match and the title. On January 21, 2023, Jerry Lawler had his final match for AML Wrestling promotion where Lawler defeated
Beer City Bruiser. ==Other endeavors==