Hall Of Fame Wrestler Hospitalized Following Serious Medical Condition
Jerry Lawler was rushed to the hospital after suffering a stroke. He is currently recovering from surgery.
Jerry Lawler, aka Jerry “The King” Lawler, was rushed to the hospital on Monday after suffering a stroke. The 73 year-old wrestling Hall of Famer reportedly had the stroke in his home in Fort Myers, Florida according to Action 5 News out of Tennessee (where Lawler was born). Lawler underwent surgery and is reportedly recovering in the hospital.
While Lawler’s been known to get back in the ring here and there, most of his wrestling work these days is performed as a commentator. That’s what he was doing as recently as 2 weeks ago for the WWE Royal Rumble. There were no obvious signs of Jerry Lawler needing medical attention then, but unfortunately the WWE Hall of Famer has suffered a number of similar incidents already, and once on live television.
Back in September 2012, Jerry Lawler had a heart attack during a broadcast of Raw from Montreal. Lawler was reported to have been clinically dead for up to 30 minutes. Thankfully Lawler’s subsequent treatment was successful, and by November he was once again in the commentator’s chair.
Lawler would later suffer a stroke in 2018. On his podcast Dinner with the King, he explained that he had been unable to speak for 3 days at his home. He was able to recover and the following month was even well enough to wrestle in WrestleMania 34.
Jerry Lawler’s career in professional wrestling began when plenty of current WWE stars had yet to be born, in the early 1970s. In 1977 he joined and became co-owner of the newly formed Continental Wrestling Association (CWA). Ironically while the name CWA may not be as well known as ones like the WWE and WWF, it was during his time in the CWA that Lawler found his biggest claim to widespread fame.
It was in 1982 that Jerry Lawler’s “feud” began with the eccentric comedian Andy Kaufman. The supposed disagreement included a wrestling match which appeared to hospitalize Kaufman, and a blow-up on Late Night with David Letterman during which Lawler slapped Kaufman. Lawler would later play himself in the Kaufman biopic Man on the Moon, and confirmed that his feud with the late comic had all been staged.
By the late 1990s, after Jerry Lawler had moved around a number of different wrestling associations, he was transitioning more toward commentating while wrestling part time. Since then he’s made a number of stabs at ventures outside wrestling, some more successful than others.
Jerry Lawler has made a number of unsuccessful bids for political office, namely for the Mayor’s office of Memphis, Tennessee. He’s hosted podcasts, made brief appearances in films, and in 2002 released his autobiography It’s Good to Be the King… Sometimes.
