Throwback Thursday: Stand By Your Woman

Jim Carey, The Kat, & Jerry Lawler

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

There's not a whole lot of wrestling history this week. At least not stuff to blog about.  There are several death anniversaries, but I'd rather this post be a bit lighter.  So what I came up with was Paul Heyman replacing Jerry "the King" Lawler as color commentator on Monday Night Raw.

The story was that the WWE had fired Lawler's wife at the time, the Kat.  Out of protest, Lawler left too.  At that point, he'd been with the E for almost a decade and his departure was a bit of a shock to me.  This of course was in the dying days of WCW and the start of the invasion angle which Heyman played a big role in.

Paul Heyman & JR (note the XFL hat)

I must admit, as much as I liked Lawler up until that point, Heyman brought something new to the table.  He didn't rant and rave about "puppies" and played the role of the heel announcer perfectly.  I can't say enough good things about Heyman as a manager or as an announcer.  He's one of the best ever.  Period.

Lawler eventually returned later that year and his marriage to the Kat dissolved.  It seemed like a huge gamble to me for a legend like that to walk out of the soon to be only wrestling company in the United States.  Of course Lawler has always had Memphis as a backup, but I would assume being a part of a global force is much more appealing.  In my opinion, I believe the King is a lucky man that Vince McMahon hired him back after he left.  We've seen in the past that sometimes the boss holds a grudge.

None-the-less, all's well that ends well.  Lawler has not left the table since (except his brief and understandable absence after his heart attack) and now Heyman is back in the fold.  I hope Paul sticks around, because as I mentioned, I'm a huge fan of his work.