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.

Throwback Thursday: He's the Women's Champ

Hervina wins the women's title

By Kevin Hunsperger
@keivnhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

If you think the state of women's wrestling in the WWE is in disarray now, look back to this week in 2000.  On January 31, Harvey Wippleman defeated the Kat for the Women's Championship.  Keep in mind, Harvey was wrestling as his alter ego Hervina in the match, and Harvey wasn't really even a wrestler, having managed guys like Sid, the Warlord, and the Giant Gonzalez.  He also served as a referee for the company.

The title changed hands in a Lumberjill Snow Pool match.  The Kat and Hervina had to escape the pool to win the match.  Hervina prevailed and became the first male Women's Champion.  He lost the belt the next day to Jacqueline, but still it was a silly move in my opinion.  Women's wrestling for whatever reason has almost always seemed to get the short end of the stick in the big leagues, but especially the WWE.

So on one hand it's good that he only held the belt for a day.  On the other hand, why in the hell did this even happen?  Why not just have the Kat lose the belt to Jackie in the first place.  I don't mind inter gender wrestling between two WRESTLERS, but when it's a manager or referee or celebrity being thrown into the ring, it's ridiculous, and it's even worse in my view when a title is involved.