Even issues beyond his control won’t slow down Jerry “The King” Lawler.
For Lawler, 75, he’s happy to be back home, where his proverbial throne is: Memphis, Tennessee. Last month, while soaking up the sun in Southwest Florida, “The King” suffered a stroke at his condo. It was his third stroke since 2018. In 2012, “The King” suffered a heart attack during a World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) telecast in Canada.
Recovering to the point that he could travel northwest to Memphis, the city that Elvis Presley made famous, Lawler became its next favorite son. The city is “The King’s” designated healing grounds. In between a brief relocation to suburban Cleveland, where his dad was transferred to a Ford Motor Company plant and a subsequent return to Memphis as a teenager, “The King’s” roots have remained solidly southern. However, going from a child with little interest in sports before the move, to being “all in” on Cleveland teams by the time his family returned to “The Bluff City,” “The King’s” allegiance has never been tested.
“My gosh, the Browns in a Super Bowl, yes I do look forward to it,” Lawler told The Epoch Times on Thursday before heading out for an afternoon appointment for therapy at a Memphis rehabilitation center. “When I watch Browns’ games on TV, by two minutes before kickoff, I put on a complete [Browns] outfit. My father’s job took us to Ohio when I was 8 years old. When we returned to Memphis, I was the biggest Jim Brown fan out there.”
But football isn’t the only professional Cleveland-based franchise that the WWE Hall of Famer (Class of 2007) keeps close tabs on. It’s not uncommon to see “The King” supporting an Indians or Guardians Jersey at public appearances, or during celebrity softball games in years past. He tells of following every minute of every game of the Guardians’ march to the American League Central title, and the team’s three-game American League Wild Card Series with the Detroit Tigers.
“I’m good friends with Sandy Alomar Jr.,” said “The King,” who continues putting himself in the spotlight on pop culture fandom circuits with an upcoming appearance at next week’s Chiller Theatre Expo in Parsippany, New Jersey. “I spoke with [Alomar] this past week about the passing of his father Sandy Alomar Sr. The last time Cleveland was in the World Series, I attended three games.”
When not talking baseball with the Guardians’ first base and catching coach, or checking game reports on NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers, “The King” recalls some of the heartaches the Browns has caused him over the seasons. He still can’t believe that Cleveland traded quarterback Baker Mayfield to the Carolina Panthers in 2022.
Even with his speech slowed and his mobility not what it used to be prior to his series of strokes, there’s still much giddy-up zest for life in him. While speaking of sports, “The King” easily remembers names of players and great moments in Cleveland sports history.
“I’m progressing a lot better now,” “The King” wants to assure his wrestling followers.
Just two weeks ago, at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, as Memphis’s unbeaten NCAA football team rolled over Tulsa 45–7, “Memphis’s favorite son” enhanced the football atmosphere by sprinkling a tad bit of wrestling flair to it. Along with joining in the pageantry with the Mighty Sound of the South marching band representing Memphis State at the stadium, wrestling matches were booked as well, with “The King” serving in a managerial role during the main event.
“The King’s” crown became a national phenomenon in 1992 after he signed with the WWE. His popularity outgrew the Mid-South during a 30-year run with Vince McMahon at the helm of the most well-known sports entertainment company globally, from wrestling, TV commentating, and all sideshow stunts in between. While working as a disc jockey at a Memphis radio station in the early 1970s, thanks to “The King’s” talking up a local wrestling promoter’s shows, legend has it that he received lessons on how to learn how to fall, dive, and slam as wrestlers do for free.
During the 2001 joint venture between McMahon’s World Wrestling Federation and NBC with the XFL, “The King” served among the football broadcasting voices. He’s run for mayor of Memphis, too. Today, on Memphis’s historic Beale Street, King Jerry Lawler’s Hall of Fame Bar and Grille remains a popular destination for tourists.
Lawler’s Memphis home, at first glance, could be mistaken for a museum. A large collection of Coca-Cola memorabilia takes up considerable space—along with everything from clocks, signs, and soda machines. Then, there’s the replica Batmobile from the 1960s TV series in his garage. What a “King” wants, this “King” packs into his Memphis castle.
From his Thursday lunches with retired wrestler Doug Gilbert, to working towards better health, and planning Comic-Con bookings and the like, Lawler continues to enjoy every day of “The King’s” persona. There are no imminent retirement plans, and there’s no forgetting “The King.” He remains the Energizer Bunny on the proverbial hamster wheel, being a good ambassador for wrestling fans, and cheering the loudest for his favorite Cleveland sports teams.
