Please don’t compare the genius of the Lawler-Kaufman feud to the Chris Rock and Will Smith debacle!
When Will Smith swung at and linked with Chris Rock’s face on the Academy Award present 2022, folks within the wrestling enterprise wasted no time evaluating the surprising incident to WWE Corridor of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler smacking quirky entertainer Andy Kaufman and sending him tumbling on his chair, spilling him sideways to the…
When Will Smith swung at and linked with Chris Rock’s face on the Academy Award present 2022, folks within the wrestling enterprise wasted no time evaluating the surprising incident to WWE Corridor of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler smacking quirky entertainer Andy Kaufman and sending him tumbling on his chair, spilling him sideways to the ground on the David Letterman Present in 1982.
I noticed it occur up-close-and-personal. I used to be just some ft away, behind the TV cameras, snapping images together with fellow Professional Wrestling Illustrated editor Craig Peters. We by no means had a clue what would transpire throughout that TV present taping.
Letterman and his total crew had been additionally completely at nighttime and shocked by the actions of Lawler and the hatred he would spew bodily onto Andy. Just like what Kaufman did, dropping the f-bomb a number of occasions, it was simply a kind of from Smith that made the reside crowd and tens of millions watching on TV extremely uncomfortable and indignant.
With Kaufman, folks within the viewers and tv viewers had been laughing at his verbal tirade and cursing and hoping Lawler would finish Andy’s so-called wrestling profession.
It was me, Invoice Apter, who put Jerry and Andy collectively a short while earlier than their feud came about (for the total story, kindly learn my e-book titled “Is Wrestling Fastened? I Did not Know It Was Damaged!” on sale on Amazon).
Sure, I launched them to one another, and what they put collectively was nothing wanting magic and genius, from their in-ring feud to the Letterman incident. It made tv historical past and is listed in lots of historic books about TV historical past as probably the most memorable moments of that medium.
Again then, there was no web. Folks realized what occurred on Letterman the day after because it acquired protection in each main newspaper worldwide. It was the images that Craig and I shot that spelled it out, and it went viral as everybody was speaking about it. Had the web been round again then, it could have made it explode! That’s how explosively sizzling this was again then.
Hours after Letterman came about, Craig and I discovered it was partially pre-planned. We went again to Jerry’s resort room, and Andy was with him. Together with Craig, I maintained we knew this was going to occur. Lawler did speak in confidence to us that what occurred was not scheduled to happen.
“They needed us to hug and do a music and make pals in direction of the tip of our phase. We did not wish to do this so we form of improvised and it took everybody abruptly and made TV historical past. Folks within the wrestling enterprise have been making an attempt to duplicate what we did but it surely’s by no means labored. What we did felt pure to each of us. We simply let it occur!” Lawler stated.
The distinction right here is big. Apart from the slap by Lawler, the Will Smith-Chris Rock incident, for my part, was actual — a shoot. There’s a historical past of disagreeable social media barbs between the 2 of them, and Smith’s spouse has been the topic at occasions. Smith was supposedly fed up with all of the banter all through the years and ultimately exploded on the Oscars.
What Will Smith did was unsuitable. Accepting the very best award for Greatest Actor in a film after the slap incident and cursing at Chris Rock in entrance of tens of millions of individuals was not orchestrated.
Sadly, it could wind up on a number of the most memorable TV moments lists like that of Lawler and Kaufman. Nevertheless, I might insist or not it’s listed within the class on the very high of “TV’s most shameful moments of all time.”