Why did Lawler stop being the heel announcer?

[Confused Mark Wahlberg]

Watching some old vids, Lawler used to be the heel announcer, supporting the bad guys, like the Corporation.

What happened?

I can't even remember the last time he yelled at JR for supporting the faces. Hell, he agrees with him half the time.

[Ace Diamond]

Jonathan Coachman happened and Lawler forgot how to switch back.

[Deleted]

I really hate Lawler like this, I could tolerate him as a heel announcer. Now he just marks for Cena.




I dunno why he stopped being a heel, though. I guess he just forgot to go back once Coach left the table.

[crunkenstein]

He was praising McMahon the other night on Raw.

[Metalheadbanger Man]

Its strange though because he is still a heel commentator on the Smackdown! Vs RAW games - totally different to how he is in actuality. He was very good being the guy who sucked up to the heels, especially McMahon, back in '98-99 or so.

[Mayonnaise]

He left due to the Kat quitting and when he came back, he took over for Paul Heyman on the RAW announce team after the Alliance was disbanded at Survivor Series. Since most of the heels were still WCW/ECW guys and Lawler was pro-WWE while in WWE (feuded with ECW and around threw the MNWs), he kept that attitude and became a pro-WWE announcer which made him a face. He just never gave that up really.

['Foretold' Joker]

I blame wrestlers picking fights with JR or Divas - thus Lawler has to step in and defend him or them.

[Stu]

I initially figured it had something to do with WWE catering to smarter fans and Lawler's character running its course. As if to say, we know Lawler and JR are buddies behind the scenes and the King has been heel long enough, so let's downplay the gimmick.

Of course, that's not the case with the overall company anymore.

[STMP]

He got over.

The same happened with J.R.

They just became really popular with the crowd, Lawler for his use of the word puppies and J.R. for all his weird expressions. They rolled with it and became gimmicks instead of announcers.

Lawler was also at his best with a three man announce team. Vince for the overactive hyping of the wrestlers and the matches, J.R. for the knowledge and background and Lawler to bash the faces and crack jokes. So in a way, Lawler is at his best when he doesn't have to do much besides annoying the face commentator.

[acressl]

jinxed said:

He left due to the Kat quitting and when he came back, he took over for Paul Heyman on the RAW announce team after the Alliance was disbanded at Survivor Series. Since most of the heels were still WCW/ECW guys and Lawler was pro-WWE while in WWE (feuded with ECW and around threw the MNWs), he kept that attitude and became a pro-WWE announcer which made him a face. He just never gave that up really.

Once Extremely Crappy Wrestling (god I hate when he says that. and how often he says it. and how clever he thinks he is for saying it) reared it's ugly head, Jerry became Mr. WWE. He just got stuck.

[Andrew is Good]

I remember when Jerry Lawler would dislike someone along with Ross, it really meant something, because man, if this guy hates them and agrees with Ross about hating them, they're pretty bad heels. Taz they did that with, same with the Right to Censor.

He would sometimes root for the heels, even on the three man announce team, Coach and King would also make sure Ross was quiet for Chris Masters' entrance (which was always hilarious how they would try to get Ross to be quiet).

[wwerules60]

because most of the time when he agreed with the heels it made sense and people started to see that, it's happening with JBL as well.

[Stu]

Just be thankful we have JBL!

[Threadkiller [Classic]]

jguy4life said:

I initially figured it had something to do with WWE catering to smarter fans and Lawler's character running its course. As if to say, we know Lawler and JR are buddies behind the scenes and the King has been heel long enough, so let's downplay the gimmick.

I think your assessment is accurate, but still, that doesn't mean buddies can't disagree.